MY MESSAGE TO THE GOOD PEOPLE OF ESAN NORTH-EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EDO STATE ON THE FAILED LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 
Bo dia ye?

Sometime last week, I made a post in Uromi Voice (our Facebook group) appealing for calm and restraint as some people expressed their anger and disappointment over the failed Local Government election of 20th April. I cautioned then that there was no need to descend to insults and name-calling and I expressed hope that the rescheduled election, which held on 24th April, would be better organized and all would be well. Unfortunately, things were even worse this last time and the subsequent cancellation of the election understandably enraged some of our people who reacted angrily with street protests and the blockade of some major roads in Uromi. Since then this forum has been inundated with several abusive posts. Gov. Adams Oshiomhole has been called many unprintable names. And, not unexpectedly, the rancour between ACN supporters and PDP supporters has resurfaced in Uromi Voice. The dispute has become a good excuse to start the pro-Anenih/anti-Oshiomhole and pro-Oshiomhole/anti-Anenih debates all over again in the forum.

I am running for Senate in 2015 and I hope to win the ACN ticket by God's Grace. Nevertheless, I publicly endorsed Hon. John Yakubu of the PDP for re-election as the Chairman of Esan North-East Local Government Area. Some of my ACN members were no doubt embarrassed by my stance and some folks even called me a "political novice" and "naïve" for my position. I am very deliberate in ALL my posts and comments in Uromi Voice and other fora on Facebook. So I stand by my choice of Yakubu as our LGA Chairman. My political philosophy is anchored on COURAGE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, EQUITY, SERVICE and TRUTH. I represent a New Godly Order in politics in Uromi, Esanland, Edo State and Nigeria. People will catch on to my style with time.

I am optimistic that the wish of Uromi people regarding who leads the LGA will be upheld by God's Grace. Truth and Justice shall prevail. GOD HIMSELF, IN HIS OWN WAY AND IN HIS OWN TIME, WILL ENSURE THAT HAPPENS EVEN IF THE JUDICIARY IS COMPROMISED!

So, once again, I appeal for peace. No Uromi blood is worth shedding for Gov. Adams Oshiomhole, Chief Anthony Anenih, Arc. Mike Onolemenmen, Hon. John Yakubu, Samuel Oboh, Action Congress of Nigeria, Peoples Democratic Party or any other political party or politician. We must not allow strife in Uromi and yield place to confusion and every evil work.

God bless Uromi.

Uromi di fure.

Esan di fure!

THIS BEAST CALLED "AMCON"

How the CBN and AMCON have managed to dupe the entire nation on this their N5.6Trillion destination-less misadventure is mind-boggling! The conspiracy of silence involving out legislators, the Presidency, the Ministry of Finance and the most of the media is nauseating.

But will the government heed the recent call by the International Monetary Fund in its Article IV Consultation Report for 2012 to wind down AMCON within seven years instead of the perpetual statutory life the AMCON Act gave it surreptitiously? Who is even regulating/supervising this alternative economy of the CBN and AMCON?

And now the Courts have laid out a red carpet for AMCON regarding its cases. See the story below.


N4trn bad loans: Debtors fret as court gives priority status to AMCON cases
Our Reporter March 11, 2013

By CHIMA TITUS NWOKOJI

(http://sunnewsonline.com/new/specials/businessweek/n4trn-bad-loans-debtors-fret-as-court-gives-priority-status-to-amcon-cases/)


Indications have emerged that debtors, who capitalize on loopholes in the Nigerian legal system to frustrate creditors, especially recovery efforts of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), may be facing tough times following the recently granted practice direction to ‘AMCON track courts and judges’ by the Federal High Court.

Effective March 1, this year, the document recently unveiled in Lagos by Hon. Justice Ibrahim Auta is aimed at providing proper guidance to specific judges designated by the chief judge to hear AMCON claims for specific or identified period. The essence of the document was captured by the chief judge when he said: “Some judges put AMCON claims (cases) on the cause list. This is wrong because all AMCON claims should come by way of ex-parte application.

The essence of the practice direction is speedy dispensation of AMCON cases, and this is very significant to the growth of the economy.” A debtor who preferred anonymity told Daily Sun at the corporation’s headquarters that he and indeed some other debtors are seeking negotiation with AMCON for better payment terms. Further investigations reveal that more debtors have approached the corporation for restructuring, and out-of-court settlement of their debt obligations.

The most recent is the on-going talks over N13.5 billion debt allegedly owed by Roygate properties, which AMCON’s Head of Corporate Communication, Mr. Kayode Lambo, earlier confirmed that “Roygate has approached the corporation, indicating its willingness for out-of-court settlement.” On whether the practice direction is legal, a legal practitioner, Barrister Chukwuemeka Ozoani of Jerome Chukwuemeka & Co., explained that the practice direction is in order and that since AMCON is an agency of the Federal Government, the Federal High Court has power to adjudicate on cases concerning the corporation. “Jurisdiction of courts depends on, among others, subject matter and the parties in litigation.

AMCON is an agency of the government, so the Federal High Court is ideal for this purpose,” Chukwuemeka said. However, critics like the Managing Director of Pharez Consulting, Eghes Eyieyien, accuse the corporation and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of chasing bad money with good money. Also, Chief Anthony Ani, a chartered accountant and former minister of finance under the late General Sani Abacha, still believes like the biblical doubting Thomas, that those debts will never be recovered and, more recently, other critics say the corporation has lost focus by getting more interested in taking over choice properties.

With a total assets amounting to N3.34 trillion as at December 2011, the ‘bad bank’ is chasing about N4 trillion worth of bad loans; an amount that is close to Nigeria’s annual budget soaked off from banks’ balance sheet. Experts believe that recovery of these debts is important and that activities of AMCON touch the heart of Nigerian economy. For example, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicates that monetary growth rose sharply at the end of 2011 despite the tight policy stance of the Bank; a development which the apex bank noted, reflected largely the substantial growth in domestic credit arising from fiscal operations and ‘increased claims on AMCON.’ “The size of CBN’s balance sheet increased in 2011 as total assets/liabilities grew appreciably by 66.6 per cent to N11.3 trillion.

The assets position reflected a phenomenal growth of over 3,000 per cent in investments, driven largely by the Bank’s investment in AMCON bonds and Bank of Industry Debenture, as loans and advances fell by 52.9 per cent,” CBN stated in its recently released annual report for the year ended 2011. Mr. Lambo, in a chat with Daily Sun explained that the document is a court process whereby all cases concerning AMCON will be treated with urgency in court; adding that it does not necessarily mean more powers, but a way of giving priority to AMCON’s cases in view of usual delays that characterize justice dispensation in Nigeria.

The chief judge said soon there will be more AMCON track courts in other states and not just in Lagos and Abuja, which they are currently located; stressing that the document is made available not only to judges but to all branches of the Nigerian Bar Association. These debt recovery measures the corporation said, have only succeeded to some extent as AMCON says it has recovered N85 billion worth of bad loans as at January 2013 and expects to make more recoveries because its Acts has given it enough impetus to ‘pursue and recover.’

A source close to the corporation said the laws governing debt recovery in Nigeria make a lot of things difficult for creditors, which is why AMCON has been grappling with the onerous task of debt recovery with little success. In the process, the corporation has being incurring losses which was evidenced by a N2.37 trillion ($15 billion) loss it recorded in its first year of operation, exposing the scale of financial devastation wrought by a 2009 banking crisis to be deeper than first thought.

He hopes that when the foreclosure law currently with the National Assembly is passed into law, the job of debt recovery would be a lot easier for AMCON. This is because financial institutions that accepted properties as collateral can easily lay hold and sell such to the next available person ready to pay and settle the debts without going through time-consuming, rigorous court processes. However, AMCON believes that the banks are aware of three facts: (1) the debts declared in their books are far below the actual amount as revealed by the AMCON Executive Director of Finance Mofoluke Dosumu that “The non-performing loans that we bought were four times larger … which shows you that what was disclosed as NPLs (non-performing loans) on the books of the banks were (below) what we found when they started selling to us;” (2) the lingering headache in debt recovery and (3) that 90 per cent of the debts are bad and given up as lost. It is in the light of these facts that they agreed to increase their collective contributions to a post-crisis “sinking fund” used to refinance the bank’s bad debts to N100 billion, up from the N60 billion they had already put in. In response to critics, the corporation’s Managing Director, Mustafa Chike-Obi has severally dismissed their allegations as baseless. In a conversation with Daily Sun, he emphasized that since most of the debtors are reluctant to pay, AMCON had to take possession of their properties.

According to him, foreclosure, a specific legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by taking over, or forcing the sale of asset used as collateral for the loan; is part of loan restructuring that forces debtors to the payment re-negotiation table.

"AMNESTY" FOR BOKO HARAM: A FAIT ACCOMPLI?

It is clear to me that "Amnesty" for Boko Haram is now imminent.

The clamour for it in recent times by prominent Nigerians across the political, religious, sectional and ethnic divides was well orchestrated to set the stage for it. The roll call of advocates for "amnesty" for Boko Haram is interesting: Sultan of Sokoto, Bishop Matthew Kukah, Nasir El Rufai, Senator Ita Enang, Senator Abdul Ningi, Bola Tinubu, Shehu Sani and Nuhu Ribadu. Many newspaper columnists have indicated that they "do not mind amnesty for Boko Haram if it would end its terrorist attacks". They forget that you cannot dissuade people who think they do God service by killing others from obeying Him! The doctrine of Taqiyya allows the Islamist terrorists to feign acceptance of "amnesty" only to re-group and come out later even much deadlier.

But "amnesty" for Boko Haram is more or less a fait accompli......except God intervenes.

Even the statements from the Presidency show the government is not averse to it if the "ghosts" take on bodies.

It is tragic. "Amnesty" will provide more funding for Islamist terrorism to escalate in West Africa. We have now entered the den of lions. But, like He did for Daniel, God will deliver His People.

Now, I really I fear for Nigeria.  I am wary about the implications of granting "amnesty" to Boko Haram if the Federal Government concedes to those pressuring it to do so.

DISCERNING DECEIVERS

The Bible says in 1 John 4:1, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world".

Here are practical ways to judge if a "man/woman of God" is genuine or fake:

1. Is he/she born again as defined by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in John 3:3-6?
2. What is the person's testimony regarding his/her salvation?
3. What is the person's spiritual antecedent after salvation?
E.g., Did the person serve under another ministry? Which Bible School or Seminary did he/she attend? Who is the person's mentor?
4. How and when was the person called by God into ministry?
5. Are ALL the person's teachings Bible-based?
6. Does the person teach extra-Biblical "revelations"?
7. If miracles manifest in the person's ministry, are they independently verifiable medically?
8. Are the "miracles" bizarre, repulsive, weird, spooky, odd, fear-inducing and/or leave a strange, uneasy and inexplicable feeling?
9. Is God glorified? Or does credit go to the "man of God"?
10. Does the person practise syncretism (the combination of Christianity with other religions)?

This check-list is not exhaustive. The Ultimate Test is the Witness of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a believer who is truly walking intimately with God in holiness and obedience.

"But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man." ..... 1 Corinthians 2:15

Deception is a choice when knowledge is available.

ALAMIEYESEIGHA: WHEN IT IS IMMORAL TO PARDON

It is a disgrace that President Goodluck Jonathan, who has never stopped the rhetoric about "fighting corruption" despite the evidence to the contrary, would erase any doubt about where he actually stands on the war against corruption by getting the Council of State to grant "pardon" to a confirmed kleptocrat and corruption-convict such as D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha. There is no rationale for such an action. It reeks of nepotism and total disregard for the millions of hard-working Nigerians who labour daily to live above the cess-pool of graft which the public sector and the business space have become especially since May, 2011. What amazes me is that the President really does not "give a damn" about how Nigerians and the international community view this decision.

This issue is not about whether it is "clemency" or "pardon"; it is also not about whether pardon has been granted to criminals in other climes based on unpopular or even nepotistic reasons. And, of course, it is not about the legitimacy or constitutionality of the action of the Council of State acting at the behest of President Goodluck Jonathan. This is simply about the IMMORALITY of the pardon when our nation is haemorrhaging because of corruption with impunity.

The Council of State should reverse itself at its next meeting and "unpardon" D. S. P. Alamieyeseigha so as to save our nation from further ridicule and show our children that we really do not celebrate thieves.

AMCON’s MISADVENTURE AND A HAPLESS NATION

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) is gravely distressed! An examination of its Audited Financial Statements as at 31^st December, 2011, revealed that much. With Total Liabilities of N5.69Trillion (Bonds Issued is N4.18Trillion), a Paid-up Share Capital of N10Billion and an Operating Loss of N2.44Trillion, this is an adventure into an abyss! Yet it made out donations totalling N3.8million of which N2.5million went to a high-brow private primary school, Lagos Preparatory School in Ikoyi, Lagos!

What is really the end-game for this Alternative Government of Nigeria whose expenditure rivals the Annual Budget of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?

When Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi became the CBN Governor in June, 2009, he ridiculed Prof. Chukwuma Soludo for allowing about N256.571Billion to be drawn by the distressed banks through the CBN's Extended Discount Window. Today, over N4Trillion has been spent to "save" banks. The "assets" are mostly worthless and the losses of AMCON will only rise. The "Sinking Fund" which is to be set up by the CBN and banks to repay the bonds of AMCON is throwing good money after bad. The worrisome thing is that this is a bottom-less pit especially as the originally envisaged ten-year tenure of AMCON has been abolished so the corporation is now a perpetual going-concern.

In Bank Failure Resolution, the cost of resolution is a major issue that determines the cause of action. This AMCON track is an exorbitant drain on our scarce resources. The Presidency, the National Assembly and the Nigerian people are not scrutinising AMCON and the CBN as they should. Which "investors" had N4.2Trillion to buy AMCON bonds in a distressed financial system? Are these AMCON Bonds CBN "Ways & Means" by another name? The inflationary impact of AMCON's profligate activities is disruptive to the economy. The CBN's Monetary Policy Committee even acknowledged that AMCON exacerbated the "surfeit of liquidity" in the system resulting in the need to increase the Monetary Policy Rate to 12% in 2011.

This particular style of AMCON is a route we never should have taken. The idea of an Asset Management Company has been long in the works. The NDIC under its pioneer MD, Mr. John Ebhodaghe, had long promoted the idea of a corporation to deal with toxic bank assets as a necessary part of bank failure resolution in Nigeria and to create a secondary market for non-performing risk assets. If NDIC had its way, the corporation would have been operational as far back as 1995 or so. The concept was also part of the Soludo 13-Point Agenda for Bank Consolidation in 2004. The AMCON Bill passed by the Senate said nothing about the corporation having “perpetual succession” but the final AMCON Act which was signed into law by the President conferred it with that status; meaning it can exist in perpetuity. That was a red-flag that a hidden agenda was at play which most folks missed.

Why use a N4.2Trillion solution to settle a N257Billion problem?! But for the fact, which was mere speculation before now, that Sanusi had a sectional and religious agenda, all that the CBN needed to do in August 2009 was to sack the MDs of the banks who were indicted by the CBN/NDIC Examiners in the Special Examination Reports for Corporate Governance infractions and insider dealings and prosecute them. The Boards of the eight distressed banks should then have been given about six months to recapitalise their banks or have their banking licences withdrawn. Those that failed to recapitalise or get acquired through their own private arrangements would then be liquidated by the NDIC. The NDIC has largely lived up to its statutory mandate in that regard in the past and would have risen to the occasion as always. Moreover, if liquidation was to be totally avoided, Section 38 of the NDIC Act of 2007 allows it arrange that the distressed banks be restructured into Bridge Banks for a two year period and another three year period if necessary, without having to inject huge capital funds, while it looks for new investors to buy the institutions. All the NDIC would then have to do is provide short term funds to the Bridge Banks by way of Accommodation Bills (which it did for a bank like FCMB in the past) as working capital.

AMCON has subverted and usurped the NDIC's powers in a profligate jamboree that has left thousands of bank staff job-less, innocent shareholders disenfranchised and the nation saddled with huge losses in trillions of Naira which the CBN and banks are expected to clean up in an unspecified future date through a so-called "Sinking Fund". Evidently, we are much worse off today than we were in 2009 and the inevitable death knell for the financial system has merely been deferred.

 

GOD BLESS NIGERIA!

AMCON's MISADVENTURE

Has anybody else bothered to examine the Audited Financial Statements of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) for the year ended 31st December, 2011? It's available with this link: http://amcon.com.ng/documents/AMCON_Consolidated_Financial_Full.aspx

AMCON is gravely distressed! With Total Liabilities of N5.69Trillion (Bonds Issued is N4.18Trillion), a Paid-up Share Capital of N10Billion and an Operating Loss of N2.44Trillion, this is an adventure into an abyss! Yet it made out donations totalling N3.8million of which N2.5million went to a high-brow private primary school, Lagos Preparatory School in Ikoyi, Lagos!

What is really the end-game for this Alternative Government of Nigeria whose expenditure rivals the Annual Budget of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?