Chidi Mokeme & Beverly Naya cover Redsheet magazine 24th edition

Nollywood stars Chidi Mokeme and Beverly Naya cover the latest issue of Redsheet magazine...

Ekiti State commissioner arrested for beating up NYSC member

Police in Ekiti has arrested the state’s Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Mr. Kayode Olaosebikan, for questioning over the beating up of a NYSC member at a registration unit in Otun Ekiti, Moba LGA of the state, Vanguard reports.

Olaosebikan (pictured above), who is also the Chairman, NYSC board in the state, was seen at the Criminal Investigation Department, CID, making his statement.

Olaosebikan allegedly beat up a youth corps member, Mr. Thompson Enobong, NYSC number EK/13c/1859, who is one of the NYSC members assisting INEC in the just-concluded registration.

I dont enjoy any special benefits as an MFR- Chinedu Ikedieze

Nollywood actor, Chinedu Ikedieze popularly known as Aki who got conferred with the MFR title by President Jonathan in July 2010 says the national title does not come with any visible benefits to him. Aki in a chat with Yes! magazine this week said there is no monetary value or special benefits to the title as obtained in western countries.

"The only joy in it is the recognition. When I am traveling and I get to the Airport, I get special preference and recognition. Apart from that, I don't get any other thing. I don't get paid, I don't get any special benefits as an MFR. As an MFR, I hold the same position with some of those who are Members of the British Empire (MBE) and they have some special benefits in the international community and honourary recognitions but those things are not here" he said.

Aki was also asked if he ever wonders why he was created in the form he is. His answer after the cut..

"Am I the one that created myself? Why would I ask myself such a question? You can only ask such a question when you are frustrated about life or if you are tired of life. But in my own case I am not. When you wake up in the morning and you have something to eat, you have people who can smile at you and you smile back  as well, then what else do you need? Then you go to bed, you sleep and you seldom go to the hospital, so which other gift is more important than that? As far as I am concerned, that is the greatest gift. There are some people who have all the money, cars, houses and all the things they want, but they are sick. They don't enjoy the money. So the perfect gift for me is good health".

Alleged N600m fraud: How Lagos Speaker spent funds on foreign trips, wife – EFCC

EFCC today March 18th revealed how Lagos Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji, squandered money on his wife, foreign trips and how on August 1, 2011, N4.4m was paid to him as “cost of allowance”; and his personal assistant and orderly pocketed N1.2m and N1.1m respectively.

Premium Times reports

The trial of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, continued Tuesday with the prosecution witness detailing how the defendants allegedly laundered millions of Naira.

Adebayo Adeniyi, the EFCC witness, told the court how the defendants collected N13.5 million for honorarium, N4.5 million for renovation of the Speaker’s residence, and N1.5 million for the Speaker’s Guest House every month for six consecutive months.

Mr. Ikuforiji and Oyebode Atoyebi, his aide, are facing a 54-count amended charge of money laundering amounting to over N600 million.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, accused the Speaker and his aide of receiving the money from the Lagos State House of Assembly without passing through a financial institution.

The trial was adjourned last January for the prosecution to provide a summarized version of the monies collected by Mr. Ikuforiji and his aide.
But on Tuesday, Godwin Obla, counsel to the EFCC, said that he would rather continue with his previous method to avoid any grounds for appeal.

It was a painstaking effort that required Mr. Obla to go through each of the transactions with the witness. The judge admitted that, but overruled the defence’s plea that the prosecution tabulate the relevant sections of the transactions.
“We’ve lost time. We vacated three days for that exercise to be done,” said Ibrahim Buba, the trial judge.
“What I understand the prosecution to be doing is trying to go through the records viz a viz each count of the allegation. They are entitled to do so.
“It is indeed difficult, if not laborious,” Mr. Buba added.

2011 TRANSACTIONS
Mr. Adeniyi continued his testimony by stating how the Lagos House of Assembly paid millions of naira to Mr. Ikuforiji; his wife, Mayowa; his orderly; his personal assistant; as well as the state’s Deputy Speaker.

All the monies were collected by Mr. Atoyebi and paid for in cash, the witness said.
On July 14, 2011, N5.4 million was paid to Mr. Ikuforiji for a trip to San Diego, California; his personal assistant and orderly collected N1.3 million and N1.2 million respectively, according to Mr. Adeniyi.

On August 1, 2011, N4.4 million was paid to the Speaker as “cost of allowance”; his personal assistant and orderly pocketed N1.2 million and N1.1 million respectively. Two days later, N10 million was paid to the Speaker for Ramadan, the witness said.

On August, 2011, N6.4 million was paid to Mayowa Ikuforiji, the Speaker’s wife; and N1.3 million to the wife’s orderly, the witness said.
Between January and June 2011, N13.5 million was paid as honorarium, every month, to the Speaker, Mr. Adeniyi added.

He said N4 million and N1 million were also paid monthly, within the stated period, for the renovation of the Speaker’s official residence and guest house respectively.

Asked why there were columns with Cheque Numbers in the cash register, Mr. Adeniyi responded that: “What they do is that a cheque is raised in most cases in the name of the Permanent Secretary and cashed from the bank.
“It is this cash that is eventually paid and registered in this document, the details of payments.”

2010 TRANSACTIONS
“Basically, these cash payments are supposed to be made through a financial institution, paid to the beneficiaries, not through cash payments. Cash payments stall the tracing of the monies.
“We discovered that some of it was paid into the account of the first accused person. Some of it was used for his credit card and other personal matters,” he added.

During cross examination by Wole Olanipekun, counsel to Mr. Ikuforiji, Mr. Adeniyi said that he was not aware what the Speaker used the monies for.

“Our investigation is not focused on knowing whether he spent the money on his personal house.
“From our investigation, we did not go in depth into who approved the disbursements, we were particular about the cash disbursement which was above the threshold of transactions by a Permanent Secretary.

“Any payment must be made through e-payment, most especially when it is above the threshold,” Mr. Adeniyi said.
When shown one of the cash registers by the defence lawyer, Mr. Adeniyi said that he could not “remember seeing it.”

Mr. Obla objected to that line of questioning, insisting that the defence must tender the cash register as an exhibit before it court be used for cross examination.
The judge, however, said that the defence was at liberty to use any document that had been brought before the court.

“You cannot file a document and your witness said he cannot remember seeing it. If it was filed by the defence, it is a different ball game altogether,” the judge told Mr. Obla.
“Once you have provided this document, it is for them (the defence) to use it at their own time during the trial, not at your own time,” the judge added.
The trial was adjourned till April 28 for continuation of trial.

Photos: Chief Rasaq Okoya and wife Shade renew wedding vows

74 year old bbillionaire businessman and his wife of many years and mother of his four youngest children, Shade Okoya, 36, renewed their wedding vows over the weekend at their palatial Estate in Lagos. In attendance were former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and current governor,Raji Fashola. Continue to see more photos ...

Oscar winner Jared Leto compares his looks to that of Jesus Christ

Hollywood actor and singer Jared Leto shared the photo above of himself and Jesus Christ on his instagram page yesterday and wrote "Haaaa! Fashion may go out of style but style never goes out of fashion. #ClassicLooks #FashionForward #ThanksJC #NotComparingToChrist xo" 

Lol. I'm sure he meant no harm but some people didn't find it funny!

Photos: The Idibia's attend Chidi Mokeme's surprise birthday party

Chidi Mokeme turned a year older yesterday March 17th and close friends, including 2face & Annie Idibia celebrated with him at his home. Continue to see more photos...

Kanye West sentenced to 2 years probation, 250 hours community service

Kanye West has been sentenced to 2years probation and 250 hours community service after the attack on a photographer at Los Angeles Airport in 2013, E! News reports.

Kanye pled no contest to one count of misdemeanor battery yesterday in response to videographer Daniel Ramos lawsuit against him. Kanye attacked Ramos at LAX airport in August last year as the paparazzo tried to take photos of him

Minus the two year probation and community service, Kanye is also required to complete 24 sessions of a level-2 anger management program and he must turn himself in to the LAPD for a formal booking. Kanye agreed to all this to make the case disappear from his record

Sanusi Lamido responds to allegations of financial recklessness

Suspended CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi yesterday Sunday March 16th responded to allegations of financial recklessness leveled against him by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) and the Federal Government. Find the full statement he released below...

I am compelled to make this public statement to address the various allegations levied against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and cited as the reasons for my suspension from office as the Governor of the CBN on the 19th of February 2014.

As a matter of record, the allegations were made in the following documents: Continue..

i. Briefing Note of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) dated 7th June 2013, Ref: PRES/188/T&I/89 to His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan [the Briefing Note];
ii. The Letter of Suspension dated 19th February 2014, which I received from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; and
iii. The petition dated 9th February 2014 by Mr Erastus Akingbola.

However, before I go into the above issues, let me reiterate for the records, the achievements of the CBN during my tenure as the Governor: 

The Record

Firstly, let me state that I have been extremely fortunate to have had a solid and supportive team led by the Deputy Governors and supported by the Departmental Directors, as well as thousands of hardworking and dedicated staff who must be given the credit for all that the CBN has achieved. I would also like to acknowledge for the record, the foundation laid by my predecessor, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, in a number of areas. The CBN Act, 2007, which he championed, established the CBN as a truly autonomous entity of the Federation, and made it possible for us to take the difficult decisions necessary for restoring and maintaining macroeconomic stability. The FSS 2020 and PSV 2020 documents provided the principal strategic roadmaps that led to many of the innovations in payment systems, non-interest banking, financial inclusion, the Asset Management Corporation, IFRS, Risk-based Supervision, and the like.

Indeed, it will be impossible for me to review almost five years of revolutionary change made possible by the work of thousands of employees in the CBN in collaboration with other Regulators, Banks and Other Financial Institutions and Government Ministries in this press statement. However, I will mention a few of the key highlights.
On monetary policy, the Bank has improved the institutional framework for policy-making. A properly constituted Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) with a clear mandate for maintaining stability has been established. The MPC has been supported by improvements in research, data and forecasting capacity, and we have also paid attention to clear communication of our objectives to the market. As a result, headline inflation has remained below 10 per cent since January 2013, from a peak of 15.1 percent and 13.9 percent in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Core inflation declined from 11.2 per cent in December 2009 to 7.9 percent in December 2013, while food inflation maintained a downward trend from 15.5 percent in December 2009 to 9.3 percent in December 2013. In addition to the conventional liquidity management products, the Bank approved financial products to manage liquidity in non-interest financial institutions. The CBN also promoted the formation of the financial Markets Dealers Quotations Over–the-Counter (FQDM OTC) Plc as a self-regulatory OTC operator.

In the area of safeguarding the value of the local currency and maintaining stability in the foreign exchange market for the overall sustenance of macroeconomic stability and growth, the CBN over the period has successfully maintained a stable exchange rate regime and a robust external reserve position conducive to sustainable growth and development.

On the Banking System, I was appointed Governor in the middle of a global financial crisis when the Nigerian banking system was on the verge of collapse. The Bank moved swiftly to remove the managing directors and executive directors of the banks where major corporate governance failures were discovered, provided liquidity support, pioneered the setting up of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to purchase non-performing loans, recapitalize the banks and pilot a process that led to mergers and acquisitions, as well as recapitalization of all the weak and failing banks. As a result, all financial soundness indicators – Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Liquidity and Profitability ratios – were normalized. As a result of the work by the Bank, not a single depositor or creditor lost money in any Nigerian bank during or after the financial crisis.

In addition to the quantitative measures, we broke up universal banks and encouraged the setting up of specialized banks (including the first Non – interest Bank in the Country’s history), pushed for the adoption of IFRS and Basel 3, enhanced risk-based supervision, issued Competency Guidelines for the staff in the banking industry, established a Consumer Protection Department and developed a Financial Inclusion Strategy and Roadmap, among others for the CBN.

The Bank implemented policies aimed at reducing the excessive use of cash in the system to ensure safety, improve efficiency and curb money laundering. The transformation of NIBSS, the insistence on interoperability of channels, encouragement of electronic banking, the licensing of Mobile Money Operators, the Agent Banking and tiered-KYC frameworks have all led to rapid growth in volume and value of non-cash transaction and enhanced financial inclusion.

The Bank has played its leadership role in ensuring industry compliance with environmental sustainability and governance standards, including a strong focus on women and the handicapped.

The CBN in the last five years has taken a leading role in providing long-term low-cost funding to priority sectors of the Nigerian economy in a bid to help in bringing to reality the Transformation Agenda of the government of your Excellency. We have provided these funds at single-digit interest rates to micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as to companies operating in the power, aviation, and agricultural sectors of the economy, and also to large industrial enterprises with potential for structural transformation.

The Bank has invested in human capital, improved staff welfare and attracted and retained specialized skills in the areas of Banking Supervision, Information Technology, Shared Services and Risk Management.

On Financial Performance, the Bank has in the last five years kept a lid on overheads and cost of currency management. As a result, the Bank has continued to produce sterling results and contributed substantially to the Federal Budget. In the five years, 2009 – 2013, the Bank contributed N376 billion to the Federal Budget as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).Based on 2012 financials alone, we paid N80 billion to the Ministry of Finance. On the basis of the 2013 results and at the request of the Coordinating Minister of the Economy (CME), we paid N159 billion to the Ministry of Finance in February this year; the same month the audited accounts of the CBN were approved by the Committee of Governors (COG). Indeed, due to the precarious position of Government finances, the CBN in February 2014, upon the request of the CME, gave the Ministry a further ‘Advance IGR’ of N70 billion in anticipation of 2014 profits.

May I add that, in 2008, the year before my appointment, the CBN contributed N8 billion to the Federation Account. Although the Bank is not a profit-centre, in the first four years of my term, the Bank alone contributed 75 percent of the total IGR paid by MDAs leading to commendation by the House Committee on Finance at several Public Hearings. 

Recognitions
As a result of these achievements of my colleagues and staff, we received numerous recognitions consistently throughout my tenure from highly-regarded publications. These awards are based on a competitive process where analysts and economists rank Central Bank Governors across regions and the globe.

In 2010, The Banker Magazine, a publication of Financial Times in London, named me Best Central Bank Governor in the World and Best in Africa. At the Annual World Bank/IMF Meetings, Emerging Markets, a publication of Euromoney Institutional Investor named me Best Central Bank Governor in Sub-Saharan Africa for 2009, 2010 and 2012. The African Banker Magazine named me Best Central Bank Governor in Africa, 2012. This is in addition to being named Forbes Africa Person of the year 2011 and listed by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, 2011.

I have always regarded these honours not as personal accolades, but as a tribute to our nation and the committed and resourceful women and men of CBN.

Response to the allegations in relation to my suspension

On Wednesday 10th March 2014, I submitted a Memorandumto His Excellency, Mr President, with supporting documentation,effectively addressing all the allegations contained in the FRCN Briefing Note, the Letter of Suspension and the Akingbola Petition.

Having submitted my response to the President, I am further compelled, following the recent press briefing and comments by the Senior Special Adviserto the President on Media, as well as numerous other references to the allegations in both local, international and online media, to put to the public my responses, in the interest of transparency, accountability and my responsibility to the Nigerian people.Let me also state that I saw the FRCN “Briefing Note” for the first time when it was attached to the suspension letter. At no time was this report sent to the CBN either by the President or the FRCN for comments or explanations. As for the Akingbola petition, it is a rehash of baseless allegations he has been making since 2010 which apparently he must have been asked to reproduce on February 9, ten days before the suspension. It is indeed strange that the CBN Governor can be suspended based on allegations written by a man who ran his bank into the ground and against whom judgement has been obtained in a London court, and who furthermore is facing criminal prosecution at home for offences including criminal Theft.

A careful examination of the allegations contained in the FRCN Briefing Note to Mr President, will show that each of the allegations could easily have been resolved by a simple request for clarification or more careful review. There is no doubt that if the CBN had received the Briefing Note, which was prepared in June 2013, all the misconceptions, misrepresentations and erroneous inferences contained therein would have been cleared.

I am publishing these responses to enable the general public see that each and every allegation levelled against the CBN under my leadership is false and unfounded, and that many of the allegations were malicious and fabricated, having been designed to mislead the President into believing that the Management of the Central Bank was guilty of misconduct and recklessness.

Having provided detailed explanations, backed by verifiable documents, it is my sincere wish that His Excellency, Mr President, in line with his adherence to fairness and justice, will apply the same rationale and rigour to other agencies of the Federal Government that have had serious allegations and queries levied against them, and prevail upon them to provide responses and explanations with the same level of clarity and transparency.

In closing, I would like to place on record the dogged professionalism and patriotism of the staff of the CBN. They have, over the years, conducted themselves very creditably, and discharged their duties with the highest integrity.