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Theresa May may lose her job today

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Lukman Amusa

British Prime Minister Theresa May was hit by a no-confidence motion from her own party on Wednesday over the unpopular Brexit deal she struck with EU leaders last month.

The move plunged her deeper into her biggest crisis since she took office after Britons voted in June 2016 to leave the European Union.

May vowed to fight the challenge inside her own Conservative Party “with everything I’ve got”.

“Weeks spent tearing ourselves apart will only create more divisions,” May said in a statement delivered outside her Downing Street office.

“I stand ready to finish the job.”

A party confidence vote in her leadership is scheduled for Wednesday evening after dozens of Conservative MPs submitted letters calling for one.

That followed her decision to delay a vote on Brexit that she admitted she was certain to lose.

If May is defeated in Wednesday’s party ballot, a leadership election will be held over the coming weeks.

If a new party chief is elected, he or she automatically becomes Britain’s new prime minister.

The fate of both May’s unpopular draft withdrawal agreement and her government are now in the balance with the clocking ticking down to Britain’s March 29 departure from the European Union after 46 years.

May cancelled a cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday that had been due to focus on preparations in case Britain leaves the world’s largest single market without any official deal on future trade arrangements.

The pound fell on the first rumours of an imminent leadership challenge on Tuesday evening. It regained the losses once the news became official and May went on national TV to announce she would fight for her job.

The confidence vote was triggered after months of plotting by Brexit-supporting Conservative MPs to collect the minimum 48 letters from MPs necessary to trigger a vote.

The last batch of letters came in after the prime minister, facing a heavy defeat, delayed a parliamentary vote scheduled for Tuesday on her draft withdrawal agreement with Brussels, sparking fury among MPs across party lines.

If May survives Wednesday’s motion, no second one can be brought by her party for another year.

A clutch of top members of her cabinet quickly rallied to her support.

“The last thing our country needs right now is a Conservative Party leadership election,” Home Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted.

Javid himself has been mentioned as a possible replacement for May.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who has also disagreed with May over her Brexit strategy, wrote on Twitter: “I am backing @theresa_may tonight.”

But MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, one of Britain’s most prominent opponents of the EU, said it was “time for Mrs May to resign”.

The British leader toured European capitals on Tuesday in an attempt to salvage her Brexit arrangements, after MPs savaged its provisions on the issue of the Irish border.

May said she wanted “assurances” from EU leaders that if Britain ever entered the so-called “backstop” customs arrangement for the border, this would only be “temporary”.

 

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Access Bank Appoints Uche Orji as Independent Non-Executive Director

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Access Bank Appoints Uche Orji as Independent Non-Executive Director

AJAGBE ADEYEMI TESLIM

SPONSORED BY: H&H

Access Holdings Plc (‘the Company’) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Uche Orji as an Independent Non-Executive Director of its flagship subsidiary, Access Bank Plc (‘the Bank’), effective from January 7, 2025, following the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (‘CBN’).

This appointment reflects our commitment to enhancing our governance practices and ensuring a diverse and experienced board.

Mr. Orji is a renowned investment banking professional, information technology entrepreneur, and finance expert with three (3) decades of professional and board experience. He is the Co-founder and Partner of Titangate Capital Management, an equity firm that invests in deep-tech, enterprise software, semi-conductors, hardware, and artificial intelligence companies.

He is the Founder and Director of Vitesse Africa Limited, an investment advisory firm focused on African energy, technology and infrastructure sectors. He serves as an Executive Board member and investor in Ultrasafe AI, an artificial intelligence/IT development firm that maintains strategic collaborations with leading technology companies. He also sits on the Board of Private Infrastructure Development Group, London, and chairs the Risk Committee.

Previously, Mr. Orji served as the founding Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority. He held positions as Managing Director and Senior Analyst at UBS Securities Limited New York and Managing Director and Head of European Technology/Semiconductor Equity Research at JP Morgan Securities, London. He also served as Executive Director/Portfolio Manager at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, London. Earlier in his career, he was Acting Financial Controller at Diamond Bank Limited and an Audit Trainee at Arthur Andersen & Co.

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Port-Harcourt and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN, the Chairman of the Bank said:

“Mr. Orji has been appointed based on his exceptionally rich professional, academic, and corporate board experience which will be invaluable to the Bank as we continue to pursue our strategic objectives.

We are confident that his addition to the Board would further enrich the quality of our decision-making process, enabling us to deliver even greater value to our customers and stakeholders.

His appointment has been made in accordance with the Bank’s internal policies and has been notified to all relevant regulatory authorities underscoring our commitment to upholding the highest standards of corporate governance.

On behalf of the Board, Management and staff, I warmly welcome Mr. Orji to the Board and look forward to his contributions towards our goal of becoming one of the top 5 African Banks in the shortest possible time.”

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Go and List Your Challenges, Lagos Speaker tells NANS Member During Courtesy Visit

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Go and List Your Challenges, Lagos Speaker tells NANS Member During Courtesy Visit

AJAGBE ADEYEMI TESLIM

SPONSORED BY: H&H

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Lagos State University (LASU) branch, on Friday paid a courtesy visit on the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Princess Mojisola Lasbat Meranda.

The student representatives said the visit was to congratulate Meranda over her emergence as Speaker of the State Assembly.

Meranda, an alumnus of LASU, was elected Speaker on January 13 after the removal of Mudashiru Obasa by the lawmakers over issues relating to alleged high-handedness and financial impropriety.

Describing her as a thoroughbred Lagosian, the chairman of NANS, Abdulraheem Azeez, used the opportunity to list some of the challenges faced by students in the university.

According to him, students have had to read in darkness as the Ikeja campus gets less than two hours of power supply daily.

Azeez also raised the need for the State to make available loans for indigent students as well as for the Assembly to provide opportunities for students to witness the plenary of the House.

Meranda, while thanking the students for the visit, urged them to always attend town-hall meetings in their constituencies where they can contribute and make their opinions known.

She further encouraged them to apply for the loans initiated by the government as done by students in other countries.

The Speaker requested the students to formally send their complaints in written forms to the House for action.

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EFCC Tasks Corps Members on Corruption

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AJAGBE ADEYEMI TESLIM

SPONSORED BY: H&H

EFCC Tasks Corps Members on Corruption

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede charge members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, to be change agents and strong resisting force against corruption.

He also enjoined them to be active foot soldiers and whistle-blowers or intelligence-gatherers against corruption.

Speaking on Thursday, January 30, 2025 at the NYSC Orientation Camp, Yikpata, Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, Olukoyede said It is important for youths to realise that, these roles, if performed creditably, will bring up appreciable growth in the economy of our nation. He said that, “creative energies of youths will be maximised when corruption is brought to its knees.”

The EFCC boss whose address was delivered by the Head, Public Affairs Department, Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC, Ayodele Babatunde said that most of the problem confronting the country such as kidnapping, banditry, poor infrastructure, among others were connected to corruption. He added that all hands must be on the deck to tame the cankerworm.

Olukoyede encouraged the youths to embrace the virtues of hard work and shun fraudulent practices such as cybercrime noting that, “it’s profitable to earn dignity and fame through hard work and legit business.”

While calling on the youths to channel their potentials productively and shun crime, the EFCC Chair said that, “Yahoo-Yahoo is not a sustainable way of life.”

“There is no shortcut to wealth and fame. The fact that the rate of unemployment is high should not be an excuse to resort to crime. Act of criminality might deliver wealth in the short term but there will be misery and gnashing of teeth”, he said.

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