IFEANYI UBAH’S CAPITAL OIL AND AMCON: RENEGOTIATE AND RESTRUCTURE DEBT

IFEANYI UBAH, MD CAPITAL OIL
Oil business be it distribution, trading or exploration is capital intensive that requires enhanced technical know -how and optimal efficiency in management.  Without tactical and strategic planning and implementation, it becomes quite easy to go into debts. The problem of debts that was accumulated by Ifeanyi Ubah and its Capital Oil is an indicative of a management lapses that can be corrected when the parties involved sit down, sort things out and work together.  With company’s reform, pragmatic orientation and sound management the financial climate will improve. But before that debt re-negotiation and restructure are the ways forward for Capital Oil and Asset Management Corporation (AMCON).

It has been in the news for a while the struggle between CEO of Capital Oil, Ifeanyi Ubah and Nigeria’s Asset Management Corporation (AMCON) as it endeavored to forcefully squeeze out its debt from Capital Oil. The Asset Management Corporation (AMCON) was setup by Nigerian government to buy back bad loans from the previously collapsed banks and to rejuvenate struggling banks with infusion of new capital. AMCON was also empowered with the responsibility of getting those defaulted companies that took out the loans from the insolvent banks to pay back their debts.

The problem here is that as AMCON moves in one direction, Capital Oil was moving in the opposite direction. With its clout the government run entity has flexed its muscle andi Ubah has been temporarily arrested and was later released.  But that has not produced the money that Ubah’s indebted Capital Oil Company owned. Therefore it is appearing that AMCON effort is not yielding any reasonable and tangible results. Therefore AMCON should
be open to a brand new and credible alternative.

AMCON would have embarked on peaceful resolution with Capital Oil instead of restoring to bullying tactics and public humiliation. After all, Capital Oil is not the only company that has outstanding debts with the banks. AMCON  could have  achieve more by leveraging the instrumentality of its financial capacity and capability to negotiate with Capital Oil by sitting down with  Ubah’s Capital Oil and devise ways to settle the debt. The stipulated option would have ally and orient their perspectives and bring into sink of a common purpose and affirmative result.

It was reported in the news that an Abuja Federal High Court has ruled for AMCON to withdraw from the occupation of Capital Oil facility but AMCON declined, preferably waiting on Federal Appeal Court to give its own ruling. According to Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, Mr. Mustafa Chike-obi:

"The judge made a surprising ruling which we have either appealed or we are going to appeal. He basically said we should go and talk to the guy (Ifeanyi Uba) and we have been talking to him for two years. He owes us for two years - N53 billion and interest has accumulated to N12 billion - and he hasn’t paid us a kobo and so I don’t know how much talk the judge wants us to do."

This is an enormous  debt and AMCON should exercise its prerogative to get the taxpayers money back but  Ubah’s vision and prospect for Capital Oil must be respected, for he built the company and was able to guide it successfully before the problems began to manifest in the deleverage of debts. It is impossible to run a big business without accumulation of the debts but the key point is to manage the debt successfully with limited risk by  not given it the room to overrun the business entity. This implies that both parties should set out for productive talks that will be supervised by the court. Occupying the company facility and premise will not bring out the money in question but a comprehensive and fundamental negotiation rooted on court proceeding and backing can be more productive.

The poor climate of debt management in Nigeria’s economy is not peculiar to Capital Oil but has permeated the country’s economic and financial landscape. Even the government of Nigeria was having a problem in managing its debts until Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stepped in and reorganizes the country’s financial sheet. Therefore it is reasonable and logical to create a pathway for country’s business entities to be enlightened on how to manage their debts through the filing and utilization of bankruptcy rules and regulations. The rules of debt management for companies have not be fully elucidated, elaborated and appreciated by ministries of Justice and Finance. The Nigerian government has not been a capable hand in the protection of public shareholders a when such problems of debt, liquidity and bankruptcy arises.

The closing down and locking the gates of Capital Oil will not do the trick for AMCON.  To continue with that is a illogical decision without any positive ramification. When door is closed that means that regular people that worked for Capital Oil will lose their jobs. And with the problem of high unemployment in Nigeria, the last thing government can do is to encourage and contribute to the status quo.

The key here is not to allow companies and business executives not to pay back their loans but to find ways by fabricating pathways that will enable such companies to restructure its assets by going through bankruptcy rules and regulations.  Take America for example, when companies become highly indebted they can file for bankruptcy which is called “Bankruptcy Chapter 13":

“Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, codified under Title 11 of the United States Code, governs a form of bankruptcy in the United States that allows individuals to undergo a financial reorganization supervised by a federal bankruptcy court. The goal of Chapter 13 is to enable income-receiving debtors debtor rehabilitation provided they fulfill a court-approved plan. This is in contrast to the goals of Chapter 7, which offers immediate and complete relief of many oppressive debts. It is a form of debt consolidation.” (Wikipedia)

Even AMCON is having problem with its balance sheet, Bloomberg news reported that: "The Asset Management Corp. of Nigeria, set up by the West African nation to buy bad debts from banks, said it spent 5.6 trillion naira ($35.5 billion) in last year to acquire non-performing loans. Amcon, as the company is known, bought loans worth 4 trillion naira “with the acquisition costs at more than twice the initial estimates” accounting for the remaining expenditure, Chief Executive OfficerMustafa Chike-Obi told reporters today in Lagos, the commercial capital. It made a net loss of 2.43 trillion naira, while total assets amounted to 3.34 trillion naira.”

The point here is to come into an understanding with the parties that AMCON is working to extract the defaulted loans. It is doable by working with them legalistically and creating a strategic pathway for long term collection of the payment on the bad debts via negotiation by using the instruments of bankruptcy and other financial tools as leverage.  Even the assets of the corporation can be swapped by negotiation not by making public scene.  AMCON in this case can be allocated some shares in the corporation with time duration under the supervision of a court.  AMCON should subscribe to a more civilized and enlightened methodology of collecting debt payment rather than resort to street fight with debtors.

Written By Emeka Chiakwelu
TheWill

US to citizens: don’t visit Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, seven others

 by: Yusuf Alli

The United States has banned all its citizens from travelling to 10 states in Nigeria during the Yuletide – no thanks to insecurity.
The states are: Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Plateau, Gombe, Yobe, Kaduna, Bauchi, Borno, and Kano states.
The United States has also restricted its officials from visiting all the 19 Northern states and directed the officials to obtain clearance if the mission is essential.
It, besides, alleged that there is increasing attacks on commercial and private vessels by pirates off the coast of Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea with the Nigerian Navy lacking the capacity to check the menace.
The US said it decided to take the step because the security situation in Nigeria “remains fluid and unpredictable”.
These observations are contained in the latest travel warning by the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the US Department of State.
The latest advisory has replaced the last one which was issued June 21.
The advisory reads in part: “The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Nigeria, particularly during the holiday season, and continues to recommend that U.S. citizens avoid all but essential travel to the following states because of the risk of kidnappings, robberies, and other armed attacks: Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Plateau, Gombe, Yobe, Kaduna, Bauchi, Borno, and Kano states.
“The Department also warns against travel to the Gulf of Guinea because of the threat of piracy.
“Based on safety and security risk assessments, the Embassy has placed further restrictions for travel by U.S. officials to all northern Nigerian states (in addition to those listed above); officials must receive advance clearance by the U.S. Mission for travel as being mission-essential.
“U.S. citizens should be aware that, in light of the continuing violence, extremists may expand their operations beyond northern Nigeria to the country’s middle and southern states. This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning for Nigeria dated June 21, 2012.
“Kidnappings continue to be a security concern that exists throughout the country. In the first six months of 2012, five foreign nationals, including two U.S. citizens, were kidnapped in Kwara, Imo, Enugu, Delta, and Kano states.
“Criminals or militants have abducted foreign nationals, including U.S. citizens from offshore and land-based oil facilities, residential compounds, and public roadways. Nine foreign nationals have died in connection with these abductions, including three who were killed by their captors during military-led raids.
“Local authorities and expatriate businesses operating in Nigeria assert that the number of kidnapping incidents throughout Nigeria is underreported.”
The US also gave its verdict on the increasing crime rate nationwide and alleged slow or no response of law enforcement agencies.
The advisory added: “Crime is a risk throughout the country. U.S. citizen visitors and residents have experienced armed muggings, assaults, burglaries, car-jackings, rapes, kidnappings, and extortion.
“Home invasions also remain a serious threat, with armed robbers accessing even guarded compounds by scaling perimeter walls, following residents or visitors or subduing guards to gain entry to homes or apartments.
“Armed robbers in Lagos have also accessed waterfront compounds by boat. U.S. citizens, as well as Nigerians and other expatriates, have been victims of armed robbery at banks and grocery stores and on airport roads during both daylight and evening hours.
“Law enforcement authorities usually respond slowly or not at all and provide little or no investigative support to victims. U.S. citizens, Nigerians, and other expatriates have experienced harassment and shakedowns at checkpoints and during encounters with Nigerian law enforcement officials. “Traveling outside of major cities after dark is not recommended because of both crime and road safety concerns.”
The US also took note of the current attacks on telecommunications facilities nationwide and how these had impaired security management.
It said: “Beginning in September 2012, extremists attacked cellular telephone towers in Northern Nigeria, damaging over 50 towers and degrading cellular telephone and internet communications nationwide. “Additional attacks could further weaken the ability of citizens to communicate through cellular telephones and the internet.
“Land line telephone communications in Nigeria remain extremely limited. U.S. citizens should attempt to arrange for multiple means of communication during emergencies.
“The situation in the country remains fluid and unpredictable. The U.S. Department of State strongly urges U.S. citizens in Nigeria to consider their own personal security and to keep personal safety in the forefront of their planning.
“U.S. citizens who travel to or reside in Nigeria are strongly advised to enroll in the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). U.S. citizens without internet access may enroll directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.”
The Department of State identified Boko Haram as having accounted for attacks in the Northern part.
The document said: “In 2012, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for many attacks, mainly in northern Nigeria.
“Boko Haram is responsible for killing or wounding thousands of people. Multiple Suicide Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Devices (SVBIED) targeted churches, government installations, educational institutions, and entertainment venues in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, Taraba, and Yobe states.
“On October 1, 2012, more than 50 students were killed in attacks in Adamawa State. Several drinking establishments were attacked in Bauchi, Taraba, and Kaduna in September and October 2012. Churches were targeted in Bauchi, Kaduna, and Kogi in July and August 2012.
“There were also attacks against police stations and markets in Sokoto in July 2012. From July 6 to 8, sectarian violence claimed over 100 lives in the Jos metropolitan area and villages in Plateau State. In July, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded in the parking lot of an Abuja shopping center, and in June, an IED exploded outside a nightclub in Abuja. The June 17, 2012, attacks on three churches in the state of Kaduna led to violence throughout the state.
“At least 10 people were killed and an additional 78 injured in the ensuing riots, as groups barricaded roads, burned mosques, and used machetes to attack and kill.”

“ In response to the violence, the Kaduna state government imposed a 24-hour curfew and deployed additional security forces to restore peace; however, violence between Christians and Muslims continued throughout the week. In April, assailants attacked Theatre Hall at Bayero University, Kano, with IEDs and weapons. Also in April, VBIEDs simultaneously exploded at the offices of “This Day” newspaper in Abuja and Kaduna.
“Boko Haram also claimed credit for the June 2011 bombing of the Nigerian Police Headquarters building and the August 2011 suicide bombing at the United Nations building, both in Abuja.”
The US raised issues on the alleged increasing attacks on commercial and private vessels by pirates off the coast of Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea with Nigerian Navy lacking the capacity to check the menace.
It said: “Attacks by pirates off the coast of Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea have increased in recent years.
“Armed gangs have boarded both commercial and private vessels to rob travelers. The Nigerian Navy has limited capacity to respond to criminal acts at sea.”
 TheNation

13 vehicles burnt in Edo Boxing Day tragedy

by: Osagie Otabor

Residents of Murtala Muhammed Way, near Esigie junction in Benin City, Edo State, yesterday ran for their dear lives when a tanker, laden with petroluem products went up in flames.
The tanker allegedly fell into a dish and spilled its content along the slope which later went into flames.
Some said they heard a loud explosion before the fire erupted.
Thirteen vehicles and four motor-cycles were burnt.
The road where the fuel flowed through was in flames.
Some residents fled their homes. Others packed out their properties.
The number of casualties could not be confirmed as of press time but the charred remains of a man identified as a commercial motorcyclist was lying on the road.
A boy who was seen crying, said the dead victim was his uncle.
A member of the Edo State Fire Service who was putting out the fire, said there were some bodies in the gutter.
He said they were informed at about 7pm.
TheNation

Gunmen kill US-based doctor in Enugu

By KASSIDY UCHENDU, Nsukka
A United States-based financial expert, Dr. Ogbo Edoga, was shot dead by gunmen in his hometown, Aku, Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, Enugu State, yesterday. The deceased was a financial economist, who returned to attend the meeting of Nsukka USA, an organisation of Nsukka professionals in the United States to raise fund for the construction of an ultra-modern medical diagnostic centre in Ede-Oballa.
According to reports, the victim was trailed to the house of a kinsman by a five-man gang on a motorcycle, who accosted him and shot him at a very close range. He died on the way to the hospital. The bandits were reported to have escaped in a car belonging to a senior officer of the State Security Service (SSS), who was with the deceased at the time of the incident. The incident has thrown Aku community into pandemonium, disrupting programmes lined up by the villagers for the yuletide, notably the reception organised for indigenous priest and dedication of a new building by the twin brother of the deceased.
An eyewitness said the gunmen shouted at the deceased, “where is the money?” before opening fire. He reportedly pleaded with them to spare his life but they shot him with an AK47 rifle. Meanwhile, the Police Area Commander, Ros-Amson Halladu, confirmed the incident, describing it as hired killing. He also advised returnees to apply for police protection.
TheSun

2015 Presidential Contest: Why Ndigbo Dumps Jonathan

MIKE UBANI

President  Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, had little problem convincing Ndigbo to support his presidential ambition in  2011, but less than three years to the next general elections, there are clear indications that the same people would prefer their kinsman to take over from Jonathan, but  in this report, MIKE UBANI, asks whether that is within the realm of possibility. 
Some prominent Igbo leaders who met in Enugu on December 18, 2012, under the umbrella of Igbo Political Forum, had one common objective - to produce a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2015. And before the Enugu summit, some pressure groups in the South-East geo-political zone, including Committee - 21 and Nzuko Igbo, had sent strong signals to President Goodluck Jonathan, that his tenancy at Aso Rock, the president’s official residence, would expire on May 29, 2015 – and his seat taken over by an Igbo.
Though it is yet unclear whether President Jonathan is harbouring any ambition to contest the 2015 presidential election, the picture on the ground in the South-East indicates that if the election holds today, he would record an abysmal performance in the zone.
This postulation may have little to do with his performance in office since he was elected president on the platform of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, but more on the people’s feeling of political, and by extension economic marginalization since the country achieved independence on October 1, 1960.
“Though late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was one of the country’s foremost nationalists, and one who championed the country’s independence in 1960, he ended up being a ceremonial president...Late Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi, was military head of state for only six months, and since his brutal death on July 29, 1966, no other Igboman has ruled the country”, lamented Chijioke Dike, one of the delegates to the Igbo Political Forum summit.
Incidentally, the continued failure of Ndigbo to produce the president of the country, formed the fulcrum of discussions at the Enugu meeting attended by several prominent Igbo politicians, businessmen, the academia, and youths from the five states that make up the zone.
“We must take a stand today to say the Igbo must produce the next president of Nigeria come 2015… We are the largest ethnic group in the country, but regrettably we constitute a minority group in the National Assembly…” said Chief Austin A. Ibe, national president, National Congress of Ndigbo Confederation (NCNC).
And after listening to the wake-up call made by Chief Ibe, Barrister Eric Chukwuemeka Ohagwu, from Ideato South Local Government Area of Abia state, moved a motion that the Igbo nation must produce the next president of Nigeria in 2015.
The motion which was unanimously adopted by the delegates was seconded by Chief Ibe.  He also moved a second motion that the newly registered United Progressives Party, UPP, should be used as a vehicle to achieve the quest of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2015.  Again, the motion was overwhelmingly adopted.
Chief Chekwas Okorie, national chairman of UPP, who also attended the function, was visibly excited that the Igbo nation has once again given him an opportunity to lead the crusade for the actualization of the quest of a Nigerian president from the South-East Zone.  When he founded the crisis-ridden All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in 2002, his vision was to use the political party as a vehicle to produce a Nigerian president from Igboland.
It was against this background that he approached late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, leader of the defunct Biafra; a courageous ex-military officer and charismatic politician, to fly APGA’s presidential flag in 2003.  Though the party lost the race which was described by both domestic and international observers as largely flawed, it nevertheless, gave the party whose traditional home is Igboland, hope of wearing the presidential crown in 2007.
But that was not to be following the leadership crisis that literally turned the party into a living corpse. Not a few say that the party has finally been buried following the death of Ojukwu on November 26, 2011, and the lingering altercation between its embattled national Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, and the governor of Anambra state, Mr. Peter Obi, who rode to power in 2003 on the shoulders of APGA.
It would appear that the choice of UPP as vehicle to realize the Igbo ambition to produce the next president in 2015, was borne out of the realization that it would be difficult if not impossible for the  ruling PDP to give a presidential ticket to an Igbo.  Though Dr. Alex Ekwueme, an Igbo, and former Nigerian vice president during the Second Republic (1979 -1983), was a major key player in the efforts leading to the formation of the PDP, the then military cabal preferred Obasanjo to Ekwueme as the PDP flag-bearer during the party’s convention held in Jos, the Plateau state capital in 1998.
And subsequent efforts by leading political lights from Igboland, including late Dr.Chuba Okadigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, and Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the current national chairman of All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP to clinch their respective parties’   presidential tickets became mere fantasies after   Ekwueme’s failed attempt in 1998 to secure PDP presidential ticket during the Jos Convention of the party.   Their failures could be explained from the perspective that Igbos in those political parties did not speak with one voice, and even if they did, their voices were not loud enough.
But it would appear that the ethnic group has learnt its lesson in a hard way, and had thus resolved to unite to pursue the elusive president seat.  “We will use the UPP to achieve our quest for a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction since the PDP will never give an Igbo man a ticket to contest the presidential election”, said Mr. Uchenna Obasi, one of the delegates to the Igbo Political Forum.
UPP like APGA has its stronghold in Igboland.  And since politics is a game of number, the argument has always been that the votes from Igboland alone are clearly not enough to make a UPP candidate the country’s president in any given election.
But Okorie told LEADERSHIP in an interview that both Igbos living within and outside Igboland, as well as voters from other ethnic groups who are sympathetic to the long standing quest of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction would vote for the presidential candidate of UPP.
“If you have mobilized Igbo votes in the 19 Northern states, Igbo votes in the South West, Igbo votes in the South -South and Igbo votes in the South East, you would have demobilized all those forces that worked against us.
“I can also tell you that there are many marginalized sections in this country that do not have a platform to contest election, and they are looking forward to the UPP platform, so it is not all about  an Igbo affair”, he said.
Not a few say that UPP faces an uphill task in mobilizing a sizeable number of Igbo electorate to join the party, and ultimately vote for its presidential candidate.   The people pride themselves as republicans, and if they are sincere, the tendency is for prospective voters to desist any attempt to rail-road them into voting for any particular candidate from the zone.
They recalled that though late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons, NCNC, held sway in the defunct Eastern Region, his kinsman, Dr. Kingsley Ozuomba Mbadiwe, led a rebellion against him (Zik).  For instance, on June 14, 1958, Mbadiwe then federal minister of commerce and industry conspired with thirty-one members of NCNC,   to write a petition against Zik, who was then the regional premier and party president.
They demanded for Zik’s resignation from government and from the party, for allegedly engaging in anti-party activities. They also referred to the findings of the Foster-Sutton tribunal against Zik, as well as blamed him for the failure of the universal free primary education scheme in the region.
And after the National Executive Committee (NEC), of the NCNC expelled Mbadiwe and four others including Mr. U. O. Ndem, parliamentary secretary to Mbadiwe, the insurgents formed a new organization named as NCNC Reformed Committee.  And on August 4, 1958, Mbadiwe announced the formation of a new party named the Democratic Party of Nigeria and the Cameroons.
Though the party didn’t overrun the NCNC in the region, yet the activities of Mbadiwe and his likes, as well as other extraneous factors outside the region, adversely affected Zik’s ambition to become the country’s prime minister at independence on October 1, 1960.  He ended up being a ceremonial president.
As Ndigbo makes a case for the country’s president to come from the zone in 2015, the seed of disunity has once again started to manifest itself.  LEADERSHIP gathered that when the South East Peoples Forum – another pressure group- campaigning for the emergence of a president of Igbo extraction in 2015, meets in Owerri, the Imo state capital in the first quarter of 2013, it may likely adopt   APGA as a platform to pursue its project.
National Chairman of the forum, and former governorship candidate of APGA in the 2003 general elections, Dr. Ezekiel Izuogu, said the programme would include the “representation and participation of Igbo leaders, all major groups and organizations, including elected officials, the executive as well as judicial and legislative office holders”.
Chief Okorie – the founding national chairman of APGA, was forced out of the party, by those he described as intruders, and who never shared the vision of the party.  He later formed the UPP with the sole objective of providing for the Igbo a political platform to pursue its quest for a president of Igbo extraction in 2015.  This idea gained fillip on December 18, 2015, when the Igbo Political Forum at its meeting in Toscana Hotels, Independence Layout, Enugu, endorsed UPP as a platform to achieve the zone’s objective.
The implication is that there would be a clash of interest between UPP and APGA, and perhaps other latent pressure groups in the zone on this particular issue.  But the UPP leader assured that Ndigbo would rally round the party to produce a consensus presidential candidate from the zone.
“We have the confidence that the miracle of 2015 is UPP, and from what has happened today, the political equation of Nigeria has changed for the better.  Any calculation without the UPP being factored into it is not a proper political calculation.  Nothing will be the same again”, he said.
Nevertheless, whatever happens between UPP and APGA, the picture on the ground in the zone shows that support for President Jonathan – if he decides to run for a second term – would be negligible. The people cite infrastructural decay, and lack of new federal establishments in the area as reasons for losing faith in the administration.
Leadership

PDP Chieftain, 4,000 Others Defect To CPC

 DONATUS NADI

The former State Organising Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State, Alhaji Iyal Ali Hassan alongside 4,000 other members of the party have defected to the ruling Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Keffi Local Government Area of the state .
Alhaji Hassan, who is widely respected in his constituency said the CPC government in the state was exposing the deceptive style of governance by the PDP in the state. He said the eyes of the electorates was now open and cannot be deceived by self-seeking politicians who cash-in on public ignorance of their rights and widespread poverty to perpetuate injustice against the common man in the state.
Presenting their membership cards, the CPC leader in the area, Alhaji (Dr) Hassan Lawan, former Minister of Works and Housing, thanked the new members for their courage  and assured them that the party would carry every one of them along regardless of when they joined the party. He noted further that for Nasarawa State to move forward it needs men and women of great courage and sincerity of purpose to break the old order which has held the state captive for quiet some time.
In his separate remark at the event, a CPC chieftain in the area and Special Adviser to the state governor on Food Security, Alhaji Abubakar Gada Mohammed, said the days of conspiring against the interest of the common man through the use of party machinery are over, adding that “we shall make sure that no trace of PDP is left in this locality, we must make bold to catch up with other advancing states of the South West and the South South  who have risen against the misrule of the PDP to chart a fruitful future for themselves and their generations”.
He however cautioned Al-makura to stay focused and not lose sight of his transformative agenda in the state saying it is his style of leadership that would continue to attract more followership for the party.
Leadership

PHOTONEWS: Lagos Day Of Fires- Second Fire Razes Top Floor Of Lagos Building In Somolu Area

A storey building on Fola Agoro street in Somolu area of Lagos caught fire and lost all personal effects of its occupants on the top flats.
Occupants of most affected apartments on the top floor are said to be on holiday.
An eyewitness said the fire, which broke out about 5.30pm was caused by a cooking gas equipment while the son of the landlord said the fire was triggered by an electrical spark in the building.
Two fire service squads from Isolo and Agege area of Lagos came  to fight the fire, but they could not immediately put out the fire until the entire top flats were  gutted. The lower floor used as commercial shops did not get burnt by the fire.
The house is reportedly one of the numerous buildings owned by Alhaji Fola Agoro, the man the area was named after.
No fatalities reported so far, but one neighbor who was helping bring water to put out fire was injured and is currently being treated for smoke inhalation.
 This is the second major fire in the Lagos metropilitan are on boxing day. Earlier 40 people were injured as a fireworks warehouse caught fire triggering several explosions that razed eight houses in the Jankara area of Lagos.
  Saharareporters