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Twenty three aspirants whose hopes were dashed last Friday following the selection of former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Charles Soludo as the standard bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in next year’s gubernatorial election in Anambra State have rejected the party’s choice outright.
Already, there are also moves by the aspirants to seek legal action to stop the PDP and Soludo from parading himself as the party’s standard bearer in the election.



Led by Chief Chuma Nwafor, the group said the former CBN governor was not even qualified to fly the party’s flag in the election since, according to them, he joined the party about 12 months ago, even as there had not been any special session of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party to endorse Soludo’s candidacy.
The group alleged that Soludo was the mastermind of the initial court action that stopped the conduct of the gubernatorial primaries “all because he has an agenda. But we will not accept that. We cannot accept any imposition of candidate.

“We feel dismayed and disgusted at the rumours making the rounds that somebody’s name was given to INEC. What we had was inconclusive primaries and nothing has been communicated to us. But when we were invited to Abuja last Friday we thought there was going to be election but what happened was different. And as far as we are concerned we are prepared for the primaries,” Nwafor stated at a news conference in Abuja on Monday.

According to him, the group has submitted a petition to the President, the party’s national working committee as well as other non-governmental organizations “who understand the need for due process to be followed, believing that this administration is anchored on the rule of law and we can’t be different.”
He confirmed that the original plan of 47 aspirants in consultation with other stakeholders was to put forward the name of former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme, pending when they would conduct the primaries.

Those behind the new initiative included Samuel Ikefuna, Solomon Ekwenze, Oyibo Obasi, Lovlyn Ebe, Victoria Nwankwo, Susan Ekwenefe, Bathram Dim,Tony Ezem, Felix Oby, Chinyere Udemba, Nkoli Imo, Nicholas Ukachukwu, Victor Ezenwa, Annie Okonkwo, Mike Nkwocha, Bernard Ohike, Valentine Ozigbo, Chuma Nwafor, Amechukwu Ezike, Catherine Egwu, Basil Iwuba and Carol Nwosu.
But in a dramatic move, Soludo appeared at the venue of the meeting of the aspirants. He came in the company of his supporters and was heralded into the meeting held behind closed doors.
After about 15 minutes of meeting, Soludo came out smiling as some as the aspirants struggled for the cameras.

Clad in a milk-colored attire, the former CBN governor refused to make elaborate comments but expressed his joy for being chosen to fly the party’s flag and called on other stakeholders to cooperate with him to move the state out of the woods.
Earlier in the day, a group of Anambra youths stormed the PDP secretariat in a peaceful protest over the emergence of Soludo as the party’s candidate.

In a paper made available to Daily Sun entitled, “Our Position on the move to subvert the constitutional process in the election of the Anambra State gubernatorial candidate for 2010 governorship election,” the group demanded the conduct of primaries as well as an open apology to the people of Anambra State.
When contacted for reaction, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Professor Rufai Alkali, urged the people to respect the position of the party in the choice of Soludo.
He also called on the Anambra PDP politicians to unite for the party to emerge victorious in the election.

President Umaru Yar’Adua on Wednesday in Abuja formally launched the redesigned lower naira denominations of N5, N10 and N50 notes, praising the currency restructuring programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which gave rise to the redesigning of the banknote denominations and coins.

On the occasion shortly before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, he said the redesigning of the lower naira denominations represented a comprehensive reform strategy aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the currency structure.



“I am informed that the reform process resulted in huge cost-saving arising from the reduction in the size of the notes and streamlining of their security features. The highlight was the printing of the N20 denomination on polymer substrate to test its durability and acceptance, the first time in the history of banknote printing in Nigeria that an experiment with a substrate other than ‘cotton’ paper was carried out,” he stated.

The president explained that the approval given for the conversion of the N5, N10 and N50 notes to polymer substrate was informed by the strength and durability of the N20 note, which was the only note printed in polymer substrate in 2007 and its acceptance by the public.
“The denominated expediency of adopting the polymer substrate in banknote printing informed my approval of the conversion of the other lower banknote denominations in October 2008 on the recommendation of the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria,” he further pointed out.
While commending the governor, board and management of CBN for the initiative, he urged the public to embrace the campaign to halt the abuse, which the naira had been subjected to over the years, adding “this campaign would no doubt be greatly enhanced by the introduction of the more durable polymer notes.”

President Yar’Adua also commended the Security Printing & Minting (NSPM) Plc, which was involved in the printing of the new polymer notes, expressing the hope that the firm would in no distant future realize its full potential capacity.

“By the time the polymer substrate is produced in this country in the long run, there is no overstating the benefit to Nigeria, as self-sufficiency in currency production which indeed is the ultimate objective of this administration, would have been fully actualized,” he added.
Earlier, while presenting the new notes to the president, the Governor of CBN, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said the redesigned notes were in conformity with international standard.
He explained that the old notes would exist alongside the new polymer notes for six months before they would be phased out.

The former Chief Executive Officer of Oceanic International Bank Plc, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, collapsed yesterday in court after battling mosquitoes in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commis-sion (EFCC) where she spent last weekend.
Ibru had surrendered herself to the EFCC last Wednesday at the commission's Lagos office and rather than release her after interrogation, she was detained throughout the weekend.
The former Oceanic Bank CEO slept on a mattress in a four-wall room in EFCC detention camp.
Ibru's lawyer told THISDAY last night that because of lack of power and the fact that EFCC had no diesel for its generator, at 7pm most days the former Oceanic boss' room would normally be infested with mosquitoes.
Although Ibru was with her doctor, Major-General Gabriel Ovadje (rtd), in detention, the doctor was, however, restricted to the waiting area downstairs, a heartbeat away from the detention room.
Efforts by the doctor

get the EFCC officials to make diesel available for the generator yielded no fruit as they were said to have insisted they had no such brief.
The former Oceanic CEO who has been married to Olorogun Michael Ibru for close to 45 years is used to comfort.
Ibru, who all along appeared stressed up, suddenly collapsed in the dock after 18 of the 25-count charge had been read to her.
The development, which caused panic in the court, stalled proceedings for about 10 minutes before her doctor, who had accompanied her to the court, attended to her and certified her fit to continue with the trial.
EFCC could not be reached last night to react to the lack of power at their detention centre on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi.

The recent upheaval in the financial sector is generating apprehension in the micro-finance sub-sector of the industry and the reason is not far-fetched. Recent examination conducted by the to ascertain the extent of microfinance banks (MFBs) compliance to ensure greater focus on core microfinance business, revealed that most of them generally have poor asset quality and weak corporate governance, even though on the average, they seem well capitalized above the prescribed minimum level of N20 million.



The CBN has asserted that most microfinance banks have poor asset quality, with average non-performing loan at 40 per cent and Performance at Risk at 45 per cent as against the 25 per cent prescribed for MFBs. The fear is that should the CBN decides to visit them the way is visiting the banking sector at the moment, many could be thrown out.
The Director, Other Financial Institutions Department (OFID) of the CBN, Mr. Femi Fabamwo, said though most MFBs are liquid, have moderate earnings and report profit, but, the quality of management is still poor with weak board members with 19 per cent of MFBs sustaining losses. "Liquidity is high, but there are few cases of illiquidity due to the fact that some MFBs have high level of insider credit, especially their directors, high investment in fixed assets, making it difficult for operators to match assets to liabilities. These have greatly contributed to the high level of illiquidity which leads confidence crisis," he said.

The managing director of Meridian MFB, Mr. Innocent Ezema, is of the opinion that the asset quality of microfinance banks can be improved upon if elements of risk management are employed. "One of the policy goals of microfinance banks is to create employment opportunities and increase the productivity of the active poor in the country, thereby increasing their individual household income and uplifting their standard of living.

"This we do through giving loans to the active poor, but we been recording a high level of default in loans repayment due to the activities of some dubious people and this has led to a huge drop in our asset quality, which the CBN is harping on," he said.

Continuing, Ezema said "We scaled down on a lot of risk element principles that apply in normal lending propositions, but that doesn't seem to be working. What we are doing now is to go back to risk management and try to put things in place to make sure that we improve on asset quality."

The managing director of Moorgate MFB, Mr. Gbolahan Bello, shared his opinion. He attributes the poor asset quality of MFB to the perception and misconception that people have about the industry. "Because the industry is still new, all that some people are interested in is to borrow money because they feel we are government owned and have limitless funds to throw about, making them want to borrow without wanting to pay back.

"We are low-leveled banks that are established to help the active poor and small traders, but poor asset quality of MFB has been a problem from the beginning because some people have not had good intentions," Bello said.

He is of the opinion that strict monitoring must be employed to follow up on borrowers and to ensure that the loans are used for what they are intended for so as to improve the borrowers' businesses and operators can recoup our money back. "It is a challenge, but as a new industry, we have to be resilient to get the desired results," he opined.

Though the Managing Director of Imperial MFB, Mr. Ejike Azubuike, is of the view that the rate of loan repayment in the MFB sector is still very high, with the percentage of default at below 10 per cent, he blames the poor asset quality to the delay in payment that they experience. "Most of the loans that are created are not paid up before the due dates and by the time it is one day past, it is classified as poor asset quality because they are not meeting the payment schedule," he said.

The CBN, while observing that improper practices have led to an increase in the generation of poor quality loan assets, said some MFBs and financial institutions have 20 per cent of non-performing assets on their loan portfolio. "You must all go out to recover outstanding loans to your customers while at the same time ensure that you maintain quality assets from now," the CBN warned.

"About 46 MFBs have not rendered their returns for the past six months. You all know that the action is criminal and could be sanctioned with revocation of license, and that may assist in reducing the number of operators in the country," a CBN official stated.

Not only is the microfinance sector bedeviled with poor asset quality, the issue of corporate governance is now topical, with most of operators flouting it.

At the last Committee of the Microfinance Banks in Nigeria (COMBIN) meeting, the CBN cautioned operators of MFBs against exposing themselves to high level of insider-related credits which are always beyond the stipulated limits by the law establishing MFBs.

Section 20(2)(a) of BOFIA, 1991 stipulates that a bank shall not, without prior approval in writing of the CBN, permit to be outstanding, unsecured advances, loans or unsecured credit facilities of an aggregate amount in excess of N50,000 to any of its directors, to any firm, partner-ship or private company that any of its directors is a guarantor or any public or private company in which any of its directors maintains a shareholding of not less than 5%, either directly or indirectly.|

Secured loans, advances and other credit facilities, which are secured by acceptable collaterals shall not exceed 1% of the share-holders' fund for any individual borrower and 5% for group borrowers.

Aggregate insider-related lending shall not exceed 5% of paid up capital of any MFB at any time. This includes both secured and unsecured lending, but excludes staff loans and advances. But it is expected that the share-holders' fund would be higher than the paid-up capital.

This the operators agree with as they said that another area of ensuring good corporate governance is by reducing or eliminating insider related credits, which the CBN is harping on.

According to Azubuike, "Directors and CEOs, on the aggregate, are not supposed to take loans over and above 5 per cent of the paid up share capital."

Ezema argues that the individuals who have controlling shares and control the affairs of the MFBs don't believe in corporate governance and this has not helped in the running of the microfinance banks.

"The CBN's insistence on corporate governance is the only way we can improve on our sector so that the aim of microfinance would not be in vain. What the CBN is saying is that the board of MFBs must contribute to the running of the banks through three committees - audit, financial and general/multipurpose and board credit committees. These three committees are to meet at agreed times to review the activities of their banks and report to the board so that actions can be taken."

Ezema is of the belief that these committees are in existence in the traditional system of conventional banking, but corporate governance is being insisted upon in the MFB sector because of corporate failures in Nigeria, to improve our performance and enable us excel.

Tracing the history of corporate governance to the days of community banks, the Moorgate MFB boss said those community banks were owned by one or two people or the community, making it difficult to divorce the owners of the banks from the bank, to the extent that whatever money the take from depositor, a good percentage is used for their personal businesses, thereby killing the aim of the community banks.

"But with the new guidelines, the CBN is very clear on the corporate governance issue to the extent that the boards of these banks are more responsible. We have a code of conduct and their responsibilities are spelt out. Apart from the guidelines, it behooves them as individuals not to engage in things that would tarnish their names and be sure that all MFB boards are run properly by getting regular reports from the management about what goes on in the banks, the committees of the boards should have regular meetings so as to be briefed by management on the activities of the bank.

"Also, the CBN has been encouraging us by conducting seminars to enable us understand what I expected of us."
But the Managing Director of Imperial MFB is calling for broad-based boards of directors as panacea to the problem of poor corporate governance in the sector.

He said "Corporate governance in microfinance banks can be improved on by the CBN ensuring that the board of every microfinance bank is broad-based.

"This is can be achieved by insisting on a minimum of 5-7 board members and by eliminating a situation where family members dominate boards of microfinance banks. Once the board is broad-based, that is a solid step towards ensuring good corporate governance."

For the microfinance industry to be able to achieve its policy goals of providing diversified, affordable and dependable financial services to the active poor, creating employment opportunities and increasing the productivity of the active poor in the country, among others, it has to do all within the acceptable best practices to shore up its asset quality

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared the 19 bank Chief Executives axed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wanted as security reports indicate that they had all gone into hiding.
It was reliably gathered today at the headquarters of the anti-graft agency that all the operatives sent out to monitor the chief executives met blank houses and offices in various parts of the country.
The EFCC it was further gathered is not taking chances as it had placed the sacked Managing Directors on the watch list to forestall their chances of traveling out of the country.
According to a source, the investigation team that visited Lagos where all the commercial banks have their corporate headquarters submitted reports of not seeing any of the suspects despite the fact that letters were sent to their houses and offices that they should show up at Abuja for routine interrogation.
It was said that the report irked the chair person of the agency Mrs Farida Waziri


who had no choice than to declare the sacked CEOs wanted "if they cannot obey a simple invitation for questioning," the source added.
It would be recalled that the EFFC in early March this year had to summon all the bank chief executives to Sheraton Hotel where they were told in plain language that their debt profile was becoming too alarming and that something urgent should be done to stem it.
The CEOs left the meeting and continued the jamboree, while on its part the agency tried as much within its reach to recover some of the bad loans from individuals and corporate bodies.
The source further stressed that one of such debts was the N17billion owed by one Funmi Ademosun, the agency had so far recovered N5billion from the many list of debtors and one Patrick Fernandez was charged to court over a N32billion loan.
Some of those declared wanted are : Mr Sebastian Adigwe, Group Managing Director Afribank PLc; Managing Director of Afribank Trustees Ltd, Mr Ben Nwoji; Mrs Cecilia Ibru, Group Managing Director Oceanic Bank PLc; Felicia Shonubi, Oceanic Bank Trustees Ltd; Dr Berthlomew Ebong, Union Bank PLc; Mr Henry Onyemen, Unoin Trustees Ltd; Mr Erastus Akingbogbola, Group Managing Director Intercontinental Bank PLc; Mr Ayodele Thomas, Managing Director Intercontinental Capital Market Ltd; Mr Okey Nwosu, Group Managing Director FinBank PLc and Mr Alex Duruike, First Inland Securities Ltd.
When contacted the Head, Media and Publicity Mr Femi Babafemi said "the Chairman of the commission has been briefed by the operatives that they had actually fled their houses and homes but we have gone one step already by placing them on the watch list to bar them from leaving the country.