The opposition parties that participated in the last local government elections in Oyo State have disagreed with the Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in the state, Adegbenro Fagbemi, on the credibility of the exercise.

The opposition parties included: Social Democratic Party (SDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), African Action Congress (AAC), African Democratic Party (ADP) and Labour Party (LP).

Reports says that the local government elections, held on April 27, had seen the ruling Peopes Democratic Party (PDP) winning the chairmanship and councillorshhip seats in all the 33 local governments in the state.

The IPAC chairman had, while assessing the polls recently, described it as free, fair and credible.

However, the parties, in a statement issued in Ibadan on Monday, said Fagbemi’s comment only represented his personal opinion and his cohorts in IPAC.

Speaking on behalf of the parties, the Chairman of SDP in the state, Mr Michael Okunlade, said the IPAC chairman’s statement did not represent the position of all members of the council.

“We will like to give Otunba Adegbenro Fagbemi the benefit of the doubt that he probably mistakenly used IPAC’s name instead of the party, APM, that he represents.

“We equally doubt if his party participated in the election.

“For him to have gone public to make a statement that Oyo LG polls was free, fair and credible is a careless statement that does not represent the position of members of IPAC.

“Even as chairman of IPAC, he does not have the moral right to declare the election otherwise, because the ruling PDP is also a member of IPAC.

“For these reasons, whatever he said must have been to represent the position of his own political party and there is a moral question on the chairman to have used the name of IPAC in his address,” he said.

Okunlade noted that other political parties agreed to participate in the LG polls, alongside PDP because of the assurance they were given that the election would be a record breaker in terms of transparency and credibility.

According to him, the citizens’ general perception was that local government elections are always in favour of the party in government.

He noted that the State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) did not honour its pledge that the election would be transparent and credible.

“We want the public to be aware that none of the political parties wanted to participate in the election in the first instance, going by the experience of local government elections conducted by OYSIEC, under the leadership of Aare Isiaka Olagunju in 2021.

“We were given assurances time and time again that the election was going to be a record breaker in terms of transparency and credibility in the history of local government elections in Nigeria.

“The OYSIEC chairman also promised the political parties that Gov. Seyi Makinde was not going for third term and was going to leave a legacy of free, fair and credible election in the state.

“He even made attempt to use BVAS for the election in order to give credibility to the elections.

“It was on that honourable arrangement and assurances that all political parties agreed to participate in the election,” he said.

Okunlade further stated that the outcome of the election had been known to the whole world, adding that the public had, at different times, expressed their reservations about the exercise.

“In a situation where over 70 per cent of polling units did not receive ballot papers and stingily distributed to some other polling units, can anyone adjudge that as an election?

“Our position is that what took place on April 27, 2024 was not an election but a selection and it is totally condemned.

“It was a deceit carried too far, a fraud and it should not be allowed in the history of local government elections in Oyo State,” Okunlade said. (NAN)

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) says building strong depositors’ confidence in banks and other financial institutions will ensure continuous safety and soundness in the financial system.

Mr Bello Hassan, Managing Director, NDIC, said this while delivering his welcome address during the 2024 Sensitisation Seminar for Justices of the Court of Appeal in Lagos.

The one-day workshop, organised by NDIC in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI) had the theme: “Building Strong Depositor Confidence in Banks and Other Financial Institutions through Adjudication of Disputes”.

Hassan said that the programme was to help the judiciary understand deposit insurance principles toward ensuring a safe and sound financial system in the nation to boost investors’ confidence.

He said that the banks were regulated and supervised to guarantee the safety of depositors’ funds, adding that, apart from surveillance, depositors were further protected with a deposit guarantee scheme.

He listed the mandates of the NDIC and its policy objectives towards enhancing confidence in the financial system to contribute to financial system stability.

Hassan expressed hope that the seminar would further ease the speedy dispensation of justice, adding that, the effectiveness of the Deposit Insurance System (DIS) required a deep understanding of the corporation’s unique roles.

He thanked the President, and all the Justices of the Court of Appeal for attending the event to demonstrate their willingness towards providing safe and sound banking in the nation.

He said the annual workshop was yielding desired results while listing success stories to include progress in the liquidation of banks and a better understanding of the roles of corporations.

He said the seminar was a platform for senior members of the bar to brainstorm on the salient provisions of the Failed Banks Act 1994 as a major tool for recovery of debts owed failed banks.

He added that NDIC’s commitment towards boosting depositors’ confidence was shown through the upward review of the maximum deposit insurance coverage levels, as approved by the Corporation’s Interim Management Committee (IMC), in April 2024.

“The deposit insurance coverage has been raised from N500,000 to N5 million for DMBs and Subscribers of Mobile Money Operators (MMOs).

“Accordingly, the coverage for Payment Service Banks (PSBs) and Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) has been reviewed from N500,000 to N2 million while that of Microfinance Banks (MFBs), has been increased from N200,000 to N2 million,” he said.

He appealed for continuous support of the judiciary while urging the appellate court to consider having Practice Direction for the Court of Appeal on failed banks matters.

“This we believe, will provide for quick and effective dispensation of
appeal matters relating to recovery of debts owed failed banks, as well as, prosecution of parties at fault that might have contributed to the failure of their banks,” he said.

President, Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongbab-Mensem represented by Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, Lagos, Justice Jimi Bada while declaring the seminar opened urged participants to use the lessons to better the Nigerian system.

“The seminar is important to the judiciary and our society at large because in a society like ours, there must be confidence in commercial matters.

“And if we narrow that down to banks, when banks are sick or failing, it is a problem and when there is a problem, everybody runs to the judiciary.

“And the judiciary will have to set things right and draw a straight line so that in future, a problem that caused the sickness will not reoccur again.

“The judiciary in this case is like a medical doctor who will treat whatever is the problem,” she said.

She added that the synergy was to ensure investors’ confidence in the nation’s banking system and commercial matters, adding that, the judiciary had an arm for fast-tracking of commercial matters, important to Nigeria.

“We treat them with dispatch in the judiciary,” Dongbab-Mensem said.

Earlier, while delivering his speech, Justice Salisu Abdullahi, Administrator, National Judicial Institute said “economy is about everything in the nation” hence, the commitment to speedy dispensation of justice in commercial matters.

Abdullahi who was represented by the Secretary, National Judicial Institute, Olumo Abdulazeez said that the judiciary and NDIC were indispensable partners in tackling issues towards building depositors’ confidence.

He expressed hope that the seminar will enlighten participants while assuring timely adjudication of commercial matters with “dispatch” while commending NDIC for sustaining the annual seminar. (NAN)

Sen. Rufai Sani Hanga said on Monday that he has no regrets donating clay pots and textile materials, used in burying corpses, to his constituents.

Hanga, who represents Kano Central in the Senate, said this on Monday in Kano during a news conference.

He was reacting to criticisms by members of the opposition in the state that the lawmaker was honouring the dead instead of empowering his living constituents.

“I have no regrets whatsoever purchasing and donating burial materials to my constituents.

“Furthermore, the gesture is a tradition in my family as I grew up witnessing my father carrying it out.

“Before I became a senator many people knew me with the gesture; when I became Senator, some groups came requesting that I should purchase materials for them to maintain their graveyards.

“And I decided to spread the gesture to all the 15 Local Government Areas of my constituency,” the lawmaker explained.

He said apart from the purchase and donation of pots and other burial materials, he had been delivering other dividends of democracy to his constituents.

“As part of my constituency project we are building roads in about 10 Local Government Areas, and Women Centers in about 6 Local Councils.

“This is after giving women and youths monetary incentives to selected beneficiaries from the 15 Local Government Areas.

“In the education sector we have sponsored no fewer than 2000 students to study at the Kano State Polytechnic.

“`We paid school fees 1500 Bayero University, Kano (BUK) students as part of our support to their education,” Hanga said.

Similarly according to the lawmaker, following a request by some Islamic Scholars, he built an Islammiyya School at Dan Dishe town.

He said he had also distributed 450 bags of assorted grains such as rice and millet as well as spaghetti to each of the 15 Local Government Areas in his constituency. (NAN)