Learn how to start investing and the broad fundamentals that lead to long-term investing success in this webcast excerpt.
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Start with the fundamentals
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The long view: Planning for financial happiness
Your financial life is about much more than just your portfolio. It’s also about your “human capital.”
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Should you consider municipal bond funds?
See why these funds may be an attractive long-term option.
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Webcast replay: Maximizing year-end giving in an evolving tax environment
In this replay of a recent webcast, Vanguard experts discuss defining charitable goals and motivations, understanding the new tax laws, and philanthropy and long-term legacy planning.
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Coronavirus: Police Brutalise, Teargas Traders, Buyers During Enforcement Of Market Closure In Osun
In trying to enforce the closure of markets as ordered by Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State, the police brutalised and fired teargas canisters at traders and buyers at Ifon Market on Wednesday morning.
The governor had on Tuesday ordered the closure of all weekly markets in the state to curb the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The government stated that only daily markets would be allowed to operate because they attracted small number of persons at a time.
However, in enforcing the order, the police in Osun embarked on extra-judicial activities by harassing and brutalising buyers and sellers at Ifon Market.
Some buyers caught in the melee, explained to our correspondent that they went to purchase food items but were attacked by policemen.
“Police officers stormed the market in large numbers and teargassed everyone both young and old.
“The market was filled with people from all over the state, we had to rush out of the place to escape beating from the police,” one witness said.
Another resident explained that her husband had to hurriedly go in search for money after the pronouncement by the governor so that they could stock some food items in the house.
She said, “What would people eat during the period of staying at home if they couldn’t get food?
“Why should people be dispersed with teargas while trying to get items to be used for a long time during the course of this epidemic?” a woman queried.
The residents urged the state government to revisit the order and give people the opportunity to stock their houses with food items before closing all markets.
“Yesterday’s act was not needed at this point where people live from hand to mouth.
“I strongly call on the appropriate authorities to look into this and check on those who might have been injured during the ruthless act by police officers,” one of the affected residents of the state said.
While speaking, another resident of Osun said, “Government and prominent people in the state should also help by providing materials and items which will help to alleviate suffering at this hard time.”
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Inside Story: How Obasa Was Forced To Reinstate Suspended Lawmakers
Mudashiru Obasa
Mudashiru Obasa
At the resumption of plenary on Thursday at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, announced the reinstatement of two suspended lawmakers, Moshood Oshun and Raheem Kazeem.
The two lawmakers were suspended alongside Deputy Majority Leader, Olumuyiwa Jimoh; and Chief Whip, Rotimi Abiru, who were demoted on grounds of misconduct, insubordination and action that could destabilise the Assembly on March 9.
However, two days after the meeting of the Governor’s Advisory Council, the suspended lawmakers were reinstated to the House.
SaharaReporters had exclusively reported that at the meeting, a former governor of Lagos State, who also doubles as Chairman of Lagos State Governor’s Advisory Committee, Bola Tinubu, supported the Speaker as he asked him to use his discretion to direct the affairs of the House.
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EXCLUSIVE: Tinubu, GAC Back Lagos Assembly Speaker, Obasa, Over Suspension Of Lawmakers, Corruption
However, Obasa tracked back on the decision of the GAC and reinstated the lawmakers following intervention by some bigwigs of the All Progressives Congress including Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior; and Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos.
Sources privy to the happenings within the party confirmed to SaharaReporters that the Speaker was directed to reinstate the lawmakers after having a separate meeting with them.
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“Some members of the GAC, dissatisfied with the treatment of the oppressed members of the Assembly, including the governor of the state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, made a counter move between Tuesday and Thursday by securing a special appointment with Tinubu for the affected members of the Assembly to present their cases.
“An appointment was fixed for Wednesday morning with Tinubu where the affected Assembly members presented their cases to the former governor.
“Among those who intervened was the immediate-past governor of Osun State and current Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who had a long telephone conversation with Asiwaju (Tinubu) and succeeded in convincing his boss on the need for an immediate reversal of Obasa’s autocratic decision against his colleagues.
“The Speaker was subsequently directed by Tinubu to reverse his decision and return to original status,” sources disclosed to SaharaReporters.
Meanwhile, Obasa, according to insider sources, is likely sitting on a time-bomb as moves are ongoing by some members of the APC to remove him as Speaker of the Lagos Assembly.
Some strong members of the political dynasty, beyond the reach or influence of Obasa, seem to be amalgamating forces against him.
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Obasa, who is not unaware of the ploy, is suspecting Governor Sanwo-Olu of secretly leading the lawmakers to impeach him.
“The Speaker once nursed strong animosity against the governor, accusing him of sponsoring members for his impeachment.
“This also stems the suspicion against the suspended principal officers,” sources in the Assembly said.
A former member of the Assembly and ‘kingmaker’, who is now a member of the Senate, is also making a separate move to report latest action of the Speaker to Asiwaju.
As at the time of filing this report, the senator is still in the process of securing an appointment with Tinubu.
The senator used to be the sponsor and major backer of Obasa but they fell apart when Obasa decided to be his own boss and also reduce the influence of the kingmaker.
The aim was to reduce the returns shared between them which is part of hundreds of millions allocated to the Assembly as monthly running cost.
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How long does coronavirus stay on surfaces and can they infect you?
The coronavirus has been found to stick to surfaces for days – but you’re more likely to catch it when close to infected people, or possibly through droplets spread via plumbing and ventilation systems
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Why Should You be Using Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation has been made possible by technology. The software platforms used by organizations and marketing departments make use of triggered messaging to relay data and information at regular intervals. So, this platform goes a long way in reducing human error and increasing efficiency…
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Justice For Sambo Abdullahi, Victory For Whistleblowers In Nigeria By Chido Onumah and Godwin Onyeacholem
Whistleblowers are the first line of defence against corruption, crime and cover-ups, according to a 2019 paper by the All–Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on whistleblowing in the UK.
For Sambo Abdullahi, head of internal audit at the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc, it has been one long tortuous journey. Over the past two years, he has been at the receiving end of the retaliation whistleblowers around the world, including in Nigeria, face for shining the light on malfeasance around them: denial of wages, job losses, expensive court cases, abuse, psychological trauma, blacklisting across their sector, and sometimes death.
Abdullahi has been denied his salary and other allowances since December 2017, threatened, blacklisted, arrested and sued. All of this for acting professionally and responding patriotically to the call of the Nigerian government asking citizens to join the fight against corruption by blowing the whistle on corrupt practices and other forms of wrongdoing in the country.
In two separate courts, in Ifo, Ogun State, and Okitipupa, Ondo State, where in a most brazen abuse of judicial process, Abdullahi was summoned to answer charges of defamation levelled against him by his boss, Dr. Marilyn Amobi, Managing Director of NBET, he easily walked through the doorway of victory. Both cases were struck out on account of Dr. Amobi’s lack of seriousness in prosecuting.
The crisis of corruption in NBET has been going on for almost three years and the government appears not to have any solution. The appointment of Dr Amobi as the second substantive MD/CEO of NBET signified doom not only for Abdullahi as head of internal audit but also for the entire staff of the company. The MD withheld Abdullahi’s salary and other emoluments just because he exercised the right to decline participation in her fraudulent activities and rejected an unwarranted deployment to a new department unilaterally created by the MD to continue to perpetrate fraud.
Abdullahi, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), graduated in Accounting from a reputable university and has over two decades of experience. He acquired experiences from both the private and public sectors before joining NBET. He was the pioneer Head of Internal Audit of NBET in 2012; a position he held till 2016 when Dr Amobi joined the company.
Within one month of Dr. Amobi’s assumption of office, Abdullahi discovered the illegal over-payment of N2 billion to two generating plants, Omotosho Power Plc and Olorunsogo Power Plc, both of which have no Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) and Gas Transportation Agreement (GTA) as required by industry agreement. The implication of this fraudulent transaction is that electricity consumers on a monthly basis pay N2billion in excess of what they ought to have paid if this fraud is averted. It is on record that the very first month the fraud was detected, Dr Amobi assumed the role of internal auditor by signing off the payment vouchers.
Her defence for this unlawful violation was that the mandatory GSA and GTA had been waived. The questions for her are, who approved the waiver? Why was the waiver not extended to other thermal plants? And why did the waiver idea come only after the head of internal audit had uncovered the fraud?
Other transactions that made Abdullahi to incur the wrath of Dr. Amobi was his refusal to endorse other payment vouchers for illegal procurement of alcohol using taxpayers’ money, proposed monthly payment of N2.5million to one Engr. Achinaya (an ex-staff of both NEPA and PHCN) without procurement process, procurement of legal advisory services of Azinge & Azinge and Aelex law firms in gross violation of the Procurement Act, and payment for return flight ticket from London for Dr Amobi to resume work in NBET in violation of the NBET Board-approved benefit compensation packages just to mention a few.
As a retaliation against Abdullahi for doing his job professionally, which to Dr Amobi connotes standing in her way, she colluded with the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to get rid of Abdullahi and his colleague Waziri Bintube. Both were removed from their duly appointed and NBET Board- approved functions as head of internal audit and Chief Finance Officer respectively. While Abdullahi’s salary was stopped, Bintube was sacked.
In response, the duo wrote a petition to the Ministry of Power in 2017. The ministerial committee report was released in March 2018 and vindicated them, while indicting Dr. Amobi. But despite the minister’s (Babatunde Fashola) directives that Abdullahi’s salary should be restored and Bintube reinstated immediately, and in fact that both workers should enjoy the rights of NBET staff, Dr. Amobi refused to comply with the directives.
Till date, she denies Abdullahi his salaries and Bintube has not been called back. Dr. Amobi heads a government agency supervised by a Ministry, but her insolent defiance of a Ministerial order is unprecedented in the history of public sector administration in Nigeria. And it is strange that this is happening under a government that claims to prioritize due process and accountability in the public sector.
As if the stoppage of salaries and sacking were not enough, Dr Amobi got Abdullahi and Bintube detained in the facility of the State Security Services (SSS) for more than twenty-four hours. Several directives by Babatunde Fashola, then Minister of Power, were rebuffed by Dr Amobi who insisted that as an appointee of President Muhammadu Buhari she would only take directives from the president.
While the issue of salary suspension remained unresolved in spite of interventions from the Ministry of Power, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the office of the Vice President, among others, Abdullahi approached the National Industrial Court in December 2018, twelve months after the unlawful stoppage of his salaries, with Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, Dr Marilyn Amobi (MD/CEO), Hon Minister of Power and the Ministry of Power as defendants.
On March 11, 2020, Abdullahi (the claimant) once again walked the path of victory with the court delivering judgement in his favour. According to Hon Justice O. O. Oyewumi, the act of the suspension of the claimant’s salaries from December 2017 till date was wrongful; the denial of the claimant’s 2017 and 2018 leave was wrongful; the 1st and 2nd defendants, contrary to its terms and conditions of service, withheld the claimant’s salary and other emoluments wrongfully. The judge ordered the payment of Abdullahi’s salaries and other allowances, noting, “All sums awarded in the judgement is to be paid within 30days of the judgement, failure upon which it attracts 21% interest thereon per annum.”
While the case lasted in court, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Auditor General of the Federation and the Bureau of Public Procurement all issued reports indicting Dr Amobi while recommending her immediate prosecution. Sadly, some higher powers are preventing this from happening.
Governance problems are commonly found in federal government agencies due to either lack of a Board or total collapse of the governance structure. The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Alex Akoh, noted in a letter to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, dated January 7, 2020, that “for the past 14 months, no Board meeting of the company (NBET) was held, a situation which has serious consequences on the corporate governance of the company”. Truth is, no Board meeting of NBET has held since August 2018 when Professor Yemi Osinbajo, then Acting President, ratified the reconstitution of the NBET Board of Directors recommended by Kemi Adeosun, the immediate past Minister of Finance.
The governance collapse in NBET has entrusted the fate of about 80 million electricity consumers in Nigeria in the hands of Dr Amobi who sees herself as not only untouchable, but also a sort of “Alfa and Omega.” She formulates and executes policies at will, such as changing the company organogram whenever she sees any staff as standing in her way. The entire senior management has passed a vote of no confidence in Dr Amobi but despite this and other fraudulent activities traceable to her, no action was taken by the government to ameliorate the problem in the power sector and curb the continuous fraud being perpetrated in NBET.
The Minister of Power of Power Engr. Sale Mamman, in December 2019, made a daring move to respond to the situation by suspending Dr. Amobi from office indefinitely. But curiously, he was overruled by President Muhammadu Buhari in less than two weeks and Dr. Amobi was returned to office.
This forced the Minister to fire a letter dated January 8, 2020, to Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, detailing investigations by the ICPC, EFCC and the reports of the Auditor General of the Federation which implicated the NBET boss “for breach of due process in the award of contracts and several financial wrongdoings.” In that letter copied to President Buhari, the Minister reminded the SGF of “the additional baggage which the suspended MD carries in the light of the anti-corruption stance of the Federal Government.”
If this government wants to be seen as genuinely fighting corruption, the NBET case is a golden opportunity to faithfully demonstrate that conviction. Dr. Amobi has been indicted for corruption by government anti-corruption agencies. The place for her, therefore, is the courtroom, not a cushioned seat of a government agency.
Meanwhile, before Dr. Amobi’s prosecution, government should direct her to obey without delay the judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction in the suit filed by a whistleblower, Sambo Abdullahi, the head of internal audit of NBET.
In addition, government should realize that all whistleblowers deserve full and effective protection from all kinds of retaliation, without which its whistleblowing policy will not succeed as an instrument for reducing corruption in the country.
Onumah and Onyeacholem are with the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL)
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