₦airaland Forum

Obinna Chima

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will today fund the one-month forward contracts of $697 million on the interbank FX market, effectively improving dollar liquidity in the market, as the accounts of customers that hedged against the dollar through their banks last month will get their accounts credited.

Sources in the CBN confirmed that there would be improved availability of dollars today, thus easing pressure on the naira which fell to its lowest level yesterday since the guidelines were revised last month for trading on the interbank FX market. The naira closed at N310.43 to a dollar yesterday, compared to N294.24 to a dollar from the day before.

Financial market dealers attributed the development to scarcity of FX since the CBN decided to stop its intervention and all the currency to be truly market-determined.

But on the parallel market, the naira did not budge, as it remained unchanged at N375 to a dollar yesterday.

Bank customers who bought the forward contracts will be expected to make a gain of more than N20 to the dollar, given that at the time the bids for the forwards were made a month ago, the naira exchanged for about 282 to the dollar.

On the first day of trading under the revised rules for the interbank market on June 20, the CBN had intervened in the market through the Special Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) to clear the backlog of $4.02 billion pent-up demand for FX.

According to the CBN, it sold $532 million on the spot market and $3.487 billion in the forwards market.
A breakdown of the $3.487 billion forward sales by the central bank showed that $697 million was for one month (1M), $1.22 billion for two months (2M) and $1.57 billion for three months (3M).

A forward contract is a customised contract between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a specified price on a future date. A forward contract can be used for hedging or speculation, although its non-standardised nature makes it particularly apt for hedging against price movements

lalasticlala

Protesters from Kogi State, under the umbrella of the Kogi Youths for Good Governance, stormed the National Assembly, yesterday, demanding for the immediate suspension of Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial Zone.

His suspension, the protesters believed, would facilitate Melaye’s recall.

The leader of the protesters, Leke Richard, said that the processes of recalling Melaye have started in his zone, over what he termed as the “abuse of Tinubu’s wife in the Senate.”

The protesters, who besieged the National Assembly’s gate in the early hours of yesterday, carried placards and banners with different inscriptions, such as: ”Dino Melaye is a disgrace to us,” “Dino Melaye will be recalled” and “Women are our mothers, learn to respect them.”

Richard said that Melaye benefited from the widespread support enjoyed by President Muhammadu Buhari to emerge as senator under the APC platform.

An officer from the office of the Sargent-At-Arms at the National Assembly, Dennis Maji, who received a letter from the protesters, promised to deliver it to the appropriate quarters.

Samson Folarin

There was a mild drama at the Ebute-Meta Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday after two Chinese lovers – Zhen Zhen, female (47) and Leo Jian Feng, male (41) – engaged in fisticuffs on the court premises.

They assaulted each other shortly after their handcuffs were removed by the police.

It took the intervention of court officials to stop the duo from injuring each other.

They were later called to the dock to answer to charges of alleged arson.

PUNCH Metro was told that the duo had checked into the Ernest Hotel in Ikeja on July 4.

They were alleged to have set the facility on fire while smoking some substance.

They were subsequently arrested after firefighters of the Lagos State Fire Service put out the inferno.
The suspects were arraigned on two counts of arson.

The charge read in part, “That you, Zhen Zhen and Leo Jian Feng, both Chinese, on July 5, 2016, at about 2am at Bamishele Street, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit: arson.

“That you did willfully and unlawfully set fire to burn part of the Ernest Hotel on Bamishele Street, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, valued at N17,864,900, property of one Ernest Uwanyerem.”

The police prosecutor, Sergeant Olatunde Kehinde, said the offence was punishable under sections 409 and 339 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The prosecutor announced the presence of the Investigating Police Officer, Ernest Nwanyanwu of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department; a representative of the hotel, Muhammed Shubero; and a representative of the Chinese embassy.

The magistrate, M.O. Ope-Agbe, called the representative of the hotel to explain what transpired on the day of the incident.

According to Shubero, the lovers lodged in the hotel on July 4 after necessary documentation.
He said, “Around 2am on July 5, one of the hotel attendants smelt cigarette from their room. She went there and warned them that smoking was prohibited in that arena. However, they ignored her.

“In the morning, the attendant and a security guard called me that the hotel was on fire. By the time I got there, there was nothing left of the hotel.”

Shubero said the hotel attendant and the security guard were ready to testify in court.

However, the Chinese couple, who spoke through an interpreter, denied being responsible for the fire that burnt the hotel.
Feng, in his defence, said he never smoked in the facility.

He said, “It is true that I stayed in the hotel, but I did not smoke. I was not around when the hotel was on fire.”

Zhen, who also denied smoking, said she had slept off , but suddenly woke up to discover that the hotel was on fire and she ran for her life.

The representative of the Chinese embassy told the court that he had gone to the police to get the details of the case when he was told it was being taken to court.

The magistrate, Ope-Agbe, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N2m each with two sureties each in like sum.

She said, “One of the sureties must be a Nigerian and the other a Chinese. They must be responsible sureties with evidence of tax payments to the Lagos State Government.”

The case was adjourned till July 22, 2016, for mention.

By Tom Moses

UYO— A 38-year-old man, Joseph Ibanga James, arrested by the Akwa Ibom State Police Command for allegedly strangulating his four years old daughter, Glory, said he was pushed by mysterious forces to commit the act.

The Ibiaku-Ikot Udom-born James told
Vanguard at Akwa Ibom State Police headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia, Uyo yesterday, that he carried out the act after eating a meal prepared by his mother.

He said: “Suddenly, something just entered into me and urged me to kill my daughter who was fast asleep.
I responded immediately and strangulated the girl and buried her by the side of a river close to our house.

“It was after I had killed her that my eyes became clear and I began to understand that I had committed a grievous offence. As I got home, my mother asked me the whereabouts of the girl. When I could not explain, she raised alarm and alerted the neighbourhood and from there, the police was invited to arrest me.

“I do not know what got into me. I regret everything.”
However, speaking on the matter, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Murtala Mani, through the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Delia Nwawe, said Ibanga committed murder and would be charged to court to face the consequences of the offence.

He warned that under his command, police would not condone any act of criminality.

Also, the Command also apprehended one Victor Esin Nyak for allegedly cutting off the head of his uncle, Rev. Esin Andang, after a quarrel.

Mani said the case was still being investigated to unearth the immediate and remote cause of the ugly development.

Meanwhile, the suspect, Victor Esin has confessed to the crime attributing his act to provocation as his uncle was allegedly a cog in the wheel of his progress.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted on Tuesday that Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate would fall to its lowest point in 29 years.
The IMF said the Nigerian economy would shrink by 1.8 percent in 2016 , and grow by only 1.1 percent in 2016, affirming arguments that Nigeria is currently in a recession, and will be throughout 2016.

However, this is just a forecast. As Nigerians, we still have our destinies in our hands, and possess the potential to upturn the odds in our favour.
We believe this seven Nigerians can upturn the nation’s economic woes in just a few months:

BABATUNDE FASHOLA
According to Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, lack of electricity shaves off about four percent of Africa’s GDP. The figure for Nigeria is projected at 5 percent of GDP.

Fixing power in any Africa economy is a GDP magic. It may be next-to-impossible to fix Nigeria’s power situation six months, but considerable progress could drive growth drastically.

With IMF particularly highlighting low power generation as a cause of economic contraction, high power generation can directly bring economic expansion.

Fashola, as minister of power, at his best, can make this happen – if resources are made available.

GODWIN EMEFIELE
The second major issue raised by the IMF, which Nigerian economic analysts can attest to is the foreign currency scarcity currently being experienced in Nigeria.

The foreign exchange policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)is pivotal to the availability of forex in the Nigerian system.

If Godwin Emefiele and the CBN monetary policy committee find a way of fixing forex scarcity in the short term, GDP growth may just be on the cards in 2016.

NIGER DELTA AVENGERS
Low oil receipt is no doubt the single biggest reason for the contraction of the Nigerian economy. If we have oil forex, forex scarcity can be fixed and capital projects on power can also be executed.

Nigeria cannot upturn oil prices, but we can increase our production levels and generate more petrodollar if the Niger Delta avengers leave vengeance to God!

BABATUNDE FOWLER
At the presentation of the Nigerian appropriation bill for 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari said only N820 billion of the N6.08 trillion budget will be funded by petrodollar.

He said the rest would be funded by other sources of revenue generation, especially taxes and other non-oil revenues, handing so much responsibility to Fowler, chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

If Nigeria must experience any economic growth in 2016, it must be able to implement its Keynesian budget. To do that, Fowler’s FIRS must be able to generate sufficient revenue.

KEMI ADEOSUN
Nigeria’s youngest minister has one of the heaviest duties in reforming the economy. She has promised fiscal responsibility, and has succeeded in weeding out thousands of ghost workers.

She said in Kaduna last week that she would “make every naira count without placing burden” on any Nigerian.

For Nigeria’s GDP to grow in 2016, Adeosun must give more action to her words and do more within the third and fourth quarter of 2016.

HADIZA USMAN
Seaports are one of the largest sources of revenue in many countries of the world. But despite Nigeria’s status as Africa’s largest economy, the country does not have a single port in the top 100 ports in the world.

According to World Port rankings, South Africa has two of the 100 busiest, revenue generating ports in world.

With Usman’s as managing director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), we could either see our port revenue sky rocket or fall to new lows.

It may be difficult in six months, but it is not impossible for Usman’s NPA to add sizable expansion to the Nigerian economy.

MUHAMMADU BUHARI
The Nigerian system is designed in a way that puts the direction of the nation on the shoulder of one man; his name: Muhammadu Buhari. Virtually all of Nigeria’s economic decisions lie on the actions and inaction of the president.

Buhari’s negotiations with the Niger Delta Avengers, willingness to grant absolute autonomy to the central bank and take necessary economic decisions – even if it be the devaluation of the naira – will make all the difference in the days to come.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Yemi Osinbajo , vice president and head of the National Economic Council

Ibe Kachikwu, chairman of NNPC and state minister for petroleum, who fetched $80 billion in deals for infrastructural deficit in the Nigerian oil sector.

Akinwunmi Ambode , governor of Lagos state, which is responsible for over 20 percent of Nigeria’s GDP. Lagos can swing the GDP pendulum in any direction.

Senate President Bukola Saraki has failed to make public the budget breakdown of the National Assembly despite several promises to do so over the past few months.

Senator Saraki had made such promises on at least four occasions since President Muhammadu Buhari signed the budget in March.

The National Assembly budget breakdown was in the public domain until 2010 when the legislators became secretive about it by making it a single line item.

Due to public criticisms and sustained campaign by rights groups calling for transparency in the finances of the federal lawmaking body, Saraki on several occasions pledged to make the breakdown of the legislators’ budget available for public scrutiny.

The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Awwal Musa Rafsanjani said the lawmakers would not make its budget public because “that is where they misappropriate funds.”

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business in the 5th Senate (2003 - 2007), Umaru Tsauri told Daily Trust yesterday failure of Saraki to make the breakdown of the budget public would leave room for questions.

“The issue is at the discretion of the senate president who is the chairman of the National Assembly. Since he has promised to make it public, let him fulfil it. His refusal would be giving room for people to ask him questions,” he said.

Saraki’s many promises

Saraki first promised to make the legislators budget details public on November 15, 2015 through a statement signed by his media aide Bamikole Omishore.

“By the time we come into the 2016 budget, at the end of the year, it will be clearer because people just see one item line.

“But that is not going to happen now; you will see what goes to the Senate and what goes to the House of Representatives.

“You are going to see what goes to the management, what goes to the Legislative Institute and we are going to make all these open and clear. That is part of the openness we promised,” Saraki said.

On March 13 this year during a courtesy visit by a team of “The Economist,” Saraki said: “For the first time we promised Nigerians to give out our budget breakdown. The committee will make its report available by next week. We have resolved to break the tradition of one line item.”

During an interview last month with journalists to mark the first session of the 8th Senate, Saraki was asked whether he has changed his mind on the budget, he said no.

“No, I have not changed my mind. There is no going back on that, I’ve already released the figures. I think there is need for greater awareness of it and I’m sure it would be made available. There is no going back on that because that is the minimum, you cannot be shouting about transparency and inside our own house, there will not be transparency,” he said.

Days after the interview, our correspondent went to the Senate leader Ali Ndume and the spokesperson of the senate Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi for a copy of the budget, but they could not produce one.

Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Saraki Yusuph Olaniyonu told Daily Trust by telephone yesterday that the budget breakdown “has been released at one time on line.”

But Daily Trust couldn’t find the budget breakdown on the official websites of the National Assembly and the Budget Office last night when it checked.

Multibillion secret budgets

The National Assembly budget started swelling in 2003 when it was jerked up from N23.347 billion to N32.229 billion in 2004 and the following year it went up to N55.422 billion.

The budget that covers the salaries and allowances of the 109 senators, the 360 House of Representatives members, their aides as well as the budget of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS) dropped to N39.810 billion in 2006.

In 2007 when Senator David Mark became senate president N66.488 billion was budgeted; N104.825 billion for 2008; N96.052 billion for 2009; and N154.2 billion for 2010.

Since 2010, the budget of the federal legislature stood at N150 billion for four years until last year when it was slashed to N120 billion and this year N115 billion.

Secrecy signals corruption

CISLAC Executive Director Rafsanjani told Daily Trust that Nigerians “must hold Saraki by his words. If they can make it public, it will make Nigerians know that they’re serious about governance. That is the main area where they perpetrate their fraud, so how do they make it public?

“Having failed to make their budget public since last November when Saraki promised Nigerians, that shows lack of transparency and accountability on their part. If they want Nigerians to take them serious, they need to be transparent and accountable,” he said.

He said Nigerians needed to know the way and manner members of the National Assembly spent their money.

“If they do that, it will enhance their oversight functions. Since they want MDAs to be accountable, they must show example first. So, we call on them to be open in their dealings,” Rafsanjani said.

The chairman of the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi said the failure of lawmakers to disclose its budget once again exposed it as an institution, yet to come to terms with the clear demands for accountability from Nigerians.

“TMG has always known that beyond the pretence and the empty rhetoric by the current National Assembly leadership, it is too neck deep in wasteful spending to allow Nigerians look into its budget. The onus is therefore on the Nigerian people to continue the social pressure until the gluttons who assault our commonwealth are compelled to stop,” he said.

The Director Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) Idayat Hassan said the failure of Saraki to disclose the breakdown of the 2016 National Assembly budget casts aspersions on the credibility of the 8th Assembly especially the Senate whose president promised on two separate occasions to do same.

The Head of Research, Policy and Advocacy of the Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth and Advancement (YIAGA), Barrister Samson Itodo said the Saraki’s action shows that he has yet again demonstrated lack of courage and leadership to make public the legislators’ budget.

“The National Assembly owes Nigerians openness. We know budget of the executive so the legislature should also provide details of its budget in the spirit of transparency and accountability,” Itodo said.

By Emma Una

CALABAR— A 26-year-old lady, Gift Etim Ikono, and her two sisters, Esther Etim Ikono and Florence Victor Ikono, are currently in police custody in Calabar, Cross River State, for allegedly selling their babies to yet-to-be identified persons.

The Akwa Ibom State-born suspect, Gift, who resides at 8th Mile, Calabar, was arrested on June 28 for allegedly selling two children belonging to Esther and Florence, her sisters.

It was gathered that Gift harboured Esther and Florence in her apartment while they were pregnant, and sold their babies at birth.

According to Mr. Jimoh Obeh, Cross River State Commissioner of Police, “the two girls got pregnant and when they gave birth, the babies were sold out by the suspect (Gift) to unknown buyers.”

The principal suspect, along with her sisters, according to the Police Commissioner, would soon appear in court after investigations are completed.

3rdlegxxx:
Yours is more catchy and would make for better head lines..

Godyke:
Bros, read the post all over again and again, maybe you will see Ajuwon in Ogun. Or do you think Ajuwon and Ogun are towns and local governments in Lagos state?

4. Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara state governor)

Governor Yari is the chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).
Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state Yari could be said to be one of the right hand men of Buhari among all the Northern governors.

President Buhari trusts the Zamfara state governor that he chose his state as one of the very few he has visited in the month of July. The president did not just go on sight-seeing in the Northwest state; he commissioned some massive road projects there.

It should not surprise Nigerians if President Buhari pencils down his name come 2019, as one of his self-anointed heirs incase the president does not seek a second term in office.

5. Abiola Ajomobi (Oyo state governor)

Governor Ajimobi may be in the bad books of many civil servants in Oyo for caring less about their welfare.

The governor has had series of running battles with Oyo state chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) which resulted at one time having the labour leadership charged to court.

On the flipside, he is in the good books of President Buhari. This is because he ate, dined and whined with Buhari while both of them were in the defunct ANPP, which makes the president not to forget him.

Senator Ajimobi has been part of the president’s delegation on many of the latter’s foreign trips. The former legislator was also given the nod ahead of others by President Buhari to sign a document on behalf of Nigeria while in China.

It is not a crime to prefer one person to another. There are some glaring factors that are responsible for wanting to work with one person and not having passion to work with another person. However, some factors are unexplainable why an individual likes one person and does not feel comfortable with another person.

1. Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun state governor)

Governor Amosun is popularly called ‘SIA’ by the good people of Ogun state. SIA stands for Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

The former lawmaker has been a great fan of President Muhammadu Buhari while both of them were in the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) in early 2000. Both men contested for governorship and presidential elections under the ANPP but lost to the Peoples Democratic party (PDP).

One of the ways the president demonstrated his overt love for the Ogun state governor was to pay Amosun a visit to Ogun a few months ago. President Buhari did not just visit the state as a stop-over; he spent at least two days there, while also commissioning various projects.

The chartered accountant turned politician governor went a step ahead of other governors by naming an estate which is about to be constructed ‘Muhammadu Buhari Estate.’

Moreso, while Nigeria’s number one citizen cancelled his state visit to Lagos for some reasons best known to the presidency, Buhari received Amosun as his guest the following day the president ought to have visited ‘The Centre of Excellence.’

It should be recalled that Amosun was with President Buhari during his visit to Makkah in Saudi Arabia for lesser Hajj (Umrah) as well as the president’s one week visit to China for bilateral agreement.

In addition, the Ogun state governor is one of the few governors President Buhari has taken round his farm in Katsina.

2. Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina state governor)

Governor Masari was a former Speaker of the House of Representatives. The governor of Katsina stood by the president during Buhari’s disappointing outing at the 2011 presidential poll.

Both Buhari and Masari were presidential and governorship candidates under the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) respectively in 2011.

President Buhari loves the cool-headed Masari for his simplicity. The president never thought twice of any other candidate he could support than Masari when both men found themselves contesting under the All
Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015.

As Katsina is the home state of the president, Buhari will never joke with the person leading the state, especially when the president and such a person have the same political ideology and also are in the same political camp.

3. Kashim Shettima (Borno state governor)

Governor Shettima should be nicknamed ‘the governor with nine lives.’ The simple reason for this is because the governor has weathered the storm of Boko Haram insurgency for at least five years. His never-say-die attitude deserves applause by all and
sundry.

During Buhari’s electioneering campaign, he stated that Borno is one of his topmost priorities. Indeed, the president has kept to his words by challenging the Nigerian troops to decimate insurgency in the state.

President Buhari has visited Borno many times and has assured the governor severally he will always stand by him in order to return the state to its glorious days before terrorism crippled all aspects of life there.

On workers’ welfare, the Borno state governor a few months ago said he does not owe civil servants. This is highly remarkable.

Kunle Aderinokun in Lagos and Chineme Okafor in Abuja

Palpable anxiety appeared to have pervaded the financial sector following the judgement of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which annulled the recent increase in electricity tariff. At over N300 billion, the total banking sector loan exposure to the power sector is at high risk as deals and contracts predicated on the new tariff regime are now seriously threatened.

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had last Wednesday gave a ruling which proscribed the existing tariff structure used by the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) to bill their consumers for electricity services to them.

Though Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has appealed the ruling and filed for stay of execution, fears have gripped operators in the financial sector and the power sector as a result of the judgement, which would also adversely affect electricity supply to residential and industrial consumers.

While the figures for the banking loan facilities extended to the power sector as at the 2015 financial year were not readily available, some of the banks’ 2014 full year results showed that a significant portion of their loan portfolios was offered to the electricity operators.

THISDAY checks revealed that United Bank for Africa Plc’s audited results for 2014 showed that lending to the power sector stood at N83.601 billion in 2014 while First City Monument Bank’s full year results for 2014 revealed that its lending to the power and energy sector in the year was N25 billion. Besides, in same year, Fidelity Bank Plc’s lending to the power sector gulped N58 billion in the bank’s loan book whereas Skye Bank Plc’s loan book showed that it lent N19.358 billion to the power sector.

Also, Sterling Bank’s full year results for 2014 showed that the bank committed N13.743 billion as loans to the power sector even as Union Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc granted a total of N23 billion and N50.8 billion, respectively to the power sector.

Apart from the foregoing, THISDAY checks also revealed that local and international investors that participated in the string of acquisitions in the oil and gas sector between 2010 and 2015 as well as the takeover of assets created from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), raised over $11.6 billion from banks to acquire these assets. The investors staked about $2.929 billion to acquire the assets of the PHCN under the federal government’s privatisation programme.

NERC introduced a new electricity tariff under the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) 2015, with effective from February 1, 2016, which abolished fixed charges and increased the tariff by a maximum of 45 per cent.

With the new tariff structure, residential customer category (R2) in the Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, Niger and Kogi states, served by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) franchise, who previously paid N14 per kilowatt/hour, are expected to pay N23.60 per kilowatt/hour.

Also, residential customers in Eko and Ikeja electricity distribution areas will be getting a N10 and N8 increase respectively in their energy charges. The same situation applies to residential customers in Kaduna and Benin electricity distribution companies, who are expected to experience an increase of N11.05 and N9.26, respectively, in their energy charges.

Explaining the implication of the review, the then NERC Chairman, Sam Amadi, said the new tariff was actually a reduction of what consumers ought to be paying before the commission froze tariff increase for residential consumers.

While the Wednesday judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Idris has reversed the increase, declaring it illegal, NERC led by its acting Chairman, Dr. Anthony Akah, has appealed the judgement.

Commenting on the ruling, a highly-placed industry sources, who lamented that the annulment would be detrimental to the power sector and the economy in general, said there was no basis for it.

The sources also pointed out that banks that hitherto were enthusiastic about investment in the power sector and had secured deals based on the new tariff regime would now shy away from such deals.

For instance, the banks that have concluded arrangements to build the Qua Iboe power plant in Akwa Ibom State may no longer proceed with the project as it would no longer be profitable for them to do so.

Besides, sources also revealed that two other major power projects may be stalled since they were predicated on the annulled tariff by the recent ruling of the Federal High Court. It was gathered that one of the projects recently approved was First Power, being promoted by Chief Dapo Abiodun, and the other, a solar power plant, involved the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

More importantly, it was gathered that power shutdown was imminent in the industry as there would be huge revenue shortfalls for the distribution companies (Discos) and the federal government, which has already been affected by dwindled revenue, would not be in a position to cater for the shortfalls.

Industry sources further revealed that with the current cost components of their operations, if the Discos are not making money, they would have to be forced to close shops and the resultant effect would spell doom for electricity consumers.

In fact, THISDAY learnt that the current dip in revenue in the privatised electricity market would be exacerbated by the ruling.

THISDAY also gathered from an industry expert that the sector would be hard-hit by the judgement because its revenue generation profile was already on a very poor status, and this could make it worse.

The expert, who is privy to the internal workings of the sector’s finances, said that at the moment, the electricity market was in a dire financial situation, and will hardly withstand the new threat which he said the court ruling posed.

The expert also said the Discos were currently doing just about 28 per cent of their monthly remittances to the market instead of 100 per cent as agreed in the tariff, adding that an average of N20 billion existed as current monthly revenue deficit in the market.

This claim of such huge monthly revenue shortfall was in addition to a historic revenue shortfall figure which the Discos said was over N300 billion and yet to be closed.

The Discos’ representative, Sunday Oduntan, confirmed the N300 billion historic revenue shortfall to THISDAY.

Analysts are of the view that with the judgement, Discos would not charge cost reflective tariff from which generation companies and gas suppliers would be paid for their services to the sector.
That is going to be a tough one on the sector, analysts posited.

Speaking further on the court decision, analysts maintained that if the ruling stands, the market will either pack up or be bailed out by the government, an option that may not be practicable.

“The first thing to note is that it is unfortunate that after several years of NERC’s engagement stakeholders to enlighten them on power sector reforms and the Act, a decision collectively agreed upon was annuled.

“One thing that is very clear and should be made abundantly clear to everyone including the legislature is that without cost reflective tariff which is actually part of the Act, the industry will suffer or government will still have to dip hands into its pocket to support it.”

A major player in the industry who pleaded anonymity said: “It is rather unfortunate that such an outcome will come from the suit. If you inject up to 8000MW, maybe we will not feel the impact but at the level we are, this is definitely going to hit the finances of the industry.

“I also think it is going to be another excuse for the Discos not to pay the Gencos, this is a very bad development. The last time I checked on remittance it was just an average of 28 per cent compliance with payment. The shortfall has been up to N20 billion every month for a while now.”

Stressing that the judgment was not in the interest of the sector, he also noted that the Discos were also guilty of breaching service rules and challenging NERC’s powers to enforce compliance.

“I recognise that participants are running to the court for everything – you have the same distribution companies who went out to seek an injunction on NERC’s regulatory powers, and now they are coming out to shout that this is wrong whereas they were at the court at a time to undermine the powers of the regulator.

“I would have thought that there should be an engagement with the regulator; operators and consumers to find a balance. The Discos are right to say they cannot give what they don’t have but I don’t think that is alright because at times they ask for what they have not given – they give bills for what they did not supply,” he added.

By Gabriel Olawale

•A trip to Igbologun community, located on Snake Island, Lagos, can be scary.

•The town has a population of over 20,000 people.

A two-day visit by Sunday Vanguard to the community was an eye opener. The journey began from Coconut Bus Stop to the quayside during a downpour. It was followed by a N100 boat ride with 14 other passengers. But in the middle of the restless ocean, the engine coughed and went off, setting off panic among the passengers. The boat was in danger of tipping over as the passengers shifted about, several of them thinking the end had come, but the driver and a few level-headed passengers appealed for calm.

During several attempts to restart the engine, a boat loaded with sachet water passed by, also on its way to Igbologun while a canoe, with a lone female occupant, equally sailed by.

Finally, the driver brought the engine back to life and the journey continued. As passengers disembarked at the destination, the reporter was accosted by two young boys of about 12 and 16. They were there to help offload passengers’ luggage from the boat for a fee. Commercial motorcycle riders (Okada) also swarmed around the passengers.

Welcome to Igbologun, a community made up of different tribes, cultures and religions. It was gathered that Snake Island, on which the community sits, derived its name from the (snaky) way it appears on the map, contrary to the belief that it is so called because of the large population of snakes there.

Snake Island has so much beach sand such that, as you walk, your legs sink in and it is as if you’re being pulled back. Interestingly, the hugely populated island, situated in the heart of Apapa, is under Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area.

Despite being so close to the hub of trade and commerce, and all its modernity, what would seem like another shocking discovery, for a first-time visitor, is how typically rural the island remains.

Igbologun, despite a history of existence that precedes even the Nigerian nation, is dying for government attention for the provision of basic social amenities like schools, standard hospitals, tarred roads, potable water, stable power, standard market place and means of waste disposal, among others.

The first impressionable building to behold is Igbologun Senior Secondary School. Close to it is a police post that offers the community the only source of drinking water and it is about 30 minutes-walk into the heart of the community.

Trooping out were young and old women carrying trays of all sorts laden with wares of smoked fish
(Egun Fish). Young children were also hawking.

A striking feature that immediately becomes apparent across the community is the high number of pregnant teenage girls. This reporter soon gathered that even though pregnant, majority of the girls are not registered for ante natal care, mainly as a result of financial constraint and cultural beliefs.

Findings showed that there is a sense of laxity that enables these young girls engage in sexual activities. The development is essentially fuelled by the high level of poverty in the community. Many of the girls are lured with money by the young men who are boat drivers or Okada operators.

“Most of these guys you see riding Okada or driving boat have more than three girlfriends each because they make quick money from their businesses and live like kings in the community,” said Mr. Jude.

Further investigation revealed that whenever a pregnant woman in the community goes into labour, particularly at mid-night, they are usually in a dilemma. This is due to the inability to afford to register in a standard hospital, and for those who could afford it, reaching the centre at mid-night is a tug of war while obstetric complication that may require surgery is out of the question. The result is that many pregnant women and newborns often lose their lives. The only Primary Healthcare Centre in Igbologun is defunct.
Sunday Vanguard encountered some men who had sad tales to tell.

David lost his wife during childbirth.
Emeka, who lives in Mama P compound in the community, also lost his wife along with a set of twins while Daramola lost his wife and is left to bring up their baby alone. What the three men have in common is that their wives fell into labour at night.

Bolanle, David’s wife, 27, may have been alive today to experience the joy of motherhood, but her dream was cut short because she found herself at Igbologun.

Bolanle’s desire to give life led her to the great beyond. She fell into labour in the middle of the night.
“When she went into labour in the middle of the night, we already knew there was a problem. Her mother called for help, but there was little anyone could do because there was no means of conveying her to the other side of the lagoon for medical attention”, said Mr. Gbenga Sosanya, a neighbour.

“Prior to her delivery time, Bolanle registered for antenatal at Tolu Hospital in Ajegunle, but no boat could convey her there in the night. She and her baby died after several hours of labour in the hands of traditional birth attendants”.

Pointing to the spot where Bolanle was buried, Sosanya said that the trauma forced her parents to leave the community. He hinted that several of such cases were recorded in the community until few years ago, when someone set up a small private hospital.

“The only Primary Healthcare Centre in the community can simply be described as an empty building because there are no doctors or nurses and, most of the time, it is locked.”

Agony of motherhood
Sunday Vanguard visited the private hospital. It has seven rooms for the over 20,000 residents. The doctor in charge was battling to save the life of Pasca Kapo, a year and six months old child who was brought in a breathe away from death.

Pasca was brought in gasping for breath, his legs and arms cold. After administering first aid, the doctor said he had severe malaria and anaemia with PCV of 10 percent. To worsen matters, Pasca is O-negative, a rare blood group. The doctor required a transfusion urgently but the child’s parents were broke. They were running from pillar to pole to raise money.
After a lengthy persuasion, John Kapo, the boy’s step father, spoke with our reporter.

“I am not the biological father of Pasca. I married his mother when she was rejected while pregnant with him. It is the present pregnancy she is carrying that belongs to me, but I just have to help save him even though he is someone else’s child”, he narrated
“We tried our best at home in the first three days when he was showing the signs, but when it went beyond us, we took him to the traditional birth attendant where he was for two days. When he was at the point of death, they said we should take him away.”

In the nursing ward was Charity Felix. The 30-year-old woman recounted how the doctor saved her life. “I went into labour around 2am. I had registered at Sonnex Hospital in Ajegunle where I had my second child who is presently six years old. My first child, who is 10, was delivered by the Ijaw women here in Igbologun. I could not cross to the other side of the ocean for delivery. When the Ijaw women tried all their best to take the delivery, with no success, they sent me to this private hospital”.

In tears, Charity said her first two children were delivered normally but the third was through C-section and she had been in the hospital for two weeks and two days because they could not settle their bills.

“Recently, my husband lost his job, and to eat became a problem. We have property to sell, but nobody is ready to buy. Even to pay the house rent is very difficult.” Charity, who hails from Igueben local government area of Edo State, has lost contact with her parents since she lost her handset.

Next to her was Elizabeth Luke, 20, who was rushed from a nearby Island, Sabokogi. She went into labour around 7 pm and, after failure by traditional birth attendants to deliver her of the body, around 4am, she was transported with a chartered speedboat to Igbologun Medical Centre where she went through a C-section. Elizabeth said there is a Primary Health Care, PHC in their community but no doctor and no drugs.

Several hours later, our reporter engaged Dr. Sodipo Gbolahan, who opened up on the pathetic status of healthcare services in the community.

Only doctor in the community
The only doctor serving the over 20,000 residents of Igbologan graduated from University of Ibadan in 2005. He served at Bishop Shanahan Hospital, Nsukka and later joined Ibadan Central Hospital for a year and a half before moving to Tolu Medical Centre in Olodi-Apapa.

While at Olodi-Apapa, a patient attending ante natal facilitated his relocation to Igbologun.

"When one of the pregnant women who came for ante natal told me they lost a pregnant woman with twins overnight because there was no means to transport her to the hospital, I was surprised and asked why they did not call for an ambulance. She said no ambulance could get there,”the doctor said.

Gbolahan discussed his intention to relocate with his wife who kicked against it. “But as God will have it, she was having problem with her own pregnancy; so I quickly took her to the United States of America and, before she returned, I had moved to the community.”

Over the past five years, he has been practising in Igbologun. Most of his patients have been vulnerable groups, children, pregnant women and the elderly. He explained that most of his patients come to his clinic after trying so many options and only come at the point of death.

“Few (pregnant women) register across the ocean in Ajegunle but usually have no means to cross the ocean and end up dead in the hands of traditional birth attendants or are brought to me very late. There was a case I just discharged, she presented very late, but eventually we saved her life but lost the baby. She went to be delivered in a church in the community, where there was no nurse. After several hours of prayer and miracles did not happen, they sent for me,” the doctor said.

“When I got there, there was no nurse to take the delivery. The woman was already weak, the baby distressed. She couldn’t push, so we had a C-section to bring the baby out dead, but the mother was alive. She spent three weeks here and they were able to raise the N70,000 bill. Sometimes when patients present, I don’t expect them to survive but miraculously they do.

“Generally here, people don’t go to hospital for delivery. They believe that strong women should deliver at home. There was a lady who, during her first pregnancy, tried to deliver at home but lost the baby. When she got pregnant a second time, she ran to me and said doctor, ‘nothing must happen to this baby’.

“When I came here five years ago, they told me there was no light two years before my arrival and in my five years of staying, there was no light. The situation persisted until January this year when we had light because Governor Akinwunmi Ambode came to our aid. But for three months now, it’s been blackout”.

Running the hospital
Gbolahan began running his hospital inside a room, self-contained, but later expanded. “I purchased used beds from doctors in Ajegunle. I keep one room as private ward in which those admitted are able to pay their bills. It is from there I settle my own bills, pay my staff and buy drugs. I am here until the day I will not be able to cope again. Probably before that time, government may have come to their rescue.”

Way forward
He urged the state government to partner with private facilities because Igbologun is just one of several islands.

"If you go to Igboejo, Tomaro, Itu Agan or Sabokoji, government can put three secondary healthcare centres which will feed Island Maternity or the Lagos General Hospital,” the doctor said.

“Also in this community, there is nothing to motivate the younger ones. After their primary school, the next thing is to be a boat driver or a fisherman. They seduce females and impregnate them and later go for abortions that result in complications.

“I was trying to talk to the school principal to start a scholarship. There could be potential doctors here. If a doctor is from among them, they would be committed. Half of the girls drop out in SS2 due to pregnancy. Most of time when I talk to the ladies, they say after secondary schools they will get married.”

Religious leader
The Chief Imam of Igbologun, Osani Saka Olaribigbe, who complained bitterly over the state of healthcare in the community, said the only PHC in Igbologun can best be described as an empty building.

“In that health centre, they don’t have any equipment, no drugs, no doctor; so we cannot call it hospital, it is just an ordinary building. The two nurses there only refer people to urban areas to seek healthcare and once it is 2pm they close the centre,” Olaribigbe said.

“The last delivery I could remember they took in that PHC was in 2004. Even when they refer us to across the ocean, there is no means of transporting our pregnant women to the General Hospital or Cardoso Hospital in Ajegunle”.

Traditional ruler
The Baale of the Igbologun, Chief Amisu Alao Gegeiyawo, also complained that they have tabled their challenges on several occasion to the government without favourable outcome.
He said that among the challenges confronting the community was lack of waste disposal facilities and source of potable water.

Gegeiyawo said that it’s been long since they enjoyed government services in the area of quality healthcare service.

"The only intervention we enjoy once a while is from non -governmental organisations, which come to distribute drugs and mosquito net to our people,” the traditional head explained.

“The PHC is under Amuwo Odofin Local Government and I have complained on several occasions about the unavailability of medical personnel at the centre and no drugs, but the situation remains the same.”
At the PHC, the Health Assistant, Mrs. Aminat Ogungbemi, declined to make comments.

The compound was overgrown with bush while the doctors’ lodge was under lock and key.

Success Nwogu, Ilorin

A student of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State, Mr. Kazeem Oloto, has been shot dead by suspected cultists.

Our correspondent gathered on Friday that fear enveloped students and other members of the academic community following the incident.

A source, who pleaded anonymity, said the students of the polytechnic had concluded what he described as a peaceful and successful Students’ Union election but were jolted some hours later when they discovered that Oloto had been killed.

The Kwara State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, confirmed Olotu’s death to Saturday PUNCH.

He said the victim might have been shot dead in a bush by suspected cultists who later dragged his lifeless body to the roadside.

He added that the police recovered some exhibits at the scene and later deposited Oloto’s body at a mortuary.

He said the police had commenced investigation into the incident.

The polytechnic authorities, in a statement by its Head, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, Mr. Ladi Badmus, said the victim was shot dead by the suspected cultists around Hamdalat International School, Atari, Offa.

According to him, the management of the institution ensured the release of Olotu’s body to his family after they had fulfilledthe necessary conditions laid down by the police.

Badmus said, “The management wishes to state categorically that the death of Kazeem Adedolapo Oloto, is not in any way connected to the just peacefully concluded Students’ Union election, held at the Polytechnic Mini Campus on June 13, 2016.

“It is, therefore, important to allay the fears of the general public, especially parents and guardians, that the sad event was not a fall-out of the election.

“As always, the Polytechnic campuses remain absolutely calm and peaceful just as staff and students go about their respective duties unhindered.”

lalasticlala

The story of how a woman turned into a snake while having sex with a man inside a hotel room in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, may sound strange and rather out of this world, but a journalist based in the state, Chris Udoh, swore that it happened in real life and he was a witness to it.

According to what he reported, the middle-aged man had taken the lady he met along a road in the town, to a hotel to have sex with her in the hotel but he met the shock of his life when the woman allegedly turned into a mammoth reptile.

Read Udoh's story here:
"The incident took place on Friday when the man took the lady to a three Star hotel in Eket metropolis (name of hotel withheld). The man checked in with the light complexion woman apparently in her mid-thirties to have a nice time but it turned out to be his worse nightmare.

Upon arriving the hotel, the pair sat at the bush bar and ordered for fresh fish pepper soup. According to the man, the lady opted for just drinks as she told him that she doesn't eat sea foods. Instead, she opted for a bottle of red wine.

After having few bottles of drinks, the couple retired to their room. While in there, the man said he observed that she took so much time in the rest room which warranted him to knock on the door frequently, but she kept answering that she will soon be through.

According to the man, when she finally came out, she told him not to touch her head while they made love, telling him that she had a severe headache and suggested that the red wine may have caused it.

The man said that when they started having sex, the lady started wriggling her body on the bed like a snake but he admitted that he didn't give serious thought to it 'as he was enjoying the action.'

The man who is in his mid-forties, said as soon as he had his orgasm and got up from her body, he noticed that her entire body was fast changing to a snake. He said he was overwhelmed by fear and jumped out of the room naked and raised an alarm which attracted both the hotel managers and others patrons to rush to his room.

When the management of the hotel made their way into the room, the lady was still half snake and half human, wriggling on the bed, but the hotel manager quickly rushed out to inform the police."

"They fastened the lock on the door of the room and instructed every one to keep off. Upon return, the lady had disappeared. The management handed over the man who brought the lady to their facility to the police from the Ukwa Police Division."

The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission called for an upward review of Value Added Tax from five per cent to about 7.5 per cent in order to improve the country’s revenue base.

The Chairman, RMAFC, Mr Shettima Gana, said this on Thursday in Kano at a two-day National Revenue Retreat.

Speaking on strategies to expand the revenue base of the government and the new sources for revenue generation, Gana said that Nigeria’s current VAT rate of five per cent was low.

He explained that charge on goods and services charged in Nigeria was one of the lowest in the world.

He said that in South Africa VAT was 14 per cent while in Togo, Senegal, Guinea and Chad, it was 18 per cent, and Niger 19 per cent.

He urged the Federal Government to start the process to increase it to between 7.5 per cent and 10 per cent.
VAT is collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service and shared to the three tiers of government.

Federal government receives 15 per cent, state governments, 50 per cent and local governments, 35 per cent.

Gana said that VAT was a high tax revenue yielding instrument that could be used to shore-up revenue required for financing the ever-expanding public expenditure and the needs of all the tiers of government.

He said that comprehensive research should be initiated to collect data from the Corporate Affairs Commission, banks, and state ministries of trade and others, to determine and capture all possible VAT targets.

Gana said globally, taxation was seen as the most stable source of government revenue for economic development, yet it was not being properly utilised in Nigeria.

He advised Government to introduce additional taxes, such as toll tax for road, luxury goods tax on mansions, exotic cars, private jets and jewelleries.

He also canvassed for the introduction of inheritance tax which would be paid by a person who inherits money or property from dead relations.

Gana also harped on the importance of developing agriculture, mining and tourism sector, which hold the potential for huge revenue stream for the government.

He urged governments to enhance collection efficiency, block leakages in revenue collection and beef up revenue monitoring and intelligence gathering.

He said that with the introduction of new taxes, more funds would come into government coffers, the economy would be expanded and employment created.

Similarly, the Director, Revenue and Investment, office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Bakari Wadinga, called for the need to harmonise Personal Income Tax (PIT) collection.

He said that FIRS should be allowed to take over the collection of PIT and it should be modelled after VAT collection.

He said that the present model which allows every state to collect its own PIT was ineffective and allowed huge revenue loss.

“It will be recalled that prior to the introduction of VAT in 1993, it was the sales tax which was being collected by state governments.

“In 1992, the total collection by the entire states of the federation put together, was less than N300 million, but by 1994, when VAT came into effect, the total VAT collections rose to N7 billion.

“By 1995 it rose to N21 billion and 10 years after, VAT rose to N222.6 billion in 2006 and over N700 billion in 2013.

“Thus, greater tax revenue could be raked in if there is collaboration on PIT collection by both states and federal government,” he said.

Wadinga said that if this was adopted, it would result in greater tax revenue generation for sharing.
NAN

A pastor identified as Gideon Garba, has been arrested by the police in Kaduna State after a teenage girl he got pregnant died in the process of abortion.

According to report, the married pastor who is originally from Plateau State but was posted to serve in the state, had been dating the girl, identified as Stella, said to be the daughter of a senior pastor in the church and a second year Ordinary National Diploma (OND) student of the Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic in the state and when she got pregnant, Pastor Gimba arranged for her to have an abortion and engaged a friend who works in a hospital.

The quack 'doctor' was said to have given the girl some drugs to flush out the pregnancy which was already in the third month but when the foetus could not be flushed out, he gave her some local herbs to drink.

The herbs was said to have reacted violently leading to the girl bleeding profusely. he parents rushed her to a hospital where doctors confirmed that she had taken drugs meant to terminate the pregnancy and proceeded to evacuate her womb but apparently, the damage had been much.

However, before she gave up the ghost, Stella confessed to her parents that it was Pastor Gimba that got her pregnant and took her to the quack doctor for the abortion.

The parents later reported the case to the police and Gimba and his friend were arrested and are now in detention while the police continue with their investigations.

A 42-year-old driver is currently reeling is fate in a private hospital in Asaba, the capital of Delta State, after a commercial sex worker almost severed his penis with her teeth after a fight broke out when refused to pay her after enjoying himself with her in an all night romp.

According to witnesses, the driver identified as Ogaga, works for a Lagos-based transport company and plies the Onitsha-Asaba-Lagos route on a daily basis.

On the day of the incident, he had conveyed passengers with his commercial bus from Lagos to the Asaba and instead of passing the night in the accommodation provided for drivers by the company, he decided to spend the night with the prostitute » in a brothel local on Okpanam road.

They had allegedly negotiated a payment of N15,000 for the night but after engaging the lady all through the night, Ogaga was said to have refused to pay her the complete money, claiming that the lady did not meet up to his standard and that he had spent money buying her drinks and pepper soup the night before.

This was said to have infuriated the lady who insisted he must pay her in full and a fight was said to have ensued between them. The man was said to have pummelled the lady who, in a bid to free herself, held on to his manhood and sank her teeth on it, almost biting the cap off.

It was his screams that brought the other prostitutes and the brothel management to his rescue. He was rushed to the hospital where he is currently recuperating.

By Kemi Yesufu

WHEN 10 members of the House of Representatives arrived the Renaissance hotel in Cleveland, Ohio as guests of the US government for the International Visitor Leadership Programme held between April 7 and 13, 2016, the millions of Nigerians they represent were oblivious that that the privilege would become an ill-fated trip of a sort. Constituents of these lawmakers went about their lives not knowing that the luxury hotel managed by the famous Marriott Hotel Group, would be the scene of an international sex scandal, that has caused them major embarrassment and again blighted the country’s reputation.

In most cases, even some of the wealthiest countries, the US inclusive, when hosting international exchange programmes or summits, work with a budget, with such events being hosted at affordable hotels.

But probably due to the calibre of those invited for the leadership programme, the US government chose to host the event at the sophisticated hotel located in downtown Cleveland. Daily Sun findings indicate that rooms in the Renaissance’s hotel start at about N92,000 per night. Further research on the hotel by Daily Sun also showed that it has 33 event rooms one or two of which would have hosted the conference the Nigerian lawmakers attended. Also not coming cheap is the usage of the now famous parking lot at the hotel, where two lawmakers were accused of asking a staff who assists in parking cars, known as valet in America, to help procure the services of prostitutes.

According to the website of the hotel, parking
there for a day when a guest does that by himself costs about N7,600 and about N9, 000 when the parking of the car is done by a valet and in most cases, wealthy clients at such hotels still drop a generous tip for valets.

It is therefore easy to hazard a guess, that any commercial sex worker who agrees to be pimped by valet at such a hotel would not come cheap.

It was in that luxury hotel that according to the outgoing US ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, the three lawmakers were engaged in sexual misconduct. Entwistle in a letter dated June 9, 2016, addressed to Speaker Yakubu Dogara, alleged that, Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi), Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom) and Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue) had during their stay in the hotel been involved in sexual misconduct.

The envoy in his letter said Gbillah and Ikon asked a staff of the hotel to engage prostitutes on their behalf and Gololo made sexual overtures to a housekeeper.

When the envoy’s letter became public knowledge, resulting in a roaring scandal, with members of the public expressing outrage both on social media and at different forums, Dogara in his first response, said in a series of tweets that his colleagues are innocent until proven guilty. On their part, the three lawmakers have held to their plea of innocence and just before it proceeded on a two- week break for Sallah, the House mandated its Committees on Foreign Relations, Ethics and Privileges to investigate the lawmakers.

The mandate given the joint committee was subsequent to the adoption of a motion raised under matters of privileges at plenary on Tuesday June 21 by Gbillah, who vehemently denied asking anyone to procure the services of a prostitute on his behalf.

Gbillah whose motion was presented in an atmosphere of pin-drop silence, explained that he was demanding on behalf of his colleagues, that the House conducts a “detailed and public” investigation into the matter.

He accused Entwistle of a “calculated campaign to tarnish and smear the image of we the lawmakers and this hallowed institution”.

The lawmaker in an emotion laden voice insisted that he has never cheated on his wife. He said: “For my colleagues who don’t know me and Nigerians out there , I want to categorically state here, for any avoidance of doubt, that no such incidence occurred.

“I want my colleagues and the nation to understand that though we are in the eye of the storm, we will bear this cross and courageously too. I want to say that this is calculated to tarnish the image of the three members and this very hallowed institution. I caution Nigerians who are quick to conclusion. I want to state categorically for all Nigerians to know again, that I love my wife without reservation. I have only eyes for my wife. I have never cheated on her. I wish she was able to come to this hallowed chambers to testify to this. I went on this trip with my wife and my baby. I travel everywhere I go with my wife and baby”.

Owing to the relevance of her committee to the investigation, Chairperson House Committee on Foreign Relations, Nnenna Ukeje( PDP-Abia), the only member allowed to speak after Gbillah, by Dogara, called for a “de-escalation of the situation”, probably in reaction to the deluge of negative comments against the lawmakers in the public domain. She maintained that the investigation of the House must be done with the understanding that Nigeria and the US share a long history of a peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship. The Speaker in his ruling emphasized the importance of the investigation to the House and the public as according to him, the reputation of the country was at stake. He said: “Few Nigerians were involved in Advance Fee Fraud. But it soon became what Nigerians were identified with.

“So if we think that this is about the three members, we will be wrong. It could become the standard which we and other Nigerians are judged”.

Dogara repeated his earlier call to uphold the legal mantra that accused persons be considered innocent until proven guilty. “Let me reiterate that the standard in the US and it is the same in Nigeria, is that you are innocent until proven guilty”, he restated. Even with the commencement of the investigation today, for many it is hard to predict its outcome as the situation is quite unprecedented. Regardless, a member of the joint committee, who spoke to this paper on condition of anonymity, said the House in recognition of the mood of the country over the scandal, will not only make the investigations transparent but will make findings public.

The Joint Committee met on Tuesday behind closed doors in preparation for its first public hearing holding today. Daily Sun learnt that the meeting was majorly to work out modalities by which this first of a kind investigation will be conducted. Nevertheless, the basic expectations are that the Foreign Relations Committee will handle the diplomatic angle, while the Committee on Ethics and Privileges will deal with the conduct of the lawmakers.

Of note is the fact that as investigations commence, again, the lawmakers are saying that the onus of proof lies with the US Envoy who turned down journalists at the Saturday July 2 cocktail party organised by the embassy to commemorate the 240th anniversary of America’s declaration of independence. “I have nothing to say about that” he said, when asked if the House had replied his letter or made any contact. But it is quite glaring, that the highly regarded envoy who is expected at today’s hearing will have to say all he knows about what happened in far away Cleveland, Ohio. Chairman of the Joint Committee, Ossai Nicholas Ossai, disclosed on Monday that the Committee decided not to invite the management of the Renaissance hotel because it believes the ambassador will come with all the necessary video evidence showing how and when the members he fingered carried out the actions for which he wrote the Speaker in protest.

Suffice to say that tensions are high in the House over the content of the video evidence the ambassador is supposed to present. Apart from the outgoing US ambassador, the Committee also extended invitations to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, the House Committee on Human Rights, the three accused lawmakers, the National Human Rights
Commission, as well as the other seven members that attended the leadership programme.

Most importantly, Nigerians, an overwhelming majority of whom are demanding for a thorough and transparent investigation will be watching the Joint Committee closely, more so a lot is expected from the duo of Ukeje and Ossai as ranking members whose contributions to debates on the floor are characteristically demanding of a higher standard of service and accountability from both elected and appointed government officials. It is safe to say that with this investigation, the House may just be facing one of its toughest tests as whatever report it comes up with will be freely critiqued by Nigerians, some of whom are already sceptical. Speaking to Daily Sun on the scandal, president of the Human Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA),
Emmanuel Onwubiko, opined that the Speaker shouldn’t have made any comments until investigations have been fully conducted.

In addition to this, Onwubiko is of the view that with the House conducting the investigation on the matter, the three accused lawmakers might just be exonerated. For him, a better option would have been, having the lawmakers investigated by a neutral committee set up by the Foreign Affairs ministry.

Also speaking on the scandal, lawyer and rights activist Esther Uzoma said it would be irresponsible to treat the allegations made against the lawmakers with levity.

Uzoma who is the National Coordinator, of the Proactive Gender Initiative, however posited that Nigerians have found it easy to believe the allegations, because of what she described as a “high prevalence of sexual excesses” by Nigerian men, especially the highly placed, a category, lawmakers fall into.

INTRIGUES continued at Senate, on Tuesday, as the Like Minds Senators, the group of senators who worked for the emergence of Dr Bukola Saraki as Senate President, met on Monday to plot the suspension of senators who wrote the petition that led to the trial of Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that the pro-Saraki senators resolved to push for the suspension of Senators Kabiru Marafa and Suleiman Hunkuyi, who were allegedly believed to be behind the petition.

The Senate president was said to have submitted at the executive session that he was taken to court when the Senate was on recess.

Inside sources said immediately after Saraki’s explanation, Melaye got up to demand that those behind the petition should stand up and disown the petition or risk suspension.

Melaye was said to have insisted that Marafa and Hunkuyi should be suspended if they failed to disown the petition and apologise to the Senate.

Senator Melaye was said to have expressed anger over the trial of Saraki and Ekweremadu for alleged forgery of Senate Standing Rules 2011.

Senator Oluremi Tinubu was later said to have chided the members for giving Melaye the floor at every closed session to threaten other senators.

She reminded her colleagues that they all represented their respective senatorial districts, adding that no one should threaten the other.

At this point, Melaye allegedly upbraided Senator Tinubu.

Senator Barnabas Gemade was said to have referred the Senate to the Senator James Manager’s peace and reconciliation committee, which recommended certain steps to achieve peace in the chamber.

Meanwhile, it was also gathered that Like Mind Senators threatened that the upper chamber should initiate impeachment proceedings against President Muhammadu Buhari.

lalasticlala

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN ) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and state governors in the country to make sure that perpetrators of unprovoked attacks against Christians and murder of some Christian leaders are brought to justice.

The Christian body said this is the only way the confidence of Christians can be maintained even as it called on Christian faithful across the country to buckle up and be ready to defend themselves against these incessant unprovoked and mindless attacks.

CAN in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its General Secretary, Rev. Dr . Musa Asake, condemned the gruesome murder of a 42 year old Christian mother of seven children, Mrs. Eunice Olawale, who was last Saturday brutally killed while doing Christian evangelism.

It noted that her murder came just about a month after Mrs . Bridget Agbaheme, a 74 year old Christian, was murdered at Wambai Market, Kano, due to an altercation with a Muslim man who came to the front of her shop to perform ablution. The Christian body added that just last week , a clergyman of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Reverend Zakariya, was killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

CAN said: “They attacked him on his farm, cut off his arms and legs , then chopped off his head with a machete. Another fresh but sad news reaching us is that of a Fulani militia group that is now on rampage, killing 81 people in multiple attacks in Logo and Ukum Local Government Areas of Benue State, ” it lamented.

While commiserating with the families of the affected people , it described as mindless, orgies of death and destruction of the Christian community in the country.

CAN said the recurring decimal of violence and murder of innocent Nigerian citizens on the basis of religious intolerance demands specific and relevant response from all concerned citizens in the country. It particularly expressed worry that the government in power seems to have adopted a lukewarm attitude to the evils being perpetrated in Nigeria in the name of religion.

“We pray that God in His mercies shall comfort and strengthen the families of all the Nigerians affected in these unwarranted murders unleashed upon the nation by religious extremists.

The discrimination against non -Muslims in Nigeria under the Muhammadu Buhari administration is assuming a dangerous dimension that should not be left to the vagaries of time and circumstance to resolve.

Meanwhile, a group, Christian Brotherhood Association of Nigeria, has condemned the gruesome murder of Mrs. Eunice Olawale, during routine morning evangelism in Kubwa, a suburb of Abuja on Saturday, describing it as outrageous, barbaric, abominable and sadism of the worst order.

The group in a statement by its President, Ayodele Sunday, said it was appalling that Mrs. Elisha, who was also a pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the area, could be slaughtered while preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

BY KOLA EKE-OGIUGO

A 39-year-old housewife, Mrs Maria Okolie, in Asaba, Delta State, has allegedly consulted a native doctor’s oracle to help find a lasting solution to alleged sexual escapades of her husband.

According to reports, the housewife, a mother of two, has been locked in the web of rumour mills from her friends who gossiped that the husband has been recklessly sleeping around with other women.

It was gathered that the housewife knowing that believing her friends, was the beginning of her downfall and disaster in marriage, kept a close watch on her husband and allegedly hired detective to follow him around.

It was also gathered that she was not getting enough facts about her husband’s escapades hence her decision to consult a native doctor who collaborated her friends allegations about her husband, and recommended that she baths with concoctions.

Ignorant of the native doctor and her friends’ plan, she agreed and lost consciousness after having her bath with ingredients given to her by the native doctor, and started having affairs with the native doctor.

Expectedly, her friends immediately informed the husband of what was going on between his wife and the native doctor, and all hell was let loose, as she was allegedly beaten to a pulp by her husband.

She was said to have confessed her sins, and the native doctor who lives somewhere in Ugbolu community was arrested by the police in Ugbolu/Allah Police Division. However, the police who pleaded anonimity, confirmed that the native doctor was still being held for his atrocities in connection with housewives in Asaba and its environs.

lalasticlala

Power firms are pushing for a fresh 100 percent increase in electricity tariff, the second in six months, Daily Trust investigations have shown.
The electricity distribution companies (DisCos) raised tariff by over 45 percent in February.

The DisCos had written to the regulatory authority, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) demanding hike in tariff from the current average of N24 per kilowatt (for residential consumers) to N50 per kilowatt.

However, the Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr Remi Ogunmefun, told Daily Trust in Lagos that his association had opposed that move in writing to the NERC.
The NERC announced the 45 percent hike in electricity tariff with effect from February 1, 2016, and said theincrease would enhance service delivery and customer satisfaction.

But since the increment, the electricity supply across the country has dropped affecting both household and commercial activities.

A source at the NERC confirmed to Daily Trust that the DisCos had written a letter seeking for the increase.
“When MAN got wind of the power firms’ letter seeking for the 100 percent hike, they equally wrote a letter countering the DisCos claims,” the source said.

The spokesperson of NERC, Mike Faloseyi, when contacted on Sunday, said he was not aware of the proposed hike but promised to get back to our reporter. When Daily Trust contacted him yesterday, he said he was in a meeting but would consult with the commission chairman and get back to us. But he never did.

Power firms justify tariff

Daily Trust observed that in an attempt to justify its proposed electricity hike, the umbrella body for DisCos, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) has been running advertisements in about 10 national dailies in the last five weeks highlighting “basic electricity facts the public must know.”

The publicity messages, ANED said, were meant to clarify the position of 11 power distribution companies in the power sector value chain.
Some of the paid publications carried messages such as: “Electricity is a commodity with a price that must be paid.”

“The average residential tariff of N24.12/kWh is still significantly cheaper than self-generated power at a cost estimated to be in excess of N50/kWh,” among others.

ANED on its website also said the DisCos had a five-year performance commitment to reduce power interruption, extend the distribution network, increase metering and improve the quality of customer service.
One other message by the association reads: “DisCo operators only collect 24 percent of the tariff revenues. The balance goes upstream to transmission, generation and other industry stakeholders (CBN, NERC, NBET, etc).”

The association said without a tariff that allowed the operators to recover their cost of operation, there would be no increased generation or improved service delivery.

On the recent vandalism, ANED in its most recent series of paid publicity said electricity customers should blame vandals and not the DisCos as “we cannot give what we do not have.”

MAN rejects fresh tariff

Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) confirmed to Daily Trust that it recently wrote the NERC to express displeasure over moves to increase electricity tariff in the country.

Mr. Ogunmefun said the letter to NERC was a continuation of MAN’s opposition to intense lobbying by electricity distribution companies to increase electricity tariff without recourse to procedures and rules.
He wondered why the DisCos were so anxious to introduce a new tariff regime when the ongoing tariff would only lapse in 2017.

“We have an agreement with the electricity distribution companies on MYTO 2 which states that the current electricity tariff would terminate in 2017.
“We have consistently challenged the moves by the distribution companies to hike tariff for manufacturers outside the MYTO 2,” he said.

Ogunmefun said, “We filed a suit at the Federal High Court Lagos which has since given injunction stopping the electricity distribution companies from going ahead to tamper with the current electricity tariff.

“We will not relent in our opposition to the moves by power companies to increase electricity tariff outside the MYTO 2.”
He said the manufacturing sector alone contributed over 80 percent of the revenue of the power distribution companies as such there was no justification to stultify the sector with arbitrary tariff regime.

He said Nigeria was battling with infrastructure gaps and frustrating manufacturers with high electricity tariff would go a long way in killing ease of doing business in the country.

“To imagine an increase in electricity tariff with the already frustrating state of infrastructure in the country is a mortal blow on the manufacturing sector,” he said.

Civil society kicks

The Nigerian Electricity Consumers Advocacy Network (NECAN), a consumer group earlier initiated by NERC, has frowned on the planned increase while accusing the commission of complicity.

NECAN President, Tomi Akingbogun, told our reporter yesterday they confirmed the proposed increment with MAN and that they would take up the issue with the minister of power.

“We totally condemn it because it is dangerous for our economy at a point when the DisCos are not supplying any electricity,” he said.
He said any fresh increase “is quite dangerous for this economy because it is like inciting the people against the government; it means the people are being pushed to the wall.

“The economy is almost nearing a recession. The increment if done will be 200 percent in two years. We believe the minister will not approve such and for those who are having such thoughts including the owners of the DisCos, are they really in Nigeria?”
Akingbogun said “Even Ghana just complained of poor power supply because of the vandalism here in Nigeria. We are not having enough power now. This is the fourth time they will be asking for tariff rise. When they first asked for 100 percent, NERC gave them 50 percent and it happened the second time.

“NERC should have thrown their request out but it is better we don’t wait for NERC because they may not say anything to the advantage of the public. In the past, they aligned with the GenCos, that is why we, as the voice of the public, said this must not be done,” he said.

Consumers’ reaction

Individual electricity consumers across Abuja and environs also expressed their dismay over the new proposal. Mr Nwigwe Obi who runs a welding venture in Nyanya, Abuja said it would not work as Nigerians would resist such moves at all cost.

“We have not even gotten over that of February 1, 2016 when it rose to over 45%. This time, government should know that everybody will rise up in protest because it is too much,” he said.

Malam Haliru Musa, a cold room operator in Mararaba, Nasarawa state said the DisCos should not think that way because the power supply situation has been bad in the past months.

“The DisCos won’t think of that because vandalism has crippled power and they have not supplied meters to customers. Nobody will pay if they attempt to even increase a little,” he said.

Mr Odoh Vincent, a resident of Lugbe, Abuja said “with the last increase, my estimated bill rose from an average N3,000 monthly to about N7,000. The DisCos promised to provide meters after the February increase but we have not seen any yet.”

DisCos response

When contacted yesterday, the spokesperson of ANED, Barrister Sunday Oduntan said in a text message that it was not true. “No. That is not true. Call me later,” Oduntan said. He didn’t answer subsequent calls or respond to text messages sent to his mobile phone.

No fewer than five Nigerian ministers are in London for the Nigeria Trade and Investment Road Show holding from July 11 to July 15, a statement said on Monday.

The statement, issued by the British High Commission, said that the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, is leading the delegation.

It listed other ministers on the delegation as Mr Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation); Chief Audu Ogbeh (Agriculture and Rural Development); Alhaji Suleiman Adamu (Water Resources), and Sen. Hadi Sirika (Aviation).

According to the statement, the Road Show is being organised by the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) in collaboration with the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

It stated that the show was for a select group of key officials from the federal and state governments, to highlight business opportunities in Nigeria to UK investors, key UK government agencies such as UK Export Finance, Infrastructure and Projects Authority.
It listed sectors being showcased as energy, agriculture, transport, solid minerals, ICT and infrastructure.

The Nigeria Trade and Investment Road Show, a week-long activity which begins with an industry event tagged ‘Nigeria Open for Business'', will feature keynote speeches from the five ministers.

“The objective of the road show is to create a platform for the Nigerian government to profile business opportunities to a UK audience and build relationships with international businesses.

“It also aims to link into global value chains and establish links to development finance with the view to developing stronger commercial ties between Nigeria and UK,” the statement said.

The UK Trade and Investment is the British Government department that helps UK-based companies of all sizes to grow and become more profitable by exporting their products and services.
It added that the department also support all types of overseas businesses and business people to establish a presence in the UK. (NAN)

The House of Representatives’ joint committee on ethics and privileges and foreign affairs investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against three members of the House has invited the United States’ Ambassador to Nigeria , Mr. James Entwistle, to appear before it on Thursday, July 14.

The committee , which commences sitting on Thursday, two weeks after it was mandated to carry out the assignment, also invited the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC ) and the three lawmakers alleged to have engaged in sexual misconduct.

It was New Telegraph that exclusively broke the story of the sex scandal. Chairman of the joint committee, Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai, who disclosed this at the weekend in Abuja, said the investigative hearing will be conducted in the open at Hearing Room 028 at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.

Ossai had earlier hinted that the committee was working assiduously to put logistics in place for successful conduct of the exercise. He explained that the delay in the commencement of the investigation was due to the absence of some members of the committee , who were on lesser Hajj to Saudi Arabia.

He said: “ For now , the ethics and privileges committee is working behind the scene to ensure that it conducts a successful investigation into the matter in line with the mandate given to it. ”

Recall that following allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against some members of the House by the United States Embassy in Nigeria , the leadership had, on June 16 , mandated the joint committee to investigate the veracity or otherwise of the allegations. While Ossai chairs the Ethics and Privileges Committee , Hon. Nnenna Elendu- Ukeje (PDP, Abia ) chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Both committees have resolved to commence investigation into the matter . The Ambassador had, in a letter dated June 9 , alleged that three members of the House namely: Hon. Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi), Hon. Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom ) and Hon. Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue) had, on a recent visit to US for the International Visitor Leadership Programme, brought disrepute to the parliament by allegedly soliciting for sex from prostitutes and grabbing an hotel housekeeper.

Ten lawmakers were invited by the US Government for the conference held in Cleveland, Ohio. Entwistle ’s letter reads: “It is with regret that I must bring to your attention the following situation. Ten members of the Nigerian National Assembly recently travelled to Cleveland, Ohio as participants in the International Visitor Leadership Programme on good governance.

We received troubling allegations regarding the behaviour of three members of the delegation to this, the U.S Government ’s flagship professional exchange programme “The U.S. Department of State and the Cleveland Council on World Affairs received reports from employees of the Cleveland hotel where the representatives stayed, alleging the representatives engaged in the following behaviour. ” According to the Ambassador, “Mohammed Garba Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited for sex from her.

While the housekeeper reported this to her management , this incident could have involved local law enforcement and resulted in legal consequences for Representative Gololo. “Mark Terseer Gbillah and Samuel Ikon allegedly requested hotel parking attendants to assist them to solicit for prostitutes. ”

Already, the Embassy has revoked the visas of the three lawmakers even before the commencement of the investigation . The three lawmakers have denied the allegations.

’Femi Asu

Should the ongoing strike embarked upon by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria be allowed to linger beyond Wednesday, most depots in Apapa, Lagos, will run out of fuel stock, our correspondent has learnt.

Following the commencement of the strike on Thursday, loading at Apapa depots, where many marketers get petroleum products to other states, has been reduced due to the absence of workers of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund Board.

The PEF personnel usually certify marketers’ trucks to enable them to get bridging funds for fuel being transported to distant parts of the country.

It was gathered that marketers were only loading to Lagos and other South-West states that required no payment of bridging fund by the PEF.

The Federal Government had said it would meet with the leadership of PENGASSAN today (Monday) in a bid to resolve the problem.

A source, who is an official of an independent marketing company in Lagos, said, “Terminal owners can only load what is in their tanks, but they cannot receive any product now from vessels. If they finish what is in their tanks now and bring in any vessel, the Department of Petroleum Resources is not going to certify it for discharge. They do a lot of tests on any product that comes to Apapa.

“That is how it is going to affect the supply in Lagos if the strike lingers on. Depots in Apapa should finish their stock on or before Wednesday. I don’t see any depot that will still have stock after Wednesday in Apapa.”

The Chairman, Trade Union Congress, Rivers State chapter, Mr. Chika Onuegbu, said fuel distribution was the smallest bit of what would go wrong as a result of the PENGASSAN strike.

Onuegbu said, “I think the main impact will be this week when production facilities, export terminals and gas supply to power plants will be shut down. It will affect the government’s revenue significantly. I pray we don’t get to that extent, because the economy is already in a bad shape.

“That is why the government should act fast and engage the union to resolve the issues.”

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Friday cautioned members of the public against embarking on any form of panic purchase of petroleum products in anticipation of scarcity due to the ongoing strike.