Curator

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Chidi Nkwopara OWERRI—National Industrial Court sitting in Owerri, will, July 5, deliver judgment on the suit, NICN/OW/144/2017, filed by members of Nigerian Union of Pensioners, NUP, Imo State branch, challenging the slashing and withholding of their stipends by Governor Rochas Okorocha administration. Before the presiding judge, Justice Olufunke Y. Anuwe, fixed the judgment date, he listened to the addresses of counsel on both sides, as well as issued a restraining order on the issuance and circulation of a form entitled “undertaking and indemnity for receipt of pensions,” by the state government. Addressing the court, the pensioners’ lead counsel, Mr. Wisdom Durueke, said the new document seeks to coerce the senior citizens to abandon the case in court, as well as sign off 50 per cent of their earned entitlements. “The exhibits so far filed before the court shows that the matter before Your Lordship, is very germane and unimpeachable,” Durueke said. He ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Gab Ejuwa Youths in Udu Local Government Area, Delta State, under the aegis of Ukoko R’ Ighele R’ Urhobo, have threatened to shut down operations of Premium Steel and Mines Limited that acquired the old Delta Steel Company, should the company fail to address issues surrounding ongoing employment in the company within 14 days. A statement, yesterday, by  Sunday Subi, President, said that the 14 days ultimatum was as a result of the disregard and neglect by PSML of the youths and host communities. They explained in the statement that PSML no longer recognised them as host communities and had resorted to partnering non-indigenes whom they alleged sidelined their people from the mainstream of the company. According to the statement,  non-indigenes are now being fixed in strategic positions, making it look as if they were the only qualified professionals who had worked in the plant. “Due to total disregard for local content policy, PSML should immediat...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Chioma Onuegbu Uyo—UNEMPLOYED teachers in Akwa Ibom State, yesterday, stormed designated centres in Uyo, the capital, in their thousands,  to scramble for employment forms for recruitment as primary school teachers, organised by the state government. The state government had last week announced that it had concluded plans to employ 3,000 teachers into primary schools and had further directed that prospective applicants with the National Certificate in Education, NCE, qualification should go to designated centres in the three senatorial districts to obtain the forms from yesterday. Investigation revealed that it has been over seven years since the state embarked on primary school teachers’ recruitment. The two designated centres for Uyo were Community Secondary School, Aka and West Itam Secondary School. Some of the job seekers, particularly women, who spoke to newsmen at the centres in Uyo expressed doubts of being able to obtain the forms in the 3-day...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By  Efosa Ugiagbe THE qualification of the April 14 judgment of the Edo Governorship Election Tribunal, by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the immediate past governor of Edo State and sponsor of the APC governorship candidate Godwin Obaseki, as a “Mama Akara” Judgment has created a buzz as to what he advertently or inadvertently implied. While his supporters and party members have been gloating over the strange description by the former governor, the petitioners and their supporters have not shied away from claiming that it is a subconscious admission of the underhand manner in which the judgment was influenced in favour of the respondents. Strictly looking at the statement from the viewpoint of textual analysis, the term Mama Akara Judgment may on the one hand,  simply imply Comrade Oshiomhole’s appreciation of the sense of pleasure the judgment gave him. On the other, from the  socio-analytical perspective the term may be said to imply the simple or un...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange has won the ‘Most Innovative in Financial Markets’ award at the first BusinessDay Top 25 Most Innovative Companies & Institutions in Nigeria Awards 2017 in recognition of its contribution to the development of the Nigerian financial markets. FMDQ said in a statement that the award was a validation of its effort of transforming the Nigeria debt capital market. It said: “The Nigerian financial markets have undergone significant changes in recent years, and FMDQ, having risen to its commitment to transform the markets, by, among others, bringing them to par with the global markets, has continued to lead the pace through timely service, product and market development innovations. “From its visionary stride in successfully facilitating the Naira-settled OTC FX Futures Market, launching the short-term bonds product initiative, pioneering a Nigerian securities exchange learning institution, the FMDQ Academy, to championing the market-w...

http://ift.tt/2qtGfTj SALES recorded by Dangote Cement plants across Africa have significantly impacted on the revenue of the company for the first quarter ended on March 31, 2017 by 74 per cent to a whopping N208.2 billion. Chief Executive officer of Dangote Cement, Onne van der Weijde, who revealed this over the weekend while presenting the company’s first quarter results to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), also stated that the company’s earnings per share for the first quarter increased by up 36.2 per cent cent to ¦ 4.25. According to him:    “Dangote Cement produced record financial results in the first three months of 2017. Despite lower Group volumes, we delivered significantly higher revenues and EBITDA after realigning prices late in 2016. Our new pricing strategy meant every tonne worked harder for us in Nigeria, delivering 78.4 per cent more EBITDA per tonne than the same quarter last year. We have now begun sourcing a significant amount of coal from Nigerian m...

http://ift.tt/2lULSLN ..Move to probe job losses, tax compliance in telecoms sector By Emman Ovuakporie & Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJA —THERE are indications that the Senate and the House of Representatives are working at cross-purposes on the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, pending in both chambers. Though the Senate said recently it would soon pass the PIB into law, the House is yet to commence work on the Bill, which it passed in the last session. This is even as the House has commenced a probe of telecommunications to determine whether there were irregularities in the employment status and conditions of Nigerians at home and abroad, with special attention on job losses, non-remittance of tax deductions and lopsided expatriate representation. It was gathered that the oil industry bill in the Senate is silent on how to make the entire sector transparent, fuelling suspicion that some of the elements from the north that frustrated its passage in the 7th Senate are n...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The CEO of Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited, Mrs. Titi Ogungbesan, in this interview discussed issues affecting investors and other salient issues on the Nigerian capital market and the economy in general. Excerpts: By Peter Egwuatu T HE Debt Management Office, DMO a few years ago appointed Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Ltd as the stockbroker to FGN Bonds and a key part of that mandate was to create awareness on retail bond trading in collaboration with stakeholders. What has been the response of the market since this appointment? Market response has been positive and retail investors’ participation has improved over time. We expect further future improvement in the level of participation. Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited in its role as Stockbroker to FGN bonds has organised seminars/workshop in partnership with the DMO and the NSE aimed at creating more awareness amongst investors on the opportunities in the fixed income market. There has been renewed passion ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Code of Corporate Governance under review — NCRIB by Favour Nnabugwu IN a bid to ensure compliance with extant laws on financial reporting, the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) has taken up responsibility of turning in audited accounts of member companies to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Vanguard learnt that about 350 of such companies with four years arrears of account are being worked on for this purpose. The account will cover 2013 to 2016 The President of The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Mr Emmanuel Kayode Okunoren, made this known while briefing the NCRIB members during the Council’s Members’ Evening in Lagos last week. Okunoren stated: “The FRC agreed that the NCRIB should henceforth undertake the submission of its members’ approved accounts and that no fine would be imposed on the members.” “It was agreed that the accounts submitted would be reviewed by FRC based on the concerns raised by the regul...