CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision Samuel Oni at the end of the 302nd Bankers’ Committee meeting in Abuja yesterday.
He also said the Managing Director of AMCON, Mr. Chike Obi, was at the meeting to give a progress report of its performance.
The Bankers’ Committee is an association of chief executives of banks and selected financial institutions. Its twice monthly meeting is chaired by the Governor of the CBN.
AMCON said last week it had cleared all bad bank loans and was on track to recapitalise lenders rescued in a $4 billion bailout 18 months ago, by the end of the second quarter.
Oni said the regulator would not allow bad loans to stack up again to more than 5 per cent of total loans across the banking industry.
“Our target is that ... the industry non-performing loan (NPL) ratio should not exceed five per cent, before the advent of AMCON, the NPL ratio was about 50 percent,” he said.
Seven of the 21 locally-listed banks have so far announced positive earnings for 2010, suggesting balance sheets are being repaired faster than expected after heavy write-downs and loan losses due to provisions, following the bailout.
AMCON issued N1.7 trillion ($11 billion) in bonds to buy non-performing loans which were valued at N2.2 trillion at the time of the bailout in 2009.
The corporation is due to complete a bookbuilding process for the bonds yesterday before listing them on the Nigerian Stock Exchange today.
Oni explained that the Managing Director of AMCON was invited to the meeting to intimate the committee on the progress made in the acquisition of the banks’ toxic assets.
He said the committee was satisfied with the progress made so far by AMCON given that the quality of the rescued banks’ balance sheets have been restored as a result of the intervention of the corporation.
The committee noted that the entire loan from the banking industry to the agricultural sector now stands at two per cent.
It however, did not give the detail of the financial commitment so far extended to the agricultural sector.
Oni, who was accompanied by the Managing Director of First City Monument Bank, Mr. Ladi Balogun; MD, Standard Chartered Bank, Mrs. Bola Adeshola; and the MD, Consolidated Discount Limited, Mr. Leke Shittu, said the committee evaluated the reforms in the sector and submitted that tremendous progress had been made by the apex bank to de-risk the system.
But the MD of FCMB, spoke on the other interventions by banks to finance different sectors said, the bankers committee established an action plan two years ago for economic development of some of sectors but “decided to look at agriculture and transportation with particular emphasis on aviation and railway; power and also Small and Medium Scale Enterprises”.
While acknowledging that remarkable progress had been made, Balogun said: “All banks have reaffirmed their commitment to actively support these sectors and they are now in the process of establishing agriculture desks to ensure that they have skilled personnel that can do agric lending”.
He said the committee was “pleased to report that the contribution of agriculture loans to total industry loans in the last one year has more than doubled. It was one per cent of total loan and it has gone up to two per cent”, he said.
Ivory Coast: Ouattara forces 'storm Gbagbo residence'
Forces opposed to Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo have launched a final assault on the presidential residence where he is holed up, reports say.
Mr Gbagbo has been in negotiations with the UN over the terms of his departure, after being surrounded by troops loyal to his rival Alassane Ouattara.
A French government source said weapons fire had erupted at Mr Gbagbo's residence in Abidjan.
Mr Gbagbo insists he won last November's election.
But the Ivorian election commission found that Mr Ouattara was the winner, and the result was certified by the UN.
Revealed: The INEC Ballot Paper Contractors, Vendors
The identities of the six firms and their facilitators contracted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to print ballot papers, result sheets and other sensitive materials for the 2011 general election were Tuesday unravelled by THISDAY.
They were Tip3, a Spanish company represented by Hashim Dikko, and Graphic Inline (Gi) with Sanni Lamido as proxy.
Also on the list were Kalamazoo, represented by Dick Jackson, a Nigerian-Briton married to a lady from Kano; Aero-vote represented by one Yerima; and SanFrano, a German/Polish company represented by Sanni Musa.
The sixth company that benefited from the printing contract was VI Solutions, sponsored by Yahaya Sani.
SanFrano, according to investigation, was the firm that went to China to print the papers but failed to deliver on time for the April 2 elections.
The six contractors received over N13 billion for the printing of the 75 million ballot papers and result sheets for each of the elections. The contracts were awarded to the companies by INEC in late February this year, according to investigation.
Going by the terms of the contract, each of the companies was expected to print 75 million ballot papers and result sheets for the elections in respect of the National Assembly, presidential, governorship and state assembly elections. The number of registered voters is 73 million.
THISDAY gathered that 75 million copies for the main presidential election and another 75 million copies for a run-off, totalling 150 millon were authorised by Jega and awarded to Tip3 Company, the Spanish firm.
It was also leant that the Nigerian partners of Tip3, having assessed the volume of work involved in their contract, made representation to the commission that given the time constraint, they could not guarantee timely delivery of the job, but INEC was said to have urged them on.
THISDAY investigation also showed that the Spanish firm being naïve about the importance of the job, went ahead to print the run-off election papers first and returned the job on the main election to INEC on March 23 with the excuse that it could no longer handle it.
Sources at the commission also revealed that the trio of Jega, his chief of staff, who also doubles as a consultant, Prof. Okechukwu Ibeanu, and an unnamed senior Presidency official took charge of the award of the contracts for the printing of 200 million copies of the ballot papers and result sheets.
According to the source, INEC in December 2010 set up four committees to traverse the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Lithuania, South Africa, Asia and the United Arab Emirate (UAE) to search for suitable printers.
Jega, as chairman of the committee ‘A’, visited the United States and Canada, with Prof. Lai Olurode and U.F. Usman as members of his committee.
It was further gathered that Mr. Nuru Yukubu, chairman of committee ‘B’, visited England and Ireland, with Mrs. G.N. Nwafor, Dr. Oniyangi, Col. M. K Hammanga, D. I. Anumba as members of the committee.
The third committee had Mr. Philip Umeadi, Mrs. T. Iremiren and K.N. Ukeagu as members and visited Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Lithuania, while the fourth committee headed by Dr. Ishmael Igbani visited South Africa, Asia and UAE. Members of the committee included Dr. Chris Iyimoga, Prince Solomon Soyebi and Mrs. Amina Yusuf.
THISDAY gathered that trouble started when the four committees returned from their overseas assessment tour of facilities of printers of security materials and raised another committee headed by the INEC National Commissioner in Charge of Logistics, Col. M. K Hammanga, to harmonise the reports.
The harmonisation committee, in its report, recommended that the ballot papers, result sheets and other sensitive materials be printed in Germany, France and Poland.
The committee also recommended that US should be excluded because of distance, while England was also rejected because of high cost of printing there.
It also rejected South Africa because of the 2007 general election experience which led to the delay, as some of the sensitive election papers were still on ground during the poll.
The Hammanga committee subsequently shortlisted 21 companies and the list was submitted to Jega.
It was discovered that to the utter surprise of the committee members, INEC dumped the shortlisted companies.
“Since then, the issues on the award of the contracts for the printing of the ballot papers, the result sheets and other sensitive election materials was shrouded in secrecy. The files relating to the contracts were always kept in the office of the INEC chairman,” the source said.
Graphic Inline, one of the firms that mistakenly went ahead to produce the ballot papers for the re-run elections, told INEC afterwards that its next delivery for the ballot papers would be April 12.
This development, THISDAY learnt, accounted for the firm’s failure to meet the deadline and forced INEC to re-award it to another firm, V.I. Solutions.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday expressed his continued support and confidence in Jega, saying he was optimistic that he would do a good job and get the desired free and fair elections in the country this time around.
Contrary to speculations that he had lost confidence in Jega, Jonathan said he would have initiated the process for his removal from office if he had the slightest doubt that he was no longer capable of delivering the elections according to the expectations of Nigerians.
He spoke at a photo exhibition by George Esiri, a photo journalist, on his campaign trail titled: “The People’s President” at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, where he assured Nigerians that there was no cause for alarm as they would not be disappointed.
To him, the decision of the electoral body was the best in the circumstances, adding that if they had gone ahead with the exercise, result sheets would have arrived centres very late at night which would have raised other issues and concerns.
He also asked Nigerians to see the postponement as a demonstration that the electoral body wanted to get things done the right way so that it would be obvious to all that the exercise was open and credible.
“You know that of course, if he is no longer performing well, I will communicate to the National Assembly to terminate his appointment. Until I do that, I am fully in his support and I know that he will do well,’’ he said.
The president acknowledged that going for the same election at a later date was a sacrifice all Nigerians have to make to sustain democracy in spite of the cost to those who, like him, travelled to exercise their franchise before it was cancelled.
Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has raised the alarm over the rising tension in the state following alleged brutality unleashed on the people by troops at the instance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during last Saturday’s botched National Assembly elections.
But a group sympathetic to the PDP in the state, Edo Youth Vanguard (EYV), has accused the governor of training and camping 600 youths at Okpujie Primary School, Uromi, to be used as thugs ahead of this Saturday’s rescheduled elections. Addressing journalists Tuesday in Benin City, the governor said as the chief security officer of the state, it was his duty to appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan clearly and promptly about the dangers posed to the Nigerian Army and the nation, should the troops continue to provoke and humiliate citizens of the state on behalf of a political party.
According to Oshiomhole, by the early hours of Saturday, the troops had been unleashed on leaders and members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), ordinary voters and members of the public across the three senatorial districts of the state.
He added that the conduct of the officers and men in various places strongly indicated that their operational order was not to give effect to the president’s resolve to provide adequate security during the elections.
He said rather, the army actively executed the bidding of the PDP, as the various contingents were allegedly deployed to harass ACN leaders and members in order to pave the way for the rigging of the elections.
He alleged that in Owan West and East, Edo North, PDP thugs, including those hired from neighbouring states wore special red and yellow arm bands, which became symbols of immunity even in the face of premeditated violence they unleashed. He said the pre-agreed colours allow PDP thugs easy passage.
The governor also disclosed that several innocent persons and voters were rounded up in eateries, on the streets and in voting centres in Edo Central for no reasons, while in Edo South, many ACN leaders had abandoned their homes based on reports that they were to be arrested and bundled to Abuja.
In contrast, Oshiomhole said in Akoko-Edo, the army left off the hook, even without interrogation, well armed PDP thugs brought in from the Niger Delta who had been apprehended by the youths and handed over to the military patrol teams.
He also alleged that thugs allegedly arranged by two PDP senatorial candidate paraded the streets and shot at ACN leaders, including one Andrew Osigwe, yet no arrest was made by the army or the police.
Meanwhile, speaking to newsmen Tuesday in Uromi after its emergency meeting, National Coordinator of the EYV, Mr. Mathew Idemudia, said ACN’s alleged recruitment of thugs was worrisome as the Federal Government had done everything humanly possible to see that this year’s election was devoid of rancour and acrimony following the review of the Electoral Act and the promise by Jonathan to allow a conducive environment for free and fair election.
Idemudia alleged that the inducement of Esan Youths Coalition (EYC) with N60,000 each to the 600 members amounted to N36 million, adding that the amount was taken from the local governments’ funds for developmental projects.
He said four members of the Esan Youth Coalition (EYC), who rushed to the secretariat of EYV to report the incident, said arrangements had been concluded to recruit additional 500 youths to the existing 600, adding that residents of Uromi who watched the parade were scared at such number of youths few days before the general elections.
In Umuahia, the Abia State government has condemned a report in a national newspaper that election materials meant for the botched National Assembly elections in the state last weekend, were allegedly taken to the Government House by the State Resident Electoral Commission (REC) , Mr. Austin Okojie.
A statement issued in Umuahia Tuesday and signed by Mr. Kingsley Emereuwa, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Theodore Orji, described the report as routine falsehood, wondering if the newspaper had its “usual” invisible “reporters” in the Government House “when the materials were brought in”.
Maintaining that it was glaring that the report emanated from the political enemies of the state governor, the statement noted that “it is laughable that the same man who has never visited the Government House since he assumed duties would suddenly divert materials meant for elections to the same Government House”.
While advising the general public to disregard the report, it stated that “It is common knowledge that the current Resident Electoral Commissioner in Abia, Barrister Austin Okojie, since he assumed duties in the state had even neglected simple courtesies of paying official visit to the sitting governor.
“And when he was confronted by newsmen on that unusual development, he said it was the directive given by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, that RECs are banned from paying courtesy calls on state governors,” Orji said.
NITEL: Omen Fails to Revalidate Bid Offer
The privatisation process of the Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd (NITEL) seems to have failed yet again with the reserve bidder, Omen International’s inability to revalidate its bid for the national carrier.
Government sources informed THISDAY Tuesday that the offer to revalidate the bid given to Omen had expired with the consortium unable to do so.
This inability thus technically signals the end of the bid process and takes NITEL back to the state it was as a government-owned company before the current privatisation process began in September 2009.
Omen was said to have re-examined the bid and all that had transpired since it emerged as reserve bidder in February 2010 and concluded that it would be unable to raise the money it offered for NITEL, just as the New Generation Consortium was unable to.
Omen, THISDAY gathered, decided that it was wiser not to revalidate but cut its losses. By declining to revalidate, Omen will get back its bid bond of almost $1 million it paid to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on April 4, 2010, after it emerged as the reserve bidder with an offer of almost $1 billion.
The Federal Government had on March 14 invited Omen to revalidate its bid after the preferred bidder, New Generations, failed to pay 30 per cent of the bid price of $2.5 billion before the expiration of the deadline after many extensions given to it by the BPE.
Omen was asked to revalidate its offer because Section 3.4.3 of the Request for Proposal (RFP) sent to bidders had set the validity of the bid at six months after the submission date, except the bid proposal is extended.
Since Omen’s bid was submitted February 16, 2010 and it expired on August 15, 2010, Omen had to revalidate its offer if it was still interested and for the bid process to continue.
The source said Omen’s inability to revalidate was a surprise because the consortium had been pushing for the cancellation of the offer to New Generation so that it could acquire NITEL as a reserve bidder, but when the opportunity came, it could not revalidate its bid.
When BPE was contacted to comment on Omen’s failure to revalidate, the spokesman, Chukwuma Nwoko, declined to comment.
The government is now in a dilemma as to what to do with NITEL. Since it cannot afford to leave NITEL to continue to deteriorate, it may now look inwards and consider several options on what to do to make it a profitable entity.
One option may be for the government to adopt a willing-buyer, willing-seller approach by inviting the third-placed winner of the bid, Brymedia, to revalidate its offer. Brymedia early this year wrote a letter to the BPE offering $600 million for the telecoms company.
New Generation Consortium, made up of China Unicom of Hong Kong, Minerva Group of Dubai and Nigeria’s GiCell Wireless Ltd, had in February 2010 emerged as the preferred bidder for the privatisation of NITEL and M-TEL with a price offer of $2.5 billion during the opening of financial bids for the privatisation process.
The reserve bidder, Omen International, came second with an offer of $956,996,091, Brymedia emerged third with $550 million and AFZI/Spectrum Consortium emerged fourth with a bid of 375.5 million. MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd bid $25 million for SAT-3 only.
But the process has been bedevilled with one problem or the other. First was the shocking revelation by China Unicom, a partner to some consortium members, that they were not part of the deal. This denial, coming almost immediately the bid winners emerged, threatened the integrity of the process and consumed the job of the then DG of BPE, Dr. Christopher Anyanwu.
It also led to further investigations of the bid winners by a committee set up by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).
The NCP eventually gave a clean bill report three months later, but the Federal Government further delayed the process by taking its time to act on the committee’s report and suggested that New Generation should be allowed to pay.
This delay was one of the reasons New Generations said its bankers developed “cold feet’’ when the Federal Government finally gave the consortium the go ahead to pay.
Following New Generation’s inability to pay after several extensions given by the BPE, the Federal Government cancelled its bid and invited Omen to revalidate its offer.
The current and fifth attempt by the Federal Government to privatise NITEL has once again come crashing down like a pack of badly arranged cards.
Several attempts in the past to privatise NITEL had not yielded positive results, making some stakeholders to assert that NITEL is jinxed.
Confusion over Gbagbo’s Fate as Final Days Beckon
Despite widespread reports that he had surrendered, Cote d’Ivoire’s leader Laurent Gbagbo Tues night insisted in a television interview that he was the legitimately elected president and would not step down.
While holed up in a bunker inside the presidential residence, Abidjan, he maintained in a defiant interview by phone with France's LCI television that he won the election four months ago, even as troops backing the internationally recognised winner, Alassane Ouattara, encircled the home, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Amid the chaos, Reuters, citing internal Unted Nations documents, reported that Gbagbo had surrendered and was seeking UN protection.
French officials and a diplomat had also said he was negotiating his departure terms. One diplomat even said Gbagbo was negotiating the final terms with Ouattara directly.
Gbagbo's position became precarious on Monday after French and UN forces launched a military offensive in support of Ouattara.
France's foreign minister said Gbagbo would be required to relinquish power in writing after a decade as president, and must formally recognise Ouattara as the legitimate president. But Gbagbo, in the 20-minute interview, showed no intention of leaving, declaring that Ouattara "did not win the elections".
"I won the election and I am not negotiating my departure," Gbagbo said.
A UN official was quoted as saying Gbagbo had not surrendered, but had expressed willingness to do so and wanted UN protection.
It was also reported that internal UN documents showed that the Ivoirien strongman had already decided to stand down.
Gbagbo insisted on the French TV that he won presidential election. In addition, one Gbagbo adviser, interviewed by Al-Jazeera, insisted that Gbagbo had not stepped down. "He's going nowhere. He is not stepping down," said adviser Abdon Georges Bayeto.
Reuters news agency had quoted internal UN documents that its correspondent had seen that Gbagbo had surrendered and asked for UN protection.
President Barack Obama said Tuesday he welcomed the role of the UN and French forces in Cote d’Ivoire.
“To end this violence and prevent more bloodshed, former President Gbagbo must stand down immediately, and direct those who are fighting on his behalf to lay down their arms," Obama said in a statement. "Every day that the fighting persists will bring more suffering, and further delay the future of peace and prosperity that the people of Cote d'Ivoire deserve."
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in Paris that negotiators were close to convincing Gbagbo to leave the country now that his forces have been beaten.
The UN special representative in the country said: "The war is over" and that Gbagbo has surrendered.
"He is in a basement and is ready to surrender," said. P. Choi, who is the special representative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.
He said Gbagbo's top generals had all defected and his fighters had "simply melted away."
Choi said UN officials were now trying to find out Gbagbo's terms of surrender, but that the fighting had ceased, except perhaps for some isolated units who had not got the word.
The Guardian newspaper and Reuters reported that Gbagbo's army had asked for a ceasefire.
It quoted Gen. Phillipe Mangou, the chief of staff of Gbagbo's army, as saying flatly: "We've stopped fighting."
The diplomat also said Gbagbo's closest adviser and longtime friend had abandoned him, leaving the bunker to seek refuge inside the French ambassador's home.
Forces backing the democratically elected leader Quattara have seized the presidential home of the former president who has refused to give up power, a senior diplomat in Abidjan said.
Money Laundering: EFCC Issues Ultimatum to Hoteliers
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC Tuesday issued a two-week ultimatum to all hotel operators whose activities are not regulated by relevant regulatory bodies such as the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC to regularise their operations or face criminal prosecution.
The warning, according to a statement by the EFCC, Spokesman Femi Babafemi follows findings by the anti-graft agency that many of the hotels that have failed to provide information about their operations are being used as havens for criminality especially money laundering and cyber crime.
“Investigations by the Commission reveal that over 3,000 hotels across the country are either not registered or regulated by NTDC, or are without sign board’s, thus making enquiries from relevant regulatory bodies in the course of investigation a near impossibility. “Of late, enquiries sent to NTDC on specific information about some hotels have been returned void, a development that hampers investigation of criminal activities involving some hotels.
“As a result, the Executive Chairman has mandated a team of operatives to comb for such hotels at the expiration of the two weeks ultimatum. “The Commission will also like to warn all hotel operators, tour operators and others which fall under Designated Non– Financial Institutions to close their doors to any form of illegal dealings or face the wrath of the law,” the statement stressed.
UK Court Judgment: Akingbola Denies Report
Government sources informed THISDAY Tuesday that the offer to revalidate the bid given to Omen had expired with the consortium unable to do so.
This inability thus technically signals the end of the bid process and takes NITEL back to the state it was as a government-owned company before the current privatisation process began in September 2009.
Omen was said to have re-examined the bid and all that had transpired since it emerged as reserve bidder in February 2010 and concluded that it would be unable to raise the money it offered for NITEL, just as the New Generation Consortium was unable to.
Omen, THISDAY gathered, decided that it was wiser not to revalidate but cut its losses. By declining to revalidate, Omen will get back its bid bond of almost $1 million it paid to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on April 4, 2010, after it emerged as the reserve bidder with an offer of almost $1 billion.
The Federal Government had on March 14 invited Omen to revalidate its bid after the preferred bidder, New Generations, failed to pay 30 per cent of the bid price of $2.5 billion before the expiration of the deadline after many extensions given to it by the BPE.
Omen was asked to revalidate its offer because Section 3.4.3 of the Request for Proposal (RFP) sent to bidders had set the validity of the bid at six months after the submission date, except the bid proposal is extended.
Since Omen’s bid was submitted February 16, 2010 and it expired on August 15, 2010, Omen had to revalidate its offer if it was still interested and for the bid process to continue.
The source said Omen’s inability to revalidate was a surprise because the consortium had been pushing for the cancellation of the offer to New Generation so that it could acquire NITEL as a reserve bidder, but when the opportunity came, it could not revalidate its bid.
When BPE was contacted to comment on Omen’s failure to revalidate, the spokesman, Chukwuma Nwoko, declined to comment.
The government is now in a dilemma as to what to do with NITEL. Since it cannot afford to leave NITEL to continue to deteriorate, it may now look inwards and consider several options on what to do to make it a profitable entity.
One option may be for the government to adopt a willing-buyer, willing-seller approach by inviting the third-placed winner of the bid, Brymedia, to revalidate its offer. Brymedia early this year wrote a letter to the BPE offering $600 million for the telecoms company.
New Generation Consortium, made up of China Unicom of Hong Kong, Minerva Group of Dubai and Nigeria’s GiCell Wireless Ltd, had in February 2010 emerged as the preferred bidder for the privatisation of NITEL and M-TEL with a price offer of $2.5 billion during the opening of financial bids for the privatisation process.
The reserve bidder, Omen International, came second with an offer of $956,996,091, Brymedia emerged third with $550 million and AFZI/Spectrum Consortium emerged fourth with a bid of 375.5 million. MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd bid $25 million for SAT-3 only.
But the process has been bedevilled with one problem or the other. First was the shocking revelation by China Unicom, a partner to some consortium members, that they were not part of the deal. This denial, coming almost immediately the bid winners emerged, threatened the integrity of the process and consumed the job of the then DG of BPE, Dr. Christopher Anyanwu.
It also led to further investigations of the bid winners by a committee set up by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).
The NCP eventually gave a clean bill report three months later, but the Federal Government further delayed the process by taking its time to act on the committee’s report and suggested that New Generation should be allowed to pay.
This delay was one of the reasons New Generations said its bankers developed “cold feet’’ when the Federal Government finally gave the consortium the go ahead to pay.
Following New Generation’s inability to pay after several extensions given by the BPE, the Federal Government cancelled its bid and invited Omen to revalidate its offer.
The current and fifth attempt by the Federal Government to privatise NITEL has once again come crashing down like a pack of badly arranged cards.
Several attempts in the past to privatise NITEL had not yielded positive results, making some stakeholders to assert that NITEL is jinxed.
Despite widespread reports that he had surrendered, Cote d’Ivoire’s leader Laurent Gbagbo Tues night insisted in a television interview that he was the legitimately elected president and would not step down.
While holed up in a bunker inside the presidential residence, Abidjan, he maintained in a defiant interview by phone with France's LCI television that he won the election four months ago, even as troops back
ing the internationally recognised winner, Alassane Ouattara, encircled the home, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Amid the chaos, Reuters, citing internal Unted Nations documents, reported that Gbagbo had surrendered and was seeking UN protection.
Amid the chaos, Reuters, citing internal Unted Nations documents, reported that Gbagbo had surrendered and was seeking UN protection.
French officials and a diplomat had also said he was negotiating his departure terms. One diplomat even said Gbagbo was negotiating the final terms with Ouattara directly.
Gbagbo's position became precarious on Monday after French and UN forces launched a military offensive in support of Ouattara.
France's foreign minister said Gbagbo would be required to relinquish power in writing after a decade as president, and must formally recognise Ouattara as the legitimate president. But Gbagbo, in the 20-minute interview, showed no intention of leaving, declaring that Ouattara "did not win the elections".
"I won the election and I am not negotiating my departure," Gbagbo said.
A UN official was quoted as saying Gbagbo had not surrendered, but had expressed willingness to do so and wanted UN protection.
It was also reported that internal UN documents showed that the Ivoirien strongman had already decided to stand down.
Gbagbo insisted on the French TV that he won presidential election. In addition, one Gbagbo adviser, interviewed by Al-Jazeera, insisted that Gbagbo had not stepped down. "He's going nowhere. He is not stepping down," said adviser Abdon Georges Bayeto.
Reuters news agency had quoted internal UN documents that its correspondent had seen that Gbagbo had surrendered and asked for UN protection.
President Barack Obama said Tuesday he welcomed the role of the UN and French forces in Cote d’Ivoire.
“To end this violence and prevent more bloodshed, former President Gbagbo must stand down immediately, and direct those who are fighting on his behalf to lay down their arms," Obama said in a statement. "Every day that the fighting persists will bring more suffering, and further delay the future of peace and prosperity that the people of Cote d'Ivoire deserve."
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in Paris that negotiators were close to convincing Gbagbo to leave the country now that his forces have been beaten.
The UN special representative in the country said: "The war is over" and that Gbagbo has surrendered.
"He is in a basement and is ready to surrender," said. P. Choi, who is the special representative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.
He said Gbagbo's top generals had all defected and his fighters had "simply melted away."
Choi said UN officials were now trying to find out Gbagbo's terms of surrender, but that the fighting had ceased, except perhaps for some isolated units who had not got the word.
The Guardian newspaper and Reuters reported that Gbagbo's army had asked for a ceasefire.
It quoted Gen. Phillipe Mangou, the chief of staff of Gbagbo's army, as saying flatly: "We've stopped fighting."
The diplomat also said Gbagbo's closest adviser and longtime friend had abandoned him, leaving the bunker to seek refuge inside the French ambassador's home.
Forces backing the democratically elected leader Quattara have seized the presidential home of the former president who has refused to give up power, a senior diplomat in Abidjan said.
Money Laundering: EFCC Issues Ultimatum to Hoteliers
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC Tuesday issued a two-week ultimatum to all hotel operators whose activities are not regulated by relevant regulatory bodies such as the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC to regularise their operations or face criminal prosecution.
The warning, according to a statement by the EFCC, Spokesman Femi Babafemi follows findings by the anti-graft agency that many of the hotels that have failed to provide information about their operations are being used as havens for criminality especially money laundering and cyber crime.
“Investigations by the Commission reveal that over 3,000 hotels across the country are either not registered or regulated by NTDC, or are without sign board’s, thus making enquiries from relevant regulatory bodies in the course of investigation a near impossibility. “Of late, enquiries sent to NTDC on specific information about some hotels have been returned void, a development that hampers investigation of criminal activities involving some hotels.
“As a result, the Executive Chairman has mandated a team of operatives to comb for such hotels at the expiration of the two weeks ultimatum. “The Commission will also like to warn all hotel operators, tour operators and others which fall under Designated Non– Financial Institutions to close their doors to any form of illegal dealings or face the wrath of the law,” the statement stressed.
UK Court Judgment: Akingbola Denies Report
The warning, according to a statement by the EFCC, Spokesman Femi Babafemi follows findings by the anti-graft agency that many of the hotels that have failed to provide information about their operations are being used as havens for criminality especially money laundering and cyber crime.
“Investigations by the Commission reveal that over 3,000 hotels across the country are either not registered or regulated by NTDC, or are without sign board’s, thus making enquiries from relevant regulatory bodies in the course of investigation a near impossibility. “Of late, enquiries sent to NTDC on specific information about some hotels have been returned void, a development that hampers investigation of criminal activities involving some hotels.
“As a result, the Executive Chairman has mandated a team of operatives to comb for such hotels at the expiration of the two weeks ultimatum. “The Commission will also like to warn all hotel operators, tour operators and others which fall under Designated Non– Financial Institutions to close their doors to any form of illegal dealings or face the wrath of the law,” the statement stressed.
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