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NSIA commits $500m towards infrastructure boost

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The Managing Director & Chief Executive Office, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr Aminu Umar-Sadiq, has disclosed that the Authority has committed $500 million to domestic infrastructure, while also enabling third-party investments of over $1billion.

He said this at an investigative hearing held on Tuesday by the Ad-hoc Committee constituted by the House of Representatives to investigate the activities of the NSIA since inception.

He explained that the NSIA belongs to the three tiers of government consisting the federal government, state government, local government, including the FCT and its Area Councils.

He further reiterated that the NSIA has a robust infrastructure investment portfolio covering several critical sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, financial infrastructure, technology, innovation, and power.

Additionally, he disclosed that the Authority has also developed institutions and platforms to improve the financial market ecosystem within the country.

He said the Authority developed a 10MW solar power project, which was expected to facilitate the creation of over 500 direct and indirect jobs.

Furthermore, through its participation within the housing sector, over 13,000 affordable housing units were under construction in different states of the Federation.

Within the agricultural sector, the NSIA has supported over 236,000 farmers in different Agric projects. Under the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (‘PFI’) the Authority has facilitated the production of 3.8 million Metric Tons of fertiliser to farmers nationwide, with 72 blending plants currently in operation across Nigeria, he added.

Umar-Sadiq also stated that the net assets of the Authority grew from N156 billion in 2013, to N1. 017 trillion at the end of 2022, and has remained profitable over the last 10 years of operation, with yearly audits performed by Independent Auditors.

He also mentioned that the net contribution has grown from the initial $1 billion to the current Net asset value of $2.27 billion as at December 2022.

Also speaking, Lateef Shittu, the representative of the Director General, of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), said that local governments were notable stakeholders who were accounted for together with the State Government and represented a significant holding of the fund.
Shittu affirmed the collaboration of the Governors Forum with the NSIA, saying they were satisfied with the level of interactions and were clear about the objectives of the Authority in relation to its projects and impact on the nation.

He disclosed that in 2022, the governors requested a presentation on the operations of the NSIA from the management, adding that “we are satisfied with the presentation and what was being done”.

He reiterated that, “every single project executed by the NSIA is located within a local government, so they are beneficiaries of the NSIA projects.”

The Chairman of the Ad-hod Committee, Hon. Ademorin Kuye, said the objective of the investigative hearing was to ensure that the statutory provisions of the law establishing the Authority were adhered to.

He stated that the House wants to be able to have answers to questions from Nigerians on how the funds of the agency were being managed, adding that if the need arises, the committee would visit sites of projects being handled by the Authority to ensure value for money.

The Committee commended management and staff for the detailed responses that were provided, which alludes to its high level of governance and transparency.

US court assumes jurisdiction over Atiku suit seeking access to Tinubu’s educational records

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Atiku is asking the court to compel Chicago State University (CSU) to produce the academic records of President Bola Tinubu, Political Economist reports.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division has said it has the power to sit over the case instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku is asking the court to compel Chicago State University (CSU) to produce the academic records of President Bola Tinubu, Political Economist reports.

According to court documents, the court established that it has jurisdiction over the matter under US law, which authorises any "interested person" to request that a US District Court order the discovery of documents and testimony for use in a foreign proceeding from persons who "reside or are found" within its District."

The court, therefore, held that Atiku satisfied all statutory requirements as he is an “interested person”; and the respondent, CSU, is a public university established and existing under the laws of Illinois, with its principal campus and offices in Chicago.

It said it would not hesitate to grant the prayers of Atiku.

Nigeria’s President, Tinubu, ran for President on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on February 25.

In November 2022, several months before the Presidential elections, an Abuja-based lawyer Mr. Mike Enahoro-Ebah sued Tinubu over alleged certificate forgery, age falsification and lying on oath.

Enahoro-Ebah, in three separate direct criminal complaints filed at the Chief Magistrate Court in Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, alleged that Tinubu supplied false information as well as attached forged documents to his form EC-9 submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on June 17, 2022, to aid his qualification for the 2023 presidential election.

He initiated proceedings against Mr. Tinubu by filing a "Direct Criminal Complaint" in the Chief Magistrate Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Mr. Enahoro-Ebah alleged in his complaint that Mr. Tinubu submitted an "Affidavit of Personal Particulars" to INEC in June 2022 as part of a required filing to run for President, which included an alleged forged CSU diploma dated June 22, 1979, and other information inconsistent with the CSU documents.

"Mr. Enahoro-Ebah stated that after Mr. Tinubu made his INEC filing, Mr. Enahoro-Ebah obtained a subpoena from the Circuit Court of Cook County, dated August 11, 2022, and served it on CSU," according to papers filed by Atiku in the US court on August 2, 2023, to substantiate the accusations.

In response to the subpoena, CSU’s Registrar, Mr. Caleb Westberg, wrote to Mr. Enahoro-Ebah’s Chicago lawyer, Mr. Matthew J. Kowals, on September 22, 2022, informing Mr. Kowals that "[t]he enclosed documentation is all the records we have for Bola E. Tinubu."

“According to the complaint, the documents that accompanied Mr. Westberg’s letter included a CSU diploma issued to Mr. Tinubu on June 27, 1979. The June 27 diploma allegedly produced by CSU to Mr. Kowals, and the June 22 diploma allegedly submitted by Mr. Tinubu to INEC, are very different documents.

“In addition to the different dates, the documents have different seals, fonts, and language. The June 22 diploma has grammatical errors that the June 27 diploma does not have. They are also signed by different persons who are ostensibly officials of CSU. The June 22 diploma has three signatures, one of which purports to be the signature of Dr. Elnora Daniel as President of CSU. The other two signatures on the June 22 diploma are illegible.

“By contrast, the June 27 diploma only has two signatures. They purport to be the signatures of Dr. Daniel, again as the President of CSU, and Dr. Niva Lubin as the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees. Compare

“In his complaint, Mr. Enahoro-Ebah asserts that the June 27 diploma produced by CSU to Mr. Kowals is authentic and that the June 22 diploma submitted by Mr. Tinubu to INEC is a forgery. However, Applicant’s staff have recently conducted further research into the names of CSU officials with legible signatures on the two diplomas: Dr. Daniel (whose signature appears on both the June 22 and June 27 diplomas) and Dr. Lubin (whose signature appears only on the June 27 diploma).”

The report noted that according to public records, Dr. Daniel and Dr. Lubin did not join CSU until the late 1990s—around two decades after CSU supposedly awarded the June 22 diploma and/or the June 27 diploma to Mr. Tinubu.

As a result, the applicant questioned the legitimacy of both the June 22 and June 27 diplomas.

Mr. Enahoro-Ebah said in his lawsuit that there were more disparities between the information provided by Mr. Tinubu to INEC and the records produced by CSU to Mr. Enahoro-Ebah: “According to documents produced by CSU, the ‘Bola Tinubu’ who attended CSU was a U.S. citizen, while in the information provided to INEC, Mr. Tinubu states that he has always been solely a Nigerian citizen and has never acquired the citizenship of any other country.

“According to the documents produced by CSU, the ‘Bola Tinubu’ who attended CSU was born in 1954, while according to the information provided to the INEC, Mr. Tinubu was born in 1952.

“According to the documents produced by CSU, the ‘Bola Tinubu’ who applied to CSU submitted a prior transcript from Southwest College that identified ‘Bola Tinubu’ as ‘female.’ According to the documents produced by CSU, the ‘Bola Tinubu’ who attended CSU claimed that s/he had graduated from Government College, Lagos, in 1970, while in the information provided to INEC, Mr. Tinubu makes no mention of having attended Government College.”

In light of the foregoing, Atiku petitioned the Court for an order granting him leave to compel CSU to reveal and verify the authenticity of documents reportedly granted to Tinubu by the university.

On August 16, Peoples Gazette reported that a US court had set August 23 as the deadline for Tinubu to present persuasive arguments as to why Chicago State University should not be ordered to release his academic records to Atiku Abubakar, his rival in the February 25 presidential election in Nigeria.

The deadline, which is contained in court filings seen by Peoples Gazette, was imposed on August 9 by Jeffrey Gilbert, the new magistrate judge assigned to the case at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

The Court also ordered Atiku to respond to Tinubu’s argument by September 9, two weeks after Mr Tinubu’s response was anticipated.

According to the report, the timeline shows the court is racing to rule on the matter before September 21, when Nigeria’s election petitions tribunal will likely deliver its judgement in the suit challenging Tinubu’s election victory.

Atiku and Peter Obi of the Labour Party and their parties had filed petitions to challenge the outcome of the presidential election.

On July 11, Atiku also filed the petition seeking to obtain further details of Tinubu’s academic records at the Chicago State University.

Documents sought by Atiku, through his counsel, Angela M. Liu, include a record of his admission and acceptance at the university, dates of attendance including degrees, awards and honours attained by Tinubu at the university.

Atiku informed the court that Tinubu subpoena was to test the truth and veracity of Mr. Tinubu’s assertions, adding that he is currently Nigeria’s President and facing various court proceedings concerning his election and the authenticity of documents relating to his attendance at Chicago State University.

But Tinubu has filed a motion to prevent the school from disclosing his educational records.

Tinubu’s counsel, Victor P. Henderson, asked the court to strike it out as no judge of the court heard and granted Atiku the subpoena.

Alake says he requested Mines portfolio

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The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, says President Bola Tinubu assigned him the portfolio because of the sensitive position of the sector to economic renewal.

Mr Alake disclosed this on Monday while briefing reporters after the inauguration of 45 new ministers at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The minister said he specifically asked the president to assign the ministry to him contrary to the general perception that he would be given a particular portfolio.

‘’The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, as you know, is a sensitive position in this period of economic renewal,” said Mr Alake. “So, that position was one that I specifically asked Mr President to give me, and he obliged.”

Mr Alake said the much talked about portfolio speculated for him was not necessarily tailored for only him.

He expressed readiness to hit the ground running as the minister of solid minerals.

“The ministry is key to the administration, and the president wanted someone that he trusts and believes would deliver effectively,’’ Mr Alake said.

Before the president assigned portfolios to his ministers designate, there were speculations that Mr Alake would be assigned to information and communication-related ministry.

Thaksin Shinawatra returns to Thailand after 15 years

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The billionaire landed in a private jet at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport as the party linked to him prepares to form a government.

Thailand’s Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to eight years of imprisonment.

Thaksin’s jail sentence relates to three convictions passed on the him in absentia, the court said in a statement.

Thaksin was quickly arrested and taken to the Supreme Court after he returned to Thailand on Tuesday, after 15 years in exile.

Hundreds of people gathered to see Shinawatra, a business tycoon-turned-politician, as he arrived in Thailand at 9 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport. He had boarded a private jet from Singapore.

Just a couple of hours before his arrival, his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra — who is also a former Thai prime minister — shared pictures and a video of him boarding the plane on Facebook.

"The day my brother has waited for has arrived," she posted, alongside images of him on a plane. In a video also posted, Thaksin can be seen shaking hands with the crew before boarding the private jet.

After his arrival, Thaksin was escorted by the police to the Supreme Court. The court is due to hear the sentences against him, according to police.

Later, he was taken to Bangkok prison under heavy security, according to Reuters news agency.

Shinawatra was ousted in a coup 17 years ago.

He later went into a self-imposed exile but the polarizing leader has maintained a significant stranglehold over Thailand’s politics.

Born into one of the most prominent ethnic Chinese families in northern Chiang Mai province, the 74-year-old became known for overhauling Thailand’s politics after he was elected prime minister in 2001.

Thaksin is loved by the rural poor for his policies that focused on Thailand’s health system and labor but is despised by the powerful elites who see his tenure as corrupt, authoritarian and disruptive.

Before he became prime minister he formed his own political party, Thai Rak Thai, in 1998, which later came to be known as Pheu Thai party and brought Thaksin’s sister Yingluck to power in 2011.

Thaksin’s arrival in Thailand after 15 years of exile comes on the day a deadlocked parliament is going to vote for a new prime minister.

Legislators have nominated business tycoon Srettha Thavisin for the post of prime minister ahead of a voting round scheduled by the parliament for later in the day. Thavisin, who has become the face of Thaksin’s political movement, will head the coalition led by the Pheu Thai party.

Since March, an interim government has been in charge in Thailand. The country’s parliament has been under a deadlock for weeks leaving the coalition led by the Pheu Thai party to form a government.

Thaksin was convicted in four criminal cases in his absence, although the statute of limitations has expired in one. The sentences against him total 10 years.

Thailand’s progressive party ready to rule — but will they?

CBN loans to manufacturing and power sectors soar to N5.6 trillion

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention loans in the power, manufacturing and aviation sectors have risen to N5.6tn in three years.

The soft loans were advanced amid the continued and varied challenges facing the key sectors of the economy.

The apex bank’s lending to the three sectors were obtained from the CBN result and accounts between 2020 and 2022.

The reports which showed credit concentration in the various sectors of the economy indicated that power, aviation and manufacturing sectors recorded an aggregate ofN5.6tn in loans from the central bank.

The CBN under its suspended governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, competed with commercial banks in aggressive lending to some sectors of the economy. The apex bank loans however came in single-digit interest rate and long repayment tenor.

The breakdown revealed that CBN’s receivables and other assets in the power and aviation sector of Nigeria stood at N50.6bn in 2022, a decline of 96.4 per cent from N1.39tn in 2021.

Also, in the power and aviation sector, it reported N935bn in 2020.

In the manufacturing sector, it reported N1.23tn in 2022, an increase of 33.46 per cent from N919.03bn in 2021. In addition, its concentration in the manufacturing sector was at N1.07tn in 2020.

From the 2022 result and accounts, the apex bank revealed that its total receivables and others stood at N47.39tn from N43.18tn reported in 2021. Receivables from the Federal Government contributed a significant portion.

The Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the association had made several attempts to secure credit facilities from the apex bank, but did not receive any feedback on any of the occasions it wrote to the CBN.

He said, “We have 2,500 manufacturers. We have asked the CBN which manufacturers they are supporting, so we can collaborate with them, they have not obliged us. We are a coordinated group. We work together. So, to lump us together with other sectors that have non-performing loans, I don’t understand what they are talking about.”