Three Chinese Nationals who are workers in a mining site in Wase town of Plateau State, have been quarantined for suspected case of the novel coronavirus.

Commissioner for Information in Plateau, Dan Manjang revealed that the Chinese citizens who flew into Abuja on Wednesday February 26, travelled down to Jos, the Plateau State capital on Thursday February 27.

Manjang who averred that there is no confirmed case of coronavirus in Plateau, said the Chinese nationals are still being clinically examined by a medical expert deployed by the State Ministry of Health.

He told Channels Television;

“The situation right now is that they have been isolated.

“The three of them came in through Abuja and once we heard that, the Commissioner for Health had to take a proactive measure to send a medical team to Wase to go and investigate.

“The problem that we have is that there is a tendency for people to think that investigation or quarantine, as the case may be, means that there is an outbreak of the virus.

“As far as Plateau case is concerned, there has been no known case of this virus on the Plateau; we just took proactive measures to make sure that we place them (the Chinese nationals) under investigation and that will take 14 days.”

Manjang further disclosed that the Plateau state government is currently waiting for the report of the team that was sent to Wase before taking the next step.

The Deputy governor of Lagos state, Obafemi Hamzat, was on TVC this morning where he revealed that the Italian man diagnosed with the first case of Coronavirus in Nigeria, went to Ewekoro in Ogun state before he fell ill and was brought to Lagos where he was diagnosed with the virus.

This young man came in from Italy, Milan. He came in on the 25th. He has a consultancy job with a company in Ogun state. He landed on the 26th, went to Ewekoro and then he fell ill and the doctors were smart enough to say this is somebody that is coming from Italy that has just suddenly fell ill. So they took him in. So we sent an ambulance there with a pep jacket. So, they brought him in and then he was diagnosed.

The good thing is that he was brought in yesterday morning. Within four hours, he was diagnosed. Our diagnostic tool seemed to work better than we expected. Normally it takes about 8 hours but within four hours, we were able to determine. So, he is our biosecurity lab in Yaba. It is a lab that we built that can accommodate 100 for now but it is only one bed that is occupied today. Hopefully it wouldn't spread. So we are ready. We are well equipped.

He is there and he is getting better. The challenge is not for people to have the virus. If you don't know, that is the challenge. In this case, it is known that he has it. He is going to be okay. He is steady. The doctors say he is going to be fine.

What we are doing now is that he came in through one airline, so we are trying to track everybody on that flight. He went from Lagos to Ewekoro. Who has he met? What has happened? Those are the people that we are tracking, isolate them and then check.'' he said

The Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Plc, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, said the tier-1 bank has begun collaborating with fintech companies to drive payment solutions and other products for its customers. This comes as the Nigerian digital economy keeps evolving significantly, even as more people continue to switch from the conventional ways of transaction to digital transaction.

Onyeagwu disclosed this recently when he appeared on CNBC Africa during an exclusive interview, to reflect on the company’s audited 2019 financial statement.

According to him, the company’s increasing focus on digital banking is partly responsible for the N208.8 billion profit after tax that was reported in 2019. Recall that Zenith Bank’s profit after tax increased by 7.9%, up from N193.4 in 2018.

While commenting on the audited 2019 financial statement, Onyeagwu noted that retail banking also played a huge role in the impressive. This is because 2019 was the first full-year that the bank ventured full-time into retail banking. He said:

Zimvest

“Last year was our first full year in our foray into digital and retail banking. So, when you are looking at the digital income and fees, it’s a combination of both digital and retail fees. Last year was the first full year when we went full blast into the retail business, so we’ve seen that combine to give us incremental growth in terms of income from fees and electronic commission.

“Zenith is also known to have a bias for digital and investment in IT. We are leveraging on that to build very strong capability and competencies to drive business. There are quite a lot of product developments which are targeted at very niche markets.

“We are also looking at some integration with various fintech companies depending on what services you have. Sometimes we are collaborating with fintech companies to drive payment on different platforms. In some cases, too, we are churning out new products just to create confidence for our customers.”

Now, you cannot but agree that it is quite interesting that Zenith Bank (and indeed other banks), now partner with fintech companies. What changed? CNBC Africa’s Esther Awoniyi more or less threw this question at Zenith Bank boss and his response was quite revealing.

According to him, fintech companies’ bank agnostic products, which are widely accepted by the people. Unfortunately, whenever banks come up with these products by themselves, Nigerians tend to express some kind of “apathy”. This is why Zenith Bank had decided to identify where it can best collaborate with fintechs.

In the meantime, Onyeagwu made it clear that the bank will also continue to come up with its own products in the meantime. This is because the bank is never scared to compete with the fintechs. As a matter of fact, Zenith Bank has always been a very competitive bank, he said.

On Wednesday, 26th of February 2020, Zenith Bank announced that it will slow its loan growth to 2 percent in 2020. This follows a year in which the financial institution had an aggressive extension of loans to businesses in Nigeria, in compliance with the new minimum loan-to-deposit ratio policy introduced by the central bank.

The lender experienced a 22 percent expansion in loans last year, from 2.02 trillion naira in 2018 to 2.46 trillion naira, it said. According to a statement by Ebenezer Onyeagwu, Zenith Bank’s new CEO, loan growth is “a reflection of what we see in the macro-environment” and the bank “can’t grow beyond the economy.” But it also indicated that loans could grow further if large funding opportunities emerged during the year.

There are other factors that may have contributed to the bank’s decision to cut back on lending such as the recent outbreak of the coronavirus and the forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of Nigeria’s economic growth.

Another statement by the Bank’s chief executive indicates that due to the impact of the coronavirus in China, Nigeria’s major trading partner, a possible slowdown in demand for loans is bound to happen.

The Asian nation in recent years has become one of the world’s leading industrialists but the recent outbreak of the deadly coronavirus has become a major threat, not only to its economy but also to those of its business allies. The country, over the decades, has positioned itself to trade with almost every nation of the world. It imports raw materials in large tonnes from Africa and other developing countries, which are used to make sophisticated products that are sold the world over. This makes its economy interact with many others daily.

However, the epidemic has caused a meltdown in the Chinese economy and the immediate impact of the coronavirus is felt in many developing economies like Nigeria due to slowdowns in the importation of finished goods and the export of raw materials. This is also directly slowing down the rate at which money flows into the economy as importers are forced to consider costlier alternatives, resulting in an increase in the prices of products.

Moreover, consumers are becoming more conscious of their spending. Therefore, if buyers are reluctant to spend, business owners would have no immediate need for loans to expand their businesses.

After reviewing current events, the IMF last week reduced its growth forecast for Nigeria in 2020 to 2 percent from 2.5 percent. The Fund cited that there would be lower demand for crude oil due to fears that the coronavirus outbreak in China will cause a slowdown.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of crude oil, its main foreign earner, accounting for 95 percent of foreign exchange earnings and 80 percent of budgetary revenues. Going by the IMF’s forecast, there would be a slowdown in oil demand globally which would limit the flow of foreign currency in Nigeria, slow down businesses and therefore reduce the demand for business loans.

Zenith Bank Plc has posted a profit after tax (PAT) N208.8 billion in its 2019 operations, against N193 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2018.

Specifically, the bank’s audited result for the year ended December 31, 2019, showed eight per cent rise in profit to N208.8 billion from the N193 billion recorded the previous year.

Similarly, its gross earnings rose from N630.3 billion to N662.3 billion, representing an increase of five per cent.

According to the bank, the growth was driven by the 29 per cent increase in non-interest income from N179.9 billion in 2018 to N231.1 billion in 2019.

Its Profit before tax also increased by five per cent from N232 billion to N243 billion in the current year, arising from top line growth and continued focus on cost optimisation strategies, while cost-to-income ratio moderated from 49.3 per cent to 48.8 per cent.

Furthermore, the group created new viable risk assets as gross loans grew by 22 per cent from N2.016 trillion to N2.462 trillion.

The Bank said: “This was executed prudently at a low cost of risk of 1.1 per cent and a significant reduction in the non-performing loan ratio from 4.98 per cent to 4.30 per cent.

“Prudential ratios such as liquidity and capital adequacy ratios also remained above regulatory thresholds at 57.3 per cent and 22.0 per cent respectively.

“In demonstration of its commitment to its shareholders, the bank has announced a proposed final dividend pay-out of N2.50 per share, bringing the total dividend to N2.80 per share.”

The bank said it is strategically-positioned to capture the opportunities in the corporate and retail segments, while efficiently managing costs and expanding further its retail franchise employing digital assets and innovation this year.

Former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh who was found guilty of money laundering earlier today has been handed a 7 year jail sentence.

Metuh was found guilty of all the seven count charge against him including illegally receiving N400m from former National Security Adviser, Dasuki Sambo in November 2014.

The PDP former spokesperson was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for counts 1, 2, 4 and 7, five years imprisonment in respect of count 3, and three years in respect of counts 5 and 6. 

Justice Okon Abang who held that all the years are to run concurrently (meaning Metuh would spend seven years in prison), also ordered the convict to pay a fine of N375m to the Federal Government. Metuh's firm, Destra Investments was ordered to pay N25m to the Federal Government.

The Federal High Court Judge also ordered the winding up Destra Investments, closure of its accounts in Diamond Bank and Asset Resource Management, and the forfeiture of the money in the accounts to the Federal Government.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the call by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), for the Supreme Court to review its rulings on the presidential election and governorship elections in Osun, Kano, Kaduna and Katsina States.

PDP spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, held a press conference on Monday February 24th, where he also called on the Supreme Court to review its judgment on the 2019 presidential election, which affirmed the victory of President Buhari of the APC.

Reacting to PDP's demand, APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a statement released, said this has once again “exposed the joke the opposition party has turned itself into in our nation’s political space.''

The ruling party asked the PDP members who they described as ''jobless'' to pick up rice farming so they can become ''useful to the country. ''

The statement in part reads

“Never in the history of our democratic journey has a political party made mockery of what a responsible opposition politics entails. The PDP’s call has once again, reinforced our party’s belief that the PDP has become a clog in the wheels of our country’s political evolution.

For the All Progressives Congress (APC), PDP’s latest antics is no surprise. Nigerians would recall that we have consistently reiterated that the opposition party, having been overwhelmingly rejected at the polls in 2015 and 2019, has been exhibiting strange behaviours.

We believe it has been difficult for some leaders of PDP to cope for so long outside of power. There is obviously a lot of idleness at the Wadata House Secretariat of PDP.

At this period that our government is working hard to ensure food sufficiency in the country, we urge those jobless characters at the Wadata House to seriously consider taking up rice farming. This would make them useful for our country.” he said

The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has said that the says the Presidency should rightly return to the Southern part of Nigeria as the North has no justification to remain in power after the expiration of President Buhari’s second tenure in 2023.

Vanguard quotes the governor as saying that although the constitution of the All Progressives Congress, APC, does not make provision for rotation of presidency, it is in the interest of justice and equity that the Presidency should go to other regions of the country in 2023.

The general political consensus in Nigeria is that the Presidency should rotate between the North and the South. It is not written but everyone understands it.

In some of the parties, like the PDP, it is even written down in their constitution but it was breached in 2015. I think that every politician of honour should understand and abide by that consensus except there is an extenuating circumstance compelling it to be set aside. What could this be?

President Yar’Adua died in office and it was compulsory for Jonathan to continue but when 2011 election came, there were many people who insisted that Jonathan should step aside for a northerner to complete the tenure of Yar’Adua but I opposed it because I didn’t think it was proper for an incumbent that got there not by his own design should be stopped from contesting when the constitution has not barred him from running.

In the APC, we deliberately omitted rotational Presidency in our constitution and the emergence of a presidential candidate does not take into account zoning and that was why in 2015, Rochas Okorocha from the East contested, Sam Nda-Isaiah contested, Buhari, Kwankwaso and others contested.

I can say that as distinct from the PDP, APC has no rotational Presidency but candidates are selected strictly on the basis of political merit and the general acceptability of the candidate.

I want to say that those of us from Northern Nigeria honour agreements. We do not violate unwritten political agreements and I will be the last person to lead in violating that agreement. I may have a personal view but that should be the basis. I don’t care where you come from but I look for merit.

But as a group, the Northern APC will have to sit down and endorse someone, most likely someone from the South, because after eight years of Buhari, I don’t think the Presidency should remain in the north unless there is some extenuating circumstances. But all things being equal, we will honour our agreement and we keep our words,” he said.

One of the founding member of the All Progressives Congres and three-term Senator, Ahmed Sani Yarima has stated that there is no agreement between Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari on transfer of power in 2023.

The former governor of Zamfara state who is also from the north west region like Buhari, told Daily Trust that the President's recent statement of not having a candidate shows there is no MoU with any other politician.

Yerima said;

“I don’t think Nigeria belongs to any of them and I don’t think anyone in any position can determine what Nigeria should have. Politics is about election – for people to decide what they want. So it is the majority of the people that will determine who they want.

“If he(Buhari) signed an agreement with Asiwaju, that agreement cannot be implemented even in getting the ticket. It cannot guarantee Asiwaju a ticket. For example, the president has announced and the party has decided that our primary is going to be direct – just like we elected Mr. President during the primaries of the last general elections. Will he direct everybody to go and vote for Asiwaju?

“Because, I believe it is going to be a free and fair election, agreement or no agreement is a political statement, but I don’t think that is possible because I don’t think that the Buhari that I know will sign any (such) agreement. He knows that he doesn’t have the powers and the authority to hand over power to whomever he so wishes. He said it is going to be free and fair; in fact, he even said it in the open that he doesn’t have any candidate. So, these are just speculations”.

Eddie Hearn, promoter and agent to Anthony Joshua has revealed the British-Nigerian boxing champion wants to fight Tyson Fury next, after watching Fury sensationally defeat Deontay Wilder in 7 round knock out on Sunday morning at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

It was the second time Fury and Wilder were fighting, after getting a draw in the first clash in December 2018, and with the win Fury now has the WBC heavyweight belt while still retaining the Lineal and Ring magazine heavyweight championship belt.

Fury's win now means Britain has all the belts in the boxing heavyweight division and Hearn has revealed Joshua wants a unification bout against Fury, a match that if agreed will determine the true king of the heavyweight division.

Speaking on the Weekend Sports Breakfast show on Sunday morning, Joshua’s promoter said he will go all out to set up a monster all-British clash next.

 “We have to make this fight happen. We will never, ever get the chance for two Brits to fight for an undisputed heavyweight world championship.

“I promise you we will do everything we can to make this fight. It has to happen.”

Wilder has the option to take up a third fight with Fury this summer, but Hearn hopes the American does not do so after he was well and truly destroyed by Fury before his team threw in the towel in the seventh round.

“I don’t think anyone wants to see a third fight because it was that conclusive but we will see if he exercises that clause,” continued Hearn.

“I probably expect Wilder to do that – I don’t see where else he has to go.

“But our mandatory [IBF] challenger, Kubrat Pulev, is also promoted by Bob Arum, like Tyson Fury, so there is a very easy manoeuvre there if Wilder doesn’t accept the rematch to go straight into this undisputed fight in the summer. That is what we have to push for initially.

“If Wilder comes back and says ‘no, I’m having my rematch’ then that is due for July or August, AND it doesn’t really matter because we fight Pulev at Spurs in June and this fight happens in November/December. But our preference is to go straight into it because if we went straight into it, it would be undisputed.

“We will never get this opportunity in this sport to do this again with two Brits.

 “He has been through everything already and he wants to be undisputed and this is the chance for our sport to have one of those legacy moments that we will never get the opportunity to have again.”

“I heard out of his camp he was going to be aggressive and go for it and I thought it was absolute madness and it ended up being genius from him and his team,” he said.

“Just a wonderful performance. What a time for British boxing – an incredible night.

” I felt like he could school him but I didn’t think he could school him and beat him up, and he did that.”

Tyson Fury has become the WBC heavyweight champion of the world, defeating Deontay Wilder in the 7th round in the Heavyweight championship clash on Sunday morning Feb 23rd at MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas

Fury who came in as the challenger, surpassed the odds, by getting a technical knockout over Deontay Wilder.

In the third round, Fury knocked out Wilder, making the American fall down to the canvas, his second time of touching the canvas in his career.

In the last round (seventh), Fury smashed Wilder in the face with a straight right, and Wilder was trapped in the corner, causing his people to throw in the towel after noticing that he had a bloody cut on his mouth and blood dripping out of his ears. The referee immediately called off the match, granting Fury the much coveted WBC heavyweight crown, and Wilder's first loss of his career.

After the match, Wilder said:

“I’m doing good. Things like this happen. The best man won tonight, but my corner threw in the towel and I was ready to go out on my shield. I had a lot of things going on heading into this fight. It is what it is, but I make no excuses tonight. I just wish my corner would have let me go out on my shield. I’m a warrior. He had a great performance and we will be back stronger.

“Even the greatest have lost and came back, that is just part of it. You just take it for what it is. I can make no excuses tonight. I had a lot of complications. But we’ll come back stronger next time around. This is what big-time boxing is all about, the best must fight the best. I appreciate all the fans that came out and supported the show, and I hope that everyone gets home safely.”

Tyson Fury, the new champion, said

“A big shout out to Deontay Wilder. He came here tonight and he manned up and he really did show the heart of a champion. I hit him with a clean right that dropped him and he got back up. He is a warrior. He will be back. He will be champion again.

“But I will say, the king has returned to the top of the throne!”

Fury now has the WBC , lineal and Ring Magazine belts. Congrats to him!!

An Abuja Area Court has ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate the allegation of forgery of a National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) certificate levelled against the new Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo who is a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Recall that the election of David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Governor of Bayelsa State was nullified following the disqualification of his running mate Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo for presenting forged documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The investigation order came after an APC Chieftain, Benjamin Youdiowei approached the court alleging Ewhrudjakpo presented forged NYSC certificate to INEC.

The NYSC Exemption Certificate Youdiowei claimed is forged, is dated February 2, 1998, with number 139708.

Justice Abubakar Sadiq who directed the DSS to investigate Ewhrudjakpo, had issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the new deputy governor on November 27, 2019 for being absent during a court proceeding. He had also ordered the police to investigate the Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.

Zenith Bank Plc has released its audited full-year financial statement for the period ended December 2019. Across board, the result showed fairly positive improvements, including the profit for the period. which increased by 7.9% year on year. See the summary below.

Gross revenue and net interest income: The bank’s gross revenue grew by 5.06% to N662.3 billion in FY 2019, up from N630.3 billion during the comparable period in 2018. However, net interest income decreased by 9.7% to N267 billion, down from N295.6 billion that was recorded during the preceding year.

Profit before tax: Zenith Bank’s BBT for the period under review stood at N243.3 billion, indicating a 5.0% increase when compared to N231.7 billion that was recorded in FY 2018.

Profit after tax: Profit for the year increased by 7.9% to N208.8 billion, up from N193.4 billion in 2018.

Also, note that Zenith Bank’s earnings per share (both basic and diluted) also increased from N6.15 in 2018 to N6.65 in 2019.

The United States' government has reportedly exposed and opposed the Buhari-led administration's plan to hand over $100m out of the recovered Gen Sani Abacha's loot to an All Progressives Congress member and Governor of Kebbi State, Abubakar Bagudu.

Bloomberg reported that while the U.S. Department of Justice said Bagudu who spent six months in federal detention in Texas while awaiting extradition to the Island of Jersey was involved in corruption with Abacha, Buhari’s administration is insisting there is a 17-year-old agreement which entitles Bagudu to the recovered funds.

Documents made available by the US Department of Justice revealed that the Kebbi State Governor who is a close ally of President Buhari was handed over to criminal trial in Jersey before he agreed to return $163m to Nigeria. He was subsequently released on bond to Nigeria where he was supposed to be prosecuted for money laundering, but that trial never took place.

In the case involving Bagudu, the U.S. in 2013 initiated a forfeiture action against a host of assets, including four investment portfolios held in London in trust for him and his family, according to the district court filings.

In court documents filed before the district court of Columbia, it was learnt that the Nigerian government said there is an agreement which stops it from assisting the US in investigating Bagudu. The US Department of Justice also said the Nigerian government is preventing the US from seizing Bagudu’s alleged loot.

The report reads in part;

“The DoJ also contends that the Nigerian government is hindering US efforts to recover allegedly laundered money it says it’s traced to Bagudu. Buhari’s administration says a 17-year-old agreement entitles Bagudu to the funds and prevents Nigeria from assisting the US, according to recent filings from the District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington.

“A commitment by Nigeria to transfer the funds to Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Bagudu appears to undermine Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s pledge to quell rampant graft in Africa’s top oil producer.

“Despite the forfeiture action being initiated following a Nigerian state request in 2012, Buhari’s government now says it can’t assist the US because it’s bound by a settlement Bagudu reached with the administration of then-President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, according to the court filings."

Bagudu who was cleared to contest in three different election cycles, was first elected as a senator in 2009. He became Kebbi’s governor in an election that brought Buhari and his party to power and is now the chairman of an influential body of governors representing the ruling All Progressives Congress.

It was gathered that he successfully sued the Nigerian government for violating the 2003 agreement of investigating him and dropping all outstanding civil and criminal claims against. In 2018, the Kebbi Governor reached a new agreement with the Buhari-led administration.

The agreement will reportedly lead to;

"Transfer of ownership of the investment portfolios, worth 141m euros ($155m) to the Nigerian state, which would then pay 98.5 million euros to Bagudu and his affiliates, according to Bates’ December 23 opinion. The funds are currently restrained by the UK at the request of the US."

Asides claiming that the updated 2018 agreement with the Kebbi governor which requires court approval in the U.K will “curtail and mitigate its looming exposure” from the judgment in Bagudu’s favor, it was alleged that Buhari’s administration submitted the 2018 deal to the UK court in September to support its application to unfreeze the assets so they can be sent to Nigeria.  The court is however yet to make a decision.

It is also speculated that the disagreement may hamper future cooperation between Nigeria and the US to recover state money moved offshore by Abacha, who Transparency International estimates may have looted as much as $5bn during his 1993-98 rule.

Zenith Bank recently released its FY 2019 AUDITED report wherein Interest Income declined 6% y/y to N415.6 billion, owing largely to lower Interest earned on Loans and advances to Customers (down 15% y/y) and Treasury bills (down 19% y/y)- we attribute the decline in both line items to the lower yield environment in 2019 compared to the prior year. Despite the weakness in Interest Income, the strong growth in Non-Interest Income (up 29% y/y) ensured Pre-tax profit grew 5% y/y to N243.3 billion in FY 2019.

We observed that like most tier-two banks under our coverage who have published their UNAUDITED numbers, the bank recorded strong double-digit growth in its loan book-Net Loans to customers grew 26% y/y in FY 2019. We believe this was driven by the regulatory guideline from the CBN mandating banks to maintain a Loan to Deposit ratio (LDR) of 65% by December 2019 (an upward revision from the initial threshold of 60% to be met by September 2019).

Zenith Bank reaffirms market dominance and leadership with Q3 2019 results, Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc, Zenith Bank reports 7.9% profit increase for full-year 2019

Zenith Bank GMD-CEO

Interest Expense, however, grew 3% y/y despite a 5% y/y growth in Interest Bearing Liabilities. Overall, Net Interest Income declined 10% y/y to N267.0 billion in FY 2019 compared to N295.6 billion in FY 2018.

Net Fee and Commission Income grew 22% y/y to N100.1 billion, on the back of the 1.08x increase in Fees on electronic products, growth in Credit-related fees (13% y/y) and Account maintenance fees (up 9% y/y).

The bank reported Trading gains of N117.8 billion in FY 2019 compared to N80.2 billion in FY 2018-this was driven by the significant increase in T-bills trading income (up 21% y/y to N114.3 billion), further supported by lower Derivative loss (N7.4bn in FY 2019 compared to N16.8 billion in FY 2018).

Other Income (Dividend income from equity investments, Gain on disposal of property and equipment, Foreign currency revaluation gain) however declined 21% y/y owing largely to lower FX revaluation gain (N11.5bn in FY 2019 vs N15.3bn in FY 2018).

Impairment charge was up 31% y/y to N24.0 billion in FY 2019- we believe this was driven by the significant growth in the bank’s loan book particularly in Q3 and Q4 following the apex bank’s regulatory guideline on LDR. The bank’s Cost of Risk (COR) came in at 1.1%, higher than 0.9% in FY 2018 albeit in line with our estimate of 1.2%.

The bank was able to keep a lid on Operating Expenses, reporting a sub-inflationary growth of 3% y/y. This positive, coupled with a marginal increase in Operating Income (up 5% y/y) led to a 97bps moderation in Cost to Income Ratio (ex-provisions) to 46.4% in FY 2019 which is also below our FY 2019e of 48.3%. We applaud the bank’s efforts in containing costs despite the presence of cost pressures in the operating environment.

Overall, PBT grew 5% y/y to N243.3 billion in FY 2019. A lower effective tax rate of 14% in FY 2019 compared to 17% in FY 2018 supported the higher growth in Net profit (up 8% y/y to N208.8 billion in FY 2019). The bankís Return on Average Equity (ROAE) stood at 23.8% same as in FY 2018.

In line with historical precedence, the bank declared a final dividend of N2.50 (same as in the prior year), bringing the total dividend for FY 2019 to N2.8o. Based on the last closing price of N19.4/s on 20 February, the final dividend translates to a dividend yield of 12.9%.

New reports have emerged claiming that Election security officials in the United States briefed lawmakers last week that Russia was working to undermine and influence the 2020 presidential elections to help Donald Trump win.

According to the New York times, who first reported on the briefing, Election security official Shelby Pierson said Russia's efforts included hacking, use of social media and attacks on election infrastructure and that Russia favors Trump.

On Wednesday, Trump announced he was naming Richard Grenell, the current US ambassador to Germany and a staunch Trump loyalist as acting Director of National Intelligence, after getting angry at outgoing DNI Joseph Maguire for allowing the information about Russia's meddling efforts to be included in the briefing to Adam Schiff and Democrat lawmakers, who used Russian meddling accusations and the Ukraine-Biden story as a basis to begin impeachment proceedings against him.

Trump was reportedly angry that Maguire's report could be weaponized by the Democrats especially as Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election, which the US intelligence community believes was aimed at helping Trump beat Hillary Clinton -- led to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation which lasted for three years.

A national security official in the Trump administration told CNN that Pierson may have mis-interpreted the intelligence that Russia favored Trump.

"A more reasonable interpretation of the intelligence is not that they have a preference, it's a step short of that. It's more that they understand the President is someone they can work with, he's a dealmaker. But not that they prefer him over (Bernie) Sanders or (Pete) Buttigieg or anyone else. So it may have been mischaracterized by Shelby," the official said.

"What the (intelligence community) sees as reporting the truth -- simple statement of facts in evidence without judgment -- the President sees as undermining his legitimacy," a former unnamed intelligence official told CNN.

James Clapper, who was director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama reacted to the story, telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" Thursday evening that Russia would again try to interfere in the 2020 US Presidential election.

"This is not a big surprise, but it illustrates the tremendous challenge that the intelligence community has where they're teeing up facts that our President doesn't want to hear, and with a result that the messenger got shot in the form of Joe Maguire being asked to leave," Clapper said.

It should be remembered that in July 2018 in Helsinki, Finland, Trump sided with Russia's president Valdmir Putin's assertion that Russia didn't meddle in the 2016 election despite his intelligence community's assessment to the contrary,

"I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," Trump told reporters as he stood beside Putin

Barcelona icon, Lionel Messi has picked out four clubs that he sees as the biggest rivals to Barcelona in the competition this season, with the last-16 ties already under way.

Barcelona were knocked out in the quarterfinals in 2018 by Roma, before being dumped by eventual champions Liverpool in the semifinal of last season’s edition but Messi believes four other sides can win it apart from his club side.

Barcelona will travel next week to face Napoli in the first leg of their last-16 clash in a competition they haven't won since 2015.

In Messi’s assessment, it’s champions Liverpool, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid who can stand in Barcelona’s way this season.

“All [the teams] are complicated and difficult. Paris went to play Dortmund and lost, Liverpool went to Atletico’s field and lost, but I think, like that and everything, Liverpool, Juventus, Paris and Madrid are the strongest today,” Messi told a wide-Mundo Deportivo.

Messi believes Liverpool can still win it despite Jurgen Klopp's side’s 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid, in the first leg of their last-16 clash.

“On the day of the draw we talked in the locker room that would be very close because Atletico competes a lot in this competition,” Messi said.

“In two-match duels they are very strong and they showed it again, that they will compete and they will be there

Talking about Man City's UEFA ban, Messi said;

“It is surprising because nobody thought that such a thing could happen, so powerful,” Messi told Mundo Deportivo.

“Paris [Saint-Germain) paid a fine or I don’t know how it went. If in the end City does not play in the Champions League for what it is, with the players, the club, and the money it spends, it will be weird.”

Messi added: “If City do not enter the Champions League there are many players that may look for an exit, or maybe not.

“The Champions League is very attractive so two years without playing, it can be screwed.”

US President Donald Trump has blasted the Oscars Award for giving a South Korean movie "Parasite," its award for best picture, best directing and best original screenplay in the recently held Oscars Awards ceremony.

Parasite was the first foreign language movie to win best picture at the 2020 Academy Awards and it also won awards for best directing and original screenplay but Trump isn't pleased saying the US already had trade issues with South Korea so a South Korean film shouldn't have won the Oscars.

Trump, however, seemed more interested in American films that were produced more than 70 years ago.

"How bad were the Academy Awards this year, did you see? 'And the winner is ... a movie from South Korea,' " Trump said, impersonating an announcer, at a rally in Colorado Thursday night.

"What the hell was that all about? We've got enough problems with South Korea with trade, on top of it they give them the best movie of the year?" he asked.

"I'm looking for like, let's get 'Gone with the Wind' -- can we get like 'Gone with the Wind' back,

please? 'Sunset Boulevard,' so many great movies," he continued as the crowd cheered him.

Trump said he didn't know if "Parasite" was good. "I thought it was best foreign film, best foreign movie -- no, it was the best. Did this ever happen before?" he asked

Veteran singer, Eedris Abdulkareem has taken a swipe at Burna Boy who in the last few days ignited a controversy on social media after saying "nobody paved way for him".

Eedris who sat for an interview on TVC's "Entertainment Splash", stated that Burna Boy needs to apologize because Fela made it happen for him. He alleged that the "African Giant" crooner stole lots of Fela's song to become who he is today and also from afrobeat.

The veteran singer also wondered the message Burna Boy passes with his music as he pointed out that Fela's song came with meaningful messages.

There was drama at the Senate yesterday as the Accountant General of the Federation and the Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) disagreed over the N28 billion unremitted fund into the Federation Account in 2015.

The disagreement occurred when Col. Hameed Ali, Comptroller General of NCS and Ahmed Idris, the Accountant General of the Federation, who was also represented by who was represented by a Director in his office, Feyintola Olusegun, appeared before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts to address the audit query from the Auditor-General of the Federation, Anthony Ayine over the unremitted funds.

external debt servicing, debt serving, Nigeria's debt, Nigeria's debt portfolio, Audit Query: Customs CG disagrees with AGF over N28b unremitted funds

Ayine had in the Financial Statement of the Auditor General’s office asked the Accountant General of the Federation to explain the difference in the figures remitted by Nigeria Customs Service and the figure in his own records.

The audited report showed that the Accountant General’s office remitted N157 billion against NCS statement which showed that they remitted N185 billion. The Accountant General had earlier referred the Auditor General and the Senate committee to the NCS for more explanation.

Ali, while appearing before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts led by Senator Matthew Urhoghide said that the query was strange and absolved his agency of any wrongdoing. Going further, he added that the mode of collections by customs is purely automated and stated that there is a problem for anybody to point at them.

However, in what appears like a new twist, the Accountant General made a U-turn with a statement that the N28 billion was for ECOWAS stabilization fund for 2015. This new explanation did not go down well with the lawmakers as it was quite different from his earlier submission to the Senate Committee. Also, there was no documentary evidence to back up this claim.

However, on the query of non-remittance of the pension fund, Ali admitted that the NCS defaulted in 2015 as the agency did not have enough funds to meet up with its obligations.

The committee Chairman expressed displeasure that for over five years, a lot of the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies refused to produce their audited accounts. He reminded the Customs boss that the Customs Act states that the agency must send in their audited accounts six months into a new financial year.

The office of the Auditor-General of the Federation is a separate and independent entity with the powers, duties, and responsibilities to conduct periodic checks on all Government statutory corporations, commissions, authorities, and agencies, including all persons and bodies established by an Act of the National Assembly. The Auditor-General is expected to within 90 days of the receipt of Accountant General’s financial statement submit his report to the National Assembly, which will be considered by the Public Accounts Committees of both chambers of the National Assembly.

It had earlier been reported in December 2019, that about 265 agencies of the Federal Government, including the National Assembly itself, violated the fiscal and audit rules, especially with poor compliance on the submission of the financial statements to the Auditor General’s office.

Billionaire and owner of Bloomberg TV, Mike Bloomberg, has announced he plans to sell off his $60 billion media company if he gets the Democratic party nomination for the presidential elections and beats President Trump.

According to a campaign statement made Wednesday hours before he enters his first democratic party presidential debate after spending multi-millions on adverts and media campaigns, Bloomberg would sell the media empire he spent decades building if he wins, a good move seeing that Democrats have accused Trump of maintaining and profiting off his real estate empire as president.

The campaign said Mr. Bloomberg would first put the company in a blind trust and eventually sell. Analysts have estimated the company could sell for as much as $60 billion or even more. Proceeds from the sale would go to Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable giving arm that funds causes from climate change to public health and grants for American cities according to Bloomberg 2020 campaign adviser Tim O’Brien .

“We want to be 180 degrees apart from Donald Trump around financial conflicts of interest,” O’Brien told The Associated Press. “We think it’s one of the biggest stains on the presidency, and Trump’s record is his refusal to disengage himself in his own financial interests. And we want to be very transparent and clean and clear with voters about where Mike is on these things.”

Trump reacted to the news on Wednesday, tweeting; 'Is corrupt Bloomberg News going to say what a pathetic debater Mini Mike is, that he doesn't respect our great farmers, or that he has violated campaign finance laws at the highest and most sinister level with "payoffs" all over the place?' Trump asked.

Veteran Nollywood actor, Pete Edochie, has once again kicked against men going down on their knees to propose to a girl. Recall that in January, a video of the actor speaking in Igbo and condemning the act of men kneeling to propose to their girlfriends went viral.

The actor was spotted recently and was asked to speak on wedding proposals, and again, he vehemently kicked against men going down on their knees to propose.

According to him, any man who does that is not "just an idiot but a compound buffon.

Any young man who gets down on his knees to propose to a girl is not just an idiot, he is a bloody fool, a compound buffoon. We try to copy white people.

I believce in the sancrosanctity of our culture, the essence and the core of our culture. The white man knees down to propose to a girl. You know what it means, the girl takes over the family. This is why whenever you disagree with a wife oversea, you are kicked out and your wife takes the house.

Young men who should be in charge of their destinies hand it over to  women. That makes you all fools.''

When informed that it is love that makes men go down on their knees to propose, Edochie said

''I have lived with my wife for 51 years, nobody has said stop beating this woman. 

Knee down before your wife, I will sympathize with you when she takes over the home'' she said

Shocking details leading to the gruesome murder of Ms. Dagan Laetitia Naankang, an Assistant Director, Administration at the State House, Abuja, has emerged.

It was revealed that Naankang, 47, was subjected to the agony of a slow death by fraudsters, popularly called Yahoo Boys, because she reported their activities to the police.

She was murdered in her apartment on Monday by yet-to-be identified killers.

According to Guardian.ng, the deceased discovered that her neighbourhood in Lokogoma area in Abuja was populated by Yahoo boys, making her uncomfortable in the vicinity.

She confided in her close friends and told them of her plans to relocate. Concerned for her safety in the meantime, she reported them to the police.

How Yahoo Boys subjected Aso Rock Director Dagan Laetitia Naankang to a slow death before burning her body

However,  it was revealed that the police later freed the suspects after questioning them.

The identity of the person who reported them to the police was allegedly leaked by police operatives to the suspects and they resolved to make Naankang pay for reporting them to the police.

On Monday, February 17, Naankang worked in her office till 8pm. She then returned home but was attacked and killed by 11pm.

The assailants are said to have first tied Naankang in her apartment where she lived alone. They then subjected her to all manner of indecent acts before strangling her to death and setting the body ablaze.

It was further leant that her gateman, who was suspected to be an accomplice, was arrested by security operatives and he provided useful information that could help in tracking the killers.

The publication also revealed that one of the killers took the victim’s mobile phone, having mistaken it for his and left his own phone at the crime scene.

It is believed that the telephone will assist the police in tracking down the killers.

Nasser al-Khelaifi, the president of French football club Paris Saint-Germain has been charged in connection with bribing the former FIFA secretary general, Jerome Valcke.

The former FIFA secretary-general, who is currently banned from football was also charged with accepting bribes over World Cup television rights.

A press release from the Swiss Attorney General's office read: 'The OAG has charged Valcke with accepting bribes, several counts of aggravated criminal mismanagement and falsification of documents.

'The facts in this indictment are no longer characterised as fraud. Al-Khelaifi and the third accused are charged with indicting Valcke to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement. The third accused is also charged with bribery.'

Valcke, who was the right-hand man to disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter for eight years was banned from football for 12 years back in 2016.

At that time, he found guilty of misconduct over the sale of World Cup tickets, abuse of travel expenses, attempting to sell TV rights below their market value and destruction of evidence. 

A Nigerian man, Ibrahim Ibrahim, who was facing trial over drug trafficking allegation in Saudi Arabia, has been released by the Saudi Arabian authorities after the Nigerian government were able to prove his innocence.

Mr Ibrahim's release was secured by the National Diaspora Commission in collaboration with the government of Zamfara state, his home state. He was arrested in 2017 in Jeddah after the Saudi Arabian immigration officers found illegal drugs in his bags.

Three years after, a delegation from the Diaspora commission and Zamfara state government, arrived in Jeddah with documents to be presented as evidence during his trial retrial which was today February 18th. Amongst the documents was a statement from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA, stating that they have arrested and charged three persons who planted the drugs on Ibrahim.

A certified copy of the two count charge sheet from the Federal High Court Kano was also presented to the Saudi Arabia court which ruled in favour of Ibrahim and discharged him.

Recall that another Nigerian, Miss Zainab Aliyu, a student was also arrested in December 2018 in Saudi Arabia while performing the lesser hajj over allegations that the bag bearing her name tag contained a banned substance, Tramadol. She was later released in May 2019 after her innocence was confirmed.

Bobrisky has cried out on social media after his driver allegedly absconded with his Mercedes Benz and N596k.

The cross-dresser who recounted forgiving his driver on several occassions after being caught red-handed stealing from him, said he absconded with the car which he instructed him to take in for repair.

Bobrisky further disclosed that his driver whose phone lines have been switched off since he left his house with the car, has been reported to the police.

He wrote;

Dis dude was my former driver.... He has stolen from me severally but he always beg and I do let it slide. At some point I sent him away just to avoid stress for myself. Last months he called me to beg again that he want to come back and work that he has change. He said his boss sent him away where he was working at d moment and he is so broke that he doesn’t have money to feed. Because my heart is so clean towards human I allow him come back again .

Now he has stolen from me again. Dis time is even worst . I gave him my Benz cla 300 to drop at Benz office in IKATE lekki to fix a sound am hearing on d right leg on 9th of February 2020. When he was going I gave him 200,000 to hold Incase there is anything we are changing in d car and d workshop fee since I was traveling.

That very day I was traveling I sent 396,000 to his account to replace some stuffs in my house too. Up till now I didn’t see my car, or money. He has been running everywhere. Pls have I done bad helping stupid people like dis? Have reported him to d police thou so he should keep running. All his phones are switch off 0816 423 1283. 0705 965 5174.

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has insisted that former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani K. Alison-Madueke must be extradited.

Magu said Diezani stole a sum of $2.5 billion. He added that she has a generation of looters supporting her actions which is very bad for the country.

Speaking at a press conference in Kaduna on Monday, February 17, TheCable cited Magu as saying: "I was in London this year, we did investigation together with the UK team, and anywhere I go I always call for extradition of corrupt Nigerians to return back the money.

"This woman has stolen so much, not less than 2.5 billion dollars, but unfortunately she has generation of looters who are supporting her. This is not good.

"We are in touch with the international community, she is under protective custody, otherwise, we would have arrested her, return her to Nigeria. We will not allow corruption to work here in Nigeria because it is destructive and disastrous. We blocked several accounts."

World's richest man, Jeff Bezos has announced his plans to spend $10 billion of his own fortune to help fight climate change.

The Amazon founder, 56, made the announcement on Monday in an Instagram post, saying he’ll start giving grants this summer to scientists, activists, and nonprofits working to protect Earth.

“I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change,” Bezos said in the post

Read the full post below.

Today, I’m thrilled to announce I am launching the Bezos Earth Fund.???

Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share. This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world. We can save Earth. It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation-states, global organizations, and individuals.

I’m committing $10 billion to start and will begin issuing grants this summer. Earth is the one thing we all have in common — let’s protect it, together.??? - Jeff

Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon 25 years ago, has a net worth of $130 billion,

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi has warned that the northern region of the country will destroy itself if it doesn't change its ways.

Speaking at a programme to commemorate the 60th birthday celebration of Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, the Kano monarch stated that repeating the same thing and expecting a different result shows that something is wrong.

Emir Sanusi who pointed out that the country is moving on, stated that real change can only come in the region if things are done differently.

He also averred that a day will come when there will be a constitutional amendment that addresses issues of quota system and federal character, because the rest of the country cannot continue educating their children who will remain unemployed because they come from the wrong state.

He said;

“It is almost correct now to say that, if you are seen as normal, if you are a governor in the north or a leader in the north, and you are seen as normal in the sense that you continue to do what your predecessors have been doing, doing the same thing, which has been normalised, then, there is something wrong with you. You are part of the problem, ” Sanusi said.

“The real change in the north will come from those who are considered mad people, because you look around and say if this is the way we have been doing things, and this is where we have ended up, maybe we need to do things differently.

“If the north does not change, the north will destroy itself. The country is moving on… If we don’t listen, there would be a day when there would be a constitutional amendment that addresses these issues of quota system and federal character.

“The  rest of the country cannot be investing, educating its children, producing graduates and then they watch us, they can’t get jobs because they come from the wrong state, when we have not invested in the future of our own children."

He also disclosed leaders from northern Nigeria can't afford to be happy when about 87 percent of poverty in Nigeria is in the region.

Emir Sanusi added;

“Nobody who is a leader in northern Nigeria today can afford to be happy,” Sanusi said.

“You cannot be happy about 87 percent of poverty in Nigeria being in the north. You can’t be happy with millions of northern out-of-school children. You can’t be happy with nine states in the north contributing almost 50 percent of the entire malnutrition burden in the country.

“You can’t be happy with the Boko Haram problem. You can’t be happy with all the issues.

“So, we wish Nasir a happy birthday, but we do not want him to be happy as a leader. Because you are happy when you think you have reached a state of delivering and taking your people to where you want them to be.”

Emir Sanusi also commended Governor El-Rufai for addressing the main issue in his state which is education.

He said;

“If you look at what Nasir is doing in Kaduna, with 40 percent of his budget in education, that is the only thing that is going to safe the north. I know that, when we say these things, they don’t go down well."

Lionel Messi and Lewis Hamilton shared the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award on Monday night.

The superstar footballer and Formula one driver pipped Tiger Woods, Rafael Nadal, Marc Marquez and Eliud Kipchoge for the honour. The pair were tied for first place in the voting by former sports greats who make up the members of the Laureus Academy.

Hamilton, who was given the award by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, said: 'It's all of our responsibility to use our platform for really pushing for gender equality, inclusivity and making sure that we are engaging and trying to represent where the world is today.'

Messi who was not at the event said: 'I apologise I was not able to come to the event tonight. I really wanted to be there but unfortunately, I could not make it.

'I would like to thank the Academy for giving me this recognition.

'The truth is that this is a very special award and I am honoured to be the first to win this from a team sport. Thank you very much.'

CNN's Fareed Zakaria has analyzed the addition of Nigeria to the US travel ban which in the last few weeks has generated lots of controversy.

Recall that the White House announced that immigrants from Nigeria and five other countries will no longer be eligible for visas allowing them to live in the US permanently, expanding its controversial travel ban policy.  A presidential proclamation on January 31 cited Nigeria's failure to comply with security and information sharing requirements, and its high "terror" risk to the US as reasons for imposing the restriction.

Fareed Zakaria who analyzed the development, considered if the ban was a security measure or enforcement of President Donald Trump's view on immigration. He pointed out no Nigerian has been responsible for any terror-related attack in America in over four decades.

The CNN presenter insisted that if the reason for banning immigrant visas from Nigeria is valid, then all visas including the temporary one should have been banned as well. 

Zakaria also disclosed that Nigerians are the most educated immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa in the US of which 59% aged 25 and older have at least a bachelor’s degree, according to migration policy institute.

He said;

“According to the Migration Policy Institute, 59% of Nigeria immigrants aged 25 and older hold at least a Bachelor’s degree, that is nearly double the proportion for Americans born in the US.

“It is also more than the proportion of immigrants from South Korea, China, the United Kingdom and Germany. Nigerian immigrants also get high scale jobs, 54% of them are in largely White-collar positions in management, business, science and the arts than barely just 39% of people born in the US.”

Zakaria cited a new American Research report which revealed that Nigerian immigrants in the United States made more than $14 billion in 2018 and paid more than $4 billion in taxes in the United States. He also averred that Nigeria is America’s second-largest trade partner amongst other things.

English club, Manchester City has been banned by European football governing body, UEFA, for two years and hit with a £25m fine.

ManCity, coached by Pep Guardiola and owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, were found guilty by Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) of falsely inflating their sponsorship revenues to make it look like the club was making more money than it was spending on player purchase, when submitting financial accounts as part of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) compliance process.

FFP was formed by UEFA to prevent European clubs from spending more money than they make as income.

With FFP, European clubs stopped overspending on player wages, restricting the amount owners are able to use of their own cash to cover losses.

With this new ban, Man City will now be suspended from any UEFA European competition for the next two seasons.

Man City have announced that they will appeal the case with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).

The verdict passed by FIFA follows an investigation that after German magazine Der Spiegel “leaked” emails and documents in November 2018 alleging Man City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan was mostly funding the £67.5m-a-year sponsorship of the club’s shirts, stadium and academy via Etihad airline.

A statement from the club on Friday said: “Manchester City is disappointed but not surprised by today’s announcement by the UEFA Adjudicatory Chamber. The Club has always anticipated the ultimate need to seek out an independent body and process to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence in support of its position.

“In December 2018, the UEFA Chief Investigator publicly previewed the outcome and sanction he intended to be delivered to Manchester City, before any investigation had even begun. The subsequent flawed and consistently leaked UEFA process he oversaw has meant that there was little doubt in the result that he would deliver.  The Club has formally complained to the UEFA Disciplinary body, a complaint which was validated by a CAS ruling.

“Simply put, this is a case initiated by UEFA, prosecuted by UEFA and judged by UEFA. With this prejudicial process now over, the Club will pursue an impartial judgment as quickly as possible and will therefore, in the first instance, commence proceedings with the Court of Arbitration for Sport at the earliest opportunity.”

The Supreme Court has sacked the governor-elect of Bayelsa State, David Lyon, of APC and his Deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieoyo.

The five-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili in its ruling delivered today Thursday February 13th, annuled the election on grounds that the deputy governor-elect, Degi-Eremieoyo, ran for the election with forged certificates.

The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to withdraw the certificate of Return issued to the All Progressives Congress’ candidates as the winners of the November 16th 2019 governorship election in the state and issue fresh certificates to the candidates of the PDP, Douye Diri who reportedly scored the next highest number of votes during the election.

This judgement comes barely a month after the Supreme court annulled the election of PDP's Emeka Ihedioha in Imo state and instated Hope Uzodinma of the APC.

Abubakar Shekau, the factional leader of Boko Haram sect, has given a condition under which the remaining Chibok school girls that are being held in captivity, would be released.

In a video released to the Cable, Shekau said the schoolgirls would be set free if the federal government let go of the sect members currently in detention.

In the video, Shekau warned President Buhari not to return to Borno as his members are fully on ground in the north-east and would attack the president if he ever returns to Borno.

President Buhari was in Borno state on Wednesday February 12th on a condolence visit to the government and people of the state following last Sunday's attack by the sect members in Aonu community that left over 30 travelers dead while many others were abducted.

Recall that the sects abducted about 276 female students from Chibok girls Secondary School. Over 100 of them are still in Boko Haram captivity while others have been released by the sect.