Folarin Kehinde

President Bola Tinubu has reportedly directed ailing Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to transfer power to his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

However, due to the governor’s weakened condition, the transfer will be facilitated through an electronic signature (e-signature), Leading reporters has gathered.

The directive came after Tinubu convened a crucial meeting on Monday to address the leadership crisis in Ondo, arising from Akeredolu’s prolonged absence from office since July 2023. This marked the second meeting facilitated by the President to address the growing concerns surrounding the governor’s health and its impact on state governance.

The meeting was prompted by mounting pressure from civil society organisations and political institutions, who threatened mass protests across Ondo State if Akeredolu didn’t step down.

The governor has remained largely absent since returning from a three-month medical leave in Germany in September.

This publication gathered that other key figures present at the meeting included Deputy Governor Aiyedatiwa, House of Assembly Speaker Olamide Oladiji, Akeredolu’s son Babajide (the Director General of the Performance and Project Implementation Monitoring Unit in the Governor’s Office), and Senator Jimoh Ibrahim.

Initial discussions involved invoking the doctrine of necessity through the State House of Assembly, which would have appointed Aiyedatiwa as Acting Governor. However, concerns were raised regarding the potential humiliation it might cause the ailing governor.

“During the meeting, it was agreed that the State House of Assembly should invoke the doctrine of necessity and make Lucky Ayedatiwa the Acting Governor, but the Speaker and Senator Jimoh Ibrahim pleaded that the ailing governor would be humiliated,” a source disclosed.

“The son (Babajide) then promised to go and obtain his father’s e-signature to pen a letter to the State House of Assembly, transferring power to the deputy governor.”

Abuja, Lagos and other major of cities in Nigeria have been thrown into darkness following another collapse of the country’s national electricity grid.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed this in a statement on Monday, December 11.

The nationwide outage occurred in the afternoon, leaving power consumers across the country in total darkness.

According to the statement signed by Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s spokesperson, the restoration of the national power grid is already ongoing.

Although Mbah said that power supply has already been restored in Abuja and a few other areas, Leading reporters can confirm that the capital city is still in darkness as at the time of writing this report.

“Abuja has already been restored, so have different areas. Full restoration ongoing,” she said.

Today’s seizure marked the second collapse since mid-September when distribution firms nationwide reported unavailability of bulk electricity from federal infrastructure.

This is even as President Bola Tinubu’s government has continued to promise Nigerians uninterrupted power supply since assuming office on May 29, 2023.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has announced plans to shut down Utako Ultramodern Market over poor sanitation and rising insecurity.

The director, Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima, raised the alarm over what he described as “safety concerns and poor sanitation” during a visit to the market on Monday.

Politics Nigeria reports that the market is being managed by the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

Galadima lamented the deteriorating sanitation situation in the market adding that it was very disturbing.

According to him, the market has become a ticking time-bomb for disaster waiting to happen, stressing the urgent need to clean up the market.

“It is sad that such a market, located within the heart of the city could be allowed by its managers to degenerate to a state where both human and environmental safety is compromised.”

Galadima said that an urgent meeting would be convened with all stakeholders in the market with a vow to take proactive measures to address the problem.

The director frowned at the leadership of the market for allowing illegal traders to overflow into the major streets around Utako residential areas.

He warned that the Task Force on City Sanitation would not allow any trader selling on the street, a development, he said, was leading to vandalisation of and defacing of road infrastructure.

On his part, the Secretary of FCTA’s Command and Control, Dr Peter Olumuji said apart from the nuisances in the area, residents around the market also complained of security threats surging from the market.

Olumuji argued that the market has been overtaken by idle youths and suspected hard drug peddlers and addicts.

He disclosed that the National Drug Laws Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has been briefed to pay close attention to the market area to curb the activities of drug peddlers in and around the market.

The task force during the visit cleared illegal traders operating along the roads around the market.

27 Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

This may not be unconnected to the unending political tension in the state.

The crisis came into public light following the burning of the Rivers State Assembly Complex on 29th October. In reaction, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, accused Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, of orchestrating the burning of a section of the State House Assembly complex.

The rift among members of the State House of Assembly had led to some lawmakers commencing impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara. This move was, however, halted following the intervention of President Tinubu.

A member of the Assembly, Enemi George, who confirmed the development to Channels Television said the 27 lawmakers were under the leadership of Martin Amaewhule.

According to him, the decision to defect to APC was taken during their sitting on Monday.

A popular broadcaster with the National Television Authority (NTA), Aisha Bello, is dead.

Aisha was the General Manager of NTA Parliament and was among the popular broadcasters on NTA Network News at 9 PM in the ’90s and early 20’s.

She also worked alongside another veteran colleague, Cyril Stober, who reportedly retired in 2019.

According to reports, a funeral prayer will be held in honour of late Aisha in Abuja today, December 11, by 1 PM.

Leading financial institution, Fidelity Bank, has been listed as one of most capitalized banks in Nigeria based on Q3 2023 financial results.

According to an article published in Thisday newspapers, the bank reported a capital base of N410.75 billion as of September 2023 against N314.3 billion in 2022.

Also featuring on the list are Zenith Bank, UBA, First Bank, Access Holdings, First Bank Holdings, Ecobank, GTCO Holdings, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, FCMB and Sterling

Financial Holdings.
Following the announcement of the planned recapitalisation of commercial banks by the Central Bank Governor, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, at the 58th Annual Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria on 24 November 2023, industry watchers have anticipated the announcement of capital raising exercises by banks.
Incidentally, Fidelity Bank had taken the proactive approach by securing shareholders’ nod to raise additional capital earlier in the year.

At an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) held virtually on Friday, 11 August 2023, the bank’s shareholders unanimously approved a capital raising exercise via a Public Offer for up to 10 billion Ordinary Shares and Rights Issue of up to 3.2 billion Ordinary Shares representing one new share for every 10 shares held to new and existing shareholders respectively.

Below is the list of the 10 most capitalised banks as of September 2023:

• Zenith Bank – N1.92 trillion
  The third quarter 2023 financial report of Zenith Bank Plc places the bank at the topmost position in terms of shareholders fund which it put at approximately N1.92trillion, as against N1.31trillion in 2022. The bank also ranks as Nigeria’s highest profit generator so far in 2023, with a pre-tax profit of N505 billion.

This eminent position was corroborated by Nairametrics, an online platform that noted that with a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 20.1 per cent as of September 2023, as against 19.8 per cent as of December 2022, the bank’s stability is not in question.

• UBA -N1.778trillion
  Following Zenith Bank closely is United Bank for Africa, Nigeria’s second-highest profit generator this year, which is also the second most capitalised bank as of September 2023. The bank posted a total shareholders fund of N1.778 trillion as of Q3, 2023. In 2022, the figure was N922.1 billion, with a capital adequacy ratio of 28.3 per cent, which suggests stable financial health at the end of FY 2022
• Access Holdings – N1.64 trillion
  Access Holdings is another Tier 1 capital bank with a total equity of N1.64 trillion as opposed to N1.231 trillion in 2022. With this figure, Access Holdings ranks as Nigeria’s third-largest bank in terms of capital base. Its Nigerian subsidiary, Access Bank Nigeria has a total equity of N1.208 trillion as of September 2023, which is a stable figure in case of any recapitalisation exercise.

•First Bank Holdings – N1.37trillion
The ranking in terms of capital base listed FirstBank as the fourth on the list. The Third Quarter 2023 results of First Bank Holdings released in September 2023 showed that the parent company of First Bank Limited has a total equity of N1.37 trillion.

However, its commercial banking arm, First Bank Limited has a capital base of N1.287 trillion. In 2022, the holding company posted a capital of 995.7billion.

•Ecobank- N1.37trillion
The bank’s third quarter 2023 performance result submitted to the Exchange last week showed it recorded a shareholders fund of N1.373 trillion as against N935 billion in the same period of 2022, placing it at the fifth position of the most capitalised banks.

• GTCO Holdings – N1.27trillion
GTCO Holdings, the parent group of GTBank has a total equity of N1.273 trillion, a year-to-date increase of 36.7per cent from the N931 billion recorded at the start of 2023.

While GTCO’s total equity is put at N1.27 billion, this is cumulative of all the group’s subsidiaries. However, its Nigerian subsidiary, GT Bank Nigeria holds a total capital base of N1 trillion as of September 2023 which is still a substantial figure ahead of any recapitalisation exercise.

•Stanbic IBTC Holdings – N471billion
Stanbic IBTC Holdings, the Nigerian subsidiary of Standard Bank Group is the parent of Stanbic IBTC Bank and it has a capital base of N471 billion as of September 2023. Its capital was N407.7 billion in 2022.

• Fidelity Bank Plc – N411 billion
  With a capital base of N410.75 billion as of September 2023 against N314.3 billion in 2022, Fidelity Bank sits in quite a comfortable place ahead of any recapitalisation exercise for Nigerian banks.

In September 2023, the bank made a foray into international banking by acquiring the UK division of Union Bank of Nigeria.

• FCMB -N373.7billion

With a capital base of N373.7 billion as of September 2023 as against N275.8 billion in 2022, FCMB ranks as the 9th most capitalised bank in Nigeria. With a capital adequacy ratio of 16.0per cent as of December 31, 2022, FCMB’s CAR was just a little above the regulatory 15% required by the CBN.

• Sterling Financial Holdings – N165.84billion
  Sterling Bank Limited is a full-service national commercial bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and it’s a subsidiary of Sterling Financial Holdings Plc. The bank provides financial services to individuals, small businesses, and large corporations.

Sterling Bank’s capital base stood at N165.84 billion when total liabilities of N2.08 trillion were removed from total assets of N2.25 trillion. Its capital in 2022 was N154 billion.

Some parts of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, are beginning to experience paucity of the Naira as Nigerians approach Christmas.

No fewer than seven commercial banks in the AYA area of Abuja failed to dispense cash on Thursday.

According to report, these ATMs on Thursday evening has been unable to dispense cash for about a week.

Our correspondent, however, observed that Point of Sales, POS, operators lined up in their numbers in front of those banks to make brisk business.

One of the POS operators, who identified himself as Samuel, lamented that the ATMs have not been dispensing cash as expected.

He noted that cash was only available at certain hours of the day.

Since we entered December these ATMs have not been dispensing as much.

“There is naira scarcity and most likely it may be because we are approaching December, but only CBN can explain this new scarcity,” he said.

This is coming amid the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, directive that both the old and the redesigned Naira notes remain legal tender in Nigeria.

The Supreme Court also in its judgment granted the prayers of the federal government to lift the December 31 extension deadline for the usage of N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.

While responding to the judgement, the CBN had this to say: “To avoid doubt, the Supreme Court ordered that the old versions of N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes, alongside the redesigned versions, shall continue to be legal tender.