THISISLAGOS MIDDAY NEWS UPDATE APRIL 21, 2018
15 residents of VGC caught bypassing EKEDC meters (Vanguard)
No fewer than 15 residents of Victoria Garden City (VGC), Ajah, on Lekki-Epe Expressway are to be prosecuted for their alleged involvement in energy theft, Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) said.
Prepaid meters EKEDC alleged that the 15 residents stole energy by bypassing their meters. The company did not identify the electricity thieves.
The Managing Director, Mr Adeoye Fadeyibi, who disclosed this at a media briefing, said no effort would be spared in dealing with energy theft.
He said the VGC Estate used to be billed together as a single-customer using one meter. Fadeyibi said following agitations by residents for individual metering and billing system, the company installed meters for houses few months ago. Read more
MTN appoints Chapel Hill Denham to handle $5.23b listing in Nigeria (Vanguard)
South African telecoms giant, MTN has appointed Nigerian investment firm Chapel Hill Denham as lead issuing house for the initial public offering of its Nigerian business later this year.
MTN-Office Among the banks and brokers appointed by MTN include: Renaissance Capital, Rand Merchant Bank and Nigerian firm Chapel Hill Denham to work with global co-ordinators Citigroup and Standard Bank.
The company had earlier met with its bankers on Wednesday and held a presentation about MTN Nigeria for foreign and local analysts on Friday in Lagos. According to a report, MTN is yet to decide what portion of the subsidiary to sell, as it aim to raise about $400m, or roughly 10% of the stock. Read more
Ooni, Alaafin, Soyinka, Nollywood stars, others storm Ogun for African Drum Festival (Vanguard)
It was African culture at its best at the third edition of the Africa Drum festival currently going on in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital, as drummer groups from 33 states of the country as well as other African countries performed to the delight of the audience.
The festival was the third edition tagged, ‘Drumming for Advancement’, held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.
The opening ceremony of the festival which was held on Thursday at the June 12 Cultural Centre in Abeokuta, was graced by royal fathers from the South West and the Eastern regions of the country. The royal fathers included the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo; the Alafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi ; Obong of Calabar, Etubom Ekpo; Akarigbo of Remo land,Oba Babatunde Ajayi, and many others. Read more
Ooni urges fleet operators to embrace gas (Punch)
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has urged fleet operators, government agencies and other vehicle owners to power their automobiles with Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Compressed Natural Gas, and move away from petrol and diesel.
The Ooni made the call on Friday when the leadership of the THLD Group, Vitol Group and the UBA Group paid him a courtesy visit at his palace in Ile-Ife in a bid to promote the use of gas to power vehicles in the country. Read more
Trump accuses OPEC of keeping crude oil prices “artificially” high (THisDay)
Crude oil prices stabilised yesterday after an earlier slide driven by comments by the United States President Donald Trump, who accused the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) of “keeping oil prices artificially very high.”
But responding from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, OPEC secretary general, Mohammad Barkindo, stated that the United States’ oil and gas industry was a beneficiary of the cartel’s efforts to restore stability in the oil market. Read more
NETCO delivers N750m dividend to NNPC (DailyTrust)
The National Engineering and Technical Company Limited (NETCO), for the first time since its establishment delivered highest dividend of N750 million to its shareholders, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Speaking at the company’s 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Abuja, NETCO Board Chairman, who is also NNPC’s Chief Operating Officer, Upstream, Mallam Bello Rabiu, said the remarkable figures were made possible through sustained efforts on the part of the Company to cash in on the strong support of the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr Maikanti Baru and the shareholders. Read more
Supreme Court orders Mobil to reinstate, pay 860 sacked employees (Punch)
The Supreme Court on Friday voided the sacking of about 860 employees by Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited. The 860 Nigerians were employed as security officers by Mobil in 2000. The company had named the employees Supernumerary Police officers, otherwise called SPY.
In 2000, Mobil had claimed to have transferred their employment to the Nigeria Police Force, saying it engaged the workers to train them. Mobil had claimed that it engaged them as spy police personnel and not as staff. Read more
Army in move to totally destroy Boko Haram launches operation ‘Last Hold’ (Vanguard)
The Nigerian Army is to launch “Operation Last Hold” in Borno North and Lake Chad Region to restore socio-economic acitivies in the areas, as well as to fast track return Of Internally Displaced Persons to their communities.
The Chief of Training and Operations, Maj.-Gen. David Ahmad announced this on Friday at a news conference.
Ahmadu said Last Hold, which would commence on May 1 and to last for four months, was intended to facilitate the clearance of the Lake Chad waterways of sea weeds and other obstacles obstructing the movement of boats and people across the water channels. Read more
Reverse power sector privatisation, group tells FG (Punch)
The Coalition for Affordable and Regular Electricity has called on the Federal Government to once again nationalise the power sector, invest massively in it and introduce democratic and transparent management.
The group, in a statement on Friday, described the reversal of the privatisation as the only way the electricity needs of Nigerians would be met. “CARE is also demanding that the distribution companies should issue prepaid meters to all consumers as a way to end extortionist outrageous billing,” it said. Read more
Ruggedman romances Police, drops ‘Is Police Your Friend’ (Vanguard)
Ruggedman has finally released the video for his much talked about song, “Is Police Your Friend?” Ruggedman Ruggedy Baba is really out to ensure that the Nigerian police start doing the right thing, so they can get on the people’s good side. The star-studded music video features the likes of comedians Frank Donga, Mr Hyenana. Actors Doris Simeone and Ijebu alongside fashion stylist Jerry of 710 Vision and singer Water. According to the rapper, “Some clips you see in the video might not be for the weak-hearted, but we have to face reality and know when a menace has to be stopped.” The song was produced by Seanz Beat while the man behind the visuals is Dr Nell. Read more
Nigeria, others to record higher growth in 2019 – IIF (Punch)
Nigeria and other emerging markets are forecast to grow higher, while developed economies will record lower growth, according to the Institute of International Finance.
Despite global trade tensions, the IIF sees the 2018 world economic growth at its strongest since 2010, while emerging markets are expected to improve to a seven-year high, according to its latest Global Economic Monitor. Read more
Man attempts suicide in Police custody (Punch)
An Osogbo Magistrates’ Court in Osun State on Friday remanded a 23-year-old man, Andrew Peter, in Ilesa Prison over alleged attempted suicide while in police custody.
The Magistrate, Mr Olusegun Ayilara, ordered the defendant to be kept in prison due to the magnitude of the offence involved. The Prosecutor, Insp Lamidi Rasaki, had told the court that the defendant, who was arrested and detained for alleged theft of a cell phone, committed the offence in April at Okefia area of Osogbo. Read more
Gay: I paid Justin £75,000 to keep quiet – Fashanu (Punch)
John Fashanu has said he paid his late brother Justin £75,000 not to reveal he was gay, PA Sport reports. Justin, who played for Norwich and Nottingham Forest in the 1980s, came out before he took his own life in May 1998 at the age of 37. As the 20th anniversary of his death approaches, John admitted he had acted like “a monster” to his older brother and now wants the Football Association to do more to support gay footballers and tackle racist and anti-gay abuse. Read more
Arsenal fans push for renaming of Emirates Stadium (Nation)
A petition has started to rename the Emirates as ‘Arsene Wenger Stadium’. As the tributes continue to pour in for Wenger following his impending departure after 22 years as Arsenal boss, some want permanent recognition of his contribution to the club. The longest serving Arsenal boss steered the team to unparalleled success during his tenure. With more than 800 Premier League games to his name and 10 major trophies, Wenger has become synonymous with the north London club. And the movement to rename Emirates Stadium in his honour is already gathering pace.Read more
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho makes Alexis Sanchez promise (Manchestereveningnews)
Jose Mourinho insists Manchester United had to sign Alexis Sanchez in January otherwise the Chilean would never have joined the club. Sanchez moved from Arsenal in a swap deal involving Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the winter transfer window after United gazumped Manchester City, but the Chilean has struggled to perform in his 13 starts. The 29-year-old has managed just two goals against Huddersfield and Swansea and, although he had a pivotal impact in the second-half comeback at City, Sanchez was poor in the following week’s defeat to West Brom. Read more
Arsenal suffer blow as ‘AC Milan lead chase for Gunners target Bernard’ with Chelsea and Liverpool also keen (Mirror)
Arsenal have suffered a blow as AC Milan appear to be the front runners to sign target Bernard from Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Gunners had shown an interest in the Brazilian, whose contract will expire at the end of the season, but the Rossoneri are now favourites to secure the former Atletico Mineiro star’s signature, report Italian broadcaster Premium Sport.
The 25-year-old has enjoyed a fine season for the Ukrainian outfit, scoring 10 and assisting four more goals. Chelsea and Liverpool are also in the hunt, but Milan now appear to be his most likely destination. Read more
Archbishop in Pakistan appeals for prayers after another attack on Christians (Premier)
A leading Pakistan bishop has appealed for prayer after Christians in Quetta suffered their third attack in five months. Two Christians, Rashid Khalid and Azhar Iqbal, and three others were injured after four attackers on motorbikes started shooting at people near a church in Quetta’s Essa Nagri Christian neighbourhood.
The attack, last Sunday came nearly two weeks after a family of four Catholics from Lahore were gunned down outside a relative’s house during an Easter visit to the city. The men, Parvaiz, Kamran, Tariq and Fordous, had reportedly just stepped outside to buy ice cream when they were targeted. Read more
North Korea announces it will stop all nuclear tests and missile launches (Independent)
North Korea has said it will halt missile and nuclear tests, fulfilling a pledge made by leader Kim Jong-un ahead of a meeting with Donald Trump.
The promised cessation, reported by North Korean state media, represented another apparent concession as the country manoeuvres ahead of the landmark summit. Mr Kim also said North Korea would be shutting down a test site.
South Korea’s president earlier this week said Mr Kim had embraced denuclearising without demanding the withdrawal of US troops from the Korean Peninsula.
Mr Trump heralded the development on Twitter as “very good news for North Korea and the World”. Read more