Headline

Customer Service Is Key To Our Success – Mr. Ade Adebajo, MD/CEO, UT Financial Services

Published

7 years ago

June 15, 2019

Eric

By: Michael Effiong

Ten years ago, a new non-bank financial institution, UT Financial Services Limited berthed in Nigeria.

The company which had earlier operated in Ghana wanted to extend its track record of excellence to Nigeria and it has been an exciting journey so far according to MD/CEO, Mr Ade Adebajo.

According to him, the journey so far has been very tremendous and good, “we’ve had lot of victories. As with everything in life, you have the good and bad times, we have had recession times in this country but all through, UT financial was able to navigate the tide and still standing where others fell”.

He continued “There was a transition of management just about 2 years ago, even at the time, I was in the United Kingdom, I had my own company Crusader Financial services but we decided to come and buy into UT. We have become stronger as a brand, when we combine our efforts with those of the people of Ghana and the ethics that were laid down, that transition was very smooth and very excellent.

He noted that the founder, Prince Kofi Amoabeng, is a man of very strong ethics, principled, a visionary leader, adding that having built a built a strong brand, they met a strong foundation on ground.

Adebajo revealed that the environment of the company is friendly and that “our culture and has helped in impacting a lot on the staff and clients.

He continued “We are a company that cares, that is how we are seen, how we have trained our staff and the way we operate at UT. We make sure to always be customer focused.

As expected, the company rolled out the drums to mark this momentous occasion. It was days later that we had this interview with Mr Adebajo over drinks at Raddison Blu Hotel, GRA, Ikeja.

Congratulations on your 10th anniversary, how has the journey so far been?

UT financial started 10 years ago in Nigeria, it came originally from Ghana, they wanted to have a branch of their bank here but it came as a non-bank financial institution; so, they ran it well and developed it with good culture, the ethics was good as well.

But at a point in time, they felt they needed Nigerian partners to move things forward, you know you get to a certain level and especially it is not your own place, you need local participation to move things forward.

I was in UK as a Nigerian running a successful firm; so, they approached me and I decided to buy into the company and I looked at the books and everything was good, and this was just about 3 years ago.

When we bought into the company, of course we became partners but I took over management having taken the majority share of the company since then it has been a very smooth sailing.

What really helped was that I met good things on ground, the staff were good, the culture I met on ground was very strong, there was professionalism among the staff and even the books were good.

We have moved on now steadily, we have started a branch in Abuja, opened another in Victoria Island, there was a branch in Yaba. And then, we have expanded in terms size and staff.

So, UT has really grown over these years and we have been able to recover a lot of loans that were outstanding prior to our takeover. Thank God that the journey has been very good so far.

What will you say were the challenges that you faced when you took over?

There are always challenges, over the past few years in Nigeria, Nigeria went through a period of recession, a lot of finance houses closed down but what we did at that time was we actually worked on our expenditure and our cost.

We reduced it, we downsized a lot of things, we had to adapt to the situation of things that we found our self; so, once we did that, we were in a comfortable position and then we began to look outside for other avenues to make revenue apart from what UT was normally used to. And that gave birth to UT Homes and a few other things; so we have UT and we expanded our income streams.

We looked at small and medium enterprises that we could support and helped them which turned out in our favour.

Ok, you talked about a lot of financial houses that went under, so what would you say is unique about UT?

What is very unique about UT? First and foremost, our products are very good, very competitive but products alone cannot sustain a company but culture of a company with professionalism of its staff on how to treat your clients because remember that in all, the client is key,

When the clients are happy with you, you will flourish. For example, in the recession period, we went to some of our clients and told them that we have to vary the rates we offered and explained that if we continue with this rate we will go under, they understood.

That was able to happen because we have built trust in our client.

But if we had shown panic and they saw we cannot survive, they would have left us.

Our strength is that we do not joke with customer service. They know that we care. That is the unique thing about us.

You must build good relationship with your clients, we had a caring relationship, most of our clients even after they had finished servicing their loans and whatever transactions, we go on our own and ask after their welfare to know if there is anything we can do again, that is one of the things that distinguishes this company.

You mentioned your products 2weso what are the different products that you offer?

We have various products tailored to different desires, School Fees for those who are saving towards their children school fees, we have a product for that, we have for people with small businesses looking to start a business, we have a saving plan that is geared towards getting a house, we look at your whole investment and then from that we determine which product can be affordable, we also launched another product on our 10th anniversary which is the Unique Investment Plus, it comes with an amount of money 500,000 minimum, we have lower ones but this particular one is 500,000 minimum and then we give you an extra on top of our usual interest, there is a bonus of 2%, this is just for the 10th anniversary and it will last for 3 months and I will advise that people take up this opportunity while it still there.

The offer is one of the best in the market in terms of rates. We used it to celebrate how good God has been to UT.

We also have other products for people who are set towards enjoying a holiday.

Our rate like I keep saying is the best in the market and it is the reason why people come to us.

I am interested in the future of UT, where do you see UT going at 15?

In the next five years, I see UT as a major non-banking financial institution in Nigeria, and I am saying this because we are planning towards it, already we are climbing towards there and we are introducing new products, and we are also looking at our products and improve them for the Nigeria public, we are spending a lot on technology so that people can invest and also we are developing an app so that people can also use and push UT further.

In the next five years, we hope to increase investor’s confidence. If we have investor confidence, a lot of things can be achieved.

We are 10 years today and nobody can say he knocked at our doorway and we did not pay them their money, it is a good testimony, by the time we now add all this new things with the level of training that we are giving our staff now, in the next five years I see UT as a major force in Nigeria and Africa, and when we say 10 years, I’m looking at a bank in Nigeria.

Headline

Why Nigerians Must Reject INEC’s Revised Timetable – ADC

Published

4 days ago

February 28, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), during the week, released a fresh elections timetable, with major amendments to accommodate the just passed and signed Electoral Act 2026 by the National Assembly and President Bola Tinubu respectively.

Following the repeal of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the enactment of the Electoral Act, 2026, which introduced adjustments to statutory timelines governing pre-election and electoral activities, the Commission has reviewed and realigned the Schedule to ensure full compliance with the new legal framework.

Accordingly, the Commission has resolved as follows:

Presidential and National Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 16th January 2027 as against the earlier stated February 20, 2027
Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 6th February 2027 as against the former date of March 6, 2027

Also in accordance with the approved Schedule of Activities, the electoral bidy noted in the revised timetable that:

Conduct of Party Primaries, including resolution of disputes arising from primaries, will commence on 23rd April 2026 and end on 30th May 2026.

Presidential and National Assembly campaigns will commence on 19th August 2026.

Governorship and State Houses of Assembly campaigns will commence on 9th September 2026.

As provided by law, campaigns shall end 24 hours before Election Day. Political parties are strongly advised to adhere strictly to these timelines. The Commission will enforce compliance with the law.

But in a swift reaction, the opposition coalition, African Democratic Congress (ADC), rejected the revised 2026–2027 general election timetable, describing it as a politically biased schedule designed to favour the re-election agenda of President Bola Tinubu, and calling on all Nigerians to speak up enmasse to reject the revised timetable.

The ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Friday argued that the new deadlines and compliance requirements under the Electoral Act 2026 create near-impossible hurdles for opposition parties seeking to field candidates.

On February 13, INEC initially scheduled the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections were fixed for March 6, 2027.

The timetable, however, faced objections from some Muslim stakeholders who noted that the dates coincided with the 2027 Ramadan period.

Following the concerns, the National Assembly amended Clause 28 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, reducing the required election notice period from 360 to 300 days, allowing INEC to adjust the election dates.

Subsequently, INEC released a revised schedule on Thursday, signed by its Chairman, Joash Amupitan, moving the Presidential and National Assembly elections to January 16, 2027, and the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections to February 6, 2027.

Reacting, the ADC said the requirement that political parties submit a comprehensive digital membership register by April 2, 2026, effectively bars opposition parties from participating.

The party stated: “The African Democratic Congress rejects the updated 2026–2027 electoral timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission. What has been presented as a routine administrative schedule of the upcoming general elections is, in fact, a political instrument carefully structured to narrow democratic space and strengthen the incumbent administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“According to the timetable, party primaries are to be conducted between April 23 and May 30, 2026, just 55 to 92 days from today. However, more significant is that, pursuant to Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties are required to submit their digital membership registers to INEC not later than April 2, 2026.

“That is only about 34 days away. Section 77(7) further provides that any party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated time shall not be eligible to field a candidate. These are not routine administrative rules but are deliberately constructed barriers designed to exclude the opposition from participating in the election.”

The party further noted that Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 requires the digital register of members to contain name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number (NIN) and photograph in both hard and soft copies, while Section 77(6) prohibits the use of any pre-existing register that does not contain the specified information. It warned that failure to meet these requirements would lead to disqualification.

The ADC questioned the fairness of the digital membership requirement, noting that the ruling All Progressives Congress began its registration process in February 2025, long before the requirement became mandatory.

“It is not a product of foresight but insider advantage. They knew what was coming. They therefore had one full year to carry out an exercise that other political parties are expected to complete in one month, during which they must collect, process, collate and transmit large volumes of digital data to INEC under the threat of exclusion. This is practically impossible.

“Democratic competition is based on a level playing field that does not give any contestant an undue advantage. A system where one party exploits incumbency to gain a one-year head start on a requirement that other parties only became aware of when it was nearly too late is a rigged system.”

The ADC said it has joined other opposition parties in rejecting the Electoral Act 2026, adding that the INEC timetable is equally rejected as it appears designed to serve what it described as a self-succession agenda.

“Let it be clear that ADC will not take any action that appears to confer legitimacy on a fraudulent system. We are reviewing our options and will make our position known in the coming days,” the party said.

The party also called on civil society organisations, democratic stakeholders and Nigerians to scrutinise the timetable and demand fairness, stressing that democracy cannot survive when electoral rules are structured to produce predetermined outcomes.

The party has consistently accused the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) of scheming to silence the opposition as the 2027 General Elections draw closer, citing his manipulation of state governors and Assembly members from jumping ship, and settling with the ruling party.

Presently, the president’s party has a total of 31 out of 36 states governors, more than majority of the national and states Houses of Assembly.

A frontline publisher and chieftain of the ADC, Chief Dele Momodu, has warned that Tinubu is gradually transforming into full-blown dictatorship, stressing that his second term in office would turn state governors into ‘total slaves’.

Headline

Second Term for Tinubu Will Turn Governors into Total Slaves, Dele Momodu Warns

Published

5 days ago

February 28, 2026

Eric

Chairman, Ovation Media Group, and former presidential aspirant, Aare Dele Momodu, has expressed strong concern over what he described as growing political support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu among state governors across the country.

Speaking during an interview on News Central TV, Momodu said he was shocked by the level of backing the president is reportedly receiving, warning that Nigeria’s democracy could face serious risks if the current political trend continues.

The media entrepreneur cautioned that allowing Tinubu to secure a second term in 2027 could, in his view, lead to excessive concentration of power. He particularly criticized what he described as a growing wave of opposition figures aligning with the ruling All Progressives Congress> (APC).

Momodu referenced reports of opposition governors, including Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, allegedly moving closer to the ruling party, describing the development as politically troubling.

According to him, some governors are allegedly competing to demonstrate loyalty to the president ahead of future elections.

“The governors are fighting to ensure Tinubu wins a second term, fighting to be the biggest thug for him. If a man in his first term can capture the bodies and souls of Nigerians this way, imagine what he would do with a second term. It will be a full-blown dictatorship, and the governors will regret it as they become total slaves to him,” Momodu said.

He concluded by urging Nigerians to remain vigilant and actively protect democratic institutions, warning that unchecked consolidation of political power could threaten the nation’s democracy and future stability.

Gistmania

Headline

Court Validates PDP 2025 Convention in Ibadan, Affirms Turaki-led NWC

Published

5 days ago

February 27, 2026

Eric

The Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has affirmed the validity of the 2025 Elective Convention of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), which produced Dr. Kabiru Turaki as the substantive National Chairman of the party.

Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Ladiran Akintola upheld the convention in its entirety, ruling that it was conducted in full compliance with the relevant constitutional and statutory provisions governing party elections in Nigeria.

The decision marked a significant legal victory for the party’s leadership and brought clarity to the dispute surrounding the convention’s legitimacy.

The ruling followed an amended originating summons filed by Misibau Adetunmbi (SAN) on behalf of the claimant, Folahan Malomo Adelabi, in Suit No. I/1336/2025.

In a comprehensive judgment, the court granted all 13 reliefs sought by the claimant, effectively endorsing the processes and outcomes of the Ibadan convention.

Justice Akintola held that the convention, organised by the recognised leadership of the party, satisfied all laid-down legal requirements as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended), and the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

The court found no breach of due process or statutory non-compliance in the conduct of the exercise.

In the same proceedings, the court dismissed the Motion on Notice seeking a stay of proceedings and suspension of the ruling, filed by Sunday Ibrahim (SAN) on behalf of Austin Nwachukwu and two others. The applications were described as lacking merit.

Earlier in the proceedings, the court had also rejected a bid by Ibrahim to have his clients joined in the suit.

Justice Akintola ruled at the time that the joinder application was unsubstantiated and consequently dismissed it.