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Polaris Bank pledges to support infrastructure, agriculture, housing, education in Ogun State
PHOTO CAPTIONL-R: Chinwe Iloghalu, Polaris Bank’s Executive Director, Lagos & Corporate Banking; Adekunle Sonola, Polaris Bank’s Managing Director/CEO, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State and Tokunbo Talabi, Secretary to Ogun State Government when Polaris Bank Executive Managment team paid a visit to Ogun State Governor in his office in Abeokuta recently.
Lagos, Nigeria: November 8, 2023 – Polaris Bank, Nigeria’s leading digital retail Bank has pledged to support the development of high-impact sectors including road infrastructure, housing, education, healthcare and agro processing in Ogun State.
The Managing Director/CEO of Polaris Bank, Mr. Adekunle Sonola, stated this while speaking with journalists after he led the Bank’s management team on a courtesy visit to the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, on Wednesday.
Recognizing the notable achievements of the state administration in infrastructure, education, and agro-processing, Mr. Sonola emphasized Polaris Bank’s willingness to provide support, particularly in financing, to expedite socio-economic development. The meeting focused on various collaborative opportunities in infrastructure, housing, healthcare, education, and agriculture, showcasing the bank’s commitment to complement the government’s efforts in delivering services to the Ogun state people.
Expressing readiness to offer counterpart funding support, Mr. Sonola highlighted Polaris Bank’s innovative products, such as the e-hospital platform, deployed in 11 states, enhancing revenue collection through technology. Describing Ogun State as one of Nigeria’s most progressive states with robust infrastructure, he commended the state’s conducive business environment.
“Governor Abiodun is running one of the most progressive states in the country with a lot of laudable objectives and achievements in the last four years. As Bankers to the community, we are here to show our support and to also see for ourselves the achievements on ground, as well as offer our services for the progress and development of the state,” he stated.
The Polaris Bank CEO noted that the management identified opportunities and areas of collaboration with the Ogun State Government, assuring that in a few months, the people would begin to see the delivery of the projects agreed on at the meeting,
He stated that the meeting with Governor Abiodun centered on a wide range of areas, including infrastructure, housing delivery, healthcare improvement programmes, education, agriculture and other sectors that the bank could be of assistance, as well as the complementary relationship to deliver services to the people.
He said further that Polaris Bank has a long-term presence in the state, including having one of the vibrant and modern bank branches in the state capital, and affirmed that the people of the state would continue to enjoy robust personal banking experience at all times.
Sonola called on investors to take advantage of the enormous potential and the conducive business environment provided by the state government to open their businesses in the Gateway State.
Polaris Bank was adjudged Digital Bank of the Year in 2021 and 2022, 2023 by BusinessDay’s Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards. And as a digital-forward Bank dedicated to forging a customer-focused future through innovative partnership that reshape both businesses and communities.
The legal team of suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, say they are ready with factil evidence to defend her in court.
The team received a formal summons in the case filed against her by the Federal Government at the Federal Capital Territory High Court last week.
On Friday, May 16, 2025, the Federal Government filed the suit, marked CR/297/25, over alleged defamatory remarks made during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025.
The government accused the senator of “making imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person”, citing Section 391 of the Penal Code, cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990.
Among the witnesses listed to testify during the trial were Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
Others include Asuquo Ekpenyong, a senator; Sandra Duru; Maya Iliya, investigating police officers; and Abdulhafiz Garba, investigating police officers.
However, in a statement issued Friday night by Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa (SAN) on behalf of the legal team, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyers confirmed receipt of the formal summons and pledged to prepare all “factual and statutory defences” available to the lawmaker during trial.
“At about 2:30pm on Friday, May 23, 2025, within the premises of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, we received the information filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, containing three counts alleging that our client, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central, made imputations she had reason to believe would harm the reputation of Senator Godswill Akpabio, President of the 10th Senate,” the statement read.
“We received the said information on her behalf through a letter of authority duly issued and filed in the court’s registry.
“The legal team will fully prepare and present all factual and statutory defences available to our client during the trial.”
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) will on Tuesday next week begin the take over of 4,794 properties in Abuja, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) headquarters, due to unpaid ground rent.
The PDP headquarters, currently under construction in Abuja’s Central Business District, is among the affected properties, having been revoked in March for several years of unpaid ground rent. The FCTA disclosed that 4,794 titles had been revoked for failure to pay ground rent, with some defaults dating back 43 years.
The affected properties are located in various districts, including Central Area, Garki I and II, Wuse I and II, Asokoro, Maitama, and Guzape.
The defaulters owe over N6.96 billion in ground rent. The FCTA had given a 21-day grace period for owners with debts under 10 years, which has now expired.
The FCTA officials announced that the takeover would begin on Monday, May 26, 2025, with the sealing off and restriction of access to the affected properties.
The Director of Land Administration, Chijioke Nwankwoeze emphasized that the revocations were carried out under Section 28(5)(a)(b) of the Land Use Act, which empowers the government to reclaim land when the terms of occupancy are violated.
Two people sustained serious injuries when a training aircraft crash-landed at the Ilorin International Airport on Friday.
Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance, NSIB, Mrs Bimbo Oladeji, who disclosed this in a statement, said the incident occurred at 17:28 local time on May 23, 2025, during a simulated instrument approach on Runway 05 at Ilorin International Airport.
Oladeji said the aircraft veered off the runway and came to a stop on the grass verge, leaving the two occupants on board injured.
She stated: “Both sustained serious injuries and were swiftly evacuated to a medical facility, coordinated by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA.
“In response, the NSIB Go-Team is currently preparing to depart from Abuja to Ilorin to conduct on-site investigations. The team will secure the site, collect physical evidence, interview witnesses, and retrieve operational data to establish the cause and contributing factors of the incident.”
Quoting the Director General of the NSIB, Captain Alex Badeh Jr., she said “Our thoughts are with the injured, and we commend the swift medical and emergency response. Now, our focus is on understanding exactly what went wrong. Every investigation is an opportunity to improve safety. We are deploying our team to Ilorin to ensure that no detail is overlooked.”
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