Joseph Boakai Officially Declared Liberia’s New President
Joseph Boakai, the former Vice President of Liberia and Unity Party candidate, has been officially declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election. The announcement was made by Davidetta Lansannah, chairperson of Liberia’s National Election Commission (NEC) on Monday evening. After counting 100 percent of the votes from the country’s 5,890 polling places, Mr. Boakai secured 814,481 votes out of the available 1,625,684, surpassing incumbent President George Weah of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change, who received 793,914 votes. Mr. Boakai’s vote share represented 50.64 percent of the total votes cast, while Mr. Weah received 49.36 percent. The first round of voting on October 10 did not produce a clear winner among the 20 presidential candidates, leading to a runoff between Weah and Boakai, the top two contenders. Unlike the first round, where a winner needed over 50 percent of the votes, a simple majority sufficed in the second round. Weah graciously accepted defeat and congratulated President-elect Boakai, urging his supporters to do the same when about 99 percent of the votes were counted. Foreign leaders, including Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, extended congratulations to Mr. Boakai, commending the statesmanship displayed by both candidates. The United States Government also praised Mr. Weah for peacefully accepting the outcome of the closely contested election, emphasizing the need for national unity and healing post-election divisions. The victory of Joseph Boakai as Liberia’s new president signifies a historic moment, fostering hopes for unity and progress in the nation’s governance and development.
Impeachment Of Rivers’ Majority Leader, 4 Others Won’t Stand – Gov Fubara
Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara has declared the removal of the majority leader of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Edison Ehie, and four other lawmakers as “null and void.” Earlier on Monday, the police fired tear gas to ward off protesters who were clamouring for the impeachment of the governor. The crisis in the state Assembly escalated after the House leader was ousted. A portion of the Assembly Complex was also gutted by fire. Reacting to the development, Fubara said the removal of the five lawmakers would not be recognized. He further said that security operatives allowed arsonists to launch an attack on the assembly complex the previous night, resulting in extensive damage to the property.
Tinubu Appoints New BOI CEO, Olasupo Olusi
President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Dr Olasupo Olusi as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Industry (BOI) for a term of four years in the first instance. The appointment was announced in a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, on Thursday in Abuja. The statement said the appointment of Olusi followed the voluntary resignation of the former BOI Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Olukayode Pitan. “Olusi has served as a World Bank economist and development finance expert over the past 20 years. “Between 2011 and 2015, Olusi served as the economic adviser to then Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance. “He is an alumnus of Hull University, United Kingdom,” said the statement. Olusi also obtained a Masters degree in International Money, Finance, and Investment, as well as a Doctorate in Finance & Economics from Durham University, United Kingdom, in 2005. The President tasked the new BOI Chief Executive to ensure that Nigerians operating all sizes of enterprises across sectors were given fair and equitable access to much needed support. He said this would bolster employment generation and wealth creation among income groups in the country with special regard for lower and middle income enterprise operators.
Kevin McCarthy Removed As House Speaker In Historic Vote
House Speaker Kevin MacCarthy has been ousted from his leadership position in a historic vote on Tuesday after a far-right revolt over his reliance on Democrats to pass funding to avert a government shutdown. The final vote was 216-210, with eight Republicans joining all the Democrats to vote to remove McCarthy. It’s the first time a House speaker has been removed in a no-confidence vote. “The office of speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant,” said Republican Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas, who was presiding over the chamber. Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, a top ally of McCarthy’s and a member of the Financial Services Committee, was then appointed speaker pro tempore. The rules of the 11th Congress state that “in the case of a vacancy in the office of speaker, the next member” named on a list submitted by McCarthy to the clerk of the House in January will become speaker pro tempore until a speaker is elected. House Republicans met Tuesday night as a conference to discuss their next steps. McCarthy told his colleagues he would not run for speaker again. “The reason Kevin McCarthy went down today is because nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy,” Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida told reporters after the vote. “Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises, and when they all came due, he lost votes of people who maybe don’t even ideologically agree with me on everything.” “This represents the ripping off of the Band-Aid and that’s what we need to do to get back on track,” the Florida Republican added. Along with Gaetz, seven Republican members voted to oust McCarthy: Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Matt Rosendale of Montana. A day earlier, Gaetz accused McCarthy of making a “secret side deal” with President Biden on Ukraine aid to get a short-term funding bill passed hours before the government was set to shutdown. The California Republican denied having made any deal in exchange for Democratic votes. Eleven Republicans voted against the earlier motion to table Gaetz’s resolution, an ominous sign of what was to come for McCarthy. The speaker of the House is not only the leader of the chamber but also second in line for the presidency. Ousting a sitting speaker by vote in the middle of a congressional term is unprecedented in American history, and McCarthy’s allies warned that doing so would set a precedent that would hang over every speaker moving forward. That argument did not persuade Democrats to come to McCarthy’s rescue. “We’re in uncharted territory. We’ve never had this situation before,” Matthew Green, a politics professor at Catholic University, told CBS News. Green said the vote shows the Republican Party has “too many members who don’t like McCarthy personally or otherwise are disdainful of party norms.” “There was a norm that you don’t do this. This rule has been on the books more or less continuously since 1910,” Green said. “You’ve got a party that’s very small and you’ve got a faction of members who are disdainful of these norms, and that makes it extremely difficult to govern.” Democratic leadership members had urged their caucus to vote “yes” on the motion to vacate. “Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair,” Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York wrote to his caucus. Up until the vote, McCarthy had expressed confidence to reporters that he would prevail. “I’m an optimist because I think there’s no point in being anything else,” McCarthy said.
WAEC Nigeria Gets New Head As Areghan Retires
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has appointed Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut as the new Head of the Nigeria National Office, succeeding Patrick Areghan, who has completed his tenure. This significant leadership change within WAEC was officially announced in a statement released by the examination body on Monday. Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut, born on October 2, 1967, in Mbar District of Bokkos Local Government Area in Plateau State, boasts a rich history of service in various prominent roles at WAEC before his recent promotion. The statement from WAEC provides an overview of Dangut’s previous positions: he served as an Assistant Registrar/Subject Officer in the Test Development Division of WAEC in Lagos from July 1998 to January 2005. Subsequently, he held the roles of Senior Assistant Registrar/Head of Examinations Security and Deputy to the Branch Controller at the Uyo Branch Office from January 2005 to January 2008, followed by a similar role at the Bauchi Branch Office from January 2008 to December 2011. Dangut also served as Senior Assistant Registrar/Branch Controller at the Yola Branch Office from December 2011 to January 2019, and later as Deputy Registrar/Controller in the Post Examinations Department from January 2019 to October 2020. Finally, he took on the role of Deputy Registrar/Zonal Coordinator at the Ikeja Zonal Office. Dangut’s educational journey began at Government Secondary School, Riyom, where he attended from 1981 to 1983, and continued at Government Science School, Kuru, from 1983 to 1986. It was at the latter institution that he obtained his WASC/SC in 1986, both of which were located in Plateau State. He then pursued higher education at the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, and earned a Bachelor of Agriculture in Animal Production in 1991. Over the past 25 years, Dangut has harnessed the power of information and communications technology to bring innovative improvements to processes related to test development, test administration, and post-test activities within WAEC. Moreover, Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut is recognized as a distinguished scholar with an array of educational publications featured in both international and national journals.
As CBN Gets A New Boss
It is a new dawn at the Central Bank of Nigeria as the Senate, the upper chamber of the National Assembly, screened and approved the nominees of President Bola Tinubu to pilot the affairs of the monetary institution. The President appointed the new Governor, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, and four Deputy Governors to assist him to run the affairs of the Bank. They are Mr. Philip Ikeazor, Mr. Mohammad Sani Datti, Mrs. Nnana Usoro, and Dr. Bala M. Bello. Their appointment came on the heels of the suspension and subsequent resignation of the former Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele. The former Acting Governor, Mr. Folashodun Shonubi, Mr. Edward Adamu, Mrs. Aishah Ahmad and Dr. Kingsley Obiora also resigned their appointments after the announcement of the new managers to pave way for their screening, and eventual assumption of office. The CBN in recent times has been in the eye of the storm following the former governor’s tenure in office. His foray into politics was contentious. If it could be recalled, the former governor was alleged to have procured a nomination form during the last political exercise of 2023 to contest for the presidency of the country. The move attracted the wrath of politicians and critical financial stakeholders who considered the move an aberration by a sitting governor of the Bank. Public outcry subsequently made him jettison the ambition. Ever since the Bank knew no peace. All its subsequent pronouncements and actions were tagged political. Mr. Emefiele’s Naira redesign policy, a good initiative though poorly implemented, repulsed Nigerians who felt humiliated, frustrated, lost businesses, and considered their monies confiscated. They were miffed; the anguish was visible and unbearable. That singular action turned people against the CBN. At the same time, the political class who felt the policy was targeted at them saw it as a vendetta for their opposition to his ill-fated political ambition. They never forgave him, and Nigerians equally called for his head. As the Bank gets a new driver, it is hoped that the Naira, which is currently badly battered, will start to regain its breath. It is also expected of the political class to allow the currency a fresh breath of air. The politicians have strangulated the Naira, and it needs strength. They are classically its problem and can still rescue it. They have lost faith in the Naira, our national identity, preferring to hold the dollar and other currencies as stores of value. It is no gainsaying that the task ahead has been cut out for the new CBN governor, and Nigerians will be leveraging his pedigree as a financial technocrat to prove his mettle and rescue the domestic currency from its current travails. However, the job is not for Mr. Cardoso and his team alone, the fiscal authority must help the Naira to live. The government must come forward with policies to energize the economy. The problem of the Naira is Nigeria’s overdependence on proceeds from oil. The opaquely riddled sector has been a curse rather than a blessing to the nation. Crude oil theft has remained unabated, oil subsidy a scam, and poor, yet unprivileged Nigerians, bore the brunt. Nigeria was also not producing to feed or export, but heavily reliant on importation of what it can produce and eat. The desire to diversify the economy has not been matched with action. The intractable insecurity challenge has consumed the food producing belt of the country due to the repressive activities of bandits, and other ancillary issues that have eroded the potency and viability of the economy. The new CBN Governor no doubt has a daunting task ahead of him. It is not a good time to be appointed for such an onerous job. The economy is challenged, and Nigerians are on the edge, frustrated, and forlorn, thus, the touted synergy and alignment of purpose by the fiscal and monetary authorities is more desirable now than before. Working at cross purposes to outdo each other will further hurt the economy. Urgently desirable also is the solution to banditry. It has wreaked havoc on the economy and must be addressed now. It has taken too long. Foreign investors have taken flight, even local counterparts have either shut down or relocated, forcing the economy to its knee. Equally desirable is adequate, and not epileptic power supply. Most manufacturing firms have been operating under excruciating conditions, and cost of alternative energy to remain in production is adding more pains, not to mention the scarcity of forex to procure materials and machinery. The situation is overwhelming; thus, it is not a time to play politics, but for every hand to be on the deck to rescue Nigeria. No foreign investor will bring his/her hard-earned money to an unsafe economy. It is also imperative, and expedient, for the government to have respect for the independence of the CBN. The overbearing attitude of past administrations on the Bank was visibly nauseating that made stakeholders ask where the independence of the Central Bank is. As the government financial advisor, and banker, mandated to ensure and maintain price and financial stability, it should be left to perform its duties as it is best practiced globally. Political interference would not give us a desirable central bank. Nigerians have lost confidence in the Bank considering happenings in and around the Bank lately, and it will assuage their feelings if this conundrum is rested by these fresh appointments. *Ademola Oyetunji writes from Ibadan
Sterling HoldCo appoints Oduniyi as new GMD/CEO
Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc has announced the appointment of Yemi Odubiyi as the new Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company. The Holding Company also announced the appointment of Yemi Adeola as the new Chairman while Abubakar Suleiman and Shola Adekoya were appointed as Non-Executive Directors. In addition, Ms. Aisha Bashir and Mrs. Eniye Ambakederemo are to take up the role of Independent Non-Executive Directors, and Mr. Olayinka Oni as Executive Director. In an official statement to the Nigeria Exchange Limited (NGX), the company said the appointments were approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Odubiyi started his banking career with the Nigeria unit of Citibank as an Operations & Technology Generalist serving across all its Operations and Technology functions and was thereafter enrolled in its Management Associate programme undertaking stints across all key units of the Bank. He left Citibank to join the turnaround team of the then Trust Bank of Africa in 2003 as Head of Operations & Technology. Upon the consolidation of Trust Bank into Sterling Bank Plc, Yemi served as the pioneer Group Head, Trade Services. In 2008, he was mandated to build the Structured Finance Group and also assumed oversight for corporate strategy serving as Chief Strategy Officer. The new GMD served as the Executive Director, Corporate and Investment Banking at Sterling Bank Limited from February 2015 to June 2023. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Estate Management and a master’s in international law from the University of Lagos. He has undertaken senior public management/executive education programme in Risk Management, Finance, and General Management at leading international educational institutions including the London and Harvard Business Schools.