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UBA Secures US$175m Facility From African Development Bank Towards Supporting Private Sector, Infrastructure Development, Women-Own Business

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Towards enhancing its support to the private sector and financing of infrastructure development in Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, the United Bank for Africa(UBA) has received a $175 million financial package from Africa Development Bank(AfDB) Group.

This facility comprises a $100 million in long-term senior debt, $50 million of trade finance medium-term senior debt and a $25 million risk participation program.

This was announced at the weekend by the Pan African development institution having been approved by its Board of Directors.

The long-term senior debt will enhance UBA’s capacity to finance projects in Nigeria in the key sectors of infrastructure, agriculture and related value chains, as well as manufacturing, energy, and SMEs.

The facility will be complemented with technical assistance from the Affirmative Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative to boost access to finance and technical assistance to women SMEs.

The trade finance senior debt will provide UBA with much needed countercyclical dollar liquidity to support SMEs and local corporates involved in export-import related activities in the short to medium term.

The unfunded Risk Participation Agreement aims to strengthen UBA UK’s role as regional confirming bank and by extension expand access to international markets for largely excluded African issuing banks.

The African Development Bank and UBA UK, a subsidiary of UBA PLC, will share 50/50 the default risk on a portfolio of eligible trade transactions originated by African issuing banks and indemnified by UBA UK.

Speaking after the Board approval, AfDB’s Group Director General for Nigeria Lamin Barrow said, “We are pleased to support UBA with this package, which aligns with four (4) of the African Development Bank’s High 5 priorities namely Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Integrate Africa, and Industrialise Africa.”

“This intervention will address unmet demand for trade finance in Nigeria and Africa respectively by providing medium term finance to support exports² and the importation of intermediate goods required to sustain vital economic sectors. It will also unlock stable and affordable funding for SMEs who are the engine of Nigeria’s economic growth and employment generation⅞,” Ahmed Attout, African Development Bank Acting Director for Financial Sector Development, further said.

Also commenting, the Group Managing Director/CEO, UBA, Oliver Alawuba said “This facility will further deepens our support, which has been very considerable, to the critical sectors of Nigerian economy and especially to Women-owned businesses and small and medium enterprises, which we consider as the engine of any country’s economic development.”

UBA Plc is a leading pan-African financial services institution with a global footprint. With a history of over 7 decades, UBA provides corporate, commercial, SME, consumer, and retail banking services to more than 35 million customers, served through diverse channels. Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, UBA has operations in 20 African countries. It also has a presence in the UK, the US, France, Cayman Island and the United Arab Emirates.

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BREAKING: Court Finds Natasha Guilty Of Contempt, Fines Her N5 million

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday convicted the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, for contempt over a satirical apology she posted on her Facebook page on April 27.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering judgment in the suit filed by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan challenging her suspension, began with the contempt application submitted by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

Akpabio, in his application, argued that the senator’s social media post breached an earlier court order that restrained all parties from speaking to the press or posting on social media about the matter.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s counsel contended that the post was unrelated to the court’s order on her suspension but was about a separate matter involving sexual harassment claims against the third respondent (Akpabio).

However, Justice Nyako ruled that after reviewing the post and the application before her filed by the third respondent, she was convinced it was connected to the suspension case before the court and therefore declared the plaintiff guilty of contempt.

The judge directed Akpoti-Uduaghan to publish an apology in two national newspapers and on her Facebook page within seven days. She also imposed a fine of N5 million.

 

More to come…

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BREAKING: Court Orders Senate To Recall Suspended Natasha Akpoti

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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday ruled that the Nigerian Senate exceeded its powers by suspending Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, ordering her to be immediately recalled to the Red Chamber.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering the judgment, described the suspension period as “excessive” and lacking a solid legal basis.

The court stated that both Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, which the Senate relied on, do not specify a maximum suspension length. Therefore, their application in this situation was considered overreaching.

The judge noted that since the National Assembly is only mandated to sit for 181 days in a legislative year, suspending a lawmaker for about the same length of time effectively silences an entire constituency, calling it unconstitutional.

“While the Senate has the authority to discipline its members, such sanctions must not go so far as to deny constituents their right to representation,” Nyako ruled.

However, the court agreed with Senate President Godswill Akpabio on a different issue, ruling that his decision to prevent Akpoti-Uduaghan from speaking during a plenary—because she was not in her designated seat—did not violate her rights.

Nyako also dismissed Akpabio’s argument that the judiciary should not interfere in what he described as an “internal affair” of the legislature, saying fundamental rights and representation fall squarely within the court’s jurisdiction.

In a separate twist, the court imposed a monetary penalty on Akpoti-Uduaghan for violating an earlier court directive that barred both parties from making public comments about the ongoing legal proceedings.

The fine amounts to millions of naira.

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COALITION: We’ll Register New Party As Backup To ADC — El-Rufai

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A leader of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and an important figure in the opposition coalition, Nasir El-Rufai, stated that a new political party would be registered as a backup for the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

El-Rufai explained that the new party would serve as an alternative option to guard against potential infiltration by the All Progressives Congress, APC, into the ADC.

The opposition coalition had chosen the ADC as its platform on Wednesday.

However, El-Rufai noted that there is a possibility the APC could spark a crisis within the ADC by turning old members against the new leadership.

He revealed this during an interview with Radio France International (RFI) Hausa Service on Wednesday night.

“Those who refuse to join the APC face threats of investigations by agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), or Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

“The opposition parties’ alliance in the ADC is temporary, and we may register a new party as a second option, which we will move to should the ADC be instigated into crisis by the government,” the former Kaduna governor stated.

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