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Opposition party endorses Jonathan

All speculations
about who the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) will endorse for
this year’s presidential election were laid to rest last Thursday at
the national convention of the party in Awka, the Anambra State capital.

The party members at the convention endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan unanimously.

Speaking on the
choice, APGA’s national chairman, Victor Umeh, said Mr Jonathan has
proved to be a good friend of the Igbos by doing many things for the
south east zone, thereby leaving APGA no choice than to endorse him
after extensive discussions with members of the party.

Mr. Umeh said the
south east geopolitical zone has not had it so good under any
president,‘‘The president is our friend, he has a listening ear and he
relates well with us. Under his administration, the Niger Bridge got
attention, the Enugu airport has been upgraded, and our brothers can do
business again due to the lifting of ban on importation of certain
items,” Mr Umeh said.

He said the party
had to adopt somebody after no one picked its presidential form, ‘‘
We’ve been involved in discussions with members and we came to a clear
appreciation that there’s only one person, APGA could support and that
is the incumbent president,” he said.

He however said the
party’s support is only for Mr Jonathan and called on members of the
party to vote en masse for the rest of APGA’s candidates in other
elective positions. ‘‘We’re contesting all the other elections and we
want our supporters to return all our other candidates. We have not
merged with anybody.” The motion for the adoption of Jonathan was moved
by the Anambra State deputy governor, Emeka Sibeudu, and seconded by
the national chairman, south west Tayo Sowumi.

Before now the
south east governors under the aegis of the South East Governors’ Forum
chaired by Peter Obi of Anambra State had declared their support for
the president giving similar reasons for supporting him.

INEC was there too

The convention
which was attended by representatives of INEC including the state
resident electoral commissioner, Chukwuemeka Onukogu, also ratified the
decisions taken at the party’s NEC meeting which returned the current
national executive of the party to serve for another four year term.

The event then
moved from the convention venue of Women’s Development Centre to
Ekwueme Square where the party’s candidates were presented to the crowd
of supporters and given the party’s flags. Governorship candidates from
many states of the federation were in attendance. Former information
and communications minister, Dora Akunyili led the senatorial
candidates who were presented with the party’s flags.

Echezona Etiaba,
son of former deputy governor of Anambra State, Virgy Etiaba, who also
attended the convention, stated what the south east will gain by the
adoption of Mr Jonathan by APGA, ‘‘It can never get worse with the
south east by this adoption and it will only get better,’ he said.

Also, the chairman
of Coalition of Lagos State Opposition Political Parties, an umbrella
body of 26 parties, John Uche, said the coalition was formed to provide
a platform for unseating incumbent Lagos State governor, Babatunde
Fashola, whose regime he described as wicked. ‘‘We have the people, we
have the means and we have the structure to remove Mr Fashola. His
so-called achievements are mere photo tricks,’” Mr. Uche said.

The National
publicity secretary of the party, Bernard Akoma ruled out any chances
of reconciliation with Chekwas Okorie, a factional leader of the party,
saying that the issue has been taken care of by the court. Mr. Akoma
said although the matter is still pending at the Supreme Court, he had
no doubt that it will not favour Mr Okorie just as the two previous
judgments had not favoured him.

“APGA will forge ahead without him and as you can see we have been growing from strength to strength,’’ he said.

The occasion was also attended by the party’s national secretary
Sanni Shinkafi; Bianca Ojukwu, special adviser to the president on
Diaspora matters; Tim Menakaya, former health minister; and the host
governor Peter Obi.

newstoday

Jonathan’s campaign wardrobe

Jonathan’s campaign wardrobe

As President
Gooodluck Jonathan officially launches his state campaign tour, all
eyes will be on his style of dressing. This is because it has been the
tradition of the president to always identify with his hosts through
their traditional attires during his state visits.

Apart from such
instances where the President has been seen dressed in other Nigerian
attires, his traditional Niger Delta attire has been seen by many as
his trademark.

While the
president’s peculiar dress code has drawn both criticism and
admiration, the man behind his wardrobe describes him as a marketer of
his culture through his customary use of the native Ijaw attire.

Looking at the
dress code of past Nigerian leaders, it could be seen that Mr Jonathan
is not the first to dress consistently in the traditional attire of his
ethnic group. Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo was always in
‘agbada’ and the traditional Yoruba cap. Shehu Shagari and the late
Umar Musa Yar’Adua were always in ‘babbanriga’ and cap, a common dress
in northern Nigeria. Fashion analysts say that this trend may be
indicative of the quest for acceptance and a statement of their
identity as Nigerians and solidarity with their own personal ethnic
groups.

Prince Oyefusi, Chief Executive of NobelAfrik believes that the leaders are trying to identify with their ethnic groups.

The president’s
official clothier, Ebi Spiff, adds said: “That is his official uniform;
portraying his culture anyone on that level should not wear things like
the British attire.” Mr Spiff, in a telephone conversation with NEXT,
said, dark colours appeal to the president and explained he selects
what the country’s number one citizen wears. “To choose his clothes, I
have to consider his mood and the occasion. He likes dark colours and
they bring out his shade.” Explaining the difference between the types
of Niger Delta attires used by the President, Mr Spiff said there are
two kinds.

“The one with the
three buttons is called Woko (jumper) while the other is called Etibo
(which is casual), but the one the president wears more often is the
Woko,” he said.

As the country awaits the different looks of the president during
his nationwide tour, he will certainly give up his trademark for most
of the days of the tour. Who knows, we may even see him in a three
piece suit.

newstoday

While private sector lags, government gets busy in bond market

While private sector lags, government gets busy in bond market

While many firms
could hardly raise cheap capital to run their businesses last year, the
state and federal government had a field day accessing funds from the
bond market. Since the stock market crisis which began in 2008, many
believed that the bond market would provide a more reliable avenue for
firms to raise capital.

But that was not to
be. In addition to forays by the federal government, five state
governments, namely Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Niger and Lagos all raised
various sums to meet their developmental needs. The private sector was
not so lucky. Apart from United Bank for Africa and Guaranty Trust Bank
which raised N20 billion and N13.162 billion, UAC Properties raised N15
billion while C & I Leasing raised N2.24 billion. Other firms that
planned to venture into the bond market eventually had to shelve the
plans as market sentiments did not tilt in their favour. The
alternative for these firms was bank borrowing which added to the cost
of business.

On the other hand,
the Debt Management Office (DMO), on behalf of the federal government
raised over N1.1 trillion from the domestic bond market last year. With
plans by the DMO to raise N186.5 billion in the first quarter of this
year, the private sector may yet again be at the receiving end in 2011.
The Debt Office plans to raise N66.5 billion next Wednesday and another
N60 billion in March. This capital raising plan by government, compared
to N5 billion raised by Food Concepts Limited last week already sets
the tone of what to expect in the bond market this year.

Government has been
blamed for crowding out the private sector from the bond market, a
claim often countered by the director general of the DMO, Abraham
Nwankwo, who insists that the government is in the bond market in order
to develop it sufficiently for the private sector to thrive. Mr.
Nwankwo said the goals of the office is to develop the domestic bond
market to enable the private sector access long term funds to develop
agriculture, mining, solid minerals, transportation, manufacturing,
power. “Now, there are funds of up to 20 years in the Nigerian capital
market, through the issuance of FGN bonds. Today, if any private entity
wants to issue a bond to raise five, seven, 10, 20 years money for
investment in agriculture, manufacturing, power sector or other
infrastructure will succeed,” he said in an interview last week.

Mr. Nwankwo said
Nigeria’s debut $500 million Eurobond which was subscribed by 150 per
cent was part of government effort to encourage the private sector to
tap into the international bond market. “Government desires an active
role by the private sector in this direction. What government has done
through the Eurobond issue is to open a new window to facilitate
Nigeria’s private sector to go into the international capital market to
issue their own debt instruments and raise long term monies to fund the
country’s various needs in the real sector and infrastructure.”

However, not many
operators share this outlook. “The sustained expansion in public
borrowing risks crowding out the private sector,” said the interim
administrator of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Emmanuel Ikhazobor, in
his presentation at a press briefing on the review of 2010 and the
outlook for 2011, held last month in Lagos. Mr. Ikhazobor noted that
the international and Nigerian capital market would be very busy this
year as the federal government and various government agencies source
funds from both markets.

Tola Odukoya, an
analyst at Dunn Loren Merrifield, an investment firm in Lagos is also
optimistic that the corporate bond market will fare better this year.
“We anticipate a strong growth trajectory for corporate bonds on the
back of the revised Pencom guidelines and the success of the corporate
bonds issued in 2010. From our standpoint, over N30 billion will be
raised from the market via corporate bonds in the first half of the
year.”

Unchanging trend

This enthusiasm is
not totally shared across the industry as some operators are still
skeptical, given the huge funds raised by government last year. Akin
Oladeji, chief executive officer of Futures and Bonds Limited, a
financial services firm, said the trend may not change much this year.
“The market will not be different from previous years since FGN has
devised a crafty way of raising bonds to finance its projects. WMarket
will continue to be crowded with FG and State Bonds.” Mr. Oladeji said
attraction of the corporate to the bond market will be determined by
interest rate. “If the usual high lending rate and low deposit rate
should continue, most corporate organisations will consider bond
issuance subject to their existing allowable debt to equity ratio.”

Mr. Odukoya said
the corporate bond market has its attraction as many firms may need to
restructure their debt portfolio and may see the bond market as an
alternative. “Our optimism stems from the obvious need for most
corporates to restructure their debt portfolios, which for the most
part are expensive and short tenured in nature.” Mr. Nwankwo, however,
said government was not unaware of the need not to crowd-out the
private sector and that government is creating space for private sector
in the flow of credit. This may account for the drop in government
activity as shown by the DMO’s issuance calendar. While N186.5 billion
is planned for the first quarter of this year, N238.5 billion was
raised during the same period last year, a 21.8 per cent reduction.

Money

Extension of trading hours boosts growth

Extension of trading hours boosts growth

Following the
extension of trading period at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last
December from two and half hours to four and half hours, trading
analysis showed that some sectors of the NSE have improved
significantly in their performance.

The NSE is the
second most capitalised market in Africa after Johannesburg Stock
Exchange, which is open for five hours, and the third place Cairo Stock
Exchange; opens for five and half hours in comparison.

A market assessment
carried out recently by analysts at Proshare Nigeria Limited, an
investment advisory firm, revealed that more sectors of quoted equities
at the Exchange witnessed growth in value. The figures traded in the
following sectors, last Thursday, when compared with the average
figures recorded prior to extended trading hours on December 6th showed
that Automobile & Tyre sector had 937.59 per cent value growth,
Packaging sector 604.90 per cent, Construction 566.02 per cent,
Commercial Services 199.69 per cent and Maritime sector 195.26 per cent
value growth. Other sectors that witnessed significant growth include
the Foreign Listings, Engineering Technology, Breweries,
Food/Beverages, and Mortgage.

Wole Tokede, the
Exchange’s spokesperson, last Thursday, said the extension “has
continued to yield positive results as the market has continued to
record improvement in volume, value and the number of deals.”

The Interim
Administrator of the NSE, Emmanuel Ikazoboh, had also said the
extension “was a strategic move to reposition the market for enhanced
competitiveness which would give foreign investors, especially those in
the United States of America opportunity to participate in the Nigerian
market.” Available data for the two months preceding the extension of
the trading hours with the two months of the extension shows that the
volume of shares traded recorded a growth of 31.93 per cent. The market
recorded 13.892 billion shares in the two months preceding the
extension while the volume of shares transacted in the two months after
the extension rose to 18.328 billion units.

The market value
also recorded a growth of 16.81 per cent in the review period. As
against the value of N147.142 billion recorded in the two month prior
to the extension, shares value now stand at N171.875 billion in the two
months after the extension. The Exchange also recorded growth in the
number of deals in the review period. A total of 171.875 billion deals
were executed in the two months of extension compared to a total of
147.142 billion deals executed in the two months before the extension.
This represents a growth of 16.81 per cent.

Indigenous investors

Meanwhile, some
operators at the nation’s capital market said that while the Exchange
management is focusing on attracting more foreign investors through
trading hour extension, it should place more priority at protecting
indigenous investors.

Tunde
Oladapo-Dixon, chief executive officer, StockPicks Consulting, a
stockbroking firm, said, “Although it is good for the NSE to woo
foreign investors to the market for some capital projects, the main
focus for capital market authority should be to encourage indigenous
investors who will not take their funds out of the market in a long
time because the market actually is a long time investment.” Mr.
Oladapo-Dixon said more priority should be given to local investors
because “it was these same foreign investors that left our market to
crash when they pulled out their funds aftermath the financial crisis
in their countries.” He said local investors want their confidence
guarded jealously in the market.

Analysts at Asset and Resource Management Company, a fund
management firm, said for the nation’s capital market to reach its full
potential, “regulators must constantly focus on promoting a system that
instils confidence by continuously adapting existing or formulating new
rules to promote market discipline.”

Money

Ivorien farmers fear for cocoa beans

Ivorien farmers fear for cocoa beans

A halt to cocoa
buying in Cote D’Ivoire is leaving beans to rot in farm warehouses,
while smuggling through Ghana intensifies and some growers switch to
other crops, farmers said on Thursday.

Economic sanctions,
a cocoa export ban, and a liquidity shortage since incumbent Laurent
Gbagbo seized the central bank’s local branch has left the cocoa
industry in chaos in the world’s largest grower, as beans pile up in
farms or are smuggled out.

Alassane Ouattara,
who beat Gbagbo in a November 28 presidential poll, according to
U.N.-certified electoral commission results that Gbagbo refused to
concede, last week called for a one-month cocoa registration ban to
starve his rival of tax revenues.

Cocoa exporters, fearing sanctions by Western powers that recognise Ouattara’s win, have played ball.

In the western
region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, farmers and one
cooperative manager said in interviews last week that buyers were not
taking their beans, and they feared the poorly dried beans stashed in
their warehouses would rot.

“Nothing’s moving, everything’s stopped,” said farmer, Innocent Zamble, who runs a farm in the Soubre town of Meagui.

“Our stores are
stuffed with beans and there’s no more space to stock them. We fear the
quality is going to perish because we don’t have the capacity to stock
big quantities long term.”

A first experience

Ouattara has not
said whether the ban will be extended when it expires on February 23.
Exporters estimate that around 65,000 tonnes arrived at Abidjan and San
Pedro ports in the two weeks to February 6, none of which has been
exported.

But even if it is
lifted, EU restrictions on ships registered there doing business with
the port, which the European Union says is supporting “Gbagbo’s illegal
regime”, will continue to interrupt export activities. And a shortage
of liquidity means there is not enough cash to pay suppliers on a
day-to-day basis, exporters say.

In the western
region of Gagnoa, farmers and cooperative managers said several growers
were switching to growing vegetables, tomatoes or maize, which can be
harvested faster for export or local trade.

“They’re not paying for the cocoa and farmers have to survive,” said cooperative manager, Francois Badiel.

“Lots of them are
now doing trunk farming (growing vegetables) instead. This is the first
time they’ve seen a situation like this,” Mr. Badiel said.

In the eastern
region of Abengourou, on the Ghana border, farmers said huge numbers of
cocoa trucks were crossing the border in smuggling operations.

“When we saw how
many trucks full of cocoa were heading over the border every day, we
said: ‘There’s not even that much cocoa in our region’,” said
Abengourou farmer, Joseph Amani.

“It must be coming in from other regions as well. It’s easy to get it here from Daloa or Soubre by road,” Mr. Amani added.

A purchasing
manager of an international cocoa exporter said that while major
international exporters have stopped purchases, some local exporters
were very active at the port, buying at about 900 CFA francs per
kilogramme.

Local exporters
have tended to support Gbagbo, while the big multinationals are bound
by their base countries in Europe or the United States to recognise
Ouattara’s authority.

“The small local
exporters are still very active in the past week. They are buying a lot
of cocoa, but I’m wondering where they are exporting it and on which
ships,” the manager said.

Reuters

Money

Stock Exchange in wobbly performance

Stock Exchange in wobbly performance

Trading activities
at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) witnessed a negative performance
on Thursday after recording an improvement the previous day.

The market
capitalisation of the 201 First-Tier equities closed lower yesterday at
N8.504 trillion after opening the day at N8.529 trillion, reflecting
0.29 per cent decline or N25 billion losses; about N87 billion gains
were recorded after Wednesday’s trading.

The number of
gainers at the close of trading session yesterday closed higher at 25
stocks compared to the 23 recorded on Wednesday, while losers closed
lower at 31 stocks as against the 33 recorded the previous day.

Meanwhile, the NSE
said four more stockbroking firms have met the N70 million minimum
capital base requirements instructed by the Securities and Exchange
Commission. The companies are Yobe Investment and Securities Limited,
Quantum Securities Limited, PIPC Securities Limited, and Nigerian
Stockbrokers Limited.

Afrinvest equally
announced in a statement that the Exchange “has removed the firm from
the list of suspended stockbrokers and restored our trading privileges
as of today, 10 February 2011.”

Trading hours

The NSE, on
Thursday, said the extension of its trading hours by two hours
accounted for 50.52 per cent of traded shares in the first two months
of the extension.

The Interim
Administrator of the NSE, Emmanuel Ikazoboh, had said the extension
“was a strategic move to reposition the market for enhanced
competitiveness which would give foreign investors, especially those in
the United States of America, opportunity to participate in the
Nigerian market.”

Wole Tokede, the
Exchange’s spokesperson, said, “Out of the 171.875 billion shares
traded between 6 December, 2010, and 4 February, 2011, the two-hour
added time (between 12.30pm and 2.30pm) accounted for a total of 86.834
billion shares traded, while the initial three hours (between 9.30 am
and 12.30pm) accounted for 85.041 billion.”

Mr. Tokede said the
extension “has continued to yield positive results as the market has
continued to record improvement in volume, value, and the number of
deals.”

Available data for
the two months preceding the extension of the trading hours with the
two months of the extension shows that the volume of shares traded
recorded a growth of 31.93 per cent. The market recorded 13.892 billion
shares in the two months preceding the extension, while the volume of
shares transacted in the two months after the extension rose to 18.328
billion units.

The Exchange also
recorded growth in the number of deals in the review period. A total of
171.875 billion deals were executed in the two months of extension
compared to a total of 147.142 billion deals executed in the two months
before the extension. This represents a growth of 16.81 per cent.

Money

Siasia’s the right man for the job, says Nsofor

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Siasia’s the right man for the job, says Nsofor

Nigerian striker, Obinna Nsofor,
believes that Coach Samson Siasia is capable of transforming the Super
Eagles into a world-class team and in the process secure qualification
for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Siasia prosecuted his first match as
Super Eagles head coach in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Sierra Leone at the
Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos. The new coach also handed debut caps to
Joel Obi, Michael Odibe, and Nigerian Premier League top scorer, Ekigho
Ehiosun, who capped a memorable debut with a well executed goal. Nsofor
didn’t get to play as he was carrying a slight knock but he is pleased
with the start the Super Eagles have made under Siasia. “There is a new
atmosphere, a new backroom staff, new players and a new manager. This
is a fresh start for all of us,” said Nsofor on the official website of
football’s world body, FIFA. “Siasia is one of the best coaches I have
worked under, and he has already proved himself by getting to the
finals of both the U-20 World Cup in Holland in 2005 and the Beijing
Olympics in 2008.”

Confidence and fan’s boos

Wednesday’s win
over the Leone Stars was however sullied by Lagos fans booing the team;
a behaviour that was described as a ‘Lagos template’.

Akeem Akinwale, a
sociologist said: “Lagos is a place where everything goes. And the
culture of respect for those in authority or government has been eroded
over time. It is a modernised way of living but it does not mean that
it is the best way to go. The fans were expecting more from the players
and even though were leading 2-0 wanted more goals but when they did
not get it, they displayed their frustration by booing the team.”
However, the same fans lined up to praise the players when they were
leaving in the team bus afterwards.

Going forward

Siasia declared
himself satisfied with the first outing. “They did well overall,” he
said. “The bottom line is winning and we won. I never expected an easy
game and the Sierra Leoneans did give a good account of themselves. We
will look at where we made mistakes and do the necessary changes.”

The 2-1 win will
give Siasia a framework to prepare for the bigger test coming up at the
end of March when Nigeria play hosts to Ethiopia in a crucial Africa
Cup of Nations qualifier. The Eagles presently trail Guinea by three
points in Group B but still have four games to remedy the situation and
secure the group’s automatic qualification slot for the tournament. And
Nsofor is optimistic that the Super Eagles, under Siasia, will qualify
for the continental championship Nigeria last won back in 1994.

“I strongly believe that we will qualify because we still have four
matches to play,” said the striker who is currently on loan at West Ham
United from Inter Milan in Italy. “We will make sure that when we play
the other games against Guinea at home and the remaining home and away
matches against Madagascar and Ethiopia, we will win very well. I am
confident we will win these matches to reach the Nations Cup.”

Sports

United aim to silence City for another season

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United aim to silence City for another season

The
“noisy neighbours” have been generally a bit quieter in recent weeks
and should Manchester United beat Manchester City at Old Trafford on
Saturday (12.45GMT), their title claims will be just about silenced.

United lost their
first league game of the season last week to bottom club, Wolverhampton
Wanderers; but with Arsenal drawing, and Chelsea losing, their position
at the top of the Premier League was barely affected. City produced a
3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion but they remain in third place on 49
points, one behind Arsenal and five behind United having played a game
more than the top two. Since Ferguson made his “noisy neighbours”
comment in September 2009, in the wake of United’s last-gasp 4-3 league
win, City have continued to invest heavily in their playing squad but
are still somewhat on the outside looking up.

Most successful

City’s wait for a
first title since 1968 looks certain to go on for at least another year
while United are closing in on a record 19th – the tally Ferguson has
long targeted to “knock Liverpool off their perch” as the country’s
most successful club in its domestic league. United still have to play
Chelsea home and away, and visit Arsenal; so the title is far from in
the bag, but three points on Saturday brings it a little closer. “It’s
a terrific game for us now,” Ferguson told MUTV. “It’s a massive game
that we’ve got to look forward to. Unfortunately we have got
international matches in midweek which in my view is crazy, but we have
to get on with it. We have got plenty of players who will not be
involved in internationals and will play. The ones that travel we have
to give consideration to the fact that they have been travelling before
they play at lunchtime on Saturday.”

Wayne Rooney,
starting to look more like the player who tore up the league a year
ago, came through unscathed from his 45 minutes’ duty in England’s 2-1
win in Denmark, but Ferguson will wait nervously by the phone for any
other negative reports. City, of course, face similar demands on their
multinational squad, though Carlos Tevez should be fresh having been
left out of Argentina’s game against Portugal in Geneva because of
“attitude problems.”

Other matches

After their
remarkable 2-1 win over United last week, Wolves could hardly have had
a tougher follow-up game than an away to Arsenal. Having blown a 4-0
first-half lead to draw 4-4 at Newcastle United last week Arsene
Wenger’s team are unlikely to be anything like as generous a second
time.

Chelsea are not in
action until Monday when they visit Fulham, giving Tottenham the chance
to climb three points ahead of them into fourth place if they can win
at Sunderland.

Sixth-placed Liverpool, on a run of four wins and four clean sheets,
have a good chance of making it five of both at home to Wigan Athletic.
Should they do so, the team who were 12th and three points above the
relegation zone when Kenny Dalglish took over just a month ago, could
move within three points of Chelsea.

Sports

Anti-graft body quizzes Obaseki

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Anti-graft body quizzes Obaseki

The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday, began the
interrogation of former Nigeria Premier League boss, Oyuiki Obaseki,
and five others alleged to have been involved in a sponsorship scam
totalling over three billion naira.

Femi Babafemi,
spokesperson for the agency, confirmed that the officials were in the
organisation’s office in Abuja to defend themselves of the allegation
levelled against them, and added that the accused officials have been
granted temporary reprieve via an administrative bail. “They were in
our office today on our invitation to come over to answer to
allegations levelled against them,” he said. “The investigations will
definitely continue but for now they have been given administrative
bail. They will be required to return for questioning once they are
needed.”

The other five
officials in the agency’s net are: the disputed chairman of the Nigeria
Premier League, Davidson Owumi; the league’s former executive
secretary, Al-Hassan Yakmut; the vice-chairman, Shehu Gusau; board
member, Joe Amene; and Total Promotions’ Chief Executive, Niyi Alonge.
It is alleged that the television rights for the league was sold for N3
billion between 2006 and 2010 to a South African company, but only
about N436 million was received by the league.

Hope for justice

Hyke Igbokwe, a
Lagos-based lawyer, who petitioned the anti-graft organization on the
above matter, said he is confident that the agency will do a thorough
job. “I know the EFCC as an investigative organisation that has done so
well in fighting out corruption and financial crimes in the country
even though we know that they are sometimes impeded by some societal
Nigerian factor,” he said. “This particular case affects the soul of
Nigerian football and I don’t expect anything less from the EFFC than a
thorough job to bring all the culprits to book. Just like they did to
people like Cecilia Ibru and brought them to book, they should also go
the whole hog.”

While the investigations continue, the league clubs are the worst
hit as they continue to grapple with lack of funds, a situation that
has seen most clubs owing their players several months’ wages.

Sports

Stock Exchange in wobbly performance

11/02/2011 nigeriang No comments

Stock Exchange in wobbly performance

Trading activities
at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) witnessed a negative performance
on Thursday after recording an improvement the previous day.

Afrinvest equally
announced in a statement that the Exchange “has removed the firm from
the list of suspended stockbrokers and restored our trading privileges
as of today, 10 February 2011.”

Trading hours

The NSE, on
Thursday, said the extension of its trading hours by two hours
accounted for 50.52 per cent of traded shares in the first two months
of the extension.

Mr. Tokede said the
extension “has continued to yield positive results as the market has
continued to record improvement in volume, value, and the number of
deals.”