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Fayose sacks Ekiti LG chairmen, boards …shuns government house………..

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Ekiti Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Saturday sacked all the Caretaker Chairmen of the 16 Local Government Areas and the 19 newly created Local Council Development Areas in the state.

Also dissolved are all boards of government corporations, agencies and parastatals constituted by the immediate past Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

Fayose, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, directed all the caretaker chairmen to immediately hand over to the Director of Administration of their respective council.

“The dissolution takes immediate effect.

“All the local government and local council development areas’ caretaker chairmen are to hand over to the Directors of Administration of the existing local government areas.

“The Directors of Administration are to take inventory of the property handed over to them,” the statement read.

Caretaker chairmen were in control of the 16 constitutionally recognised LGAs during the administration of Fayemi.

Caretaker committees were also appointed for the 19 LCDAs inaugurated shortly after the June 21 governorship election.

An attempt by the Fayemi to hold council election in the 16 councils on February 4, 2011, was stopped by the state High Court, following a suit filed by the PDP in the state that some of the members of the State Independent Electoral Commission were members of the then ruling party, APC.

Fayemi, who had promised to hold council election before the end of the year was defeated by Fayose in the June 21 election.

Fayose had his inaugural speech on Thursday vowed not to fund the LCDAs with the Federal Allocations for the 16 councils listed in the 1999 Constitution.

He said “Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) clearly spells the authorities and procedures for the creation of local government.

“The sudden and shoddy balkanisation of the existing 16 local government areas by the immediate past administration under the guise of creating local council development areas is being challenged in the court of law.

“Our party considers the hurried creation of the 19 LCDAs, after incumbent (Fayemi) lost the June election, as gratuitous afterthought of a bad loser. It smacks of political subterfuge masterminded in utmost bad faith.

“But at the moment, the matter is sub judice, and as law abiding citizens, our government will not do anything that will render the decision of the court nugatory.

“However, pending the pronouncement of the court, our administration shall be guided by the provisions of Section 3, Part 1, First Schedule of 1999 Constitution on the list of local governments in Nigeria in the allocation of resources to that tier of government.”

Meanwhile, Fayose, has yet to move into the new Government House, Oke Ayoba, Ado-Ekiti, just completed by the immediate past Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

Investigations by us revealed that Fayose is still governing the state from his campaign office in the Government Reservation Area, Ado-Ekiti.

Fayose had on Tuesday, in a live interview monitored in Ado-Ekiti, invited the prophets in Ekiti, both Islamic and Christian, for the cleansing of the Government House.

Also on Thursday in his inaugural speech, the governor threw open the gates of the government lodge, asking people to go and enjoy themselves there as it was built with their collective wealth.

At a thanksgiving service held the Central Mosque, Ado-Ekiti, on Friday,

Fayose told the congregation that he was not in a hurry to occupy the Government House.

He said, “I am for the masses. I’m not in a hurry to go to the Government House. Those who want to go there can go there and enjoy themselves.

“How will a governor put electricity in his house and the whole town is in darkness,” he queried.

In a related development, Governor Fayose, and the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Adewale Omirin, have engaged themselves in war of words over a one-month recess declared by the lawmaker.

Fayose had faulted the recess, saying it was declared in bad faith.

Omirin had in a statement by his media aide, Wole Olujobi, said the recess was to allow possible change of guide by the personnel of the Assembly.

However, in a statement made issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday, the governor said the reason given by the Speaker for his action was a “lame excuse.”

Fayose accused Omirin of making a move to make the present government unpopular among lawmakers, urging him to purge himself of destructive tendencies and chart a new course.

Omirin, however, denied plotting to frustrate Fayose, describing the governor as a “rabble-rouser.”

Speaking through his Special Adviser (Media), Mr. Wole Olujobi, he said the allegations made by the governor against him were baseless.

He said, “They had been busy monitoring constituency projects to ensure their completion for inauguration by the former Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

“Even if Fayemi were still the governor, they would have still gone on the recess.”

@ Sunday Punch

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Mike Adenuga-led Conoil rewards shareholders with N1.73 billion dividend

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  • Conoil Plc declares a substantial $2.2 million dividend for fiscal year 2022. 
  • Shareholders to receive N2.5 per share in recognition of Conoil’s outstanding financial performance. 
  • Mike Adenuga’s leadership drives Conoil’s profit before tax up by 60% in 2022.

Leading petroleum marketing firm Conoil Plc, headed by the third-richest man in Nigeria and multibillionaire businessman Mike Adenuga, has declared a sizeable dividend distribution to shareholders of N1.73 billion ($2.2 million).

The $2.2-million payment, which is the last dividend for Conoil’s fiscal year 2022, is equivalent to N2.5 ($0.00319) per share for all 693,952,117 of the company’s outstanding common shares.

At Conoil’s 53rd Annual General Meeting, which took place on September 22, 2023, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, shareholders accepted this choice.

According to the information reaching us, the final dividend, which recognizes Conoil’s outstanding financial performance in its 2022 fiscal year, will be deposited to shareholders’ accounts on September 29, 2023.

Conoil’s profit before tax increased dramatically under Adenuga’s direction, rising from N3.83 billion ($4.9 million) in 2021 to N6.13 billion ($7.84 million) in 2022 while confronting various obstacles and a challenging working environment. During the same period, earnings after tax rose by an equally astounding 60%, from N3.08 billion ($3.94 million) to N4.96 billion ($6.35 million).

The increasing profitability of the petroleum-marketing subsector boosted Conoil’s profits per share to N7.14 ($0.0091), a stunning 60.8 percent rise over the N4.44 ($0.00568) generated in 2021.

The company’s board of directors decided to approve a final dividend of $2.2 million, or N2.5 ($0.00319) per share, as a result of this exceptional achievement.

Conoil has strengthened its position as a major player in Nigeria’s petroleum marketing sector under the shrewd leadership of Adenuga. The business is well known for its proficiency in the marketing of a variety of lubricants sold under the “Quarto” brand, including diesel, kerosene, gasoline, aviation fuel, and other liquids.

Adenuga, a well-known telecom tycoon and one of Africa’s wealthiest billionaires, continues to have majority ownership in the oil marketing firm of 74.4 percent, or 516,298,603 shares, further solidifying his position as a key player in the continent’s oil sector.

Conoil’s dedication to providing value to its shareholders and its tenacity in overcoming obstacles in the Nigerian market are both shown by this dividend payment.

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Popular Lagos Family Battles Wema Bank Over Illegal Use Of Property….

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Bolade, a popular Oshodi-based Lagos family and owners of Bolade House, located in Oshodi, Lagos State have dragged Wema Bank Plc to court for using their property without paying for it.

 

According to a report, the bank continues to occupy the property despite an ejection notice served on it by the family, as the management of the financial institution flagrantly refused to vacate the premises.

 

 

Document spotted by our correspondent revealed that the family leased the property to Wema Bank in 1995 for 25 years, an agreement which expired on April 30, 2020.

 

 

However, when the lease expired, the bank was said to have pleaded for time to relocate, causing the bank a three-year tenancy, which was said to have run from May 1, 2020, and expired on April 30, 2023, at a rate of N6m per annum.

 

Interestingly, when the new short term agreement expired, the family’s lawyer and the bank re-entered another round of negotiation, leading to a five-year tenancy rent of N8m per annum, which was later rejected by the family, who believed the property was worth more than the money the bank intended to pay.

 

 

According to the head of the family, Madam Helen Kupoluyi, they could not accept the offer because the apartment was valued at over N50m by a property valuer the family employed.

 

Kupoluyi said, “When the bank leased out the middle floor and was collecting rent on it without our consent, we never complained. We told them to employ their valuation of the building to get an appropriate rent for the building, but they refused. We charged them in court, but they refused to show up. We want them out of our building premises.”

 

 

On his part, the lawyer for the family, Abraham Adeoye, said, “We wrote a letter to Wema Bank, putting further negotiations on hold until a valuation is conducted. They refused.

 

 

“They insisted the rent be the N8m agreed to with the solicitors when no agreement had been signed. The family further reached out to Wema Bank and proposed that a joint valuation be carried out by a team of valuers from the bank and the family; they refused.

 

“We have not signed any tenancy agreement with Wema Bank, and no money was ever received from Wema Bank. As such, Wema Bank has been occupying the property free of charge since April 30, 2023, when its tenancy expired.”

 

Reacting to the allegation, spokesperson for the bank, Mabel Adeteye, said the feedback from the legal team was that the information provided by the family was incorrect.

 

 

“The information was completely wrong and false. All the information shared with you is wrong. We didn’t receive any letters to that effect. I don’t know what the motive is for the people; I know there is a conversation around the property.

 

 

“We had agreed on a certain amount for renewal, and the next thing they were waiting for from the family was for them to send a bank account number for payment. If they said they had gone to court, why not wait for the court to hear the two parties? Let them put their demands on a document; the bank can then look at it and respond.”

 

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HOW ACCESS BANK STRUGGLES TO ATTRACT FRENCH COMPANIES…

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Nigerian Access Bank has been very outspoken about strengthening ties with France, but has not yet made much progress.

On the 10th floor of the Access Tower on Victoria Island in Lagos, the only sign that Access Bank has what it calls a “French Desk” is a tiny French flag in a corner. It has been nearly four months since the bank’s main shareholder and non-executive director, Herbert Wigwe, opened the Desk, but it has not yet done anything.

The Desk has been set up to help French companies work in Nigeria and vice versa. To this end, a partnership with the Business France office in Lagos is currently being finalised. However, its efforts will first focus on Ghana. Access Bank’s branch in Accra handles accounts for several major French companies, including TotalEnergies and the consultancy Mazars.

Presence in Paris

In May, Minister Delegate for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships Chrysoula Zacharopoulou attended the inauguration of the new French Desk, intended to mark a new step forward in Access Bank’s French strategy. Two weeks before, on 15 May, Wigwe became chairman of the French-Nigeria Business Council, replacing Abdulsamad Rabiu of BUA and then inaugurated a Paris branch at the Petit Palais with French Foreign Trade Minister Olivier Becht in attendance

Like the French Desk in Lagos, the Paris office, a branch of Access Bank’s London and run by Justin Maria, cannot do much. It currently cannot open an account for any clients, discussions are still on going with the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority.

 

Westward bound

The Paris branch of Access Bank and the French Desk in Lagos, which will also benefit from an office in Paris in the coming months, indicate its interest in the West African Economic and Monetary Union. The Nigerian bank acquired Standard Chartered Bank’s assets in Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia, Tanzania and Sierra Leone, and now intends to break into the markets in Senegal and Ivory Coast.

 

  • The Capital

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