Confusion Brews As Olubukola Saraki Emerges Senate President

Senator Bukola Saraki (APC-Kwara Central) has been elected unopposed as President of 8th Senate by 57 of 108 senators, with 51 senators, including Senator Ahmed Lawan, absent. The other senators were at the International Conference Centre, holdinga meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, to resolve the National Assembly leadership crisis, at the time Saraki was declared President. Saraki and Lawan have been engaged in a fierce contest to clinch the Senate top job. APC leadership held a mock election on Saturday to determine which of the aspirants would represent the party to fill the Senate President’s seat.The former Kwara State governor boycotted the ‘primary’ while he also shunned a meeting convened by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the one convened by Buhari on Tuesday(today).Senator Ike Ikweremadu (Enugu West) emerged as the Deputy President by beating Senator Ali Ndume(Borno) 54-20 votes.

Former Assurance MD, Chika Mbonu Leaves Chisco Transport

FORMER Managing Director of the defunct Assurance Bank and former top pastor at Redeemed Chistian Church of God, Chika Mbonu has resigned his appointment with Chisco Transport Company. Until he threw in the towel, he was the Deputy Managing Director of the Haulage Section of the transport company located in Costain area of Lagos State. It was gathered that the Chairman of the company, Chief C. Chidi, had brought the ex-banker into the public glare after his many years on exile. The Igbo-born billionaire, Chief Chidi, was said to revived Mbonu back financially, given him a posh home and a Prado jeep. It would be recalled that the Anambra State-born financial expert was enmeshed in an adultery scandal with another man’s wife years back. The story was awash in the media then that Mbonu had to abandon his family and his pastoral duties at the Lekki branch of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. The ex-banker was on vacation in the United States of America when the news hit town that he is the biological father of the two children of his protégé and church member, Henry Bassey. And to compound the pastor’s credibility woes, Bassey confirmed the story to be true. Bassey based his confirmation on a medical test carried out on the older of the children, eight-year-old Emmanuel. Another test carried out on the younger child, six-year-old Tahilia, came out with the same result. Bassey had grown suspicious of the paternity of his children when routine blood test carried out on Emmanuel, when he fell ill, varied from that of his and his wife’s. Bassey and his wife are said to be AA while Emmanuel and Tahilia were AS. And since 2010 when the story broke, Mbonu went underground. He did not recover until Chief Chidi gave him a mouth- watering job. His whereabouts is yet to be ascertained at the time of filing this report.

Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi Picks Fourth Wife July

　


The Emir of Kano, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (Muhammadu Sanusi II), as the American Writer Henry Miller said, is an example a philosophical postulations that "The only thing we never get enough is Love".
If the information reaching us is anything to go by, the Emir is set to take his fourth wife, come July 2015. The bridal candidate is a 17-year-old beautiful daughter of the Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa.
Sanusi, an accomplished banker, who became the 14th Emir of Kano last June, is a respected Islamic Scholar, and his decision to take a new wife is in line with Islamic injunction which prescribes a maximum of four wives for those who can treat all of them equally. Already, Sanusi has three beautiful wives - Sadiya, Maryam and Rakiya. Like in ancient times when bonds between empires were deepened by marriages among royals and nobles across boundaries, the betrothal of the Adamawa princess to Emir Sanusi II may also be a move to deepen royal bond between Adamawa and Kano. Historically, both emirates have similar origins in the 19 century Usman dan Fodio’s jihad. Our dependable source hinted us that all is set for the marriage rite and all things being equal, the invitation card is already in circulation as at the time we are compiling this report. The event has been slated to happen inside the Emirs Palace, and many dignitaries have been penciled to honor the invitation from the former banker turned Emir. We will furnish you with more information as soon as we lay our hands on them.

Segun Awolowo Plans Big For Wife'S 50th Birthday

Segun Awolowo, grandson of the late politician and nationalist, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is in the news again. As you read this, precious jewel of the Awolowo dynasty is planning to celebrate his beautiful wife, Bolanle, in a grand way as she turns 50. A few years ago, Segun and Bola had hiccups in their marriage and their union was on the verge of breaking up over some issues. But they have since put this behind them and have dumped their grievances into the dustbin of history.

Davido Graduates With Second Class

Multi award winning artiste, Adeleke David, popularly known as Davido, graduated from Babcock University, Ilishan- Remo, Ogun State. The convocation took place on Sunday. Davido bags a Bachelor of Arts Second Class Upper degree in music. Fulfilling one of the major prerequisite for the completion of his programme, the talented artiste wrote a thesis on the topic: ‘Challenges of Live performance of Afro-pop artists in Nigeria’.

Omotola Jalade To Storm South Africa For 'Poverty is Sexist'

Determined to join in fighting poverty in women, Nollywood super diva cum activist, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde will be heading to South Africa soon. The beautiful mother of four who's better known as Omo Sexy would be joining the ONE Campaign and as well lead other celebrities to promote Women Empowerment. The campaign is tagged Poverty is Sexist, meaning that women and girls are most seriously affected by poverty. And in order to eradicate extreme poverty, there is a serious need to promote women empowerment. 'Poverty is Sexist' was conceived to support the ‘Africa Union Year of Women Empowerment’. It was formally launched on Thursday 16 April by the ONE Campaign in Abuja, Nigeria, at a policy forum that was attended by representatives of the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), Equity Advocates and Save the Children Nigeria among others. From 27th April, 2015, Omotola will be in South Africa to participate in a music thriller, accompanying a campaign song that will be performed by top African female singers including Omawumi (Nigeria), Judith Sephuma (South Africa) and Victoria Kimani (Kenya). The song will be co-produced by Cobhams Asuquo and Masterkraft. The song will be used to promote the campaign across the world, and will be officially launched in Nigeria, Mozambique, and South Africa, during the World Economic Forum for Africa and the African Union Summit. The campaign has a petition which calls on African leaders to fast-track the fight against poverty, by investing more in women and girls, and ensuring that resources put to the service of women and girls are transparently and accountably used. Speaking about her new role as ambassador for ONE Campaign, Omotola said: "I am fortunate to be a young woman living her dreams, a trailblazer of my generation. But I also recognize that many women and girls are not so fortunate. Women and girls are hit hardest by the effects of extreme poverty, but when we invest in women and girls, we increase and accelerate the chances of overcoming extreme poverty – for everyone. That is why I have joined the ONE Campaign’s Poverty is Sexist Campaign, and I call on the public to join me by signing the petition.

Shareholders Commend FCMB's performance in 2014; Approve 25 kobo Dividend

Shareholders of FCMB Group Plc have unanimously approved the payment of a cash dividend of 25 kobo per ordinary share, for the year ended December 31, 2014. The approval came at the 2^{nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of FCMB Group Plc held in Lagos on Thursday, April 23, 2015.}
Commenting on the development and the financial statements of the Group, the Coordinator of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu, commended the Board and Management of FCMB Group Plc for the performance and dividend payment, despite the particularly challenging operating environment for banks in 2014. He added that, ‘’the increase in the Group’s profit from N16b in 2013 to N22b in 2014 is commendable. It is a clear signal that things are looking up. We are also happy that FCMB has emerged as a strong player in retail banking and from what we have seen so far, we are optimistic that the Bank will continue to wax stronger’’.
  On his part, the National Chairman of Shareholders’ Trustees Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Mukhtar Mukhtar, said, ‘’the result is very wonderful, despite the very harsh economic environment. The FCMB has been able to give us a wonderful result. We are very satisfied. The 25k dividend is very encouraging. Profit after tax has gone up, total assets has increased. We are very impressed with the result. I congratulate the current executive management of the Bank for a job well done’’. On the refreshed corporate identity of FCMB, Alhaji Mukhtar described the move as welcome development that will help the Bank become more visible and connect better with customers.Speaking at the AGM, the Chairman of FCMB Group, Dr. Jonathan Long, stated that the Group, which comprises First City Monument Bank Limited, FCMB Capital Markets Limited and CSL Stockbrokers Limited, ‘’has achieved a strong and sustained growth over the past three years’’, adding that during the past year, the Group continued the profitable development of its core banking, capital markets and stock-broking businesses’’. Mr. Long assured that with the implementation of the Group’s supervisory structure, ‘’we are confident that this will help us to consolidate the gains made over the past years and face the economic challenges which we are confronted in 2015’’.
The Managing Director of FCMB Group Plc, Mr. Peter Obaseki, noted that, "the Group is on track to deliver on its promise to its various shareholders’’. He continued by explaining that the Financial Holding Company structure adopted by FCMB in 2013 has given, ‘’opportunity for us to diversify our revenue sources and minimise our exposure to the risks inherent in some of the businesses in our portfolio of investments’’. Mr. Obaseki stated that despite regulatory and macro-economic challenges, ‘’our future outlook is bright, our capital base remain strong, the bank’s strategies are yielding results and we will focus more improving contribution to revenue from the non-banking businesses, especially in the wealth management space’’.
Also speaking, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of First City Monument Bank Limited, Mr. Ladi Balogun, pointed out that the Bank made considerable progress on the priorities it set out last year, including accelerating market share in retail banking, primarily through consumer finance; enhanced investment in customer experience as a means of growing customer base and containment of operating expense. ‘’Our capital positioned strengthened over the year. We successfully raised N26 billion tier 2 capital which helped us maintain a reasonable capital adequacy ratio, at 19 percent. We remain well placed to meet expected future growth requirements’’, he said
Mr. Balogun disclosed that following the Bank’s renewed focus on retail banking, ‘’we acquired 500,000 customers in 2014. We also supported 278,518 borrowing customers during the year with loan disbursements which demonstrates the broad impact we are having on the economy’’. According to him, the Bank also provided greater convenience for its retail customers by rolling out 245 new ATMs, just as it migrated more customers to alternate channels.
On the future outlook, he said that among other priorities, ‘’our e-banking and cards business will be a key focus area for non-interest income growth to replace COT, bring greater convenience and consistency of experience to our customers. We will continue to moderate our operating expenses and cost of risk by consolidating our risk acceptance criteria in an increasingly high-risk environment, while focusing increasingly on deposit growth’’. The GMD/CEO of First City Monument Bank told the shareholders that, ‘’we are very much on course to build a dominant retail banking business well diversified across lending, savings deposits, bancassurance and payments. Overall, we are confident this progress and momentum will be sustained, as we continue to grow our market share through service excellence and improve our efficiency ratios’’.
The audited accounts of FCMB Group Plc for the year ended December 31, 2014 showed a stellar performance. The Group’s total assets grew by 17 per cent to N1.2trillion, deposits rose by 6% to N755billion. All the Group’s subsidiaries achieved progress during 2014 with FCMB Capital Markets Limited recording a profit before tax of N1 billion, an increase of 145% compared to that of 2013, while CSL Stockbrokers Limited witnessed a 127 per cent surge in profit before tax to N377million