the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Babatunde Mobayo, must be
held responsible for the killing of a police woman and two others
during the House of Assembly bye-election in Ekiti East Local
Government area of Ekiti State today.
In a statement by the party’s Zonal Director of Media and Publicity,
Lere Olayinka, the Police Commissioner was accused of shielding
government thugs, even after credible evidence of their criminal acts
were presented to him.
The party said it was sad that blood-letting always followed Fayemi’s
footsteps whenever he is at the helm of affairs in Ekiti.
“During Fayemi’s first tenure, it was in this same Omuo Ekiti that
Michael Ipinlaye and Kehinde Fajuyi were killed by his (Fayemi) thugs
while Foluso Ogundare was killed in Emure Ekiti and Ayo Murphy Jeje
and Juliana Adewumi were killed in Erijiyan Ekiti.
“Also, during the 2019 local government elections in which only APC
contested, one person was killed in Ikere Ekiti,” Olayinka said.
Calling out the Police Commissioner, the PDP spokesperson said; “Sad
that just because of a House of Assembly bye-election, a policewoman
was killed in Omuo Ekiti today, by thugs unleashed on the people by
the APC government of Dr Kayode Fayemi.
“May be the Police Commissioner in Ekiti State, Mobayo Babatunde will
act now that one of his officers was killed in Omuo Ekiti today, by
Fayemi’s thugs.
“When the thugs sent to assassinate me and Dayo Akinleye invaded GNN
Hotel in Ado Ekiti on October 24, 2020, and CCTV footages were made
available to the police, nothing was done.
“Today, the thugs have killed a police woman and two other people.
“Let’s see what Ekiti State Police Commissioner will do this time
around.
“And most importantly, let’s see if CP Mobayo will stop being
complicit in government sponsored attacks in Ekiti State by arresting
those killers led by Dele Omojola (Marshall) who invaded GNN Hotel in
Ado Ekiti and attempted to kill myself and Hon Dayo Akinleye on
October 24, 2020.
“As for us in the South-West PDP, the blood of that police woman and
the two other people killed in Omuo Ekiti today, will be on the head
of CP Mobayo because he refused to act decisively when he should.”
PAYOUT OF N94.19 BILLION
Shareholders of Zenith Bank Plc, on Tuesday at the 30th Annual General
Meeting of the Bank held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos,
unanimously approved the proposed final dividend of N2.70 per share,
bringing the total dividend payment for the 2020 financial year to N3.00
per share with a total value of N94.19 billion. This followed the recent
release of the Bank’s audited financial results for the 2020 financial
year.
According to the audited financial results, profit before tax (PBT) rose
by 5% to N255.9 billion from N243.3 billion reported in the previous
year despite a challenging macro-economic environment exacerbated by the
COVID 19 pandemic.
The increase arose from a mixture of growth in the topline and a
significant reduction in interest expense from N148.5 billion in 2019 to
N121.1 billion in 2020, significantly increasing the net interest income
from NGN267.0 billion in 2019 to NGN299.7 billion in 2020.
The Group recorded a growth in gross earnings of 5% from N662.3 billion
in the previous year to N696.5 billion. The Group recorded 8% growth in
non-interest income from NGN232.1 billion in 2019 to NGN251.7 billion in
2020 and a 1% increase in interest income from NGN415.6 billion in 2019
to NGN420.8 billion in 2020.
The Group’s increased retail activities translated to a corresponding
increase in retail deposits and loans. Thus, retail deposits grew by
NGN612.7 billion from NGN1.11 trillion to NGN1.72 trillion year-on-year
(YoY), while savings balances significantly grew by 88% YoY and closed
at NGN1.16 trillion. This retail drive, coupled with the low-interest
yield environment, helped reduce the cost of funding from 3.0% to 2.1%
and reduced interest expense. However, the low-interest environment
also affected the net interest margin, which declined from 8.2% to 7.9%
in the current year due to the re-pricing of interest-bearing assets.
Operating costs grew by 10% YoY but are still tracking well below
inflation which at the end of the year stood at 15.75%. Although returns
on equity and assets also reduced from 23.8% to 22.4% and from 3.4% to
3.1%, respectively, the Group still delivered improved Earnings per
Share (EPS), which grew 10% from NGN6.65 to NGN7.34 in the current year.
The Group equally increased corporate customer deposits, which alongside
the growth in retail deposits, delivered total deposit growth of 25%, to
close at N5.34 trillion, driving growth in market share. Total assets
also increased significantly by 34%, from N6.35 trillion to N8.48
trillion. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated challenges,
the Group managed to create new viable risk assets as gross loans grew
by 19%, from N2.46 trillion to N2.92 trillion. This was achieved while
maintaining a stable and low overall NPL ratio of 4.29% (2019: 4.3%)
across the entire portfolio and an increase in the cost of risk from
1.1% to 1.5%, reflecting the elevated risk environment in 2020. The
Group recorded impressive liquidity and capital adequacy ratios of 66.2%
and 23.0% and remained above regulatory thresholds of 30% and 15%,
respectively.
In recognition of its track record of excellent performance, Zenith Bank
was voted as Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in The Banker’s Bank of the Year
Awards 2020, Best Bank in Nigeria in the Global Finance World’s Best
Banks Awards 2020 and Best Corporate Governance ‘Financial Services’
Africa 2020 by the Ethical Boardroom. Also, the bank emerged as the Most
Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria, for the fourth consecutive year, in
the Banker Magazine “Top 500 Banking Brands 2021” and Number One Bank in
Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital in the “2020 Top 1000 World Banks” Ranking
published by The Banker Magazine. Similarly, the bank was recognised as
Bank of the Decade (People’s Choice) at the ThisDay Awards 2020, Retail
Bank of the year at the 2020 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial
Institutions (BOFI) Awards, and Best Company in Promotion of Good Health
and Well-Being as well as Best Company in Promotion of Gender Equality
and Women Empowerment at the Sustainability, Enterprise and
Responsibility (SERAS) Awards 2020.