Nigeria Risks FIFA Ban •EFCC, Police swoop on NFF secretariat

From Thisday;s Sunleye-Solawumi Olaleye, Sufuyan Ojeifo and Olawale Ajimotokan with agency report, 07.01.2010

After a poor showing at the ongoing World Cup, President Goodluck Jonathan has suspended the Super Eagles from international competition for two years.
Under the move, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) is to be dissolved and an interim board appointed while an audit of funds spent on the country’s outing at the World Cup would be undertaken.
But following Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) rules, Nigeria risks sanctions as government’s interference with national associations is strictly dealt with.


Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Ima Niboro told State House Correspondents yesterday the decision would "enable us put our house in order and work out a more meaningful way to engage the global stage in terms of football.”
The Super Eagles was sent out in the group stage of the World Cup without winning a game, losing two matches and pulling a disappointing 2-2 with South Korea.
Jonathan’s decision is said to be based on the advise of a presidential taskforce set up to investigate the failure of the team.
FIFA told BBC last night it had no official information on the matter.


"However, in general, FIFA's position regarding political interference in football is well known. Our statutes do not allow for any political interference," the FIFA statement added.
The President’s decision is bound to elicit sharp criticisms from soccer loving Nigerians.
FIFA had in 1989 banned Nigeria from participating in age-group football competitions for two years due to age cheating.
Niboro said: "President Goodluck Jonathan has directed that Nigeria withdraws from international competition for two years to enable the country to put its house in order.


"This directive became necessary following Nigeria's poor performance in the ongoing World Cup."
The President also plans an audit of the country's World Cup organising committee, he said.
"If any financial misappropriation is discovered, all officials responsible will be held accountable," Niboro added.
NFF released a statement apologising to "all football-loving Nigerians" for the country's early exit from South Africa.
"No previous board has qualified Nigeria for all major tournaments internationally," the statement said, adding that officials wanted Swedish coach Lars Lagerback to remain at the helm.


Rivers State Governor and Head of the Presidential Task Force on the World Cup campaign, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, confirmed the move, saying Nigeria would write to football's world governing body FIFA to explain its decision.
He said the decision was to ensure “the embarrassing outcome of the World Cup in South Africa won’t repeat itself.
“We struggled to qualify. We got to the World Cup; we got a new coach; Presidential Task Force (PTF) was paying the coach. We agreed to pay the coach N1.3 million which we paid.
“We got to the World Cup and we had all sorts of maladministration; we also had all sorts of problems and we found out that the problem of Nigeria Football now is structural and there is the need for us to look inward.”
Following the decision, Nigeria risks its national and club teams as well as referees being banned from all international competitions.


The country’s officials may also not be allowed to attend meetings or events.
Nigeria was set to begin the bid to qualify for the 2012 African Nations Cup finals in September against Madagascar.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and police yesterday swooped on the NFF secretariat.
Some of the principal officers of the football body were quizzed by the EFCC on the World Cup spending while the police were on hand to maintain peace and order.
Member of staff were observed carting away personal items such as computers, cars and office files from the secretariat.
NFF Secretary-General Bolaji Ojo-Oba and Board member Taiwo Ogunjobi refused to speak with journalists over the withdrawal and the probe of the World Cup finances.


Indications of what government had in the offing had been looming before the start of the World Cup when Sports Minister Ibrahim Bio on the eve of the World Cup kick-off ordered the NFF to suspend all electoral processes, but the Nigeria federation insisted on proceeding with the time-table for the polls.
Pressure from Bio to stop the NFF board election scheduled for August 21 prompted FIFA to warn government of the implication via a letter signed by FIFA Secretary- General Jerome Valcke that the country risks ban should such meddling continue.
NFF Chairman Sani Lulu Abdulahi, a civil servant, is seeking re-election with other members of the present executive committee.
At an executive committee meeting on Tuesday, the members had asked for more time to enable them articulate how they spent money voted for the prosecution of the World Cup finals.

Vote Or Quench: An Open Letter To The Nigerian Youth

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to voice my opinion and suggest solutions to a shortlist of our country's well known and resented problems. From the ongoing corruption stripping away our depleting resources, the deplorable school system depriving our students of a proper education, to the lack of infrastructure hindering our Nation's growth. A lot of the blame has fallen on our leaders, the leaders that have deceived us, and have never had our best interest at heart. The response I received was astounding. Nigerians thanked me for my honesty and blamed me for my complacency. Yes, I was speaking to our leaders and demanding change from them, but what was I doing to make a difference. The saying "if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem" never rang truer. The truth of the matter is that the time for blaming our leaders has come to an end. It's time for us to look within and ask ourselves what are we doing to make a change.

This time I am writing to my peers, the Nigerian youth, the future of our country. We are can no longer avoid blame in the current affairs of our country. Though we are very much aware of the injustice, and heart breaking cruelty we are forced to endure, we shrug our shoulders and say that's the system. How much longer will we continue to accept this system? A system that has forced our brothers and sisters to a life of crime, abetted by a lack of opportunity. A system that has led to the destruction of the once beautiful shores of the Niger Delta. A system that forces you to bribe your professor for a passing grade. A system that puts fear in your heart every time a police officer that is supposed to be protecting you, threatens your life for 100 Naira. How much longer will we accept this as a normal part of life?

Jonathan’s request to slash 2010 budget divides Reps

Members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday disagreed over a request by President Goodluck Jonathan to cut the 2010 budget. They, however, deferred final voting on the matter pending the report of the Committee on Appropriations.

The committee, which is headed by Mr. Ademola Adeseun, was given up till Thursday (tomorrow) to submit the report.

The proposal to slash the budget of N4.6trn by about 40 per cent, passed through second reading at the House amid disagreements.

Ironically, a supplementary budget of N639.8bn was also debated by the House and referred to the Joint Committees on Appropriations/Finance for further scrutiny.

Out of the supplementary figure, the bulk of N507bn went to recurrent expenditure.

About N200bn of the money was allocated to settle the monetisation arrears of Power Holding Company of Nigeria workers and other public sector employees threatening to go on strike.

Another N10bn was set aside to mark Nigeria‘s 50th independence anniversary.

The balance of about N130bn in the supplementary proposal was allocated to projects left out in the original 2010 budget.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Mr. John Enoh, in defending the President‘s request, noted that there were challenges in meeting the revenue projections.

According to him, from an initial projection of N5.2tn, the revenue has dropped to N4.2tn.

Enoh added that the three tiers of government would collectively lose about 27 per cent of their share of revenue from the Federation Account by implication.

He explained that with another N639.8bn being required to fund the supplementary budget, government would have to “contend with the problem of five per cent deficit of GDP.”

However, the Chairman of the Committee on Gas Resources, Mr. Igo Aguma, disagreed, saying that what the government should tell Nigerians, was to admit that 2010 would be another year of “failed budget.”

“This budget has failed, even before starting it; by July, we will be in the third quarter and we are still here discussing budget,” he said.

Aguma observed that Jonathan’s request was unnecessary considering the fact that many of the projects in the budget were ongoing, “meaning that they were rolled over.”

He contended that rather than halt the entire process pending the review of the budget, government ought to have continued to execute projects within the limits of the funds available to it.

But the Chairman of the Committee on Public Petitions, Mr. Cyril Maduabum, reminded the House that lawmakers reached an understanding with Jonathan to sign the budget last April and to submit a request for the review later.

He noted that the ”gentle-manly” agreement should be kept in the interest of Executive-Legislative harmony.

Maduabum said, “Let the amendment bill pass second reading first; the Committee on Appropriations can study the budget again and come up with recommendations.

“The issue of whether it is 40 per cent or 20 per cent that should be slashed can now be looked into by the committee.”

Nigerian banking system still highly risky – Rating agency

Nigerian banks are extremely risky, despite a N620bn bailout of the sector in 2009, a global rating agency, Standard & Poor, has said.

“The Nigerian banking system is still highly risky. The ratings we have for the banks are in the single ‘B’ category, it‘s a very very low level compared to most banks in the world,” Mr. John Gibling, Managing Director (financial institutions) at S&P, said in London on Monday.

Gibling told the audience at an ongoing conference on Nigeria that there was still a long way to go in the ongoing reform of the banking sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“We continue to see the Nigerian banking system as very high risk. In regulatory reform, there is still a long way to go,” he added.

Gibling spoke just as the CBN Governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, reaffirmed that the apex bank would from mid-July begin to receive offers from investors interested in acquiring majority stake in the five banks it rescued in August 2009.

The banks are Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Oceanic Bank International Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, BankPHB Plc and Afribank Plc.

The CBN, according to Bloomberg, is hoping that investors will recapitalise nine banks that were weakly capitalised due to lax risk management.

Gibling, however, praised Sanusi and his predecessor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, for the banking sector reforms, saying the bailout had been a ”very, very brave move” which had prevented a catastrophe.

But he said that the banks needed to improve their risk management to boost the confidence of foreign investors.

The S&P boss said, ”What Nigerian banks really need is to continue improving their risk management culture, particularly in developing strong asset quality measures.

”They are very dependent on short-term funding ... They need to develop more long-term funding, which will help them in funding more long-term financing projects for the economy.”

in Basel, Switzerland, Lamido said on Monday, that the CBN expected three international lenders, a number of private equity houses and local lenders to submit offers for the rescued banks.

Sanusi said the interested parties were already undertaking ”detailed” due diligence,

The CBN governor, on the sidelines of the Bank for International Settlements annual meeting in Basel, said, “We‘ve got three international banks that have remained in the serious running to acquire banks.

“There is also a number of local banks and private equity firms. By the middle of August we should actually have clear visibility on at least five of the banks.”

The financial crisis left the banks with toxic assets of over N1tn, New York-based Eurasia Group had estimated a year ago.

Sanusi added that securing a future for Union Bank, Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank, Bank PHB and Afribank was the priority of the CBN since they (the five banks) were the most ”systematically important” banks to Nigeria.

The CBN is waiting for presidential approval for a law that will create the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, a government entity that will buy bad debts from the banking sector, using funds raised through government-guaranteed local bond issuance. The approval is expected early in July.

The bonds will be issued on a deal-by deal-basis.

CBN gets buyers for troubled banks

Tuesday, 29 June 2010 00:00

• President woos foreign investors
• N’Assembly may review 2010 budget
THREE international banks and some local investors have offered to take over five troubled banks in Nigeria.
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, disclosed yesterday in Basel, Switzerland, that the picture on the sale of the banks would become clearer by mid-August this year.
Sanusi said that the prospective buyers would submit their offers to the Federal Government by mid-July.
According to him, “we have got three international banks that have remained in the serious running to acquire the banks. We also have a number of private equity houses and local lenders, who will submit offers for banks bailed out by the state by mid-July.”
He said the interested parties were undertaking “detailed” due diligence on the affected banks.
Sanusi told journalists in Basel that “by the middle of August, we should actually have clear visibility on at least five of the banks.”
The CBN chief said, “securing a future for Union Bank, Oceanic, Intercontinental, Bank PHB and Afribank is our priority as these banks are the most systematically important” to Nigeria.”
Also yesterday, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan pledged his administration’s resolve to execute programmes that would make Nigeria more attractive to foreign investors.
Jonathan told the outgoing Ambassadors of China and The Netherlands in separate meetings that Nigeria will do what is necessary to attract more foreign investments because it is conscious of the fact that foreign investors are needed to create jobs for the country’s growing youth population.
Similarly, the Speaker of House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, has said the National Assembly would work with the Federal Ministry of Finance and other departments of the Executive arm of government to review the 2010 budget if there was a drop in the price of oil in the international market.
He told journalists at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on his way to Abuja that the National Assembly might as a result of reduction in the prices of oil, cut the budget by 45 per cent.
Meanwhile, a senior Standard & Poor's analyst has said Nigerian banks continue to look extremely risky despite the bailout measures of the CBN last year.
“The Nigerian banking system is very high risky. The ratings we have for the banks are in the single B category, it's at a low level compared to most banks in the world," Managing Director for Financial Institutions at S&P, John Gibling, said at the Nigeria Golden Jubilee Business Summit 2010.
"We continue to see the Nigerian banking system as very high risky. In regulatory reform there is still a long way to go."
The CBN hopes investors will recapitalise nine banks rescued last year through a $4 billion bailout by the government.
Jonathan welcomed the increased volume of trade among Nigeria, China and The Netherlands, adding that Nigeria had opened its doors to foreign investors more than ever before in aviation, power supply and infrastructure, previously run by the government alone.
The President assured the outgoing envoys that his administration would deal with all domestic issues that could discourage foreign investors, stressing that progress had been made in areas such as peace in the Niger Delta and power supply.
Jonathan reiterated his commitment to good governance as well as free and fair elections in Nigeria next year, stating that steps would be taken to address grey areas in the electoral system.
He thanked Ambassadors Arie Van Der Wiel of The Netherlands and Xu Jiango of China for their efforts in the past four years to promote trade and cooperation between Nigeria and their countries, and wished them well at their new posts.
Bankole, who reacted to questions on why Jonathan asked for a review of the 2010 budget, said: “As far as the 2010 budget is concerned, we are working with the Executive arm of government to make sure that the National Assembly pass it so that we can move forward in building the nation.
“I am sure it (a reduction in the prices of oil) could affect the budget but those things would be worked out within the appropriation committees of the National Assembly and the Finance Ministry,” he said.
The National Assembly had in March passed a budget of N4.6 trillion, up from the N4.02 trillion submitted in November 2009 by the Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji, on behalf of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Bauchi State reinstated Deputy resumes amidst threats

Following his reinstatement by a court, Alhaji Garba Gadi, the previously impeached deputy governor of Bauchi state has resumed at the deputy governor�s office at the Bauchi State government house.

Channels Television gathered that Alhaji Gadi gained entrance into the deputy governor�s office as early as 6.45am without any resistance.

Gadi had told newsmen last Friday that he will resume work today, June 28 and no one has the right to resist him.

The reinstated Deputy Governor described the report that the state government had gone to the Court of Appeal in Jos to seek for stay of execution of the court�s declaration that the status quo be maintained pending the determination of the appeal filed, as false.

He said: "They couldn�t have appealed because the notice was released to them by 4pm on that Friday and it was not possible for them to have approached any court as the presiding judge was not in Jos on that Friday.

"I will resume office tomorrow (Monday) and anybody who tries to stop me will be charged to court for contempt," he said.
�Meanwhile, the state�s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Al-Mustapha Suleiman Hassan had described Gadi�s planned resumption as illegal, warning, he will be arrested, if ventures to resume office.

His words: "He (Gadi) doesn�t have power to go there by himself. It is the same authorities that reinstated him that should get Sheriff to take him to office but that cannot be done since there is an appeal in Jos.
"The Commissioner maintained, "the status quo be maintained."

Gadi in response to the question of his working relationship with the Bauchi State Governor, Governor Isa Yuguda considering the frosty relationship that has developed between them as a result of his impeachment by the state House of Assembly, Gadi; said "before the problem started we maintained cordial relationship and by the time the impeachment saga was on, he, Yuguda swore that he did not know anything about it.

"So if I resume tomorrow, I will work amicably with him. I don�t have anything against him and I believe he too does not have anything against me."
Investigations revealed that all the security men attached to the office of the deputy governor have been restored. When asked to comment on the development, the Special Assistant to Governor Yuguda on media, Sanusi Mohammed said as far as the issue is concerned, government has appealed the judgment in Jos.

His words: "It has now become a legal issue so I don�t want to comment on it."
The court presided over by� Justice Haruna Tsamani had� last Friday declared that the removal of the plaintiff from office by the 2nd defendant on the 13th of August 2009 based on the recommendation or report of the 4th defendant when the matter was� still pending� in court was unconstitutional.

Tsamani stated further that the removal of� Gadi based on the recommendation of the defendant when the plaintiff was not given a fair hearing was unconstitutional and therefore null and void. "It is a shameful thing that the law-making body should breach the law of fair hearing by not giving the deputy governor, Garuba Gadi ample opportunity to defend himself before his removal from office," he said.

The court then ordered that the incumbent Deputy Governor, Babayo Garba Gamawa vacate his office as deputy governor of the state and Gadi be reinstated. Tsamani therefore declared that all the financial emoluments of Garba Gadi from the date of his removal from office as Deputy Governor till his reinstatement be paid fully.

Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the state government, Ben Obguche said Gadi cannot resume office just like that just because the court ruled saying, they will appeal against it.
"There is no way he can just go to the government House and say they should reinstate me, the court has to play some roles.
"Our client has an option to appeal against it. You know the position of the law, the moment that is done they will bring application for the execution of the judgment pending the position of the appeal and that will take quite some time.

"For now, the lower court has done his own; it is now for our client to decide. The moment they decide and instruct us, we�ll go ahead for the appeal, you know the judgment is appealable we can go and appeal against it. The Counsel to the plaintiff, the former Deputy Governor, Ado Dauda stated if the state government decided to go on appeal, they would also respond, urging the people of the state to abide by the rule of law.

The reinstatement of the Bauchi State Deputy has received both commendation and critism as some members of the All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP], at both the State House of Assembly and National Assembly have already paid Gadi a solidarity visit at his office.

ANPP has praised the judiciary for reinstating Bauchi State Deputy Governor Mohammed Garba Gadi.

ANPP National Publicity Secretary Emma Eneukwu said yesterday in Abuja that the party was not surprised that Gadi was reinstated by the court.

Eneukwu alleged that Governor Isa Yuguda victimized Gadi for his refusal to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Yuguda and Gadi won the election on the platform of ANPP, but the governor defected to PDP.

Eneukwu said: "This is democracy and rule of law in action. We are not surprised that Gadi was reinstated. The deputy governor is a victim of injustice. This is a major plus for the judiciary and the rule of law."

He added that the development was an indication that ANPP enjoyed appreciable support from Bauchi State.
"It is well known fact that Bauchi belongs to ANPP. There is no hiding place for ingrates as the people are prepared to restore the party�s honour."

ANPP chairman in Bauchi State, Sani Shehu Mallam, described the verdict as victory for democracy.

Omisore Joins Osun Governorship race, seeks to become PDP flag bearer

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Iyiola Omisore,
has joined other 18 aspirants seeking to be flag bearer of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) in next year election.

Omisore said his ambition has been to become Osun governor adding that
the ‘’ambition has caused me a lot of sacrifices so much that I almost paid the
supreme price of losing my life”.

He also disclosed that this is his 3rd attempt in the last 11 years as he
expressed confidence of winning the PDP ticket and eventually win the state
general election.

According to him, the poor economic situation of all the 36 states is due
plummeting prices of oil.