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6 WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015 • THISDAY<br />
PAGE SIX<br />
IN RENEWED OFFENSIVES, BOKO HARAM KILLS 22 PERSONS, INJURES MANY IN ADAMAWA<br />
a bomb at the weekly cattle<br />
market in Garkida town<br />
resulting in the killing of<br />
10 persons on the spot and<br />
injuring several others who<br />
had been taken to the hospital<br />
for treatment.<br />
The eyewitness said that the<br />
bomb blast had caused serious<br />
apprehension as many feared<br />
that more of such attacks might<br />
be underway.<br />
He said he believed that the<br />
Boko Haram insurgents had<br />
regrouped and recruited a large<br />
number of suicide bombers<br />
to carry out future attacks on<br />
the state.<br />
There are however varying<br />
accounts of the attack.<br />
While some said a suicide<br />
bomber pretending to be<br />
a potential customer at the<br />
market detonated the bomb,<br />
another version had it that the<br />
bomb was actually planted at<br />
the gate of the market.<br />
Another eyewitness said that<br />
the incident took place at about<br />
2pm when the market was at<br />
the peak of activities leading<br />
to high casualties.<br />
Adama Mohammed, a<br />
resident of the town who<br />
narrowly escaped the blast,<br />
said that many of the victims<br />
including the dead and the<br />
injured had been evacuated<br />
to hospitals as activities in the<br />
market had come to a standstill.<br />
Confirming the incident, the<br />
factional Speaker of Adamawa<br />
State House of Assembly, Jerry<br />
Kumdisi, who hails from<br />
the area, noted that many<br />
persons had lost their lives<br />
in the attack.<br />
Gombi was one of the seven<br />
local government areas overrun<br />
by the Boko Haram insurgents<br />
in Adamawa State last year.<br />
It was in Gombi town that<br />
a German working with the<br />
state government's vocational<br />
school was abducted before<br />
he was finally rescued early<br />
this year.<br />
Efforts to get the Army<br />
Public Relations Officer of the<br />
23rd Army Brigade, Captain<br />
Nuhu Jafaru, proved abortive<br />
as at the time of filing this<br />
report although some military<br />
sources confirmed the attack.<br />
However, the state police<br />
command confirmed that seven<br />
people were killed from the<br />
bomb blast detonated by a<br />
suicide bomber in Garkida<br />
town.<br />
The state command's Police<br />
Public Relations Officer,<br />
Abubakar Othman, a Deputy<br />
Superintendent of Police<br />
(DSP), disclosed that a suicide<br />
bomber detonated a bomb at<br />
the Garkida cattle market in<br />
Garkida town which resulted<br />
in the death of seven persons<br />
including the suicide bomber.<br />
He said many people<br />
sustained different degrees<br />
of injuries from the blast as<br />
some of them were said to<br />
be in critical condition.<br />
And in what appears as<br />
a renewed wave of attacks,<br />
about 12 persons have been<br />
reportedly killed by the Boko<br />
Haram insurgents in Ajiya<br />
Wagga town of Madagali<br />
Local Government Area of<br />
Adamawa State.<br />
Reports indicate that the<br />
insurgents were determined<br />
to stage a comeback in their<br />
struggles to take control of<br />
the area as they continued<br />
their onslaught on villages<br />
and towns of Madagali Local<br />
Government area of the state.<br />
According to the reports, the<br />
insurgents started by launching<br />
an attack on Sabongari town of<br />
Madagali leading to the death<br />
of one person, while six women<br />
were abducted on Saturday and<br />
immediately advanced to attack<br />
Ajiya Wagga town, same night<br />
which resulted in the killing<br />
of 12 persons, while many<br />
sustained varying degrees<br />
of injury as they scampered<br />
for safety.<br />
A fleeing resident of Ajiya<br />
Wagga, Mr. Warga Sunday, said<br />
the gunmen struck the town<br />
in the middle of the night on<br />
Saturday while most of the<br />
residents had gone to bed and<br />
started shooting sporadically<br />
and in the process killing many.<br />
"I saw many dead bodies<br />
lying as I fled into nearby bush<br />
to escape from the insurgents,<br />
who were advancing in full<br />
force.<br />
"Many people are still in the<br />
bush as they fear another attack<br />
by the gunmen even as some<br />
fled to neighbouring villages,"<br />
Sunday said.<br />
He however called on<br />
government to expedite action<br />
that can crush the insurgents.<br />
He noted that many of the<br />
villagers were just returning<br />
from their place of refuge<br />
having been chased out of<br />
the town last year by the<br />
insurgents.<br />
Another resident, who<br />
identified himself as Musa,<br />
said many villagers have<br />
sustained various degrees of<br />
injury and are being evacuated<br />
to hospitals for proper medical<br />
attention.<br />
He noted that the insurgents<br />
stormed the village around<br />
midnight on Saturday and<br />
started killing innocent people<br />
leading to the death of about<br />
12 people.<br />
Confirming the incident, the<br />
Chairman of the local council,<br />
Maina Ularamu, called on<br />
government to provide more<br />
security in the area in order to<br />
prevent the influx of fleeing<br />
insurgents to the area.<br />
However when contacted,<br />
spokesman of the Adamawa<br />
State Police Command,<br />
Othman Mohammed, a<br />
Deputy Superintendent of<br />
Police (DSP), said the police<br />
were yet to receive an official<br />
report of the incident.<br />
The insurgents had last<br />
weekend, recaptured Marte<br />
town in northern Borno<br />
State, just as a suicide bomber<br />
detonated a bomb at the<br />
Damaturu motor park killing<br />
seven persons.<br />
The President-elect,<br />
Muhammadu Buhari, had<br />
last Monday expressed<br />
dissatisfaction that the army<br />
had not been able to crush<br />
the Boko Haram insurgency,<br />
remarking that the recent gain<br />
of routing them (terrorists) was<br />
with the aid of South African<br />
mercenaries.<br />
He declared that it is<br />
as shameful as it was<br />
unacceptable.<br />
He has nine days to assume<br />
office as the Commander-in-<br />
Chief and take charge.<br />
GOVS, OKONJO-IWEALA DISAGREE ON EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT<br />
This is the first joint<br />
meeting of all the governors<br />
since May 24, 2013, when<br />
the governors’ crisis broke<br />
out, following the election<br />
that produced the Rivers<br />
State Governor, Chibuike<br />
Amaechi, with 19 votes to<br />
beat Jonah Jang of Plateau<br />
State who polled 16 votes.<br />
Reading the resolution of<br />
the meeting at about 1.08 am,<br />
the Chairman of the forum,<br />
Governor Amaechi, said: "In<br />
the light of the fact that<br />
funds in the Excess Crude<br />
Account were last disbursed<br />
in May 2013, there is need<br />
for the Minister of Finance<br />
and Coordinating Minister<br />
for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi<br />
Okonjo-Iweala, to provide<br />
explanation for accruals<br />
to the account from June<br />
2013 to April 2015, which<br />
is estimated at over $20<br />
billion."<br />
The governors in the<br />
communiqué said: "We<br />
are hereby reconciled and<br />
united as a single united<br />
umbrella association of the<br />
36 state governors of Nigeria<br />
regardless of party or region."<br />
In view of this, Amaechi<br />
said in the communiqué that<br />
Governor Abdullazeez Yari<br />
of Zamfara State has been<br />
elected as the Chairman of<br />
the NGF by consensus for<br />
one year period of May 2015<br />
to May 2016.<br />
The governors also<br />
congratulated the Presidentelect,<br />
Muhammadu Buhari,<br />
and commended the outgoing<br />
President Goodluck Jonathan<br />
for conceding defeat.<br />
Amaechi announced that<br />
there would be a retreat<br />
in June for the incoming<br />
governors, adding that it<br />
is aimed at equipping the<br />
new and returning governors<br />
with knowledge of global<br />
best practices for running<br />
their offices.<br />
The communiqué further<br />
said that the NGF would<br />
establish an academy to<br />
be known as the "NGF<br />
Leadership Academy",<br />
which would be responsible<br />
for capacity building for<br />
governors and other officials<br />
holding public office. The<br />
academy will be overseen<br />
by the NGF secretariat.<br />
In her response to the<br />
demand for an explanation<br />
on the $20 billion accruals to<br />
the Excess Crude Account,<br />
Okonjo-Iweala described as<br />
strange demands by the<br />
governors for an explanation<br />
on alleged missing $20 billion<br />
from the Excess Crude<br />
Account (ECA).<br />
In a statement issued last<br />
night by her Special Adviser,<br />
Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, the<br />
minister affirmed that the<br />
governors’ allegation was<br />
totally strange because<br />
the Federation Account<br />
Allocation Committee<br />
(FAAC) meets every month<br />
“and the ECA is discussed<br />
at every session with all<br />
the state commissioners of<br />
finance present”.<br />
“Nothing is hidden.<br />
At these meetings, the<br />
Honourable Minister of<br />
State, who is the Chair of<br />
FAAC announces the balance<br />
in the ECA, which is then<br />
discussed. So governors<br />
who want any information<br />
about the ECA should<br />
ask for details from their<br />
commissioners who should<br />
have the records of what was<br />
discussed and agreed upon,”<br />
Okonjo-Iweala stressed.<br />
According to her, details of<br />
the ECA are also published<br />
every month along with the<br />
allocations to the three tiers<br />
of government.<br />
“The reference to June<br />
2013 in the statement<br />
is probably because the<br />
National Economic Council<br />
last met in May 2013. But<br />
this is immaterial because<br />
the FAAC meetings during<br />
which the ECA and similar<br />
issues are discussed have<br />
generally held regularly<br />
every month.<br />
“It is interesting that<br />
Governor Rotimi Amaechi<br />
of Rivers State, who was<br />
reported to have read the<br />
communique on behalf of<br />
the governors made a similar<br />
unsubstantiated allegation<br />
in November 2013 that $5<br />
billion was missing from<br />
the ECA.<br />
“We subsequently showed<br />
with facts that not only was<br />
the amount not missing,<br />
Rivers State received N257.6<br />
billion from the Federation<br />
Account between January<br />
and October 2013, the second<br />
highest among the states,<br />
of which N56.2 billion from<br />
the Excess Crude Account<br />
was a part.<br />
“In the interest of<br />
transparency and<br />
accountability, and to throw<br />
more light on this issue, the<br />
Federal Ministry of Finance<br />
will publish details of the<br />
Continued on page 7<br />
CBN RETAINS INTEREST RATE AT 13%, HARMONISES CRR AT 31%<br />
factors were largely transient<br />
and outside the purview of<br />
monetary policy.<br />
The need to maintain<br />
uniformity caused the MPC<br />
to also harmonise the CRR of<br />
the public and private sectors.<br />
In the past, while the private<br />
sector CRR was at 20 per cent,<br />
the CRR on public sector funds<br />
was at 75 per cent. The latest<br />
MPC decision means that both<br />
CRR have been unified at 31<br />
TOP GAINERS NGN NGN %<br />
BETAGLASS 3.38 36.38 10.2<br />
SKYEBANK 0.23 2.61 9.6<br />
VONO 0.08 0.98 8.8<br />
MAYBAKER 0.10 1.78 5.9<br />
WEMABANK 0.05 1.05 4.5<br />
TOP LOSERS NGN NGN %<br />
CAVERTON 0.35 3.35 9.4<br />
AGLEVENTIS 0.08 1.54 4.9<br />
PORTPAINTS 0.17 3.47 4.6<br />
RTBRISCORP 0.04 0.88 4.3<br />
TOTAL 6.39 150.51 4.1<br />
HPE Nestle Nig Plc ₦905.02<br />
Volume: 356.234 million shares<br />
Value: N4.149 billion<br />
Deals: 4,700<br />
As at yesterday 19/05/15<br />
See details on Page 48<br />
per cent.<br />
Some economists and<br />
financial market operators<br />
anticipate that the MPC<br />
decision would help inject<br />
some liquidity back into the<br />
banking system, even as they<br />
noted that banks that are more<br />
reliant on public sector deposits<br />
would be the key beneficiaries<br />
of this additional injection of<br />
liquidity.<br />
Addressing journalists at the<br />
end MPC meeting in Abuja,<br />
Mr. Emefiele explained that<br />
the 31 per cent CRR is just a<br />
composite rate.<br />
Emefiele said the action<br />
would enable the central<br />
bank achieve the efficacy of<br />
the CRR rate regime.<br />
He said the MPC members<br />
considered that the current<br />
discriminatory CRR on public<br />
and private sector deposits<br />
had not only constrained<br />
the policy space but could<br />
inspire moral hazard by<br />
private market participants.<br />
Consequently, he said they<br />
noted that while additional<br />
tightening measures may not<br />
be appropriate now to avoid<br />
overheating the economy, the<br />
harmonisation of the CRR<br />
was imperative in order to<br />
curb abuses and improve the<br />
efficacy of monetary policy.<br />
"What we've done is to just<br />
have a composite rate so there's<br />
no need for us to have CRR for<br />
both private and public sector<br />
deposits. The 31 per cent is<br />
just a composite rate which<br />
just brings it together and<br />
there's no need for anybody to<br />
continue to wonder if they are<br />
taking CRR based on public<br />
sector or on private sector,"<br />
he said.<br />
Furthermore, the significant<br />
rising trend in credit to<br />
government was regarded<br />
as potential headwinds to<br />
growth with negative spillovers<br />
to the already elevated<br />
lending rates, credit to the<br />
private sector and aggregate<br />
domestic investment including<br />
inflationary pressures.The<br />
committee expressed deep<br />
concern over the lackluster<br />
performance of the external<br />
sector arising from a number<br />
of significant global shocks."<br />
Continuing, Emefiele<br />
pointed out that the continued<br />
glut in crude oil supplies<br />
amidst softening prices,<br />
anchored by sluggish global<br />
output expansion could further<br />
threaten foreign exchange<br />
earnings and accretion to<br />
external reserves over a much<br />
longer period. He noted that<br />
a near- term rally in oil prices<br />
was further undermined<br />
by the diminishing market<br />
power of the Organisation<br />
of the Petroleum Exporting<br />
Countries (OPEC).<br />
"In the light of these<br />
developments, therefore,<br />
the committee stressed the<br />
need for proactive measures<br />
to protect the reserve buffer<br />
to safeguard the value of<br />
the domestic currency and<br />
engender overall stability of<br />
the banking system. It was,<br />
however, noted that monetary<br />
policy is gradually approaching<br />
the limits of tightening and<br />
would, therefore, require<br />
complementary fiscal and<br />
structural policies," he added.<br />
Responding to questions<br />
from journalists on insinuation<br />
that the central bank had<br />
restricted forex transactions,<br />
he said: "Let me say that there<br />
isn't really any forex restriction.<br />
What we've done based on<br />
what had happened in the<br />
market in the last couple of<br />
months is to eliminate the<br />
activities of round trippers or<br />
people who are front-loading<br />
the foreign exchange demand<br />
and this has culminated in<br />
a couple of policy circulars<br />
that were released by the CBN<br />
to Nigerian banks about the<br />
way they should operate in<br />
the foreign exchange market.<br />
"Some of those measures,<br />
as I keep saying were because<br />
of the current situation which<br />
we found ourselves, and the<br />
vulnerabilities we have been<br />
exposed to as a result of the<br />
drop in crude prices, we would<br />
continue to monitor some of<br />
those policies that were put in<br />
place and as we see that things<br />
are moderating and things are<br />
getting better-naturally what<br />
we would do is to revisit them,<br />
review them so the market<br />
can operate even better than<br />
it is right now."<br />
Speaking in a telephone<br />
interview with THISDAY, an<br />
Executive Director at Diamond<br />
Bank Plc, Mr. Abdulrahman<br />
Yinusa said the harmonisation<br />
of the CRR would help in<br />
simplifying cash reserve<br />
requirement computation by<br />
banks. He however argued<br />
that the monetary policy action<br />
would "discourage private<br />
sector initiative because it<br />
doesn't matter again whether<br />
it is private or public sector<br />
fund."<br />
On her part, the Head of<br />
Research/Chief Economist<br />
Africa, at Standard Chartered<br />
Bank, Razia Khan, argued that<br />
the MPC decision would result<br />
in "an eventual tightening, the<br />
immediate impact on market<br />
liquidity will depend on the<br />
ratio of private sector to public<br />
sector deposits in the Nigerian<br />
banking system."<br />
"Our calculations – based on<br />
data available from February,<br />
suggests a rough 73:27 ratio<br />
of private sector deposits to<br />
public sector deposits. If this<br />
still holds true, (and a lot has<br />
changed since February) we<br />
expect to see the injection of<br />
some liquidity back into the<br />
banking system. Banks that<br />
are more reliant on public<br />
sector deposits will be the key<br />
beneficiaries of this additional<br />
injection of liquidity," Khan<br />
added.<br />
Also, the Chief Executive<br />
Officer, Financial Derivatives<br />
Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rwane,<br />
said the MPC members<br />
acknowledged that they<br />
had reached the peak of its<br />
monetary policy tightening.<br />
He urged the fiscal authorities,<br />
especially the incoming<br />
government to initiate policies<br />
that would engender job<br />
creation and inclusive growth<br />
necessary to complement the<br />
monetary policy stance.<br />
Similarly, the Executive<br />
Director of Sterling Bank Plc,<br />
Abubakar Suleiman, said the<br />
process of managing the cash<br />
reserves ratio previously was<br />
very confusing, adding that a<br />
unified rate makes a lot sense.<br />
He described the move as a<br />
tactical easing.<br />
He noted that the central<br />
bank had done a lot in<br />
protecting forex reserves so<br />
as to encourage foreign direct<br />
investments.