Barclays chief executive ‘fired’

Antony Jenkins, the chief executive of Barclays, has been fired after falling out with the board over the pace of the bank’s cost cutting.

Board members are believed to have wanted bigger cost cuts and to improve the performance of its investment bank.

Chairman John McFarlane said the bank needed to become more efficient: “What we need is profit improvement. Barclays is not efficient. We are cumbersome.”

In a statement, Barclays said a “new set of skills” was required at the top.

Jenkins has been Barclays’ chief executive since 2012. The bank said a search for his successor was under way.

Barclays’ chairman John McFarlane has been named executive chairman until Mr Jenkins’ successor is appointed.

McFarlane told Kamal Ahmed, the BBC’s business editor, that Jenkins skill set had been suitable when he took the top post but that the firm’s needs had changed.

When the BBC asked him about future job cuts, he did not rule them out.

Nor did he rule out the possibility of branch closures.

“Inevitably, banks are going to have fewer branches than they have now,” McFarlane said.

He also told the BBC that Barclays would not renew the famous Barclays premier league sponsorship when it expires later this year.

McFarlane said Barclays was “leaving value on the table and a new approach is required”.

He cited the bank’s aspiration to boost returns to shareholders. “We therefore need to improve revenue, costs and capital performance.”

The board said it recognised the contribution Jenkins had made over the past three years, and was “extremely grateful to him for bringing the company to a much stronger position”.

But the bank said its non-executive directors had “concluded that new leadership is required to accelerate the pace of execution going forward”.

Jenkins took over at Barclays in the summer of 2012 following the departure of Bob Diamond, who left in the wake of the Libor scandal, reports the BBC.

The bank said Jenkins had inherited a situation which “would have challenged anyone facing the same issues”.

Jenkins said that when he had taken over as group chief executive in 2012 it was a “particularly difficult time for Barclays”.

“It is easy to forget just how bad things were three years ago both for our industry and even more so for us. I am very proud of the significant progress we have made since then,” he said.

Rwanda court hears case to block third presidential term

Rwanda’s main opposition party opened a case in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to prevent constitutional change that would allow President Paul Kagame to run for a third term seven-year in office.

The debate about term limits and challenges to veteran leaders has flared in several places in Africa. The United States and other Western nations have been pressing African leaders to stick to constitutional rules on presidential terms.

Wednesday’s Supreme Court case was quickly adjourned after the lawyer for the Democratic Green Party failed to appear. One party official told Reuters lawyers had been fearful about taking on the case.

Senior members of the ruling party have urged scrapping of the two-term limit and parliament has said it would debate public petitions calling for Kagame to stay beyond 2017. Kagame has said he opposes a change but is “open” to being convinced.

The Democratic Green Party, a tiny party but the only vocal political opposition in a nation where rights groups say critics and free speech are stifled, opened proceedings by explaining that the lawyer who was to represent them had not turned up.

“The court should consider that Green Party is not represented in court and therefore the case be cancelled,” Theoneste Mbonera, a lawyer for the government, told the court.

The court panel of nine judges led by Chief Justice Sam Rugege adjourned and set the next hearing for July 29.

The Rwandan government denies accusations that it suppresses free speech and opposition to Kagame.

In next door Burundi, President Pierre Nkurunziza has ignored a wave of protests against his third-term bid which opponents say violates the constitution. Nkurunziza cites a court ruling saying he can run again.

Party Secretary-General Jean Claude Ntezimana told Reuters in court that the party did not have a lawyer as the one they had initially engaged had not responded to calls in the past two days while others were wary of taking part in such a challenge.

“We have tried many lawyers who have refused because of fear,” he said. “Five of them who even read our case kept changing their minds, arguing that they cannot counter the government’s move.”

The Democratic Green Party has said sticking to a two-term limit would help ensure a peaceful transfer of power and show respect for the rule of law. In the past it has also called for the presidential term to be shortened to four or five years.

Troops arrest ‘mastermind’ of Jos, Zaria bomb attacks, two accomplices – Army

The Nigerian Army has announced the arrest of the mastermind and executors of Sunday’s coordinated suicide bomb attacks on Jos, the Plateau State capital, and another in Zaria, Kaduna State, by troops.
A statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations (DAPR), Colonel Sani Usman, said the mastermind of the separate deadly attacks and his two accomplices, at a checkpoint in Dadin Kowa, a town in Gombe State.
The statement said the successful arrest of the suspected Boko Haram members, who “disguised in a trailer while trying to evade checks”, was consequent upon the establishment of a security cordon by troops of the 3 Division, Jos, those of the Special Task Force (STF), as well as operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), around Bauchi, Gombe and other parts of the North East.
The Army disclosed that the suspects were currently being “processed”, preparatory to their possible prosecution on terrorism and murder-related offences.
Scores of people were reported to have died from the separate attacks, with many others sustaining varying degrees of injuries.
Boko Haram has stepped up suicide bomb and gun attacks in recent times, even as the military continues its counter-insurgency operations in the North East.
The statement reads: “Please recall that on Sunday 5th July 2015, suspected Boko Haram terrorists carried out coordinated bomb and gun attacks on worshippers at Ýan Taya mosque, Dillimi Street, off Bauchi Road, Jos where the holy month of Ramadan tafsir was holding, and Shagalinku Restaurant, along Bauchi Road, Jos, Plateau State which led to death of over 48 persons, injuring several other persons and destruction of property.
“Similarly, the terrorists carried out another bomb attack on hapless workers undergoing verification exercise at Sabon Gari Local Government Secretariat, Zaria Kaduna State which resulted in the death of over 25 people including a two-year-old child and destruction of property.
“Consequently, security cordon was established in the general areas especially along Bauchi, Gombe and the North Eastern part of the country by troops of 3 Division and Special Task Force, as well as the Department of State Services. This culminated in the successful arrest of the mastermind of the heinous terrorist acts and two of his accomplices at a checkpoint in Dadin Kowa, Gombe State. The terrorist kingpin and his colleagues who disguised in a trailer while trying to evade checks were fished out by troops of Nigerian Army.
“The arrested terrorists are currently being processed for further action and would soon face the full wrath of the law.
“The general public are hereby please requested to be more vigilant, security conscious and report any suspicious persons, movements, and facilities to the security agencies.”

Emefiele: Foreign reserves have risen by $2.89b under Buhari

The Governor of the Central Bank of Ni‎geria, Godwin Emefiele, on Wednesday disclosed that the current administration under President Muhammud Buhari has been able to increase Nigeria’s foreign reserve from $29 billion to $31.89 billion one month.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan left $29 billion in Nigeria’s foreign reserve.
Emefiele, who paid a courtesy visit to the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, frowned at the way and manner officials of the past administration granted import waivers to their cronies and friends on various products such as rice and sugar.
He pleaded with the 8th Senate to go the extra mile to ensure that all revenue losses as a result of arbitrary waivers and concessions are fully recovered.
In his words: “Following the drop in crude prices as high as 45 per cent and the fact that we had to depreciate our currency from N155 to N197, we also had to take certain decisions to ensure that we keep our reserve still looking good.
“I commend the President, Muhammadu Buhari, for his dogged approach that all leakages will be blocked.
“With those singular efforts and strong determination, we have seen our foreign reserves moving from $29 billion when His Excellency took office on the 29th of May to $31.89 billion.”
In his comment on the what transpired at the closed door session, Emefile told newsmen: “We briefed the Senate extensively on all the actions we have taken and other things that we are going to do to continue to strengthen the Nigerian economy, make it possible for our people to create jobs for our people.
“And we are saying if we cannot employ people, what action are we going to take to ensure those who have entrepreneurial skills create jobs for themselves and for other people?
“I am delighted to mention to you that the Senate, after almost about three hours deliberation, has graciously endorsed our actions today for everything that we have done.
“But I want to assure Nigerians that whatever action we have taken is done in the interest of our country.
“And I say that our reserve is our commonwealth and we have a right to protect our foreign reserve.
“We are going to continue to avoid situation where speculators and round trippers come into the country and think of how they can take advantage of what is happening as a result in the drop in food prices to plunder our reserves.”

Boko Haram attacks: Don’t despair, Buhari tells Nigerians

President Mohammadu on Wednesday encouraged Nigerians no to despair over the continued Boko Haram attacks against the Nigerian state, assuring that insurgency will soon become history.
Buhari’s assurance followed his condolences to all Nigerians who lost relatives in the latest terrorist atrocities in Jos, Kano, and Zaria recently.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the president “urged all Nigerians not to be unduly disheartened by the seeming resurgence of terrorist attacks and atrocities in the country as his administration remains fully committed to overcoming the challenges of insecurity, terrorism and insurgency as quickly as possible.”
Shehu stated that “already, the intensified onslaught by the military on terrorists’ strongholds has led to significant seizures of weapons and vehicles, a blockage of their sources of arms and ammunition, and a decimation of their fighting men.
“Buhari assures Nigerians of the ability and readiness of the country’s armed forces and security agencies to contain the frantic resort by the terrorists to attacks on soft targets such as crowds and places of worship.
“President is convinced that with recent increases in troops deployment, improvements in the supply of arms and equipment to the military, as well as the ongoing effort to mobilize greater international cooperation and support, the end of Boko Haram and terrorism in Nigeria is in sight.”

Wimbledon: Murray sets up Federer s’final

Britain’s Andy Murray reached his sixth Wimbledon semi-final in seven years with victory over Canadian Vasek Pospisil under the Centre Court roof.
The Scot, seeded third, won 6-4 7-5 6-4 in two hours and 13 minutes, and will play second seed Roger Federer in the last four on Friday.
Murray, 28, had to cope with two rain delays, the second of which saw the roof brought across in the second set.
“It was difficult, we were stopped a couple of times,” said Murray.
“I felt I played some good stuff. He served extremely well for periods. I tried to change my return position at the end of the second set to see the returns better.”
Looking ahead to a 24th meeting with seven-time champion Federer, Murray added: “I know Roger very well, we walked to the practice courts together this morning.
“Friday is a different story and hopefully we can have a great match.”
Murray produced a clinical performance to see off Pospisil, the world number 56, in straight sets, reports the BBC.

LNG bailout fund, Jonathan’s savings, PDP insists

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) insists that contrary to claims by. the Presidency, the  $2.1 billion Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) component. of the bailout for states was actually saved by the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP administration.
The party said in actual fact the LNG dividend stood at $5.6 billion even before the handover date of May 29th and would have been shared but for the insistence of Jonathan that it be left
for the incoming administration to manage.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in statement on Wednesday
thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for making it possible for Nigerians to know that monies were left behind by the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
The party said despite attempts by the APC-led administration to hide the truth, the issuance of the bailout with funds from the LNG proceeds and the Excess Crude Account (ECA) has exposed the fact that the PDP administration actually left behind huge sums of money, contrary to the impression earlier given to Nigerians and the international community that the new administration met a virtually empty treasury.
“It is gratifying to note that gradually the evidence of monies left behind by the PDP-led administration is coming to public light despite effort by the new government to hide the facts.
The public had been made aware that $2 billion was left in the ECA for which the Accountant–General and the APC confirmed approvals for the withdrawal of $1.7 billion.
“We know that surely, though slowly, a lot of other monies saved by the PDP and which are now under the control of the APC government will eventually be unveiled by this administration themselves and without any effort on our part whatsoever.
The PDP says it believes that President Buhari must have realized that he was earlier misdirected on the actual state of the nation’s finances and should as a respected statesman apologise to his predecessor, President Goodluck Jonathan who also ensured that he handed over to him a peaceful and stable environment to operate.
The party said: “President Buhari as a leader on whose shoulders lies the
mandate of the Nigerian people and the burden of governance for the next four years should strive to disentangle himself from the intrigues, propaganda, blackmail and machinations of some leaders in his party and focus on delivering on his campaign promises for which he was elected.”
The PDP also urged the APC as a party in power to rise above board and endeavour to be honest in its dealings, especially if it wants Nigerians to take it seriously. It said a situation where a ruling party will
resort to a dishonorable act of altering a statement where it earlier acknowledged the approval for the withdrawal from the ECA, just to hide the truth, leaves much to be desired.
“Finally, we want the public to note that all our statements and engagements have been based on facts and issues. Consequently, we urge the Presidency to focus on issues and stop trending on personal insults, threats and abuses,” said the PDP statement.

Eagles job: NFF to unveil Oliseh next week

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed it is in talks with former Super Eagles’ captain Sunday Oliseh with regards to the vacant position of the team’s Head Coach.
At the weekend, the NFF terminated the appointment of another former captain, Stephen Keshi, over breaches of core terms of his contract.
Following the encouragement of a team of the NFF Technical and Development Committee that is working on filling the vacant position, Sunday Oliseh met with NFF President Amaju Pinnick in London on Tuesday.
“An offer has been made, and there is understanding, but we have to work out the final details of the agreement in a few days. Of course, the Executive Board has to give approval for his appointment based on the final terms to be agreed,” said Felix Anyansi-Agwu, chairman of the NFF Technical and Development Committee.
Thenff.com understands that Oliseh will come with a Foreign Technical Assistant, whose job description will centre around development programmes, and who will work with clubs’ youth teams and certified academies towards developing the game from the grassroots.
Current stand-in Coach Salisu Yusuf will also be in the new team, but with greater devotion to the home-based team, otherwise known as Super Eagles B, and will be the interface between the technical crew and the home boys.
Oliseh is expected to come up with a five –year developmental plan to fashion a unique playing and coaching philosophy for all the national teams, and will for this purpose, interface regularly with coaches of those teams.
“We are also looking at how he will periodically organize clinics and seminars for coaches of Clubs in the Nigeria Professional Football League, probably once in a month, so as to strengthen the playing philosophy across board. A robust youth development programme, elite player development strategy and performance programmes to drive higher standards, among other core sustainable development programmes, are also part of the proposal,” Anyansi-Agwu added.
NFF President Amaju Pinnick said: “Sunday Oliseh has vast experience and immense knowledge of the game, and will certainly add value to what we are doing. He has bought into our vision and objectives towards the development of Nigeria football. He will command the respect of the players and we trust he has the temperament to work harmoniously with the Technical and Development Committee, the Technical Directorate and the Technical Study Group.
“On our part at the NFF, we will give him all the support to succeed as we have been giving to all our coaches. Subject to the approval of the NFF Executive Committee, we will conclude negotiations by weekend and he will be unveiled next week.”
Oliseh, 40, is presently a FIFA instructor, and runs a consultancy that trains and assesses coaches worldwide. He is also member of FIFA Technical Study Group.
He was in the Nigeria squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia in 1994, and played in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup final competitions, with the Super Eagles reaching the Round of 16 in both. He was also in the Nigeria U-23 side that won Africa’s first Olympic football gold in Atlanta 19 years ago.
Oliseh played for Reggiana, FC Cologne, Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, VFL Bochum and RC Genk in a magnificent professional career, during which he played under some of the best coaches in the universe.
He won 63 caps for Nigeria between 1993 and 2002, picking up Africa Cup of Nations gold, silver and bronze medals.
Oliseh holds a UEFA Pro License, and coached Belgian lower division club, Vervietois between 2008 and 2009.

Russian woman killed trying to take selfie

A 21-year-old Russian woman named, Anna Krupeynikova fell off a bridge while trying to take a selfie according to local media reports.

Anna and some of her friends had been travelling in a bus while sightseeing around Moscow when they stopped at the bridge to take photos.

Anna moved away from the group to take a selfie with her camera in front of her, unfortunately the fence she leaned on to take the picture was in bad condition, and gave way.

She plunged 40ft to her death.

Suspected Boko Haram militants kill 26 people in Chad

Suspected militants from the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram killed 26 people in attacks on two villages on Lake Chad, local authorities in Chad told Reuters on Wednesday.

Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks in recent weeks killing hundreds of people despite losing territory in northeastern Nigeria earlier in the year to a regional offensive in which Chad was a leading member.