The most convoluted and perhaps most abused phrases in our financial and banking circles today are “Stress Test” and “Risk Assessment.”

GOVERNOR Olugbenga Daniel of Ogun State has finally dumped the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] for the Peoples Party of Nigeria [PPN] appearing with his Deputy; Alhaja Salmot Badru at the state rally of the party at the MKO Abiola Stadium.

The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has vowed to deliver affordable housing to Lagosians using a mortgage system that will ensure gradual payment if elected for a second term in office.

Kakawa Discount has announced an impressive profit before tax of N3.2 billion for the financial year ended December 31, 2010.

Investors, last week staked N155.72 billion on Federal Government of Nigeria’s (FGN) bond in the Over-the-Counter (OTC) bond market, representing an appreciation of 9.06 per cent from N142.779 billion recorded in the preceding week.

The Bearish sentiment that has deflated activities on Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) maintained breadth last week occasioned by incidence of huge sell off by investors and the electioneering process to drag down investment value by N385 billion.

Diamond Bank Plc’s strategy to return to profitability after the stock market meltdown in 2008 has started paying off as its share price has moved from a low price of N3.80 per share in 2009 to a high of N9.27 per share in January 2011, representing a growth of 144 per cent.

Intercontinental Bank is set to retain its electronic banking leadership status in five segments of the market even as it recorded another first with the Rotary ATM card in Africa.

The Standard Bank Group, to which Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc belongs, has reiterated the importance of the Nigerian market in its growth strategy.

Skye Bank Plc is to raise $1.5 billion from international funding agencies for onward lending to its customers in 2011 as a result of rising demand and growing business fortunes of its customers.

THE Federal government has reiterated that if Nigeria must achieve the set target of becoming one of the top twenty largest economies of the world, there is the need for the promotion of value added export of locally produced goods.

Foreign investors are concerned about the sustainability of Nigeria’s budgetary spending pattern, says Razia Khan of Standard Chartered.

With tension generated by the Sunday bomb explosion in Jos still in the air, the PDP on Monday shelved its gubernatorial campaign rally scheduled for Bukuru, Jos-South.

In the first five years of this decade, 37 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa together raised more than $11 billion through privatisation programmes. Although the bulk of this corpus was raised in low-value transactions in competitive sectors, the figure puts the region next only to Europe and Latin America in global privatisation trends .

The 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Ibadan and the Nigeria Police are to carry out joint patrols within Ibadan and its environs during the April general elections.