Former president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick,

has explained why Finidi George was chosen as Super Eagles head coach ahead of his former national teammate, Emmanuel Amuneke.

Amunike was heavily seen as a favourite for the role considering his rich CV that showcased success in FIFA U17 World Cup with Golden Eaglets and qualification for AFCON with Tanzanian national team.

However, Pinnick believed the technical committee of NFF was right in choosing Finidi to continue with the Jose Peseiro project, which Finidi was part of as assistant head coach.

“Finidi is well equipped; he played for Ajax and they over there have developmental football mentoring in kicking the ball, trapping and all that. I think he is well positioned for the job.

“For Amuneke, he is also technically sound but I am talking of the seamless transition from Peseiro; it will benefit the team much for Finidi to have the job and thank God he is there,” Pinnick said on Arise TV.

Pinnick, who is now a FIFA Council member, also believed Finidi George was right in turning down the chance to work with some of his former teammates and to insist on foreign assistants.

“Finidi has the right to pick his assistants,” Pinnick said. “For his assistants, it is very tricky. It is normal for him to demand foreign assistants if he desires one.

“Backroom staffing is more scientific right now. If he says he needs three back room assistants, perhaps one for goalkeeper training, the others are for other positions.

“The assistant coaches are the engine room of the success of any coach because they see what the coach can’t see.

“But then, it depends on funding from the federation but I think it is not out of place. Finidi should be allowed to do what he wants to do. But if there is paucity of funds, they can discuss it with him.”

The Lagos State Special Offences Court, presided over by Justice Rahman Oshodi, has admitted a bundle of documents in the ongoing trial of the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, charged with abuse of office, and alleged fraud to the tune of $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion respectively.

Before the decision of Justice Oshodi, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had tendered the bundle of documents through the 3rd prosecution witness, and a Compliance Officer with Zenith Bank, Mr Clement Ngolu, while being led in evidence by the counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).

The documents were admitted into evidence following no objections from the 1st defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN) and the 2nd defence counsel, Adeyinka Kotoye (SAN).

Specifically, the judge admitted the original copies of Zenith Bank account opening package, statement of account of Limelight Multidimensional Services Ltd which were sent to the EFCC into evidence.

According to the judge, “I have read the documents dated March 2024, and I admit the original certified copy of the bundles of documents which include account opening package, statement of accounts into evidence and are marked as exhibit A.” Oshodi said.

In his evidence before Justice Oshodi, Ngolu confirmed that his department responded to regulators and law enforcement agencies in order to ensure that the bank activities were in line with bank’s policies and regulations.

While adding that his department worked with agencies like the EFCC, Nigeria Police, ICPC and NSCDC, the witness explained that sometime in 2014, his department got a request from the EFCC to furnish it with statements of accounts of Limelight and two other accounts and the same was duly furnished the anti-graft agency.

Ngolu said, “The documents we sent to the EFCC was duly signed by staff of the bank.

“The process of generating the statement was through our computer system, which was in good condition as at the time.

“The documents were printed out from the company’s computer which was working well, and the documents are in the bank’s custody.”

However, the defence said they had no question for the witness.

Equally, a former Director of Information Technology of the CBN, John Ayoh, in the continuation of his cross-examination, revealed that he had a confrontation with Emefiele because he had asked him to do something wrong.

The witness who further confirmed that he was sidelined by the embattled governor on the reason that he was not popular with him, added that his being sidelined made him not to have any relationship with him.

According to him: “I was not happy being unpopular with the former CBN governor but on a number of occasions, I signed contract letters to vendors.

“While I was a director with the CBN, my loyalty was to the bank and the Nigerian nation and my relationship with Emefiele was only formal and based on instructions.

“The governor and the four deputy governors of the bank alongside the directors make up the management of the CBN.”

The case has been adjourned until May 17 for the continuation of trial.

Works ministry defends project, House panel gets four weeks to complete probe

The House of Representatives on Thursday resolved to probe the ongoing N15tn Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.

As such, the House said it would set up an ad-hoc committee, which would investigate the project and submit a report within four weeks.

The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved during plenary by the member representing Gwer East/Gwer West Federal Constituency, Benue State, Mr Austin Achado.

The House also resolved to summon the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN; the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun and his works counterpart, David Umahi, to shed more light on the project.`

But the Ministry of Works defended the project, saying it followed due process. It also said the House of Representatives members had pledged support for the project.

A 700-kilometre turnpike infrastructure, the coastal highway project has attracted commendation and condemnation since the Bola Tinubu administration approved it in February.

The 10-lane coastal road was designed to connect Lagos to Cross River, passing through Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom states before culminating in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

The project gained traction under the administrations of Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari but could not commence.

Under Jonathan, the highway was to cost $12bn, and $11.1bn under Buhari. It was subsequently expanded from a four-lane double carriageway to a 10-lane highway.

Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, disclosed that the construction of the coastal road was expected to span eight years and cost N4bn per kilometre.

FEC approval

So far, the minister disclosed that the Federal Executive Council had approved and released N1.06tn for the contractor for the pilot phase of the construction, which started at the Eko Atlantic City and will terminate at Lekki Deep Seaport.

Although many have lauded the ambitious project, others faulted the process of the award of the contract that led to the emergence of Hitech Construction Company Nigeria Limited as the preferred contractor. 

Umahi had explained that the reason for awarding the contract to Hitech without competitive bidding as laid down by the laws was because of the company’s “track record.”

The minister disclosed that the highway was conceived as an Engineering, Procurement and Construction plus Financing project.

The model, he explained, entails part-funding by the Federal Government between 15 to 30 per cent.

Umahi said the approval process went through the Bureau of Public Procurement after consideration by the Federal Executive Council as prescribed by law.

The minister also said that the contract was awarded on a counterpart-funding basis and not on a public-private partnership, as widely claimed.

“Under this model, the investor provides all designs, part of the financing and construction while the Federal Government provides the counterpart funding. The ministry received such a bid, worked on it and sent it to BPP.

“The BPP worked on it according to the Procurement Act and came up with a price slightly lower than the ministry’s price and even lower than the cost of similar projects awarded five years ago like the Bodo-Bonny project.

Counterpart funding

“So, there’s a marked difference between PPP and EPC plus F (Engineering, Procurement and Construction plus Finance). And in this particular project, there will be a negotiated counterpart funding of between 15 and 30 per cent. We are still negotiating on these terms and will come to a resolution soon,” the minister stated.

Aside from the cost, the demolition of structures along the right of way of the project, particularly the hospitality outlets around the Lagos beaches, had sparked public discourse on the project.

The government has commenced payment of compensation to some of the businesses affected by the demolition.

The first phase of the compensation flag-off included 10 property owners who had been paid about N2.75bn.

However, moving the motion on the floor of the chambers, Achado, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, insisted that the guarantees issued to cover the debt financing component of the project did not have the approval of the National Assembly.

He stated, “It is disturbing that the contingent liabilities accruing to the Federal Government of Nigeria on this project violate the Debt Management Office (Establishment) Act of 2023, as section 22(3) states that the minister shall not guarantee an external loan unless the terms and conditions of the loan shall have been laid before the National Assembly and approved by its resolution. 

“The guarantees issued to cover the debt financing component of this project do not have the approval of this National Assembly.”

The lawmaker noted that the Federal Ministry of Works had executed an engineering procurement construction finance contract in favour of Hitech Construction Company Nigeria Limited for the delivery of the coastal road and rail project.

He explained that the project was estimated at N4.33bn per kilometre using reinforced concrete technology for a carriage width of 59.7 metres, to include 10 lanes, shoulders and rail with additional designs of service ducts, street lights, drainages and shore protection.

Achado further said the project had the prospect of providing easy access for the movement of goods and services across the nation, and has a financing structure, as announced by the works minister, “Which requires the Federal Government to provide 15 per cent to 30 per cent co-financing, while the private sector counterpart will provide the balance, and toll the road when completed for a minimum period of 15 years, to ensure full recovery of all debts and equity applied for the delivery of the project.”

Procurement process

Regrettably, Achado maintained that the procurement strategy of the project might have violated section 40(2) of the Public Procurement Act 2007.

The section, he added, required that where a procuring authority adopts a restrictive tendering approach, “It should be on the basis that the said goods and services are available only from a limited number of suppliers and contractors and as such, tenders shall be invited from all such contractors who can provide such goods and services.”

Furthermore, the lawmaker argued that the procurement strategy adopted by the Federal Ministry of Works for the award of the contract violated the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission Act 2905.

“Section 4 of the Act outlines that all approved infrastructure projects and contracts for financing, construction and maintenance must be advertised for open competitive public bid, in at least three national dailies,” Achado noted, adding that section 5 of the Act further clarified that “Any direct negotiations with only one contractor could be allowed, only after exhausting the provisions of section 4.”

He further raised the alarm of a possible creation of contingent liabilities for Nigeria because, according to him, while promoting the project, the ministry of works provided a rate per kilometre for the planned works but failed to provide the private partners’ financing sources, structure and competitiveness.

However, Uyime Idem (PDP, Akwa-Ibom), moved an amendment for the project to be referred to the Committee on Public Procurement, which he heads.

He explained that his committee already received several petitions on the project. His amendment was subsequently adopted by the House.

Isiaka Ibrahim (APC, Ogun) moved an amendment for the House Committee on Works to be included. The amendment was also adopted.

The committees were then directed to summon  Umahi,  Edun and Fagbemi, to ensure that all guarantees and credit enhancement instruments for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road Project are sent to the National Assembly for approval.

When the motion was put to a vote by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, after the motion was amended, the majority of the members voted in support.

Following the adoption of the motion,  Achado said, “The House resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the procurement process of the contract for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project and report to the House within four weeks.

“The House called on the Honourable Minister of Works, the Honourable Minister of Finance and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to ensure that all guarantees and credit enhancement instruments for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road Project are sent to the National Assembly for approval.”

In an interview with The PUNCH, the Deputy Spokesman for the House, Philip Agbese, disclosed that the ad hoc committee would be set up soon at the discretion of the Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen.

He said, “The House has its rules change concerning the setting up of ad-hoc committees. Very soon, the committee will be constituted at the discretion of the speaker, taking into consideration the prayers of the motion.

“The minority will send a representative and all the various caucuses would be allowed to have a say in the committee,” Agbese clarified.

In his reaction to the House resolution, the works ministry’s spokesperson, Ben Goong, recalled that the National Assembly members conducted a site visit at the beginning of the construction and granted full approval for the project.

He further mentioned that they expressed support for the project and committed to ensuring its timely completion.

He said, “But members of the National Assembly paid a visit to the site at the start of constructing the highway. The minister was accompanied by the leadership of the house committee on works and they pledged to support that project till it was completed.”

The Director of Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Finance, Mr Mohammed Manga, declined to comment on the lawmakers’ demand for guarantees and credit enhancement.

The Italian prosecutor involved in the trial of Shell, Eni and others, in the controversial Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 case, Fabio De Pasquale, has been demoted by the country’s Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) for his role in the proceedings.

An Italian newspaper, Ilgiorno, reported that De Pasquale was demoted for “lack of impartiality and fairness” in the way he handled the prosecution at the Court of Milan. Recall that in 2021, a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), had petitioned Italy’s Minister of Justice over the conduct of De Pasquale. Adoke, through his lawyers, accused the prosecutors of unlawful acts of intimidation/threat to life, forgery of documents/evidence intended for unlawful interference with the administration and perversion of the course of justice.

The Italian was also said to have hidden critical evidence that would have exonerated the defendants and is facing a separate hearing over the allegation. Adoke said the prosecutors acted “maliciously and unprofessionally” to his detriment despite the fact that he was not a direct party to the criminal prosecution and was not on trial before the Milanese court.

Eventually, the court discharged all persons and companies accused of fraud and bribery in the transaction. De Pasquale, who was assistant prosecutor at the Court of Milan with semi-managerial prosecuting functions, was rejected by 23 of the 27 members of the CSM, including its Vice President, Fabio Pinelli, while four members abstained from voting.

“It is therefore demonstrated that De Pasquale lacks the prerequisites of impartiality and balance, having repeatedly exercised jurisdiction in a manner that was neither objective nor fair with respect to the parties as well as without a sense of proportion and without moderation,” the CSM resolved.

Naira depreciation continued as US dollar transactions at the official foreign exchange market dropped to an all-time low of $84.38 million.

This is according to FMDQ data at the close of work on Thursday.

The day-to-day FX supply turnover dropped from $160.77 million on Tuesday to $84.38 million on Thursday.

Consequently, the Naira further dipped to N1459.73 per dollar on Thursday from N1416.57 on Wednesday.

This represents an N43.17 depreciation against the dollar at the official foreign exchange market.

Similarly, the Naira dropped to N1,450 per dollar on Thursday in the parallel market section, compared to N1,438 the previous day. This brings the gap between the official and parallel markets to N9.73.

Naira’s depreciation has been consistent for days now in the FX market.

The country’s forex instability has persisted despite the recent surge in foreign reserves by $262 million.

American Express Co. has launched its inaugural business credit card in Nigeria amid the foreign exchange crisis.

The international firm is partnering with a Nigerian firm, neobank O3 Capital Nigeria Limited, potentially enhancing access to dollar transactions in the West African country.

The unveiling happened in Lagos on Thursday. 

The business card comes with a spending limit of $10,000 and offers a repayment window of up to 45 days for international transactions.

The President of Global Network Services, Amex, Mohammed Badi, said, “The first-ever American Express Business Card in the most populous African country will give us another way to support local businesses with their growth aspirations”.

Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of O3 Capital, Abimbola Pinheiro, said the O3-Amex card “solves the problem of queuing at banks for business travel allowance and the personal travel allowance.

The development comes amid the continued foreign exchange crisis in Nigeria.

On Thursday, the Naira dipped to N1459.73 per dollar at the official exchange market.

The World Bank says the conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme of the federal government has had a limited impact on household consumption and financial inclusion.

The Bretton Woods institution disclosed this in its latest report, titled, ‘Beta Don Come: Effects of Cash Transfers on Women and Households in Nigeria’.

According to the report, the intervention also had a limited impact on employment, especially for women.

The report cited the 2016 cash transfer programme when the federal government launched the National Social Safety Nets Project (NASSP).

At the launch of the programme, it said, the federal government had provided households a cash transfer of N 5,000, disbursed as a lump sum every two months.

Payments were given to each household’s primary caregiver — predominantly women — the report stated.

The World Bank, however, suggested that there is a need for a complementary livelihood to support the intervention to generate sustainable improvements in households’ self-sufficiency.

“Program participation improved several dimensions of households’ and women’s welfare over time,” the report reads.

“Households in communities that entered the program earlier experience larger increases in household savings and food security, along with increased access to farmland and livestock ownership, compared to similar households in communities that entered the program later.

“We also find improvements in caregivers’ self-reported happiness, decision-making autonomy over how to spend their own income, and freedom of movement.

“Positive impacts appear to primarily result from the saving mobilisation component of the program.

“Households are substantially more likely to save the longer they have been receiving cash transfers and to switch away from exclusively using the cash for household consumption.

“However, in contrast to these strong positive impacts, we do not find any statistically significant effects on overall household consumption or on caregivers’ employment and financial inclusion.”

The World Bank also said in spite of the efficacy of the CCT programme, there is no evidence to “the impacts of participating in the program at all”.

“We find positive effects on households’ saving, food security, and economic activity along with increased caregivers’ decision-making autonomy and physical mobility associated with participating in the project for longer periods of time,” the report added.

“Nonetheless, the limited impacts on household consumption and women’s employment suggest that there is remaining scope for a complementary livelihood support intervention to generate sustainable improvements in households’ self-sufficiency.”

Approved in 2016, the CCT programme was established to benefit poor and vulnerable Nigerians with a monthly stipend of N5,000.

On July 13, 2023, President Bola Tinubu asked the senate to approve the $800 million loan request.

The president had said the loan would be used to scale up the national social safety net programme and cushion the effect of the removal of petrol subsidy.

He said the federal government would transfer N8,000 monthly to 12 million poor and low-income households for six months.

But on July 18, 2023, Tinubu ordered the immediate review of the proposed N8,000 conditional cash transfer.

A federal high court in Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking to restrain the federal government from securitising the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means loan received from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Securitisation is the practice of pooling together various debt instruments and selling them as bonds to investors.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, James Omotosho, the presiding judge, held that the plaintiffs lacked locus standi (legal right) to institute the case, noting that they failed to prove the case.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1286/2023, was filed by Justin Edim and Akinfewa Akinwunmi against President Bola Tinubu, the federal government of Nigeria, CBN, and the ministry of finance as first to fourth defendants.

Others in the suit are the debt management office (DMO), national assembly, and attorney-general of the federation (AGF) as fifth to seventh defendants, respectively.

The plaintiffs, through their counsel, Victor Opatola, claimed they initiated the legal action on behalf of themselves and other Nigerian citizens.

They asked the court to stop the conversion of the debt to a promissory note or any other promise to pay at a future date or securitisation through the issuance of treasury bills, bonds, or other forms of security.

In December 2022, the federal government requested the 9th national assembly for permission to securitise the debts it incurred from the CBN over the years.

The plaintiffs claimed that the series of loans secured by the government from the CBN had amounted to N23.7 trillion.

They added that the federal government was planning to restructure the loans to something that could be traded.

They further stated that the federal government had over the years secured various loans from the CBN under the Ways and Means provision of section 38 of the CBN Act in contravention of relevant laws.

They argued that the laws stipulate that the total amount the government could borrow shall not exceed five percent of the previous year’s revenue.

Recently, according to the plaintiffs, the Ways and Means debt of N22.7 trillion was decided to be converted into bonds (promissory note) contrary to section 38(3)(b) of the CBN Act.

The plaintiffs wanted the court to declare that the effect of securitising the ways and means debt would adversely affect millions of Nigerians, as well as rob them of the true worth of their savings and further drive Nigerians below the poverty line.

Delivering the judgment, Omotosho struck out the name of the national assembly from the suit, noting that the plaintiffs had breached the condition precedence of filing a pre-action notice on the legislature three months before filing the case.

The judge said though the plaintiffs claimed they filed the matter on behalf of the masses, the instant case was not a fundamental enforcement rights suit.

He said the claim that the suit was brought on behalf of the public was incomprehensible.

The judge added that the plaintiffs failed to show how the actions of the defendants affected them personally.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Meghan will arrive in Nigeria on Friday, May 10, for a three-day private visit.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are visiting Nigeria at the invitation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa.

The Director of Sports, Defence Headquarters (DHQ), Air Vice Marshal Abidemi Marquis, said the founder of Invictus Games will spend three days in Nigeria and would interact with wounded soldiers and their families.

Marquis said: “Because we realized that 80% of our soldiers have been involved in this recovery program, they are getting better. Their outlook on life is positive. You know, when you are engaged in, you experience a permanent disability, you know, issues, it affects your mental health and also your outlook on life.

“But the recovery program has given them an opportunity to improve their personal self-esteem, to improve their mental health, their emotional intelligence has been improved and also their families seeing them, you know, as they used to be a breadwinner who is capable of, you know, continue living. So this engagement with Invictus is giving us the opportunity for a recovery for our soldiers.”

Marquis said Nigeria being a member of the Invictus community, the visit will lay credence to the fact that the Nigerian Armed Forces are accepted.

He added that Nigeria is also looking forward to hosting an Invictus game hence, the reason for the visit.

AVM Marquis also stressed the need to build a state-of-the-art structure for the management of the wounded and injured soldiers, “particularly the post-traumatic syndrome and the post-traumatic stress syndrome that are manifesting due to our engagement in the counter-insurgency operation.”

He disclosed that the couple would visit Kaduna and Lagos states where they would also interact with the Governors

He said: “So, to be specific, now, they will be arriving here tomorrow and they will be received and the reception will be a quiet reception because they will be traveling 14 hours to get to this place. They will be taken to the hotel.”

Marquis said the couple, after resting at the hotel, would return to visit the Chief of Defence Staff by noon tomorrow.

The director added that Prince Harry and his wife would before that visit, “They have their own NGO they are supporting somewhere in Wuse Light Academy. They are going to visit that place.

He said: “They will be proceeding to Kaduna to visit the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital. You know, that is where our wounded and injured soldiers are kept for their medical recovery. He will be going there.

“On Saturday, we’ll be having something like an exhibition of novelty matches. The CDS team and the Duke team will be having a volleyball match at armed forces officers’ mess in the morning. And this is just to engage with the wounded and injured soldiers. It’s a sitting volleyball match coming in the morning.

“So after that, we have a programme for them, 01:00 p.m. A reception, where they will be interacting with families of wounded and injured soldiers and families of soldiers and officers killed in action and service members generally. The program will start at 01:00 p.m. On Saturday thereafter, they will go back to the hotel to rest.

“So on Sunday, we have a program in Lagos. They will pay a courtesy call to the governor of Lagos State, and they also have an NGO. They are supporting Lagos over time, and we are going there. They built a basketball court for the school in Lagos. So they will be going there also. And there will be a basketball exhibition Match, 20 minutes, 30 minutes will be played.

“From there, they proceed to the governor’s place. After that, there is a reception also for them in Lagos. And when we finish that, we come back to Abuja, and they’ll be leaving Nigeria on Monday morning.”

The Senate has passed for third reading the NDLEA Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024, thereby approving death sentence as the maximum penalty for drug traffickers in the country.

The Bill was into law on Thursday when the Senate dissolved into Committee of the Whole for a clause-by-clause consideration of a report of its Joint Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights & Legal Matters, and Drugs & Narcotics on the Bill.

The report was earlier laid at plenary by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights & Legal Matters, Senator Tahir Munguno.

In a review of the provisions for penalties in the amendment Bill towards strengthening the operations of the anti-narcotics agency, a proposed amendment to award a death sentence to drug traffickers rather than just a life sentence was raised by the Senate Chief Whip, which was eventually adopted.

However, there was slight uproar in the Red chamber as some lawmakers appeared displeased with the new provision.

Senator Adams Oshiomhole expressed his displeasure over what he considered a hasty consideration and passage of the amended clause to the Bill.

The Deputy Senate President, who presided at the session, rejected Senator Oshiomhole’s call to reverse the ruling, insisting that it came late.