Senator Shehu Sani Gives DMO Marching Order On How To Educate Nigerians

June 17, 2016

The Senate has stressed that with more advocacy on the issue of debt management and servicing, Nigerians will be better placed to lend their support to government’s effort in raising funds from the capital and bonds’ market for development purposes.
The chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Senator Shehu Sani, has advised Debt Management Office (DMO), to embark of enlightening Nigerians why debts are taken, for what purpose and what the society stands to benefit from such borrowing.
Senator Shehu, who spoke at a three-day retreat, organised for members of the committee by the DMO in Minna, Niger State said with such enlightenment, Nigerians would be in a better position to support initiative aimed at driving development.
He advised the DMO to develop a framework in the major languages in the country to get the citizens to understand the nitty gritty of debts.
“There is need for strategy mix anchored on proper advocacy on what debt management is all about. Nigerians want to know why governments borrow, to what purpose such debts are taken and I can say that once it is well explained, the people will key into the programme.
“I therefore hope that the DMO will rev up its advocacy especially in the major languages because a whole lot of Nigerians don’t seem to understand why their states governments will take loans and they cannot see why the loan was taken in the first instance.
“Debt is a veritable tool for economic growth and development if properly managed. I also believe that an effective debt management that emphasizes transparency due process, and fiscal discipline can precipitate a turnaround in the economy.”
Senator Shehu promised that the Senate will look at the DMO Act to amend it to meet the realities of the present economic situation, even as he said that the legislature should be involved in the negotiations of loans as it will not only enhance their capacity but offer a clear insight into the terms and conditions of such loans.
Also, a member of the committee, Senator Sani Yerima, said there was need for greater collaboration between the National Assembly and the executive so that Nigerians can stand to reap the benefits of borrowed funds.
Yerima explained that loans help to fast track development, employment generation and helps government to bridge the funding gap but decried a situation of arbitrary borrowing by states without a ceiling.
“As governor, we had caps to what we could borrow. But today states borrow arbitrarily and leave debts that will be repaid for the next 3- to 40 years. The National Assembly will work closely with the DMO to develop a framework on this matter.”
This was even as the Director General of the DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo said that the workshop with the theme; Processes and Procedures for External and Domestic Borrowing and Settlement, has become imperative given the funding of the 2016 budget from loans.
Nwankwo said that the federal government does not just borrow for borrowing sake but to address the challenge of development and infrastructure growth.
He explained that the workshop is not only to keep the lawmakers abreast of developments in the Nigerian debt sector but to get their buy-ins in the DMO’s drive to seek for funding from the capital market.
The DMO boss said that states have not been barred from raising funds rather that the National Economic Council was against borrowing from commercial banks but supports states seeking for capital from bonds, which is cheaper and more sustainable in the long run. [myad]

Dino Melaye, Stop Fighting ‘God’ In Kogi, By Omeiza Ajayi

Greenbarge Reporters

June 17, 2016

“Kogi voted for Audu but God voted for Yahaya Bello.” Perhaps, this quote should have been the title of this piece, but before I delve into the main issue, it is important for you to know that I am a native of Ihima in Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi state. Secondly, I am a journalist with close affinity to the hierarchy of the APC and INEC. Thirdly, I am a youth. Although, I am not your constituent, but the above qualifications provide sufficient premises for me to draw conclusions or contribute to issues that have to do with Kogi, APC or the nation, particularly in the realm of politics.

I would have called your cell-phone to bare my mind to you, but knowing from experience, that you hardly pick calls nor reply text messages of people you have not met or interacted with before, I have chosen this medium only as a last resort.

When in late January, during the swearing-in of “Mallam” Bello, in a crass display of sycophancy, you abused and made mockery of the voting power of the Kogi electorates, you did not foresee what laid ahead. You had unabashedly stated that while the people of Kogi state voted en mass for the late Prince Abubakar Audu, the immortal God voted for Alhaji Yahaya Bello, and then, at the height of your self-proclaimed, albeit false claim, to prophet-hood, warned of dire divine consequences for those who may want to go against the tide.

As a partisan politician, you conveniently elected to forget the Latin maxim, Vox Populi, Vox Dei. Sir, you should have known that the voice of the people is the voice of God.‎ The people voted for APC, irrespective of who its candidate was.

It was therefore with great consternation that on Monday, June 13, I saw you and your fellows of identical plummage flock into the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja in a manner that appeared more like a breach of protocol.

You had just finished a meeting where you constituted an 11-man disciplinary committee to probe the alleged anti-party tendencies of Gov. Bello.

While you chair the committee, other members include some “yesterday men” – Sen. Mohammed Salami Ohiare, Sen. Salihu Ohize, Sen. Abubakar Abdulrahman and Sen. Nicholas Ugbane. Others are Haddy Ametuo, Hon. Buba Jibril, Hajia Hajara Aliyu, Folasade Joseph, Suleiman Baba Ali and Barrister S. Adejoh.

And your grouse according to you is that; “Out of 15 commissioners the governor appointed, 13 are from PDP and two from the APC. Out of 105 members of the caretaker committees for the 21 local government areas, PDP has 72 and APC 33.

“Out of the 28 special advisers and senior special assistants he appointed, PDP has 24, APC one, APGA one, Labour Party one and Accord Party one”.

Knowing that you were once in the PDP along with many of those on your committee, would it be right to deny you full integration into the APC and still refer to you as “PDP guys?”

Should President Muhammadu Buhari be accused of anti-party activities for appointing Rotimi Amaechi, Nasir el-Rufai, Audu Ogbeh, Heineken Lokpobiri and many other ex-PDP bigwigs into his cabinet? While you might be right to say that some of the governor’s appointees were ex-PDP men, just like you, you would most certainly be stretching political lunacy too far to still posit that those appointees are currently card-carrying members of the PDP.

Perhaps, rather than just brandish figures, it would do you much good to mention the names of Bello’s appointees who are PDP members so that they can directly defend themselves.

In any case, these allegations, on the surface value, are weighty except that they lack any evidential value.

As you very well know, in law and in fact, the onus probandi or burden of proof lays with you. To put it more explicitly, semper necessitas probandi incumbit ei qui agit, (that is, the necessity of proof always lies with the person who lays charges).

Indeed, rather than “summoning” the governor, a power which, ab initio your committee does not possess and cannot consequently exercise, you should be proving to the relevant organs of the party, by way of a strong petition with evidences showing that your allegations are worth the paper on which they are penned.

In the light of the ethno-political fault-lines and tension in the state, would it even be a bad idea to run a Government of State Unity just as we have governments of national unity in some climes?

Distinguished, what has changed between January 27 and June 13? Why the sudden change of attitude? The governor has accused you of wanting to nominate all his appointees from the Western Senatorial flank of the state and that his insistence on “following his mind” is the reason why your ego is bruised. Anyway, that was what he said. It’s left for you to give us a counter-narrative.

Lest I forget my manners, how is family? Hope you are all doing fine? Please, say me well to Uncle Bukky, and Bros #CommonSense. Lastly, don’t forget my Ramadan rice o. Plus millet too. Boys are not smiling, atol, atol.

Ehen, don’t forget to remind Adayi Ohiare of the character that wrote the petition which eventually led to his disgraceful sack from the senate. We hear they are now together in arms against the governor.‎

Omeiza Ajayi, JP, is an Abuja-based Journalist and can be reached on Whatsapp via: 08050562095 or, omezonline@gmail.com.

Reps Member Uncomfortable Over Probe Of Centenary City Project

Greenbarge Reporters

June 17, 2016

A member of the House of Representatives has expressed concern over the renewed enquiry ordered by the lower chamber into the Abuja Centenary City Project.
It would be recalled that only on Wednesday, one of the Reps members, Timothy Golu (PDP Plateau), moved a motion which snowballed into the House resolving to investigate the project.
The member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, wondered why Golu did not bother to get the most basic facts about the Centenary Project before talking to the press.
The member, who is also a member of the committee, expressed concern that the desperation of some of his colleagues, as well as the “hand of Esau” behind the renewed hearing, may lead to a fiasco for them all.
He said that Golu was acting the script of former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, who he alleged, is under pressure to please those he earlier misled into thinking that he could allocate part of the Centenary City that is being developed with private funds to them.
It is on record that the Senate had sometimes ago, held an elaborate Public Hearing on the Centenary City Project upon which it wrote and made public, the report on the matter two weeks ago.
Information reaching us indicated that all material facts on the project, including the reports of anti-crime agencies, are before the National Assembly.
It is on record that the project is run with private funds and that the government has not spent a dime on it.
But, Golu told the House of Reps that the government has spent billions of naira and lost thousands of hectares of land. He also said that the project is being executed without regard to extant regulations and guidelines. [myad]

Lawmakers’ Alleged Sex Scandal In US: Speaker Dogara Orders Investigation

Greenbarge Reporters

June 16, 2016

Following a formal complaint made by the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle on attempted rape of a female hotel worker in America by three members of the House of Assembly, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has ordered the investigation into the matter.

The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas, who confirmed this in Abuja, said, “we are in receipt of a letter from the US Ambassador, alleging misconduct by some members of the National Assembly, who attended a training programme in the United States of America.

“The leaderships of the House has commenced its own part of the investigation. When it is concluded, we will brief Nigerians further on this issue.”

But, Namdas declined to answer questions on how the investigation would be conducted. He did not say if a special committee had been constituted for the assignment or whether it would be conducted by the regular Committee on Ethics and Privileges.

“When we say we will conduct an investigation, we will conduct it and there will be a report,” Namdas said.

The development came as the US formally withdrew its visas from the three lawmakers, an indication that they had been barred from future trips to the United States.

The Ambassador had written a petition to the Speaker , complaining that some members of the House of the Reps who recently visited the United States on an official programme, attempted to rape a hotel housekeeper, and that they also solicited for prostitutes.
The offending members were said to be among the team who attended the just concluded International Visitor Leadership Program in Cleveland, Ohio.
They are:
Hon. Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi), Hon. Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom) and Hon. Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue).
Here is the full text of Ambassador Entwistle’s letter to Speaker Dogara:
“It is with regret that I must bring to your attention the following situation. Ten members of the Nigerian National Assembly recently travelled to Cleveland, Ohio as participants in the International Visitor Leadership Programme on good governance. We received troubling allegations regarding the behaviour of three members of the delegation to the U.S. Government’s flagship professional exchange programme.
The U.S. Department of State and the Cleveland Council on World Affairs received reports from employees of the Cleveland hotel where the representatives stayed, alleging the representatives engaged in the following behaviour: Mohammed Garba Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited her for sex. While the housekeeper reported this to her management, this incident could have involved local law enforcement and resulted in legal consequences for Representative Gololo.
Mark Terseer Gbillah and Samuel Ikon allegedly requested hotel parking attendants assist them to solicit prostitutes.
The U.S. Mission took pains to confirm these allegations and the identities of the individuals with the employees of the hotel in Cleveland.
The conduct described above left a very negative impression of Nigeria, casting a shadow on Nigeria’s National Assembly, the International Visitor Leadership Program, and to the American hosts’ impression of Nigeria as a whole.
Such conduct could affect some participants’ ability to travel to the United States in the future.”
While the majority of Nigerian visitors to the United States do behave appropriately, even a few Nigerians demonstrating poor judgment leads to a poor impression of the Nigerian people generally, though it is far from accurate. Such incidents jeopardise the ability of future programming and make host institutions and organizations less likely to welcome similar visits in the future.
In addition, most of the members of this group reacted very negatively to my deputy when she brought this matter to their attention, further calling into question their judgement and commitment to the goals of the International Visitor Leadership Programme.
This leads us to question whether to include National Assembly members for other similar programmes in the future.
I request, in the strongest possible terms, you share this message with members of the National Assembly so they understand the seriousness of these issues, and the potential consequences of their actions, not only for themselves as individuals, but also for the future of such programmes designed to benefit Nigeria.”
However, the accused persons have vehemently denied the allegations.
Hon Mark Terseer Gbillah has this to say:
“This is an affront on the National Assembly and Nigeria, it appears they have ulterior motives. We are not going to take this lightly; we will take legal actions against the US government. It is a dent on our image.
I went on the trip with my wife and baby and insisted that she stayed with me, but they told me the accommodation was meant for only participants. So, at Cleveland Renaissance where we were, opposite the Quicken Loan Arena, the Cleveland Cavalier Basketball team played a match and many people came to lodge at the same hotel, and they claimed that we spoke with car park attendants.
We didn’t go with cars, so how could we have spoken with attendants?
I saw the ambassador (Entwistle) and went to greet him and he told me how a few of us tarnished the image of the House. I advised him to make it formal so that we can know who was involved and what actually happened.
It was after this encounter that they called us to their premises and said they were identified by their accusers in a group picture. This is curious. No video footage. They didn’t accost us while we were in US. We suspect this is a calculated attempt to rubbish the National Assembly.
Is this how they would have investigated their congressmen? Do they know that there were other black people who came to watch the match? How could they have identified us in a picture without our knowledge?
We, the concerned members, have written to the speaker indicating the facts and demanding footage of our stay in the hotel. We also want them to provide access to our accusers to identify us. But most importantly, we would be demanding compensation from the US government for defamation of character.”
Here’s what Hon Mohammed Garba Gololo said:
“Let me, from the outset, express my shock and dismay at the contents of the letter generally and particularly affects me.
These are totally false, unfounded and baseless allegations against me. I categorically deny any such incident happened, I never grabbed any housekeeper nor did I solicit for sex. I also take this issue very seriously not only because I am a honourable member representing a hallowed institution, but because of my integrity as a husband and father.
How would my family and in-laws react to these wild and grave allegations?
I demand an apology and retraction of these allegations or I shall not hesitate to engage the services of lawyers and not only to clear my name, but to seek redress for the damages done to my reputation. I insist that evidence of the allegations against me be produced.
It is, therefore, in the interest of both countries to investigate this matter thoroughly to get to the root of it and I am ready to go back to Cleveland at my expense to establish my innocence without prejudice to my rights, press charges against libellous allegations.”
Hon Samuel Ikon could not be reached for comments.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the House, Abdulrazaq Namdas, confirmed the receipt of the letter from the embassy.
One of them said: “I cannot believe this. Something must be wrong somewhere. We were all in the same hotel and this same man (Gololo) was there as well. He has all the capacity to get a woman in the city if he wanted to, but he is somebody we all know loves his wife and family so much.
The lady did not even mention names, we learnt she only pointed at the man in the group photograph we took during the programme.
Again, this issue was reported two weeks after we left the hotel. Why was this not done while we were there?
The lady in question did not shout immediately and one wonders if truly there was such thing.
We did not know anything until the letter written to the Speaker went round all of us who were in Cleveland for the meeting. It is shocking.” [myad]

Embattled Modu Sheriff To Cough Out N40 Million Part Of His Share Of Loot

Greenbarge Reporters

June 16, 2016

Embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ali Modu Sheriff has promised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the refund N40 million, representing the share he received for 2015 Presidential campaign loot.
The amount is part of the N24.29 billion poll loot, allegedly facilitated by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Modu Sheriff who was given administrative bail by the operatives of the anti-graft agency at its Maiduguri, Borno
State capital office, had earlier arrived the office, escorted by a detachment of riot policemen. He was grilled by the EFCC investigators from 10am when he arrived till about 5.30pm.
An EFCC source said: “based on previous interactions with some leaders of the PDP in Borno State, we isolated issues for him and asked him to respond to the allegation that he benefitted from the N450million allocated to the state by Diezani as campaign funds.
“One of the issues was the N40million traced to him through Hon. Kumalia for security.
“Sheriff admitted receiving the cash and made a firm commitment to return it as soon as possible.
“Based on Sheriff’s pledge, he was granted an administrative bail.”
A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of
EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren confirmed the grilling of Sheriff.
The statement said: “A former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Shariff, was grilled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC Maiduguri zonal office on Wednesday for his involvement in sharing the sum of N40m.
“Investigation is ongoing as Shariff is answering questions in the EFCC office at the time of writing this report.” [myad]

Federal Govt. Charges 9 Percent Interest On N90 Billion Loan For States

Greenbarge Reporters

June 16, 2016

National Economic Council (NEC) has said that the recent announced N90 Billion The Honourable Minister of Finance also briefed the Council on the Federal Government’s N90 budget support loan facility for States is a loan on which there will be 9 percent interest rate.
The NEC meeting which was presided over on Thursday by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, was told by the finance minister, Kemi Adeosun that already, five states have completed the process for borrowing from the Presidential Budget Support Facility for States.
She said that the loan is meant to further help states to pay salaries and other pertinent emoluments, adding that other states are expected to proceed to tap from the facility.
Highlights of the Council meeting, which was supposed to be attended by the governors of 35 states and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are as follows:
A. REPORT ON EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT, ECA, PROCEEDS
· The Honourable Minister of Finance Mrs Kemi Adeosun reported that the balance in the ECA as at June 15, 2016 stood at USD 2,261,249,976.96 (USD 2.261 billion).
B. UPDATE ON APPOINTMENT OF FORENSIC AUDITORS WITH RESPECT TO ECA PAYMENT INTO FEDERATION ACCOUNT AND REVENUE GENERATING AGENCIES (RGAs)
· The Honourable Minister of Finance reported that work is ongoing as mandate has been given to the Forensic Auditors.
C. PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET SUPPORT TO STATES
· The Honourable Minister of Finance also briefed the Council on the Federal Government’s N90 billion budget support loan facility for States at a 9% interest rate.
· 5 States have already completed the process for borrowing from the Presidential Budget Support Facility for States, which will help states to pay salaries and other pertinent emoluments. Others states expected to proceed to tap from the facility
D. UPDATE ON THE FLEXIBLE FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATE POLICY OF THE CENTRAL BANK
· CBN Governor briefed the Council on the flexible Forex rate policy adopted recently by the bank including:
– Market-driven exchange rate
– Single market structure through interbank/autonous window
– Access to Forex Proceeds by non-oil exporters.
E. STATUS REPORT ON SOCIAL INVESTMENT PROGRAMMES
· Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, Mrs Maryam Uwais, MFR, briefed the Council on the preparation, status of the planning, and responsibilities of the stakeholders towards the implementation of the Programmes.
· She told the Council that the Programmes are designed to fulfil the FGN’s Social Protection role to its citizens, reduce poverty and inequality in Nigeria among others
· The Programmes engagement with beneficiaries is already in progress and pointed out the role of the key players and that partnership with States is very critical to the success of the Programme.
· To ensure high level coordination, a National Social Safety Net Coordination office has been set up in the Presidency to coordinate and ensure uniform reporting platform, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) as well as a suitable payment system (bank-led) for the cash transfers.
· Also a community-based targeting approach has been adopted in building up a National Social Register that will identify the poor and vulnerable population.
· There are 5 schemes under the Social Investment Programme namely:
1) N-power for job creation initiatives for teachers, artisans/Build Nigeria and Knowledge jobs.
*Targets 500,000 graduates and 100,000 non-graduates
2) Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSF) free school feeding for primary school pupils across the country.
*Targets 5.5 million primary school pupils in the first instance
3) Cash Transfers of N5,000 monthly directly to caregivers in targeted poor and vulnerable households.
*Targets 1 million beneficiaries.
4) Enterprises & Empowerment programme for financial inclusion and access to credit for market women cooperatives, traders, farmers, youth *Targets 1.66 million beneficiaries.
5) STEM Bursary Programme – financial support for tertiary students studying in Education, Science and Technology, Engineering and Maths.
*Targets 100,000 students.
F. BRIEF ON IMPROVING BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT AND EASE OF DOING BUSINESS IN NIGERIA
· Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okey Enelamah briefed the Council on improving business environment and ease of doing business in Nigeria.
· Highlights of the presentation:
Ø Focus should be intensified on enabling environment initiatives.
Ø Prioritising initiative focus on Industrial Sector.
Ø Building of strong collaboration between Federal Government and States on ease of doing business.
Ø Measurement on States doing well, having friendly competitions on ease of doing business.
Ø Composition of a Presidential Commission to steer the process and report monthly to the Federal Executive Council. The commission has 9 ministers in its membership
Ø Establishment of a Secretariat for the Commission with active involvement of the private sector, including the appointment of a private sector professional as Executive Secretary. [myad]

Babatope To Modu Sheriff: Leave PDP For Us Or We Push You Out

Greenbarge Reporters

June 16, 2016

A member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope has called on the embattled Ali Modu Sheriff to stop parading himself as national chairman or risk expulsion from the party.

Babatope, who was former minister of Transport and Aviation, insisted that if Modu Sheriff continues to cling to the chairmanship of the party which has already been given to Senator Ahmed Makarfi, “we will never allow him to rest until he leaves our party for us.

“I have no quarrel with Ali Modu Sheriff, God knows that, but his actions show the fact that he has come to carry out a mission, and that mission is to disorganize and destroy the PDP. And that is why we are going to remain united to ensure that we fight and drag out all strange elements in our party.”

He accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of using Sheriff to cause crisis in the party because, according to him: “APC leaders don’t want PDP to be united so that the party can have problem in preparing well for the coming Edo and Ondo states elections.” [myad]

Buhari In Perfect Health Condition, To Resume Monday – Osinbajo

Greenbarge Reporters

June 16, 2016

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has made it clear that President Muhammadu Buhari is currently enjoying what he called perfect health condition in London where he had gone to take a 10-day rest and see doctors for his ear infection.

“Mr. President is in good condition, he is fine, he is very well. He should take a day or two off in London and rest a bit and come back hale and hearty on Sunday and be ready for work on Monday. So we expect him back on Sunday.” He stated.

Osinbajo said that there was no need for the President “to rush back” to the country, even as he said that he is in good health. He emphasized that the President is in perfect health condition and will be ready to resume office on Monday morning.

“The President will be back on Sunday. I spoke with him yesterday evening and I think it is just the best that he takes the weekend off. He will certainly be back on Sunday.

“I think the most straightforward thing is when he will be back. He will be back on Sunday. There is no point rushing back on Friday or something like that.

“He will just take the weekend off and be back on Sunday. He is in perfect health and ready to resume work on Monday morning. [myad]

I Won’t Return N840 Million Without Court Trial, Fani-Kayode Dares EFCC

Greenbarge Reporters

June 16, 2016

Director of media and publicity for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign organization in the last year’s election, Femi Fani-Kayode, has made it clear to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that no amount of pressure would make him to cough out N840 Million he was alleged to have received as part of the loot for the campaign.

Fani-Kayode is facing a 17-count charged at the Federal High Court, Lagos.

Fani-Kayode told the court through his counsel, Ahmed Raji that he would be ready and willing to provide a responsible surety(ies) as may be required by the court as a condition(s) for the grant of his application for bail.

He argued that under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), bail is more relaxed as all offences are bailable “and in the class of offences charged, it is the prosecution that has a burden to show why bail should be refused. More so, under the Act, all offences can be compounded by plea bargain. So, it is not about imprisonment any longer.”

He further argued that one of the co-accused in the charge, a former Minister of Finance, Senator Nenadi Usman, who allegedly received the money from government and paid Fani-Kayode, wrote that she did not know the money was from government. So, how would Fani- Kayode know?

EFCC slammed Fani- Kayode and Usman with a 17-count charge for fraud and money laundering.

Fani-Kayode was arrested for allegedly receiving N840 million during the presidential campaign of former president Goodluck Jonathan.

In the motion dated June 15, 2016, Raji argued that the offences, for which his client is charged, are bailable.

“The Defendant/Applicant has never been convicted of any offence in Nigeria or any other jurisdiction.

By Section 36 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Defendant/Applicant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“The reputation and past credible record of the Defendant/Applicant attest to the fact that he will not jump bail if he is granted same. The Defendant/ Applicant will not interfere with the investigation or further investigation of the charges preferred against him.”

Source: Daily Sun. [myad]

GTBank Holds 6th Annual Autism Conference

Greenbarge Reporters

June 16, 2016

Guaranty Trust Bank plc has announced the commencement of the 6^th edition of its Annual Autism Conference. The two-day programme will hold on the 20^th and 21^st of June at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.

According to the bank, the themed of the programme: “Managing Autism: The Next Generation, Consideration and Resources”, will feature specialists from Nigeria and the United States of America that will offer consulting services.

The services will include the assessment of children for Autism and other developmental challenges to the counseling of their parents, Speech Therapy, Physical Therapy , Behaviour Analysis, Audiology, Clinical Psychology, Developmental Psychiatry, Physiotherapy, and Occupational Therapy.

A statement from the bank indicated that amongst the partners for the two-day programme are the First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Bolanle Patience Ambode, First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, the state Ministries of Health and Education, Science and Technology, Blazing Trails International, Texas, USA, College of Medicine, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Patrick’s Speech and Language Centre and the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro Ogun State.

The annual Autism Awareness Conference commenced in 2009 as part of the GTBank Orange Ribbon Initiative, an advocacy program which has been at the forefront of creating awareness for ASD to ensure autism is diagnosed early in children, encouraging investment in autism research and management as well as campaigning not only against the stigmatization of children living with autism but also that they receive the required support from parents, teachers, friends and the society.

The 5^th edition of the Autism Conference had over 1,500 participants, more than triple the number which attended the inaugural conference. Even more participants are expected at this year’s conference which starts by 9am and closes by 5pm daily.

Commenting on the 6^th Annual Autism Awareness Conference, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said: “this year, we hope to go beyond awareness and make our greatest impact yet amplifying the national awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder and increasing the expert assistance available to people living with Autism.

“Our belief that children, irrespective of developmental disorders, can reach the fullness of their potential continues to inspire us to provide support for parents, teachers and care givers of children living with Autism Spectrum Disorder through our annual Autism program.” [myad]

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