Business
OSUN 2018: APC IN THE HANDS OF ARCHENEMY*
- Highlighting some of the factors that is likely to cause hullabaloo to All Progressives Congress APC in Osun State.
Osun State recent electoral misfortune in the western senatorial district can not be easily forgotten,not with the margins at which the opposition triumphed in the previous election that made the dancing senator to emerged victoriously.
Divergent views and opinions were expressed,what is however cleared and monumental is the fact that APC has lost Nine against one, which was a collosal loss if not disgraceful to say the objective truth.
We can not deemphasis various factors but rather term it as a bye product to the reproduction of what made APC lost two federal constituencies in the last national election namely the Oriade Obokun and ife federal constituency.
One of the greatest factors affecting All Progressives Congress APC includes ;
*Hidden Ambitions*
Hidden ambition and the idea of fielding those gladiators to work for same elective position as campaign coordinators or mobilizer chairman for the same election they lost its ticket without consulting the winner or the candidates involved ,those silent pretenders sometimes become controller of funds ,men and women meant to work for the party victory,these are people who have unsettled score and malice with the same person aspiring election.
Apparently, The case is like asking the same person who seek obaship to be the one to crown the same person who emerged. This among others is said to be the reasons why ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS APC in Osun State normally record downthrow in many areas.
*Power Tussle*
The same scenario is re-emerging in embryonic way, where ,One time Commissioner who once indicated his interest for the house of Representatives seat of Oriade Obokun is now said to be overhauling his structure ahead of others and without even consulting the sitting Governor of Osun State.
He is believed to be one of the richest and well blessed commissioner under the first term of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
Same also is the feelings from ife federal constituency on also a one time Commissioner in Osun State who is equally eyeing the federal house of Representatives seat.
Meanwhile, It is on record that these two grand styling gladiators had served under the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as commissioners. The reasons for them not to be returned as commissioner was connected to top security report at government disposal and their roles as campaign chairmen and their superogatory ambitions.
These two personalities has been eyeing elective posts to satisfy their inner conscience, but the whipped of the Governor as cabinet members made them dropped their ambition and both ironically became the campaign chairmen of their respective domain.
There goes the errors, It was very possible for them not to worked with their full hearts because election funds,materials and men were at their disposals, discretions and candidates were left at their mercies.
*Issue of Aggrieved Members*
This is contained in a press statement Diekola made available to journalists in Osogbo on Monday, saying members of the party are divided and that the party cannot win the governorship election of 2018.
“There is nothing romantic about crisis within a political family, but we can’t afford to condone a lie that has a tendency to drag us backwards in our quest to genuinely reposition the party ahead of 2018.”
“As a concerned party member, I have studied the press statement, I wish, I could maintain silence after reading the poorly calibrated speech. The urge to respond to some of the political notes extracted from the statement, is irresistible.”
“With much reluctance to believe that Barrister Kunle Oyatomi genuinely meant some of the notes averred in the party press statement. Further, it’s very doubtful that Barrister Kunle Oyatomi had all round consultation with party bigwigs before he rushed to the press and tagged the ‘brains’ behind the electoral success of Osun APC in the past, and before things fell apart ‘dissidents.
“The diction and tone of the press release worries me, it doesn’t reflect that important lessons had been learnt from the concluded Osun West Senatorial bye-election.”
“However, I’m politically tempted to sympathise with Barrister Kunle Oyatomi, as APC spokesman; he’s understandably handicapped and under intense political pressure to promote a facade of unity within Osun APC.”
“Recall, the same Barrister Kunle Oyatomi issued a press statement before the concluded Osun West Senatorial bye election where he dismissed and downplayed the existence of the aggrieved bloc within Osun APC. The outcome of the bye election pointedly punctured his lie and dismissed him as a naive party member constrained by the party position.”
“While I cautiously agree with Barrister Kunle Oyatomi that unlike Osun PDP, we have one chairman in the person of prince Gboyega Famodun and our Secretariat headquarters is along Gbongan- Ibadan Road in the heart of Osogbo, unfortunately, Oyatomi forgot albeit deliberately, to tell us the number of times the Famodun led APC state executives had met, when last it held meeting at the state party Secretariat and how many of its members in the state executives are currently aggrieved and uncomfortable with the leadership of prince Adegboyega Famodun?”
“The time has come to say the truth. Whist it might be inconvenient for the political cotton weights, and a handful of politicians without a solid political base, masquerading as friends and loyalists of governor Rauf Aregbesola. I believe we need to speak the truth. And the truth is this: Famodun’s leadership is the biggest albatross on the neck of Osun APC.”
“The failure of Osun APC state leadership became manifest when we lost Osun West bye election to the Peoples Democratic Party. If the leadership of the party in the state had guided the selection process of the party without public display of bias against one of the aspirants, may be, the result could have been much different.
“How would Barrister Oyatomi convince party members and political watchers that party leadership is in charge of a ruling party where a cabinet member gleefully appointed his brother in-law as SSA legal without a murmur from the party leadership.”
“Quite to the contrary, we are divided in Osun APC, but unlike PDP; we have one chairman whose politics and leadership style have divided the party into two major blocs.”
“With the tone and diction of the press statement released by Barrister Kunle Oyatomi, dismissing the ‘home based politicians’ in Osun APC as ‘dissidents’, there is nothing suggesting that the ‘hawks’ in Osun APC are comfortable with the reconciliation process initiated by the National Secretariat of our party.
“Notwithstanding this temporary setbacks, we, the home based politicians in Osun APC have absolute confidence in the national leadership of our party and strongly in support of its political efforts to reposition the party in the state ahead of 2018 governorship election,” the statement reads.
Now,the game has started again, the coast is becoming clearer and opinions of today is that their ambitions remained alive and seriously manifesting day by day.
This could not have just started within a short period. Let the judges therefore learn to excuse themselves from this new game of governorship for history not to repeat itself again and again.
Recapitalisation Without Transformation is a Risk Nigeria Cannot Afford
BY BLAISE UDUNZE
In barely two weeks, Nigeria’s banking sector will once again be at a historic turning point. As the deadline for the latest recapitalisation exercise approaches on March 31, 2026, with no fewer than 31 banks having met the new capital rule, leaving out two that are reportedly awaiting verification. As exercise progresses and draws to an end, policymakers are optimistic that stronger banks will anchor financial stability and support the country’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.
The reform, driven by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under Governor Olayemi Cardoso, requires banks to significantly raise their capital thresholds, which are set at N500 billion for international banks, N200 billion for national banks, and N50 billion for regional lenders. According to the apex bank, 33 banks have already tapped the capital market through rights issues and public offerings; collectively, the total verified and approved capital raised by the banks amounts to N4.05 trillion.
No doubt, at first glance, the strategy definitely appears straightforward with the idea that bigger capital means stronger banks, and stronger banks should finance economic growth. But history offers a cautionary reminder that capital alone does not guarantee resilience, as it would be recalled that Nigeria has travelled this road before.
During the 2004-2005 consolidation led by former CBN Governor Charles Soludo, the number of banks in the country shrank dramatically from 89 to 25. The reform created larger institutions that were celebrated as national champions. The truth is that Nigeria has been here before because, despite all said and done, barely five years later, the banking system plunged into crisis, forcing regulatory intervention, bailouts, and the creation of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to absorb toxic assets.
The lesson from that experience is simple in the sense that recapitalisation without structural reform only postpones deeper problems.
Today, as banks race to meet the new capital thresholds, the real question is not how much capital has been raised but whether the reform will transform the fundamentals of Nigerian banking. The underlying fact is that if the exercise merely inflates balance sheets without addressing deeper vulnerabilities, Nigeria risks repeating a familiar cycle of apparent stability followed by systemic stress, as the resultant effect will be distressed banks less capable of bringing the economy out of the woods.
The real measure of success is far simpler. That is to say, stronger banks must stimulate economic productivity, stabilise the financial system, and expand access to credit for businesses and households. Anything less will amount to a missed opportunity.
One of the most critical issues surrounding the recapitalisation drive is the quality of the capital being raised.
Nigeria’s banking sector has reportedly secured more than N4.5 trillion in new capital commitments across different categories of banks. No doubt, on paper, these numbers may appear impressive. Going by the trends of events in Nigeria’s economy, numbers alone can be deceptive.
Past recapitalisation cycles revealed troubling practices, whereby funds raised through related-party transactions, borrowed money disguised as equity, or complex financial arrangements that recycled risks back into the banking system. If such practices resurface, recapitalisation becomes little more than an accounting exercise.
To avert a repeat of failure, the CBN must therefore ensure that every naira raised represents genuine, loss-absorbing capital. Transparency around capital sources, ownership structures, and funding arrangements must be non-negotiable. Without credible capital, balance sheet strength becomes an illusion that will make every recapitalization exercise futile.
In financial systems, credibility is itself a form of capital. If there is one recurring factor behind banking crises in Nigeria, it is corporate governance failure.
Many past collapses were not triggered by global shocks but by insider lending, weak board oversight, excessive executive power, and poor risk culture. Recapitalisation provides regulators with a rare opportunity to reset governance standards across the industry.
Boards must be independent not only in structure but also in substance. Risk committees must be empowered to challenge executive decisions. Insider lending rules must be enforced without compromise because, over the years, they have proven to be an anathema against the stability of the financial sector. The stakes are high.
When governance fails, fresh capital can quickly become fresh fuel for old excesses. Without governance reform, recapitalisation risks reinforcing the very weaknesses it seeks to eliminate.
Another structural vulnerability lies in Nigeria’s increasing amount of non-performing loans (NPLs), which recently caused the CBN to raise concerns, as Nigeria experiences a rise in bad loans threatening banking stability.
Industry data suggests that the banking sector’s NPL ratio has climbed above the prudential benchmark of 5 percent, reaching roughly 7 percent in recent assessments. Many of these troubled loans are concentrated in sectors such as oil and gas, power, and government-linked infrastructure projects, alongside other factors such as FX instability, high interest rates, and the withdrawal of Covid-era forbearance, which threaten bank stability.
While regulatory forbearance has helped maintain short-term stability, it has also obscured deeper asset-quality concerns. A credible recapitalisation process must confront this reality directly.
Loan classification standards must reflect economic truth rather than regulatory convenience. Banks should not carry impaired assets indefinitely while presenting healthy balance sheets to investors and depositors.
Transparency about asset quality strengthens trust. Concealment destroys it. Few forces have disrupted Nigerian bank balance sheets in recent years as severely as exchange-rate volatility.
Many banks still operate with significant foreign exchange mismatches, borrowing short-term in foreign currencies while lending long-term to clients earning revenues in naira. When the naira depreciates sharply, these mismatches can erode capital faster than any credit loss.
Recapitalisation must therefore be accompanied by stricter supervision of foreign exchange exposure, as this part calls for the regulator to heighten its supervision. Banks should be required to disclose currency risks more transparently and undergo rigorous stress testing at intervals that assume adverse currency scenarios rather than best-case outcomes. In a structurally import-dependent economy, ignoring FX risk is no longer an option.
Nigeria’s banking system has long been characterised by excessive concentration in a few sectors and corporate clients, which calls for adequate monitoring and the need to be addressed quickly for the recapitalization drive to yield maximum results.
Growth in most advanced economies comes from the small and medium-sized enterprises that are well-funded. Anything short of this undermines it, since the concentration of huge loans to large oil and gas companies, government-related entities, and major conglomerates absorbs a disproportionate share of bank lending. This has continued to pose a major threat to the system, as the case is with small and medium-sized enterprises, the backbone of job creation, which remain chronically underfinanced. This imbalance weakens the economy.
Recapitalisation should therefore be tied to policies that encourage credit diversification and risk-sharing mechanisms that allow banks to lend more confidently to productive sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and technology rather than investing their funds into the government’s securities. Bigger banks that remain narrowly exposed do not strengthen the economy. They amplify its fragilities.
Nigeria’s macroeconomic conditions, which are its broad economic settings, are defined by frequent and sometimes sharp changes or instability rather than stability.
Inflation shocks, interest-rate swings, fiscal pressures, and currency adjustments are not rare disruptions; but they have now become a normal part of the economic environment. Despite all these adverse factors, many banks still operate risk models that assume relative stability. Perhaps unbeknownst to the stakeholders, this disconnect is dangerous.
Owing to possible shocks, and when banks increase their capital (recapitalization), it is required that banks adopt more sophisticated risk-management frameworks capable of withstanding severe economic scenarios, with the expectation that stronger banks should also have stronger systems to manage risks and survive economic crises. In Nigeria today, every financial institution’s stress testing must be performed in the face of the economy facing severe shocks like currency depreciation, sovereign debt pressures, and sudden interest-rate spikes.
Risk management should evolve from a compliance obligation into a strategic discipline embedded in every lending decision.
Public confidence in the banking system depends heavily on credible financial reporting.
Investors, analysts, and depositors need to be able to understand banks’ true financial positions without navigating non-transparent disclosures or creative accounting practices, which means the industry must be liberated to an extent that gives room for access to information.
Recapitalisation provides an opportunity to strengthen the enforcement of international financial reporting standards, enhance audit quality, and require clearer disclosure of capital adequacy, asset quality, and related-party transactions. Transparency should not be feared. It is the foundation of trust.
One thing that must be corrected is that while recapitalisation often focuses on financial metrics, the banking sector ultimately runs on human capital.
Another fearful aspect of this exercise for the economy is that consolidation and mergers triggered by the reform could lead to workforce disruptions if not carefully managed. Job losses, casualisation, and declining staff morale can weaken institutional culture and productivity. Strong banks are built by strong people.
If recapitalisation strengthens balance sheets while destabilising the workforce that powers the system, the reform risks undermining its own economic objectives. Human capital stability must therefore form part of the broader reform strategy.
Doubtless, another emerging shift in Nigeria’s financial landscape is the rise of digital financial platforms that are increasingly changing how people access and use money in Nigeria.
Millions of Nigerians are increasingly relying on fintech platforms for payments, microloans, and everyday financial transactions. One of the advantages it offers, is that these services often deliver faster and more user-friendly experiences than traditional banks. While innovation is welcome, it raises important questions about the future structure of financial intermediation.
The point here is that the moment traditional banks retreat from retail banking while fintech platforms dominate customer interactions, systemic liquidity and regulatory oversight could become fragmented.
The CBN must see to it that the recapitalised banks must therefore invest aggressively in digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, and customer experience, while cutting down costs on all less critical areas in the industry.
Nigerians should feel the benefits of recapitalisation not only in stronger balance sheets but also in faster apps, reliable payment systems, and responsive customer service.
As banks grow larger through recapitalisation and consolidation, a new challenge emerges via systemic concentration.
Nigeria’s largest banks already control a significant share of industry assets. Further consolidation could deepen the divide between dominant institutions and smaller players. This creates the risk of “too-big-to-fail” banks whose collapse could threaten the entire financial system.
To address this risk, regulators must strengthen resolution frameworks that allow distressed banks to fail without triggering systemic panic, their collapse does not damage the whole financial system, and do not require taxpayer-funded bailouts to forestall similar mistakes that occurred with the liquidation of Heritage Bank. Market discipline depends on credible failure mechanisms.
It must be understood that Nigeria’s banking recapitalisation is not merely a financial exercise or, better still, increasing banks’ capital. It is a rare opportunity to rebuild trust, strengthen governance, and reposition the financial system as a true engine of economic development.
One fact is that if the reform focuses only on capital numbers, the country risks repeating a familiar pattern of churning out impressive balance sheets followed by another cycle of crisis.
But the actors in this exercise must ensure that the recapitalisation addresses governance failures, asset quality concerns, risk management weaknesses, and transparency gaps; and the moment this is done, the banking sector could emerge stronger and more resilient.
Nigeria does not simply need bigger banks. It needs better banks, institutions capable of financing innovation, supporting entrepreneurs, and building economic opportunity for millions of citizens.
The true capital of any banking system is not just money. It is trust. And whether this recapitalisation ultimately succeeds will depend on whether Nigerians see that trust reflected not only in financial statements but in the everyday experience of saving, borrowing, and investing in the economy. Only then will bigger banks translate into a stronger nation.
Blaise, a journalist and PR professional, writes from Lagos and can be reached via: [email protected]
FirstBank Makes Home Ownership Possible for Nigerians with Single-Digit Interest Rate Loan
For millions of Nigerians, homeownership has long felt like an ambition deferred. Squeezed by rising property prices, persistent double-digit inflation and high commercial lending rates, the dream of owning a home has remained just that – a dream.
But that narrative is quietly changing. Thanks to FirstBank.
The N1 Trillion Intervention Reshaping Access
In partnership with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF), FirstBank has unveiled a mortgage opportunity that could redefine access to housing finance in Nigeria.
Backed by the Federal Government’s N1trillion mortgage fund, the initiative is designed to empower Nigerians with affordable, long-term credit to own their homes.
9.75% Interest Rate in a 30% Lending Environment
MREIF is priced at 9.75% per annum, dramatically lower than prevailing commercial loan rates. Eligible Nigerians can access up to N100 million and repay within 20 years. This translates into significantly more manageable monthly repayments and greater long-term financial stability.
Built for Salary Earners, Entrepreneurs and the Diaspora
The MREIF mortgage facility has been structured to be inclusive. It is available to salary account holders, business owners and diaspora customers. Whether you are a young professional aiming to exit the rent cycle, an entrepreneur building generational stability, or you’re a Nigerian abroad looking to secure assets locally, the product opens a pathway that has historically been out of reach for many.
Taking the First Step
For those who have been waiting for the right time, this is definitely it. The question is no longer whether homeownership is possible. The real question is: will you act before the window narrows?
Visit https://www.firstbanknigeria.com/personal/loans/mreif-home-loan/ and in no time you could be the latest homeowner in town.
Alpha Morgan Bank Deepens Presence in Abuja with New Branch in Utako
Marking another milestone in its expansion drive, Alpha Morgan Bank has opened a new branch in Utako, Abuja, reinforcing its strategy of building closer institutional ties within key business communities and bringing its financial expertise closer to individuals, and enterprises driving the city’s growth.
The new branch, located at Plot 1121 Obafemi Awolowo Way, Utako, Abuja is strategically positioned to serve individuals, entrepreneurs, and corporate clients within Utako and surrounding districts.
The expansion follows the Bank’s recently concluded Economic Review Webinar held in February 2026, as the bank continues to position as a thought-leader in the financial services industry.
Speaking on the opening, Ade Buraimo, Managing Director of Alpha Morgan Bank, said the move underscores the Bank’s commitment to accessibility and service excellence.
“Proximity matters in banking. As communities grow and commercial activity expands, financial institutions also evolve to meet customers where they are. The Utako Branch allows us to deliver our services to people in that community efficiently while maintaining the high standards our customers expect,”
The Utako location will provide a full suite of retail and corporate banking services, including account opening, deposits, transfers, business banking solutions, and financial advisory support.
Customers and members of the public are invited to visit the new Utako Branch to experience the Bank’s approach to satisfying banking.
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