Bayern Münich complete the signing of Leroy Sané from Manchester City for a fee of €45M.
Leroy Sané has signed his contract as new Bayern Münich player until June 2025.
Details Later…
Zenith Bank ranks Nigeria’s Number One Bank according to Tier-1 Capital
Zenith Bank Plc has ranked in the position of the Number One Bank in Nigeria.
The ranking was done by Tier-1 Capital in the 2020 Top 1000 World Banks Ranking published by The Banker Magazine.
The ranking which was published in the July 2020 edition of The Banker Magazine of the Financial Times Group, United Kingdom, was based on the 2019 year-end Tier-1 capital of banks globally. Climbing a whopping 29 spots from 415 in 2019 to 386 in the 2020 global ranking of banks, Zenith Bank retained its position as the number one Tier-1 bank in Nigeria with Tier-1 Capital of $2.79 billion, an increase of 16.1% on the $2.40 billion recorded in the 2019 rankings.
According to the Ranking Report, Zenith Bank extended its lead over the second-placed bank in Nigeria. Zenith’s financial performance for the year was underpinned by a 29% increase in non-interest income, with an improved market share in both retail and corporate sectors.
Speaking on the latest rankings, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive, Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu said: “this ranking, which further attests to our market leadership, is the outcome of a well-thought-out strategy of always delighting and creating value for our teeming customers through a broad range of superior product offerings, best-in-class service and top-of-the-range technology.”
Recent awards received by the bank include; The Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria 2019 by the World Finance and the Best Digital Bank in Nigeria 2019 by Agusto & Co. It was voted as Bank of the Year and Best Bank in Retail Banking at the 2019 BusinessDay Banks and other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
Most recently, the bank was recognized as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria, for the third consecutive year, in the Banker Magazine “Top 500 Banking Brands 2020”, Best Bank in Nigeria in the Global Finance “World’s Best Banks Awards 2020” and the Bank of the Decade (People’s Choice) at the ThisDay Awards 2020.
JUST IN: Ondo Health Commissioner Dies Of COVID-19
Wahab Adegbenro, Ondo State Commissioner for Health, is dead, Equity News can confirm.
A government official confirmed the news to our correspondent on Thursday afternoon.
The source revealed that Mr Adegbenro died on Monday after he was rushed to a hospital in Owo after contracting Coronavirus.
“The Commissioner died at the Federal Medical Centre in Owo and this has just thrown the entire cabinet into chaos.
“He died of COVID-19 because he had contracted the virus earlier and was taking drugs at his own comfort being a medical doctor.”
Governor of the state, Rotimi Akeredolu, is currently in self-isolation after testing positive for the virus earlier this week.
Dubai Police Extradites ‘Hushpuppi’ To United States
Alleged criminal mastermind Raymond Igbalode Abbas, known as ‘Hushpuppi’ has been extradited from the United Arab Emirates to the United States.
This was revealed in a statement by the Dubai Police on Thursday in which the US Federal Bureau of Investigations extended its gratitude to the UAE crime watchdog for its role in apprehending and extraditing ‘Hushpuppi’.
In June, the Dubai Police had arrested Hushpuppi, Olalekan Jacob Ponle, known as ‘Woodberry’, and ten others in an operation tagged ‘Fox Hunt’.
The suspects were accused of “committing crimes outside the UAE, including money-laundering, cyber fraud, hacking, criminal impersonating, scamming individuals, banking fraud and identity theft,” the Dubai Police said.
Before his arrest, Hushpuppi had gained fame on social media for his outlandish display of wealth.
The director of Dubai CID, Brigadier Jamal Salem Al Jallaf said the raid that led to his arrest resulted in the confiscation of incriminating documents of a planned fraud on a global scale worth AED 1.6 billion ($ 435 million).
“The team also seized more than AED 150 million ($40.9 million) in cash, 13 luxury cars with an estimated value of AED 25 million ($6.8 million) obtained from fraud crimes, and confiscated 21 computer devices, 47 smartphones, 15 memory sticks, five hard disks containing 119,580 fraud files as well as addresses of 1,926,400 victims”, he said.
After conducting further investigations and analysing confiscated electronic devices, Dubai Police investigators uncovered sensitive information mined by the suspects on individuals and companies overseas including bank accounts and fake credit cards as well as documents and files condemning the gangs’ illegal activities, the Dubai Police said.
Ondo Poll: Dogara Heads PDP Screening Committee
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has appointed the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, as the chairman of its screening committee, for the Ondo State governorship primary.
The appointment was contained in a statement by its National Organising Secretary, Col. Austin Akobundu (retd.) in Abuja on Wednesday.
Akobundu said the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) approved the nomination of Dogara and four others to serve on the screening gubernatorial committee.
Other members of the committee, according to Akobundu, included Sen. Zainab Kure, Fred Agbedi and Ndubuisi Agwuama while Rev. Bunmi Jenyo will serve as Secretary.
The committee is mandated to screen all aspirants for the upcoming 2020 governorship election in Ondo State.
Nigerian Society of Engineers Gives N16m Scholarship To Best UTME Candidates
The Nigerian Society of Engineers has granted a N16m scholarship to 16 candidates who had the highest scores in the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
The NSE Chairman, Babagana Mohammed, stated this at a scheduled meeting of the NSE on Tuesday.
The meeting was held in honour of the top UTME candidates in the country who incidentally all seek to study engineering.
About 13 students scored above 350 with Miss Maduafokwa Egoagwuagwu from Anambra State getting the highest with a score of 365.
Mohammed said, “The registrar of JAMB sent me a message that one of his directors is going to join me on this line; Lawal Yusuf and what he advised me to say is that anyone of them that gets admission and is matriculated will enjoy the scholarship.
“He said not all who got good results would get into school and I asked why. He said some are below age and some schools have a standard and if you don’t meet up with that age, you cannot get admission. That is what the registrar of JAMB sent just now.”
“But for the records, we are going to give a scholarship of five years to each candidate that gains admission. If you gain admission next year, you are still entitled. That is the advice I got from JAMB.”
Mohammed said the scholarship would be extended to 16 candidates from 13 and subsequently presented a cheque to each candidate.
He promised that the NSE would henceforth grant scholarships to the best UTME applicants.
The NSE chairman also handed out laptops to all the candidates.
The candidate, who scored the highest, said she was able to do so through the help of God and extensive studying.
Egoagwuagwu, who seeks to study Industrial Production Engineering at the University of Ibadan, thanked the society of engineers for the kind gesture and promised not to sit on her laurels.
She called on her colleagues to continue to believe in themselves and trust God to do the rest.
Egoagwuagwu said, “I feel very happy representing my state, Anambra, my school and my family. I chose engineering because this country and the world at large needs many brains with the ideas that can help us develop and move forward and what better course than engineering?”
JUST IN: Domestic Flights To Resume July 8 At Lagos, Abuja Airports
Hadi Sirika, the minister for aviation, has announced that domestic flights would resume on July 8, 2020.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Sirika said operations would resume at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos and Nnamdi Azikwe Airport in Abuja on July 8 with other airports to follow subsequently.
“I am glad to announce that Abuja & Lagos airports will resume domestic operations on the 8th of July, 2020. Kano, Port Harcourt, Owerri & Maiduguri to resume on the 11th. Other airports on the 15th. The date for international to be announced in due course. Bear with us,” he wrote.
More to follow…
Obasanjo Writes Oby Ezekwesili On The Demise Of Her Mother
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written to ex-Vice President of the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, on the demise of her mother, Cecilia Ujubuonu.
His condolence letter was delivered to the family on Wednesday, hours before the late Ujubuonu was laid to rest at Umunuko, Ukpor, Nnewi-South Local Government Area in Anambra State.
Obasanjo commiserated with the former presidential candidate and the entire family, while celebrating the life of the deceased.
He said Madam Cecilia was a dutiful wife, a caring mother, a sharing community leader and a devoted Christian who would be missed by everyone.
Stressing that death is inevitable, the former Nigerian leader said the deceased was 78 years, “which implies that she transcended the biblical three-score and 10 years, considered the index for old age and, by itself, an indication of the grace of God.”
“But doing so with all that Mama had achieved in her life together with her husband and your father, Mr. Benjamin Ujubuonu, of blessed memory, it is also an indication of the grace of God multiplied.”
The one-time Head of State noted that he could attest to the fact that “her children, you (Oby) in particular, are women and men of strong character and great achievements in their own rights.”
Obasanjo hailed Mama’s virtues and Oby’s “admirable character, which I have come to cherish as you worked with me in different capacities for almost eight years, during my administration as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
“Throughout her sojourn on earth, she epitomised outstanding resilience, undiluted faith, heroic grace, unbreakable strength, gallantry, loyalty, courage, steadfastness and a simple, unadulterated and unequivocal devotion to the common good.”
Obasanjo added that the late Ujubuonu was cultured person, a symbol of humility, moderation and selfless service.
“As we bid her goodbye, we must resolve that her great labour of love shall not be in vain”, he concluded.
No Need To Open School Now, says ASUU
The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Wednesday insisted that it is not ripe for schools to reopen in the country.
The union said the Federal Government’s directive for schools to reopen across the Federation amid the coronavirus pandemic could endanger the lives of poor Nigerian pupils.
ASUU National President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, made this position known while featuring on Channels Television’s programme, Sunrise Daily.
Ogunyemi said, “What we are trying to do now is a crash model – an experimental approach. We want to experiment with the lives of poor Nigerians – children of the poor. Many of us in my bracket – maybe middle class – our children don’t fall into that category. And that is probably why we cannot appreciate why we need to do the basic minimum.
“Are we saying that we should open schools without decontaminating the schools? For a government that could go openly to decontaminate streets, to decontaminate markets? Are lives in the schools not as valuable as those working on the streets? We need to do the basic minimum; it is not about income for teachers, income for workers here – it’s about what we need to do to avert disaster.”
But also speaking on the programme, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, Sani Aliyu, maintained that the reopening of schools for graduating pupils (Primary 6, JSS 3, SSS 3) is imperative because the examinations are set by external bodies.
Aliyu explained, “We have a large number of students that are in the exit classes and they need to move on. These are not exams that are specific only to Nigeria but Africa – the WAEC exams. We need to find a way to safely get these students to write their exams and move on. Otherwise, we will have a serious spillover when it comes to education.
“Covid will go away eventually. Yes, it will go away, it may take a year, it may take longer but what we don’t want is to have a significant impact on our educational programmes.”
Over 300,000 PVCs uncollected in Ondo – INEC
As the governorship election is approaching in Ondo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday said it had suspended the registration of new voters ahead of the election.
The commission said a total of 372,888 Permanent Voter Cards were yet to be collected in the state.
The Resident Electoral Commission in the state, Dr Rufus Akeju, stated this during a stakeholders’ meeting held at the state headquarters of the commission, in Akure, the state capital.
At the meeting, the publication of “Notice of Election”, was extensively deliberated upon. The REC also said the preparation for the forthcoming governorship election was ongoing.
Akeju said there would be no Continuous Voters Registration and distribution of Permanent Voter Cards in the state again before the forthcoming governorship election.
He said, “It is extremely important for me to inform you that the commission has suspended the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and the implication is that, the window of opportunity for new registrants, distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, transfer of registration and replacement of lost or defaced PVCs have been shut for the meantime owing to the ravaging pandemic.”
Giving the breakdown, the REC said the number of registered voters in the state was 1,822 346 while “a total of 1,478,460 of PVCs have been collected and the number of uncollected PVCs is 372,888.”
Akeju also disclosed that the commission had produced a booklet containing operational guidelines for the conduct of the election in line with the current reality of COVID 19 pandemic ravaging the world.
Expressing assurance that the INEC would be fair as an unbiased umpire in the October poll, the REC noted that the security agents for the conduct of the election would undergo special training.