thugs Nobel laureate vlashed out yesterday at the military for allegedly dabbling into politics. He said soldiers should face their constitutional duties and leave politics to politicians. His grouse with the military is the role played by soldiers in preventing some governors of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) from attending last Thursday’s rally of the party in Ado Ekiti. The aircraft scheduled to fly Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo to Akure on the day was grounded in
Benin as was the one that flew Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers to the Ondo State capital. But the governor could not proceed beyond Akure after soldiers halted his convoy and detained him by the
roadside for a while. They claimed to be acting on ‘orders from above’. The Presidency has denied involvement in the soldiers’ action. But addressing reporters in Lagos yesterday, Professor Soyinka said President Goodluck Jonathan should
tell Nigerians who authorised the soldiers’ action. The National Assembly, he said, should in fact set up a commission of enquiry to unravel the brains
behind the governors’ humiliation. “Supposing the governors were thugs, we will say that what the army did was constitutional. When the
army starts acting like thugs, I see no difference between their action and waylaying the governors. So I
am asking the military: when did you take up the job of electoral thugs? The governors should sue whoever
is responsible,” he said. Recalling the role of the immediate past Police Commissioner in Rivers State, Mr. Joseph Mbu in the
political crisis in the state, he said: “When we spoke in this hall, people said what business does Wole
Soyinka have with Rivers, what does Femi Falana have in Rivers State? What we were saying that day
was that if we allowed this kind of conduct to be accepted, there will be escalation. It will happen in
dangerous dimensions in any other place in Nigeria.” “We have a responsibility in any part of Nigeria where the rights of the citizens are violated. It does not
matter whether the person is a motor mechanic, governor or legislator. We have a responsibility to cry out
and to tell Nigerians. “If you don’t speak now, it will come to you. And it is going to come with fatal consequences. It is about
time we put a stop to that.” He continued: “Who gave orders like that? Is it the Chief of the Army Staff? Is it a General somewhere? Is
it the Korofo as they call them? Enough is enough. Fayemi has a name, Amaechi has a name,
Oshiomhole has a name. Why is it that those who prevented them from exercising their citizens’ rights do
not have names? It is always ‘order from the top’. “Sometimes we don’t even know where the top is. It happened in Rivers State. And now there is ‘order
from the top’ to stop the governors. That type of language should stop. The military is being paid from the
public purse. They are now taking sides in a political election. What do we do about this situation? The
legislative houses must live up to their duties. They must wake up to their duties.” He said a commission of enquiry should be put in place to unravel what actually happened. “We want a
specific investigation. We want to know who is responsible. Who gave the order? We want these people to
be called to give evidence. All the governors should sue for the violation of their human rights. They should
make a case out of it. “Let us make an example once and for all. We cannot continue with this kind of misconduct which makes
us a laughing stock all over the world. Can you imagine what happened in the States just yesterday
afternoon. Can you imagine the language that is being used to describe Nigerians. People were asking
about what was happening in the wonderland of ours. Some said they heard that some governors were
stopped, while one was tear-gassed.” “That embarrassment must stop. So we will not be satisfied with anything less than making us know who
gave the order. If that does not happen, we will set up a citizens’ court. We did it in the fight against
Abacha, and for Albashir of the Sudan. We got victims, witnesses and journalists to come and testify on
the violation of human rights. “We will ask for international help. If we can’t hold it here, we will hold it elsewhere. It will be a shame if we
are forced to hold it outside. We will place the government on trial. This must be the very last time that
such an incident will happen. I still cannot believe that this thing happened. It appears like some kind of
fantasy, some kind of Nollywood film.” “Using the military is dishonouring the military. I am talking to the military now. Allowing yourself to be
used this way is demeaning yourself. It is bringing yourself down. And the military has a lot to answer.” On the Boko Haram insurgency, Professor Soyinka asked Nigerians to “please support the actions of the
security forces in defending the security of this nation,” because, as he put it, the sect ‘despises
democracy.’ And on the abducted Chibok girls, he said their rescue is the type of assignment the soldiers should be
used for. “The military should be used specifically in bringing back the girls, not embarrassing the governors.” He referred to a recent photograph of the President and his daughters on facebook and said: “we all want to
pose with our daughters and children and I am very happy for the President for putting that on Facebook.
He must ensure that the military is posted to places where they are really needed, not in any act that
violates the constitution.” He observed that “What happened in Ekiti is a violation of the constitution and those who are responsible
should be exposed and punished where necessary. I want to use this opportunity to tell Nigerians to accept
that this is a very delicate situation. “And to get back hostages is a multidisciplinary task. And I am not holding anyone accountable at this
moment for failure in that respect. What we will not accept is the misuse of facilities, especially security
forces that should be directed at this priority. The security forces should not be used in any way to
sabotage what we fought for.”
Sunday, 22 June 2014
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
National Confab: Kogi Youths Demand Mayor, Support Resource Control
Ahead of the national conference, the Youths of Kogi central
have advocated for the establishment of Mayor to solve the problems of
social-political inequality in the country.
Mr Shaibu Stephen Ojate, civil right activist made this remark while addressing Journalists in Abuja on his positions for the national conference. He said, the people of Ebiraland have been marginalised in the scheme of things noting that Mayor will correct the anomaly. He said Mayor become important because it will not only solve the problem of political inequality; thus it will put an end to the issue of bad governance in the state.
‘Kogi Central needs mayor. We want Mayor to control our resource and administer our locality. The current system where Governor of the state control and dictate who gets what should be jettisoned as it breeds unhealthy rivalry between ethnic groups that constitute the state. This current system of government does not encourage even development.’
‘We have been having Governor in Kogi state and no even development across the state. The Governor only concentrates the developmental projects in the senatorial district where he hailed from’. This is what we have been experiencing since 1999 till dates. Enough is enough. We want our own system of government different from the state’
‘We want the power of state Governor be reduced rather some of their power be given to local government chairmen in the state.’
‘On federal allocation, a system should be put in place so that every senatorial district in Nigeria gets direct federal allocation from federal government unlike the current system where state government received it’.
‘So, federal allocation under this system, the Mayor and local government chairmen in each senatorial district should control it for the development of their area’.
‘I strongly support the call for resource control. Each senatorial district in the country should control their own resource and remit tax to federal government and state government’.
Ojate equally faulted the current federal system of government and call for restructuring. He canvasses for the creation of more local government for the people of Kogi central to correct political imbalance in the state.
‘I maintained, should we continue the current federal system, I am advocating that every senatorial district in the country should have equal number of local governments to solve political imbalance in the state’.
‘The creation of equal number of local governments will solve the problem of marginalization in the state. There will be fair play in the scheme of things in the state when this is done, he said’.
Ojate noted that rotation of political position is the best things for the country and opined that it should form part of the Agenda of the Kogi Central delegates to the conference.
Mr Shaibu Stephen Ojate, civil right activist made this remark while addressing Journalists in Abuja on his positions for the national conference. He said, the people of Ebiraland have been marginalised in the scheme of things noting that Mayor will correct the anomaly. He said Mayor become important because it will not only solve the problem of political inequality; thus it will put an end to the issue of bad governance in the state.
‘Kogi Central needs mayor. We want Mayor to control our resource and administer our locality. The current system where Governor of the state control and dictate who gets what should be jettisoned as it breeds unhealthy rivalry between ethnic groups that constitute the state. This current system of government does not encourage even development.’
‘We have been having Governor in Kogi state and no even development across the state. The Governor only concentrates the developmental projects in the senatorial district where he hailed from’. This is what we have been experiencing since 1999 till dates. Enough is enough. We want our own system of government different from the state’
‘We want the power of state Governor be reduced rather some of their power be given to local government chairmen in the state.’
‘On federal allocation, a system should be put in place so that every senatorial district in Nigeria gets direct federal allocation from federal government unlike the current system where state government received it’.
‘So, federal allocation under this system, the Mayor and local government chairmen in each senatorial district should control it for the development of their area’.
‘I strongly support the call for resource control. Each senatorial district in the country should control their own resource and remit tax to federal government and state government’.
Ojate equally faulted the current federal system of government and call for restructuring. He canvasses for the creation of more local government for the people of Kogi central to correct political imbalance in the state.
‘I maintained, should we continue the current federal system, I am advocating that every senatorial district in the country should have equal number of local governments to solve political imbalance in the state’.
‘The creation of equal number of local governments will solve the problem of marginalization in the state. There will be fair play in the scheme of things in the state when this is done, he said’.
Ojate noted that rotation of political position is the best things for the country and opined that it should form part of the Agenda of the Kogi Central delegates to the conference.
NIGERIA-PROTEST
Editorial: The US Report on Nigerian Corruption
The alarm bell on the rate of corruption in Nigeria sounded by the
United States, though hardly surprising, is scandalous and unacceptable,
given that Nigeria’s diverse and growing security challenges are partly
rooted in widespread poverty and unemployment, which in turn, are
outcomes of pervasive corruption. The damning disclosure on how the
administration of President Goodluck Jonathan frustrates the efforts of
the anti-graft agencies, notably the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) in combating graft is contained in the US Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor 2013 Country Report on Nigeria. This
blight on the image of Nigeria is a reflection of the dismal failure and
sad inability of the government to tackle corruption and deploy
Nigeria’s wealth to the socio-economic betterment of its citizens; and
this should worry the president. Jonathan must understand that progress
and credibility in the fight against corruption can only be won through
concrete, well-thought-out policies, not cheap self-eulogizing slogans.
The report painted a picture of the deep-rooted nature of corruption in Nigeria and noted specifically that corruption is on rampage and that it has never been this bad. It went further to take a swipe at the Nigerian judiciary where it claimed that justice too is for sale. Section 4 of the Report titled: “Corruption and lack of Transparency in Government” stated that “the EFCC faced several frustrating setbacks in 2013.” The report gave several accounts of how the current administration has frustrated justice against even convicted persons in corruption cases. But the presidential pardon, granted convicted ex-Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was classified as the most offending action of the Nigerian government. “By granting him a pardon, President Jonathan has paved the way for Alamieyeseigha to run for another elected office or to hold other appointed offices.” The report also stated that the EFCC is being used to target persons “who had fallen out of favour with the government, while those who were in favour continued their activities with impunity.”
A greater tragedy is that when corruption is raised either by Nigerians or outsiders, the reaction of the government has typically been one of denial of the patently obvious; or combative defence, instead of dignified silence; or better still, a solemn resolve to do something about the cankerworm. Last year, the presidency dismissed the report as “parachute researches” limited by absence of any knowledge of Nigeria and its affairs. The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) even viewed the report as an insult, but, in contradictory terms, agreed that corruption was pervasive and that the party had been “fighting” the scourge, obviously with little success. Of course, only the PDP knows the tools with which it has done the fighting. Many of the examples cited in the report are common knowledge and irrefutable.
However, it is to be noted that this is not the first indictment of Nigeria over corruption. Indeed, since the inception of the fourth republic, the nation has come under scrutiny over corruption. In its 2013 corruption perception index, the global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI) ranked Nigeria 144th most corrupt country in the world among 177 countries studied. In 2012, Nigeria ranked 124 out of 170. The point must however be stressed that corruption is a serious socio-economic and political issue that was used in the past as a justification for military intervention and therefore remains a veritable source of instability in the nation. The time has come for the government to tackle this challenge headlong. There is need to articulate a national strategy, which must begin with exemplary conduct of the President, who must claim the moral high ground through self-purging. Corruption, apart from being systemic, is also partly a question of character failure, and the presidency is pre-eminently a place for moral leadership.
What the times call for is a grand strategy with the anti-graft agencies on the frontlines. Firstly, those accused and under investigation by the EFCC for corruption should be speedily and openly tried and, if found guilty, punished to deter others from treading the same path. Until and unless the outstanding cases are conclusively prosecuted without delay, lessons are neither taught nor learnt. In this regard, the EFCC should press for early amendment to the EFCC Act in order to set time limits within which all EFCC cases should be resolved. The EFCC should also work out cost-effective ways of disposing cases. For example, Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), as a rule, should handle pro bono publico at least one EFCC brief annually. Nigeria needs all hands on deck in the fight against corruption.
Second, and provided any suspect is certain to speedily face justice, the EFCC should abandon passing the buck and seize the initiative by developing the capability to detect corruption at the early stages. The task is simple, considering that the US National Security Agency (NSA) monitors the gargantuan worldwide telephone conversations and text messages with a view to nipping terrorism in the bud. The EFCC should, therefore, shake off its indolence, which appears to be its signature now and work earnestly to bust and minimize corruption. The anti-graft agencies must stay awake for the dream of a corruption-free Nigeria to come true.
In addition, a “Naming and Shaming” process should form part of the strategy. Corrupt public officials must not only be identified and put on trial. They should be publicly stigmatized and kept on an Eternal Roll of Dishonor, because corruption is driven partly by the absence of a sense of shame. Furthermore, the proposed national conference should restructure Nigeria in ways that are expressive of fiscal autonomy for the federating States as the over-reliance on oil revenues by all strata of government has fuelled corruption that has afflicted the country since the discovery of oil. The grand strategy should also include capacity building for anti-corruption within the bureaucracy of government, especially horizontal accountability, which involves annulling and righting actions and inaction of state institutions.
Above all, the proposed strategy should include remodeling Nigeria’s politics, removing its current commercial value and making it attractive only to genuine servants. Politics has now become the only business and this desperation for public office fuels corruption in ways unimaginable! Central to this is a drastic reduction in the cost of governance in the executive branch, the legislature and the civil service. The journey may have to begin by expunging from the national psyche a mentality in which politics is perceived and practiced as the only business with the highest returns. Of course, attitudes must change. And the breakdown of values must be addressed through the family system and a nationwide school curriculum that emphasizes ethical re-orientation. This is necessary to keep the future of Nigeria away from the claws of corruption even as the battle goes on to wrestle its present from its jaws.
As the Jonathan administration winds down with its eyes on 2015, the President must raise the stakes. He must confront all the obstacles and demonstrate the will to rise to the occasion and pick only men and women of integrity to serve Nigeria. Now is the time to break from the past because presidential dilatoriness invites unholy pressure which crystallizes into wrong appointments as has been seen time and time again with this administration. Every leader must lead by example and Jonathan owes himself the duty of not being an exception. So far, he has been. The President has the ultimate and unique responsibility to build the confidence that politics and public offices are not primarily a means to fleece the citizens. He must take the lead in saving Nigeria from corruption.
The report painted a picture of the deep-rooted nature of corruption in Nigeria and noted specifically that corruption is on rampage and that it has never been this bad. It went further to take a swipe at the Nigerian judiciary where it claimed that justice too is for sale. Section 4 of the Report titled: “Corruption and lack of Transparency in Government” stated that “the EFCC faced several frustrating setbacks in 2013.” The report gave several accounts of how the current administration has frustrated justice against even convicted persons in corruption cases. But the presidential pardon, granted convicted ex-Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was classified as the most offending action of the Nigerian government. “By granting him a pardon, President Jonathan has paved the way for Alamieyeseigha to run for another elected office or to hold other appointed offices.” The report also stated that the EFCC is being used to target persons “who had fallen out of favour with the government, while those who were in favour continued their activities with impunity.”
A greater tragedy is that when corruption is raised either by Nigerians or outsiders, the reaction of the government has typically been one of denial of the patently obvious; or combative defence, instead of dignified silence; or better still, a solemn resolve to do something about the cankerworm. Last year, the presidency dismissed the report as “parachute researches” limited by absence of any knowledge of Nigeria and its affairs. The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) even viewed the report as an insult, but, in contradictory terms, agreed that corruption was pervasive and that the party had been “fighting” the scourge, obviously with little success. Of course, only the PDP knows the tools with which it has done the fighting. Many of the examples cited in the report are common knowledge and irrefutable.
However, it is to be noted that this is not the first indictment of Nigeria over corruption. Indeed, since the inception of the fourth republic, the nation has come under scrutiny over corruption. In its 2013 corruption perception index, the global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI) ranked Nigeria 144th most corrupt country in the world among 177 countries studied. In 2012, Nigeria ranked 124 out of 170. The point must however be stressed that corruption is a serious socio-economic and political issue that was used in the past as a justification for military intervention and therefore remains a veritable source of instability in the nation. The time has come for the government to tackle this challenge headlong. There is need to articulate a national strategy, which must begin with exemplary conduct of the President, who must claim the moral high ground through self-purging. Corruption, apart from being systemic, is also partly a question of character failure, and the presidency is pre-eminently a place for moral leadership.
What the times call for is a grand strategy with the anti-graft agencies on the frontlines. Firstly, those accused and under investigation by the EFCC for corruption should be speedily and openly tried and, if found guilty, punished to deter others from treading the same path. Until and unless the outstanding cases are conclusively prosecuted without delay, lessons are neither taught nor learnt. In this regard, the EFCC should press for early amendment to the EFCC Act in order to set time limits within which all EFCC cases should be resolved. The EFCC should also work out cost-effective ways of disposing cases. For example, Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), as a rule, should handle pro bono publico at least one EFCC brief annually. Nigeria needs all hands on deck in the fight against corruption.
Second, and provided any suspect is certain to speedily face justice, the EFCC should abandon passing the buck and seize the initiative by developing the capability to detect corruption at the early stages. The task is simple, considering that the US National Security Agency (NSA) monitors the gargantuan worldwide telephone conversations and text messages with a view to nipping terrorism in the bud. The EFCC should, therefore, shake off its indolence, which appears to be its signature now and work earnestly to bust and minimize corruption. The anti-graft agencies must stay awake for the dream of a corruption-free Nigeria to come true.
In addition, a “Naming and Shaming” process should form part of the strategy. Corrupt public officials must not only be identified and put on trial. They should be publicly stigmatized and kept on an Eternal Roll of Dishonor, because corruption is driven partly by the absence of a sense of shame. Furthermore, the proposed national conference should restructure Nigeria in ways that are expressive of fiscal autonomy for the federating States as the over-reliance on oil revenues by all strata of government has fuelled corruption that has afflicted the country since the discovery of oil. The grand strategy should also include capacity building for anti-corruption within the bureaucracy of government, especially horizontal accountability, which involves annulling and righting actions and inaction of state institutions.
Above all, the proposed strategy should include remodeling Nigeria’s politics, removing its current commercial value and making it attractive only to genuine servants. Politics has now become the only business and this desperation for public office fuels corruption in ways unimaginable! Central to this is a drastic reduction in the cost of governance in the executive branch, the legislature and the civil service. The journey may have to begin by expunging from the national psyche a mentality in which politics is perceived and practiced as the only business with the highest returns. Of course, attitudes must change. And the breakdown of values must be addressed through the family system and a nationwide school curriculum that emphasizes ethical re-orientation. This is necessary to keep the future of Nigeria away from the claws of corruption even as the battle goes on to wrestle its present from its jaws.
As the Jonathan administration winds down with its eyes on 2015, the President must raise the stakes. He must confront all the obstacles and demonstrate the will to rise to the occasion and pick only men and women of integrity to serve Nigeria. Now is the time to break from the past because presidential dilatoriness invites unholy pressure which crystallizes into wrong appointments as has been seen time and time again with this administration. Every leader must lead by example and Jonathan owes himself the duty of not being an exception. So far, he has been. The President has the ultimate and unique responsibility to build the confidence that politics and public offices are not primarily a means to fleece the citizens. He must take the lead in saving Nigeria from corruption.
Worrisome to see youths flying PDP flag- Pastor Joe Odey
A Cross River State youth leader, advocate for good governance and youth
empowerment has lamented the gravitation of some Nigerian youths
towards the PDP even as the party has totally impoverished them. Below
is an excerpt of his comment on his facebook page."Its really worrisome that even youths with university degrees still urge me to move to PDP and support GEJ for 2015 because he is my South-South 'brother'. The simpletons in this 21st century still subscribe to the politics of bias and ethnicity. I was able to see through Mr GEJ's thin smokescreen in 2011 and I am happy to say here and keep saying it anywhere that I did not lobby for him neither did I in anyway support his candidature then.
His personality and the inept way he handled issues from when late president Yar'adua sadly died show clearly that GEJ does not have the brains or the brawn for that job.
He is so steeped in the politics of patronage and greasing of palms that he is detached from the realities on ground. With the level of graft and profligacy in his administration, we are expecting the very worst.
For 2015, I state without equivocation that APC candidates from State House of Assemblies to the Presidency should be voted into office because this is the only party whose agenda is development! Let's support the party that will move Nigeria forward: we should not be ethnic jingoists. up APC!!"
Presidential Victimization of Sanusi and the treasonable theft of $20 billion Dollars--By Obinna Akukwe
Whether President Goodluck Jonathan decides to victimize, sack or prosecute Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi, Nigeria’s sacked Central Bank Chief, the truth is that a $20 billion dollar theft has been exposed and the sheer size of the theft is treasonable, especially with 80 million people living below $10 dollars daily.
$20 billion dollars have been stolen, hoarded, hidden and unremitted by some officials of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with the connivance of some elements within the presidency. I have made case in the earlier piece released just before Sanusi’s suspension titled ‘Jonathan, Sanusi, NNPC and the missing ( Stolen) $20 billion Dollars ‘ that “those who connived to withhold the $20 billion dollars include Christians from the Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, White Garment and Pentecostal folds. They also include Muslims from Shia sect, Sunni sect, NASFAT, Boko Haram sect and all groups calling on God or Allah to protect them from the wicked ranting of impoverished unfortunate countrymen about to challenge their divine $ 20 billion dollar breakthrough”
All these attempts to tag a N163 billion naira, ( $1 billion dollar) accusations of wasteful and unauthorized spending on Sansui’s head is an attempt to sweep the issue of the stolen billions into the carpet. To cover up a treasonable theft of $20 billion dollars, a kite of reckless use of $ 1 billion dollars was flown about. In 2012 when Hon Farouk Lawan Committee of the lower parliament exposed the theft of $10 billion dollars (N1.7 trillion naira) of petroleum products paid for without being supplied to the Nigerian people, the agents and friends of government pursued Lawan with corruption until they trapped him with bribery of $1 million dollars, and that was how a theft of $ 10 Billion dollars was forgotten.
The House of Representatives have confirmed that Nigeria loses $5 billion dollars to oil theft annually. According to the Chairman of the House ad-hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft, Bashir Adamu, “The level of oil theft is alarming and of grave concern to stakeholders”.. “Illegal bunkering has caused Nigeria to lose an estimated $5 billion (N780 billion) yearly, amounting to $400 billion since Nigeria’s independence. “Statistics show that a total of 350,000 barrels per day was lost to illegal bunkering in 2012, representing an increase of 45 per cent over the figure of 2011, and 67 per cent over that of 2010, while the trend for 2013 is even more alarming”. In Jonathan’s tenure since 2010, it amounts to $20 billion dollars in 4 years. Sanusi’s revelations shows that $20 billion dollars was stolen in eighteen months, it follows that in four years $56 billion dollars would ultimately have missed.
Therefore, from this oil business, Nigeria has lost approximately $20 billion dollars to oil theft, $20 billion dollars to subsidy theft of 2011, $20 billion dollars missing funds and probably another $20 billion dollars missing from the previous 18 months not yet exposed. Add the recently exposed $ 7billion dollars fraud in the NNPC Swiss oil deal and the $1 billion dollar Malabu Oil Deal and you get $88 billion dollars stolen in four years. Therefore, when Nigerians stop asking questions on what happened to $88 billion dollars and become interested in how Sanusi allegedly mismanaged $1 billlion dollars, then an Indian charm is working on everybody.
Months ago a document allegedly from the Nigerian Customs indicted the Coordinating Minister of Finance, Okonjo Iwuala of granting waivers to the tune of 1.4 trillion naira ( $9 billion Dollars ) between 2011 and 2013 to companies allegedly owned by friends and cronies of government., The Comptroller General of Nigerian Customs, Mr Dikko. Inde Speaking when he appeared before the Joint Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriation said that about N 866 billion was lost to waivers within a 9-month period, including N263.8 billion granted on importation of petroleum products. This is $ 4 billion dollars in nine months alone. Jonathan is yet to issue a query to Mrs Okonjo Iwuala on the issue. When the Senate was cross examining her, she admitted granting waiver of over N 170 Billion naira. Her bosom friend and Nigeria’s oil minister Dieziani Madueke has more financial infractions than every other government official and no frown has yet come from the government. Therefore, the speed at which Sanusi was thrown away is just an act of victimization for exposing a 20 billion dollar sleaze.
To many persons, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi represents many things-
To majority of Christians in Nigeria, he is a religious fundamentalist who wanted to impose Islamic Banking on the nation.
To some Churches, he is the villain who ordered he freezing of the accounts on accounts of terrorism
To some indigenes of Southern parts of Nigeria, he is a suspected Boko Haram sponsor
To the Kano Citizens, he is the Best successor to the throne of the Emirship of Kano
To International investors, he restored confidence in the Nigerian economy.
To stock brokers, he maintained stability in the stock exchange market.
To business men, he controlled inflation and brought it to all time low in many years
To corrupt bankers, he is the demon who is worse than the EFCC, seeking to retrieve money that is not his father’s
To PDP politicians, he is the Lucifer who wants to stop the accumulation of funds to prosecute the 2015 presidential elections
To financially aware depositors, he is the champion who ensured that every fund they deposited in any bank in Nigeria is always available on demand even at huge cost to national treasury.
To me, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is an Islamic Zealot who has a few baggages which has to be tamed and lots of assets which can be of immense help to Nigeria. In a write up I released two years ago titled ‘Sanusi, Ohanaeze and the Timidity of Igbo Public Servants’, I asked Ohanaeze to stop complaining about what Sanusi did for the North, rather they should encourage their Igbo counterpart to do same for their people. It was the most senior Igbo Public Servant in Nigeria that stopped Azubuko Udah from replacing Hafsat Ringim as Inspector General of Police due to Assemblies of God Church local politics.
During the period when CBN froze bank accounts of churches, some Christian Bishops and leaders under the aegis of CAN and PFN approached me to do something about Sanusi’s rascality especially over their frozen funds. They believed that as an activist in their midst, there is something I could do that will yield result quicker than the court processes being planned by the National Leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria led by Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. Therefore, when I released the report on how CBN froze the accounts of churches, within hours spiraled all over the social media and CBN under Sanusi spent tens of millions of naira denying the facts on every national daily, radio and television stations. Eventually the churches accounts were opened within twenty four hours from the time the report was released and their harassment by EFCC ceased till today. This however does not mean that Sanusi is all about mischief.
Sansui’s greatest achievement is ensuring that the man on the street has access to his money in the bank, anytime he wants it. Sanusi also ensured that that the era of thieving bankers doing business with depositor’s money at the expense of genuine business men came to an end. Sanusi drew people’s attention to monumental corruption among South South Governors at the expense of their people. If Sanusi were to be an Igbo man, he would probably have committed billions towards building or pressurized President Jonathan start and finish the construction of a second Niger Bridge. I wish Sanusi were Igbo, he would have dragged our boot licking politicians to the mud, and attracted infrastructural patronage to the South East.
Sanusi is being victimized for exposing another treasonable theft of $20 billion dollars belonging to all Nigerians and people should demand the recovery of the stolen funds because over 80 million Nigerians living below poverty lines need it.
Obinna Akukwe
Profeobinna2@yahoo.com
Follow on facebook, twitter
Ex-Edo SSG Remanded In Prison Over Diversion Of Education Funds
A Benin High Court, presided over by Justice Esther Edigin has
ordered that the immediate past Secretary to Edo State government Dr
Simon Imuekemhe, and three others be remanded in prison custody over
alleged financial fraud.
The accused persons,Imuekemhe, Joseph Emoabino, Aghator Efe and Davidi Igbinoba, are facing trial on eight count charges of diversion of fund among others.
The ex-Edo state government scribe, had allegedly conspired with the three others to divert a total sum of N113m, being the state Universal Basic Education UBE fund.
They are currently been tried by the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission EFCC on the offence which they allegedly committed on June 5, 2012 when Emoabino was the states UBE chairman, Igbinoba the secretary and Efe, Director of finance and accounts.
Meanwhile, the four accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges when the case came up for hearing on Monday.
Mr. Omoruyi Omonuwa, Counsel to Imuekemhe, had filed an application for the accused to be granted bail.
Omonuwa’s bail application was however opposed by counsel to EFCC, Mr. Larry Aso.
The EFCC lawyer, argued that he was opposing to the application on the ground that the four accused had been on administrative bail since when the matter was supposed to come up in court in February 26.
Ruling on the request by the accused lawyer, Justice Esther Edigin turned down the bail application on the ground that the administrative bail has elapsed since the matter was now before the court.
She said “I cannot grant bail when the bail application has not been heard,” she stated.
The Judge therefore, ordered that the four accused be remanded
in prison custody until March 14 when the bail application will come up
for hearing.
The accused persons,Imuekemhe, Joseph Emoabino, Aghator Efe and Davidi Igbinoba, are facing trial on eight count charges of diversion of fund among others.
The ex-Edo state government scribe, had allegedly conspired with the three others to divert a total sum of N113m, being the state Universal Basic Education UBE fund.
They are currently been tried by the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission EFCC on the offence which they allegedly committed on June 5, 2012 when Emoabino was the states UBE chairman, Igbinoba the secretary and Efe, Director of finance and accounts.
Meanwhile, the four accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges when the case came up for hearing on Monday.
Mr. Omoruyi Omonuwa, Counsel to Imuekemhe, had filed an application for the accused to be granted bail.
Omonuwa’s bail application was however opposed by counsel to EFCC, Mr. Larry Aso.
The EFCC lawyer, argued that he was opposing to the application on the ground that the four accused had been on administrative bail since when the matter was supposed to come up in court in February 26.
Ruling on the request by the accused lawyer, Justice Esther Edigin turned down the bail application on the ground that the administrative bail has elapsed since the matter was now before the court.
She said “I cannot grant bail when the bail application has not been heard,” she stated.
Jonathan’s Confab Of Cheerleaders-- By Uche Igwe
As I perused the final delegates’ list released by the Federal
government, it evoked several feelings within me about the entity called
Nigeria. First, I was torn between surprise, laughter and surprisingly,
commendation. We are an unserious nation, otherwise how can we endure
the torture of the pretension of these so- called 492 ‘wise’ men and
women, claiming to talk on our behalf. What are they going to talk
about? What have they ever talked about? Who do they represent? When
shall we get angry enough? Let me start by that commendation.
I commend President Goodluck Jonathan. Yes. At least for once. He has
proven to the Nigerian public that he is a man who whenever he makes up
his mind, he will go ahead to act, regardless of how we feel or
respond. When he announced the intention of his government to hold a
national conference, there was wild condemnation and even suspicion from
many parts of the country and beyond. He went ahead and ignored us and
announced an interim committee with a robust budget for the conference.
Other people kicked again. Yet the Presidency persisted. With the
characters that he nominated to the meeting it is now clear that our
President wants to try to test the quantum of powers that he has. He
seems to have passed a message saying “ I am in charge and there is
nothing anyone can do about it”One of the most nauseating consequences
of our democratic pollution is the distorted manifestation and flagrant
abuse of the word representation. I can see that many of the delegates
in the list claim to represent one set of stakeholders or another.
Really? That is how arbitrary the country has become. Many people parade themselves as representing X or Y even without the consultation or consent of those who they claim to represent. Professional representatives! Is it not better to say that they represent their stomachs? That is the carryover from our politics. Our governors, senators, assemblymen, indeed all politicians claim to represent us or at least somebody and often attempt to defend their actions and inactions in terms of public interest, yet the public have neither contact or access to any of them. I am sure many Nigerians feel the same way about the Confab delegates. One highly placed source confirmed to the writer that most of the representatives of these organisations are government nominees.
That raises the important spectre that is hanging on the Abuja gathering. Is it not probable that somebody somewhere might have finalised the communiqué of the confab even before it begins? I will try to explain this further drawing from the little I know about the issues surrounding the nomination of the representatives of the civil society organisations to that event. Let me make one point here. I respect many (of course not all) the delegates that have been nominated to represent the civil society organisations. There are noble people among them who have cut their teeth in the struggle locally and internationally and who have managed to keep their pedigree intact. However, I am concerned not about their persons but about the process of their emergence. As soon as a call for nominations began, there were many intrigues that followed. Some NGO networks volunteered to coordinate the process.
I am aware that there were many consultative meetings in the six geopolitical zones and many hot exchanges to arrive at a consensus about who will be in the list. Of course, consensus is something very difficult with NGOs. At the last count, there were at list six different civil society lists circulating. At the end, some names that were published in the media got missing between the media and the government office in charge of the process. Now even though some of us who have been critical insist that the gathering is going to be a sham, it is also right that our do-good civil society folks manage to make their process transparent. By transparency, I mean that they should be able to tell their stakeholders if anyone influenced the list so as to know who clearly they represent, including representing themselves. True.
That said, I really wonder what substantive contributions people like former Governor D.S. P Alamieyeseigha, PDP Chieftain, Olabode George, Chief Edwin Clark, Senator Prof Jubril Aminu, Mrs Remi Kuku,Ms Ann Kio Briggs, Prof. Jerry Gana, Prof Kimse Koko, MallamTankoYakassai, Col. Tony Nyiam, Chief Asara A. Asaraetc could bring to the table in such a gathering except fine-tuning the strategy of how to force Jonathan on Nigerians in 2015.
Now that is why I am bothered that people like Rev. Nnimmo Bassey, Pastor TundeBakare, Olisa Agbakoba SAN, Femi Falana SAN , Eze Nwagwu etc decided to hand them an honour of answering co-delegates and earning an undeserved but priceless stamp of legitimacy. What difference will a vocal minority make before these known transactional political hawks? Some say it is an opportunity to engage and I say, with what? Finally, it is important to re-echo that the necessary condition for citizens to support a government is that such a government does not continue to trample on what citizens believe in as their rights.
To remain in power therefore, government must be seen to be sensitive to these in order to aspire to retain the support of citizens. Alternatively, government may decide otherwise. However, extending such sensitive boundaries of citizens aspirations from their government should attract consequences. The possibility that citizens could withdraw their support should unsettle any government. But not in Nigeria, because the support of the parasitic elite not the citizens is what government requires to remain in power. Simply because votes do not yet count and so threatening a government that has a firm grip of the machinery of patronage and manipulation sound to them like a fairy tale.
In our helplessness as citizens, we may not have the choice of making government responsive enough to appreciate that the voices of the citizens matter, but no one should contest our inalienable right to who and what to support. I do not support this conference. It is national distraction. But will our support or lack of it make any significant difference? Nigerian democracy is a different ball game. While the majority will continue to shout and cry to have a say, the minority will always try to have their way.
However the risk we cannot take is to submit out right to dissent without a contest. That will be tantamount to compromise. Now looking back at the list of delegates and how they emerged, will anything come out of this confab? Surely the delegates know deep down in themselves that it is already an exercise in futility. It is a money- guzzling jamboree to keep Nigerians busy for another three months. Eight billion naira getting ready to be flushed down the drain and much more. Nonetheless, no one can deny the fact that regardless of the outcome, it will serve as one potential remedy to the legitimacy deficit of Jonathan’s administration and soften the ground for his possible declaration to contest for another term in office.
The ruling party is desperately focused on retaining power more than any observer can imagine. This confab signals a scene of a well-rehearsed political drama that will lead to the permutations of 2015. Let it play on while we watch from the sidelines.
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan
Really? That is how arbitrary the country has become. Many people parade themselves as representing X or Y even without the consultation or consent of those who they claim to represent. Professional representatives! Is it not better to say that they represent their stomachs? That is the carryover from our politics. Our governors, senators, assemblymen, indeed all politicians claim to represent us or at least somebody and often attempt to defend their actions and inactions in terms of public interest, yet the public have neither contact or access to any of them. I am sure many Nigerians feel the same way about the Confab delegates. One highly placed source confirmed to the writer that most of the representatives of these organisations are government nominees.
That raises the important spectre that is hanging on the Abuja gathering. Is it not probable that somebody somewhere might have finalised the communiqué of the confab even before it begins? I will try to explain this further drawing from the little I know about the issues surrounding the nomination of the representatives of the civil society organisations to that event. Let me make one point here. I respect many (of course not all) the delegates that have been nominated to represent the civil society organisations. There are noble people among them who have cut their teeth in the struggle locally and internationally and who have managed to keep their pedigree intact. However, I am concerned not about their persons but about the process of their emergence. As soon as a call for nominations began, there were many intrigues that followed. Some NGO networks volunteered to coordinate the process.
I am aware that there were many consultative meetings in the six geopolitical zones and many hot exchanges to arrive at a consensus about who will be in the list. Of course, consensus is something very difficult with NGOs. At the last count, there were at list six different civil society lists circulating. At the end, some names that were published in the media got missing between the media and the government office in charge of the process. Now even though some of us who have been critical insist that the gathering is going to be a sham, it is also right that our do-good civil society folks manage to make their process transparent. By transparency, I mean that they should be able to tell their stakeholders if anyone influenced the list so as to know who clearly they represent, including representing themselves. True.
That said, I really wonder what substantive contributions people like former Governor D.S. P Alamieyeseigha, PDP Chieftain, Olabode George, Chief Edwin Clark, Senator Prof Jubril Aminu, Mrs Remi Kuku,Ms Ann Kio Briggs, Prof. Jerry Gana, Prof Kimse Koko, MallamTankoYakassai, Col. Tony Nyiam, Chief Asara A. Asaraetc could bring to the table in such a gathering except fine-tuning the strategy of how to force Jonathan on Nigerians in 2015.
Now that is why I am bothered that people like Rev. Nnimmo Bassey, Pastor TundeBakare, Olisa Agbakoba SAN, Femi Falana SAN , Eze Nwagwu etc decided to hand them an honour of answering co-delegates and earning an undeserved but priceless stamp of legitimacy. What difference will a vocal minority make before these known transactional political hawks? Some say it is an opportunity to engage and I say, with what? Finally, it is important to re-echo that the necessary condition for citizens to support a government is that such a government does not continue to trample on what citizens believe in as their rights.
To remain in power therefore, government must be seen to be sensitive to these in order to aspire to retain the support of citizens. Alternatively, government may decide otherwise. However, extending such sensitive boundaries of citizens aspirations from their government should attract consequences. The possibility that citizens could withdraw their support should unsettle any government. But not in Nigeria, because the support of the parasitic elite not the citizens is what government requires to remain in power. Simply because votes do not yet count and so threatening a government that has a firm grip of the machinery of patronage and manipulation sound to them like a fairy tale.
In our helplessness as citizens, we may not have the choice of making government responsive enough to appreciate that the voices of the citizens matter, but no one should contest our inalienable right to who and what to support. I do not support this conference. It is national distraction. But will our support or lack of it make any significant difference? Nigerian democracy is a different ball game. While the majority will continue to shout and cry to have a say, the minority will always try to have their way.
However the risk we cannot take is to submit out right to dissent without a contest. That will be tantamount to compromise. Now looking back at the list of delegates and how they emerged, will anything come out of this confab? Surely the delegates know deep down in themselves that it is already an exercise in futility. It is a money- guzzling jamboree to keep Nigerians busy for another three months. Eight billion naira getting ready to be flushed down the drain and much more. Nonetheless, no one can deny the fact that regardless of the outcome, it will serve as one potential remedy to the legitimacy deficit of Jonathan’s administration and soften the ground for his possible declaration to contest for another term in office.
The ruling party is desperately focused on retaining power more than any observer can imagine. This confab signals a scene of a well-rehearsed political drama that will lead to the permutations of 2015. Let it play on while we watch from the sidelines.
Atiku advocates for decentralization of education
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has
called for the decentralization of the nation’s education system to
reverse the declining fortunes of the sector.
Speaking at the 16th Annual Conference
of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE) hosted by the
Department of Mass Communication of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka,
Abubakar said federal schools should be handed over to states where they
are located.
He said the budgetary resources hitherto expended on them should then been transferred to those state governments a statement from his media office said.
The former vice president said the over centralization of education has killed creativity and hampered scholarship in the country insisting that an important solution to reversing the backward trend.
He said: “We cannot significantly improve education in this country if we continue with the current overly centralized system with suffocating federal control. The federal government should focus on setting up regulatory standards and enforcing those standards.”
Atiku added that “we must also diversify our curriculum and educational programmes. The current one-size-fits-all approach will not help us.”
He said the budgetary resources hitherto expended on them should then been transferred to those state governments a statement from his media office said.
The former vice president said the over centralization of education has killed creativity and hampered scholarship in the country insisting that an important solution to reversing the backward trend.
He said: “We cannot significantly improve education in this country if we continue with the current overly centralized system with suffocating federal control. The federal government should focus on setting up regulatory standards and enforcing those standards.”
Atiku added that “we must also diversify our curriculum and educational programmes. The current one-size-fits-all approach will not help us.”
DISUNITY AMONG IGBO GOVS IS NOT GOOD , OKOROCHA LAMENTS
Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State yesterday in Enugu identified
disunity as the major thing holding back the political advancement of
the Igbo, disclosing that even the governors in the South-East are not
at peace with one another.
Okorocha, who spoke at the opening of the International Colloquium on the Igbo Question in Nigeria, holding at the Igbozurume Unity Centre, Emene Enugu, noted that in the search for unity, the Igbo must seek the face of God and go for atonement.
Highlighting the level of disunity among the various personalities and groups in Igboland, the governor who has long stopped attending the South-East Governors’ Forum, fingered the governors as part of those who need reconciliation if the elusive unity among the people is to be achieved.
Said he; “The Igbo nation is not working, but it will take my generation to make it work; we have everything, the only thing lacking is unity. Any day we achieve unity, Igbo will move mountains in this country. We are Hebrews, thus, no nation can defeat Ndi-Igbo, but we must come together to attain our potentials.
“Ojukwu has died without reconciling with Ekwueme; Jim Nwobodo and Mbakwe were not in good terms, among the governors, they are not in good terms. Igbo must forgive themselves, we have the Arewa House, Oduduwa House, but Ohaneze does not have any of such because of disunity. The war did not unite us neither has our language united us.
“Igbo have to go for atonement, peace and reconciliation; Igbo must converge in Enugu and ask God for forgiveness; we must fast and pray. We must set out a day for atonement. The problem of Nigeria is because an Igbo man has not ruled this country; other tribes have tried but I tell you any day an Igbo man mounts the saddle, Nigerians will heave a sigh of relief,” Okorocha said.
In a welcome address, Coordinator and Chairman of the Colloquium Planning Committee, Prof. Uzodimma Nwala, noted that the event is a platform for the Igbo to commune collectively over the economic, political and socio-cultural challenges facing the Igbo nation, both in Nigeria and the world today.
He said it’s an opportunity to examine the historical roots of contemporary Igbo predicament; consider the impact of the Biafra experience on the Igbo nation today, and examine the issues raised by literary icon, Prof. Chinua Achebe in his book, ‘There was a country.”
He stressed the need for the colloquium to produce a Blueprint/Charter for the survival of the Igbo nation in both Nigeria and the world ,pointing out that such a blueprint shall articulate not only what is to be done, but how to achieve them.
Okorocha, who spoke at the opening of the International Colloquium on the Igbo Question in Nigeria, holding at the Igbozurume Unity Centre, Emene Enugu, noted that in the search for unity, the Igbo must seek the face of God and go for atonement.
Highlighting the level of disunity among the various personalities and groups in Igboland, the governor who has long stopped attending the South-East Governors’ Forum, fingered the governors as part of those who need reconciliation if the elusive unity among the people is to be achieved.
Said he; “The Igbo nation is not working, but it will take my generation to make it work; we have everything, the only thing lacking is unity. Any day we achieve unity, Igbo will move mountains in this country. We are Hebrews, thus, no nation can defeat Ndi-Igbo, but we must come together to attain our potentials.
“Ojukwu has died without reconciling with Ekwueme; Jim Nwobodo and Mbakwe were not in good terms, among the governors, they are not in good terms. Igbo must forgive themselves, we have the Arewa House, Oduduwa House, but Ohaneze does not have any of such because of disunity. The war did not unite us neither has our language united us.
“Igbo have to go for atonement, peace and reconciliation; Igbo must converge in Enugu and ask God for forgiveness; we must fast and pray. We must set out a day for atonement. The problem of Nigeria is because an Igbo man has not ruled this country; other tribes have tried but I tell you any day an Igbo man mounts the saddle, Nigerians will heave a sigh of relief,” Okorocha said.
In a welcome address, Coordinator and Chairman of the Colloquium Planning Committee, Prof. Uzodimma Nwala, noted that the event is a platform for the Igbo to commune collectively over the economic, political and socio-cultural challenges facing the Igbo nation, both in Nigeria and the world today.
He said it’s an opportunity to examine the historical roots of contemporary Igbo predicament; consider the impact of the Biafra experience on the Igbo nation today, and examine the issues raised by literary icon, Prof. Chinua Achebe in his book, ‘There was a country.”
He stressed the need for the colloquium to produce a Blueprint/Charter for the survival of the Igbo nation in both Nigeria and the world ,pointing out that such a blueprint shall articulate not only what is to be done, but how to achieve them.
After Jonathan, No Resource Control- Amaechi
Governor Chibuike Amaechi has advised the South South zone to forget
about resource control, if President Goodluck Jonathan fails to address
the issue during his tenure as President of the country.
Amaechi gave the advice in Port Harcourt yesterday, during an international conference on, “Democracy and Good Governance” held at the Banquet Hall of the Government House.
He expressed surprise that people, especially those from the South-South region, suddenly stopped talking about resource control, adding that the region is not yet controlling its resources.
He said: “Why are we not talking about it now? Are we controlling our resources? Or, is our turn to chop… If tomorrow, President Goodluck Jonathan departs from office, won’t the majority people still take the resource? Why are we not talking about it now?” He said if the President, as a South-South person failed to amend the constitution to warrant geo-political zone controlling its resources, as no other person from another part of the country would do it.
“Now, nobody is hearing, South-South is oppressed. Have they stopped oppressing us? Do we all have federal roads, do we all have water? So, what I’m saying is that, we are no longer talking about resource control.
“Now, the nation has given us power, is it not? Have we changed the constitution to make us control our resources? So, why haven’t we? That’s the question; we need to address this issue. We need to address that resources control we have been talking about before… If tomorrow, there’s new president, will this oppression not continue?
“You know what Nigeria has done to South-South people. They have just done one thing that, at the end of the administration of a South-South President, you can’t talk about resource control again. Its finished forever because, if you don’t give yourself that resource control, will another person give it to you?”
Amaechi gave the advice in Port Harcourt yesterday, during an international conference on, “Democracy and Good Governance” held at the Banquet Hall of the Government House.
He expressed surprise that people, especially those from the South-South region, suddenly stopped talking about resource control, adding that the region is not yet controlling its resources.
He said: “Why are we not talking about it now? Are we controlling our resources? Or, is our turn to chop… If tomorrow, President Goodluck Jonathan departs from office, won’t the majority people still take the resource? Why are we not talking about it now?” He said if the President, as a South-South person failed to amend the constitution to warrant geo-political zone controlling its resources, as no other person from another part of the country would do it.
“Now, nobody is hearing, South-South is oppressed. Have they stopped oppressing us? Do we all have federal roads, do we all have water? So, what I’m saying is that, we are no longer talking about resource control.
“Now, the nation has given us power, is it not? Have we changed the constitution to make us control our resources? So, why haven’t we? That’s the question; we need to address this issue. We need to address that resources control we have been talking about before… If tomorrow, there’s new president, will this oppression not continue?
“You know what Nigeria has done to South-South people. They have just done one thing that, at the end of the administration of a South-South President, you can’t talk about resource control again. Its finished forever because, if you don’t give yourself that resource control, will another person give it to you?”
Kidnappers abducts commissioner’s sister in Bayelsa
Suspected kidnappers have struck again in Bayelsa State as they
kidnapped Mrs. Joyce Ebua, a sister to the Commissioner for Sports, Mr.
Maitama Obodo.
Ebua was kidnapped in Olobiri community, Ogbia Local Government Area by five gunmen and whisked her to an unknown destination.
Ebua’s abduction is coming two weeks after the foster father of President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Inegite Nitabai was kidnapped in the same local government area.
Checks indicated that Ebua was kidnapped from her house in Oloibiri on Monday evening at about 8.55 pm, and her kidnappers took her away through the waterways behind her house.
Investigations revealed that the new Joint Task Force ( JTF) Operation Pulo Shield Commander, Major General Emmanuel Atewe was irked by the incident and immediately convened a meeting of officers and men of the outfit at the headquarters of the JTF in Yenagoa over the incident.
Atewe, after the meeting, was said to have led troops to the scene of the incident to get first hand information from eyewitnesses.
An eyewitness account said one of the kidnappers was wearing a police uniform, which did not make people to suspect their motive until they abducted their victim and shot sporadically into the air to escape.
Media Coordinator of the JTF, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu who confirmed the incident said the JTF is on top of the situation.
“The command has activated the security network on both land and waterways in conjunction with other security agencies to locate and track down the kidnappers” he said.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara also confirmed the incident and said the police had begun investigations.
Ebua was kidnapped in Olobiri community, Ogbia Local Government Area by five gunmen and whisked her to an unknown destination.
Ebua’s abduction is coming two weeks after the foster father of President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Inegite Nitabai was kidnapped in the same local government area.
Checks indicated that Ebua was kidnapped from her house in Oloibiri on Monday evening at about 8.55 pm, and her kidnappers took her away through the waterways behind her house.
Investigations revealed that the new Joint Task Force ( JTF) Operation Pulo Shield Commander, Major General Emmanuel Atewe was irked by the incident and immediately convened a meeting of officers and men of the outfit at the headquarters of the JTF in Yenagoa over the incident.
Atewe, after the meeting, was said to have led troops to the scene of the incident to get first hand information from eyewitnesses.
An eyewitness account said one of the kidnappers was wearing a police uniform, which did not make people to suspect their motive until they abducted their victim and shot sporadically into the air to escape.
Media Coordinator of the JTF, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu who confirmed the incident said the JTF is on top of the situation.
“The command has activated the security network on both land and waterways in conjunction with other security agencies to locate and track down the kidnappers” he said.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara also confirmed the incident and said the police had begun investigations.
APC accuses FG of moves to hike fuel prices
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the PDP-led Federal
Government of acting out a clandestine script to increase fuel prices
through the back door.
It stated that the ongoing nationwide fuel scarcity may have been induced to make higher fuel prices a fait accompli for Nigerians.
In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the fact that the scarcity had persisted despite the claims and counter-claims by the government and the oil marketers, and the measures purportedly taken by the government to ameliorate the situation, was the clearest indication of official deception.
‘’The more fuel trucks the government claims to have sent to major cities to ease the scarcity, the more difficult it is for Nigerians to obtain the product. This is an old trick and Nigerians should not be hoodwinked into believing there will be no increase in fuel prices. The only deterrent is to let the government know Nigerians will resist any price hike.
‘’The truth is that with the elections approaching, the PDP-led Federal Government is desperately seeking all possible avenues to raise funds for its usual electoral shenanigans, and increasing fuel prices has always been an
attractive option to the government, not minding what the impact it will have on the same people it has impoverished since 1999,’’ it said.
The APC said the lingering scarcity had forced many Nigerians to pay as much as N120 per litre on fuel.
’The next refrain from the government will be that only higher prices will guarantee the availability of the product, and that many marketers are unwilling to import the product because of low profit margin. We urge Nigerians not to swallow this bait,’’ the party stated.
It commended the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for its timely warning
against any plan to hike fuel prices, saying the Jonathan administration’s assurances that fuel prices would not be increased “are not worth anything because the government is credibility-deficient.”
It stated that the ongoing nationwide fuel scarcity may have been induced to make higher fuel prices a fait accompli for Nigerians.
In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the fact that the scarcity had persisted despite the claims and counter-claims by the government and the oil marketers, and the measures purportedly taken by the government to ameliorate the situation, was the clearest indication of official deception.
‘’The more fuel trucks the government claims to have sent to major cities to ease the scarcity, the more difficult it is for Nigerians to obtain the product. This is an old trick and Nigerians should not be hoodwinked into believing there will be no increase in fuel prices. The only deterrent is to let the government know Nigerians will resist any price hike.
‘’The truth is that with the elections approaching, the PDP-led Federal Government is desperately seeking all possible avenues to raise funds for its usual electoral shenanigans, and increasing fuel prices has always been an
attractive option to the government, not minding what the impact it will have on the same people it has impoverished since 1999,’’ it said.
The APC said the lingering scarcity had forced many Nigerians to pay as much as N120 per litre on fuel.
’The next refrain from the government will be that only higher prices will guarantee the availability of the product, and that many marketers are unwilling to import the product because of low profit margin. We urge Nigerians not to swallow this bait,’’ the party stated.
It commended the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for its timely warning
against any plan to hike fuel prices, saying the Jonathan administration’s assurances that fuel prices would not be increased “are not worth anything because the government is credibility-deficient.”
Ekiti 2014: PDP postpones Ward Congresses
THE Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), has postponed, by one week, ward
congresses for the 2014 governorship primary in Ekiti State.
This is contained in a statement yesterday in Abuja, by Mr Olisa Metuh, the party‘s National Publicity Secretary.
The congress, according to the statement, was earlier scheduled to hold today.
Metuh said the postponement was to allow members participate in the on-going continuous voter registration and verification of registration of voters by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the PDP Screening Committee had cleared 13 of 16 aspirants to participate in the primaries ahead of the governorship poll slated for June 21.
Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, the Chairman of the screening committee, presented the committee’s report to the party’s leadership in Abuja on March 10.
This is contained in a statement yesterday in Abuja, by Mr Olisa Metuh, the party‘s National Publicity Secretary.
The congress, according to the statement, was earlier scheduled to hold today.
Metuh said the postponement was to allow members participate in the on-going continuous voter registration and verification of registration of voters by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the PDP Screening Committee had cleared 13 of 16 aspirants to participate in the primaries ahead of the governorship poll slated for June 21.
Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, the Chairman of the screening committee, presented the committee’s report to the party’s leadership in Abuja on March 10.
‘Appointment of suspected murderer as minister insult on Yoruba’
A body, the Coalition of Oodua Self-Determination Groups (COSEG), has
described the appointment of Mr. Jelili Adeshiyan by President Goodluck
Jonathan as the Police Affairs Minister, as an insult on the Yoruba.
“It is also an attempt to shield him and his cohorts from prosecution over the death of the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige,” the group added.
In a statement by its Chairman and Secretary, Ifedayo Ogunlana and Rasak Olokoba, at the end of its monthly meeting where the state of the nation was discussed, the body described the appointment as an attempt to pervert the course of justice.
According to the group, the appointment of Adeshiyan is not only an insult on the people of Yoruba land, but also a disservice to the memory of Chief Bola Ige. A man, who is an aide of Senator Iyiola Omisore, known for violence and brigandage, cannot be trusted in such a position. He is still under investigation for the murder of Ige, yet he is a minister in charge of a government agency. This calls to question the anti-corruption crusade of the Jonathan administration.”
It said: “We have noticed the hatred President Jonathan has for our people. This is why a suspected murderer could be appointed as a Police Affairs Minister.”
COSEG decried the Senate for the hasty manner it confirmed the nomination of the suspected murderer, despite opposition from the three senators from Osun State.
“We are confused on how a man standing trial for murder could have scaled the screening of the security as well as that of the Senate.
“It is also worrisome how our security system works if a suspected murderer, who has a case in court, could scale through security screening. This is why government has been unable to stop Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast,” the group said.
It went on: “The appointment of Adeshiyan is not only mischievous, but also reckless, immoral, anti-people and a dangerous trend in the political development and appointments because he who asks for equity must come with clean hands.
The appointment of Adeshiyan is flawed. The Jonathan administration cannot continue to scorn the late Ige, an ex-Justice Minister.”
COSEG said it would resist attempt by the President to allegedly use the minister to rig the forthcoming governorship election in Osun State, adding that it would protect the sanctity of the electoral process.
“It is also an attempt to shield him and his cohorts from prosecution over the death of the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige,” the group added.
In a statement by its Chairman and Secretary, Ifedayo Ogunlana and Rasak Olokoba, at the end of its monthly meeting where the state of the nation was discussed, the body described the appointment as an attempt to pervert the course of justice.
According to the group, the appointment of Adeshiyan is not only an insult on the people of Yoruba land, but also a disservice to the memory of Chief Bola Ige. A man, who is an aide of Senator Iyiola Omisore, known for violence and brigandage, cannot be trusted in such a position. He is still under investigation for the murder of Ige, yet he is a minister in charge of a government agency. This calls to question the anti-corruption crusade of the Jonathan administration.”
It said: “We have noticed the hatred President Jonathan has for our people. This is why a suspected murderer could be appointed as a Police Affairs Minister.”
COSEG decried the Senate for the hasty manner it confirmed the nomination of the suspected murderer, despite opposition from the three senators from Osun State.
“We are confused on how a man standing trial for murder could have scaled the screening of the security as well as that of the Senate.
“It is also worrisome how our security system works if a suspected murderer, who has a case in court, could scale through security screening. This is why government has been unable to stop Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast,” the group said.
It went on: “The appointment of Adeshiyan is not only mischievous, but also reckless, immoral, anti-people and a dangerous trend in the political development and appointments because he who asks for equity must come with clean hands.
The appointment of Adeshiyan is flawed. The Jonathan administration cannot continue to scorn the late Ige, an ex-Justice Minister.”
COSEG said it would resist attempt by the President to allegedly use the minister to rig the forthcoming governorship election in Osun State, adding that it would protect the sanctity of the electoral process.
Choice of candidate tears Osun PDP apart
Crisis is brewing in the Osun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
over the selection of its governorship flag bearer, it was learnt
yesterday. The primaries is scheduled for Osogbo, the state capital on
March 26. The governorship poll willhold on August 9.
Sources said that President Goodluck Jonathan’s advice to the troubled chapter to pick a consensus candidate among the aspirants have been jettisoned, following their refusal to step down for one another and mounting agitations for primaries by their supporters.
The aspirants are former Governor Isiaka Adeleke, who until 2011, was a senator, former House of Representatives member Hon. Wole Oke, Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi, and the former deputy governor, Senator Omisore. But, the contest has been narrowed down to Adeleke and Omisore, who have embarked on aggressive internal campaign in support of their aspiration.
Members told our correspondent that, following the President’s advice, a section of the party started to root for Omisore’s candidature, based on the criteria that he has money to oil the party’s campaign machinery and he hails from Ife/Ijesa District, the birth place of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
However, the agitation for the adoption of Omisore as a consensus candidate has created division in the party as influential party elders pointed out that the ruling party may embark on media campaign against his candidature as a prime suspect in the Bola Ige murder trial.
At the recent meeting of the select stakeholders in Osogbo, it was resolved that Omisore, although a dedicated party leader and financier, may not be marketable at the poll, owing to what they described as “the problem of perception”. But, pro-Omisore supporters perceive Adeleke as a candidate who lacks resources to fund a state-wide campaign.
A source said: “We are in the electioneering period. In our party, it is believed that, if Omisore emerges as the governorship candidate, his detractors will always link his political career to the tragedy of Ige’s murder, although he has been cleared by the court and absolved of the charges. Ige’s son, Muyiwa, has been protesting that he is the prime suspect. You know that the people of Osun and Southwest are still bitter over the gruesome murder of the deputy Afenifere leader.
He added: “The party came to this dilemma. If Omisore will not be endorsed, who is capable of challenging Aregbesola? That was how some leaders started rooting for Adeleke, who initially, had indicated an interest to return to the Senate in 2015. But, it is not the end of the matter. Omisore is still protesting and he believes that he will get the ticket at the primaries”.
Another source said that “there is no iota of truth in the rumour that the Osun PDP has resolved to adopt Senator Isiaka Adeleke as the consensus candidate”. He said that the former governor joined the race late and did not purchase the nomination form before it was closed.
The source also denied that President Jonathan had a candidate in mind when he suggested the consensus formula to the chapter at the meeting he held with its leaders in Abuja.
He added: “There was election in Anambra. Did the President put down anybody? Is the President putting down anybody in Ekiti? The fact is that the equation on ground favours Osun West, where Adeleke and Olasunkanmi Akinlabi comes from. It has been suggested that a Muslim candidate will rub shoulders with Aregbesola and the two of them are Muslims. Adeleke joined the race because the equation favours him.
‘But, the President has told our leaders that he has no candidate in mind. He only urged them to present a person as a consensus candidate”.
According to the source, aspirants had up to December 31 to indicate their interest in the ticket by paying N5m for the nomination form, pointing out that Adeleke did not observe the guideline.
He added: “On January 8, after the deadline, only three candidates paid the money; Akinlabi, Omisore and Oluwole Oke. Adeleke did not pay the amount. So, where is he starting from? He just flying a carte.
The party source said that primaries will hold, stressing that it is in the interest of the party. He said: “One of the aspirants is desperate. he wants to subvert and manipulate the process. That was why the secretary of the party, Major Raphael Towobola, who hails from Ile-Ife, was suspended for one month so that he will not be around during the primaries holding on March 26”.
Sources said that President Goodluck Jonathan’s advice to the troubled chapter to pick a consensus candidate among the aspirants have been jettisoned, following their refusal to step down for one another and mounting agitations for primaries by their supporters.
The aspirants are former Governor Isiaka Adeleke, who until 2011, was a senator, former House of Representatives member Hon. Wole Oke, Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi, and the former deputy governor, Senator Omisore. But, the contest has been narrowed down to Adeleke and Omisore, who have embarked on aggressive internal campaign in support of their aspiration.
Members told our correspondent that, following the President’s advice, a section of the party started to root for Omisore’s candidature, based on the criteria that he has money to oil the party’s campaign machinery and he hails from Ife/Ijesa District, the birth place of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
However, the agitation for the adoption of Omisore as a consensus candidate has created division in the party as influential party elders pointed out that the ruling party may embark on media campaign against his candidature as a prime suspect in the Bola Ige murder trial.
At the recent meeting of the select stakeholders in Osogbo, it was resolved that Omisore, although a dedicated party leader and financier, may not be marketable at the poll, owing to what they described as “the problem of perception”. But, pro-Omisore supporters perceive Adeleke as a candidate who lacks resources to fund a state-wide campaign.
A source said: “We are in the electioneering period. In our party, it is believed that, if Omisore emerges as the governorship candidate, his detractors will always link his political career to the tragedy of Ige’s murder, although he has been cleared by the court and absolved of the charges. Ige’s son, Muyiwa, has been protesting that he is the prime suspect. You know that the people of Osun and Southwest are still bitter over the gruesome murder of the deputy Afenifere leader.
He added: “The party came to this dilemma. If Omisore will not be endorsed, who is capable of challenging Aregbesola? That was how some leaders started rooting for Adeleke, who initially, had indicated an interest to return to the Senate in 2015. But, it is not the end of the matter. Omisore is still protesting and he believes that he will get the ticket at the primaries”.
Another source said that “there is no iota of truth in the rumour that the Osun PDP has resolved to adopt Senator Isiaka Adeleke as the consensus candidate”. He said that the former governor joined the race late and did not purchase the nomination form before it was closed.
The source also denied that President Jonathan had a candidate in mind when he suggested the consensus formula to the chapter at the meeting he held with its leaders in Abuja.
He added: “There was election in Anambra. Did the President put down anybody? Is the President putting down anybody in Ekiti? The fact is that the equation on ground favours Osun West, where Adeleke and Olasunkanmi Akinlabi comes from. It has been suggested that a Muslim candidate will rub shoulders with Aregbesola and the two of them are Muslims. Adeleke joined the race because the equation favours him.
‘But, the President has told our leaders that he has no candidate in mind. He only urged them to present a person as a consensus candidate”.
According to the source, aspirants had up to December 31 to indicate their interest in the ticket by paying N5m for the nomination form, pointing out that Adeleke did not observe the guideline.
He added: “On January 8, after the deadline, only three candidates paid the money; Akinlabi, Omisore and Oluwole Oke. Adeleke did not pay the amount. So, where is he starting from? He just flying a carte.
The party source said that primaries will hold, stressing that it is in the interest of the party. He said: “One of the aspirants is desperate. he wants to subvert and manipulate the process. That was why the secretary of the party, Major Raphael Towobola, who hails from Ile-Ife, was suspended for one month so that he will not be around during the primaries holding on March 26”.
Absence of judge stalls hearing in Sanusi’s suit against FG
The absence of Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court,
Abuja, on Wednesday stalled hearing in the suit filed by suspended CBN
Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
Sanusi had, through his lead counsel, Mr Kola Awodein (SAN),
challenged his suspension by President Goodluck Jonathan and prayed for
an order to re-instate him as CBN Governor.At the hearing of the case on Wednesday, Justice Kolawole was not in court and an official informed the parties and counsel that the judge was attending a seminar.
All parties and counsel were asked to come back to court on March 19.
It will be recalled that on Feb. 27, Kolawole, ruled in Sanusi’s motion ex-parte seeking an interlocutory injunction from the court for a reversal of the president’s decision.
“I feel hesitant and constrained to grant the plaintiff’s application because it would be unfair to grant such an application without affording the respondents a hearing.
“It is unsafe, judicially speaking, to embark on far-reaching interim orders which have all the attributes of a mandatory
injunction without according the defendants a hearing,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) also recalls that Sanusi had on Feb. 24, approached the court with a motion ex-parte seeking an interim order against the President, Attorney-General and their agents.
He had prayed the court to restrain the defendants from “obstructing, disturbing, stopping or preventing him in any manner whatsoever, from performing the functions as Governor of the Central Bank’’.
Sanusi had also sought to be allowed to fully enjoy the statutory powers and privileges attached to the office, arguing that any delay might cause him irreparable and serious damages.
The plaintiff’s motion was supported by a nine-paragraph affidavit and two exhibits attached and marked as Exhibit AA1 and AA2.
Exhibit AA1 is a copy of his appointment letter dated June 2009, titled: “Appointment as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria’’.
Exhibit AA2 is his suspension letter dated Feb. 19, 2014 from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, titled “Suspension from office’’, the subject of the suit.
Former
military head of state and All Progressives Congress, APC chieftain,
General Muhammadu Buhari has cautioned Nigerians to be wary of those he
claimed are desperate to divide the country along ethnic and religious
lines for their selfish purposes.
Affirming that Nigerians were generally united by common issues and challenges, Buhari in a statement said he was on his part determined not to surrender to the manipulations of those he claimed were mostly in the ruling class.
The statement posted on his facebook page on Tuesday night had as at press time yesterday attracted 626 likes and 263 comments, mostly supportive from friends. While supportive, there were some, however, which said support for his comment did not mean backing a presidential bid by the former head of state.
Vowing not to surrender to zealots, Buhari said:
“As Nigerians, we must work together and support each other because the challenges we face are similar: rampant corruption, incompetent leadership, and the threat of insecurity.”
“We therefore share common goals, hopes and aspirations – for a new Nigeria that is free, secure and prosperous. As a result, we also share a common enemy; the predatory class of vested interests who want to sustain the status quo and perpetuate their monumental misrule.”
“It is for this reason that they create an artificial North-South, Christian-Muslim divide, chanting jingoistic slogans with the hope that we would goose-step in formation, ready to tear each other apart while they busy themselves plundering our commonwealth and betraying our collective destiny.”
“It is therefore left to us to decide whether we will allow them perfect this betrayal by acting as mercenary-collaborators in the destruction of our country, or organize collectively to rescue our fatherland from their murderous grip.”
“Do not be deceived, dear friends; there is only one Nigeria, and one single struggle; which is to reclaim the destiny of this country and shape it to suit our present realities and future aspirations. And on this, there is no quitting, no giving up and no surrendering! Keep up the hope, Nigeria shall be great again!”
Affirming that Nigerians were generally united by common issues and challenges, Buhari in a statement said he was on his part determined not to surrender to the manipulations of those he claimed were mostly in the ruling class.
The statement posted on his facebook page on Tuesday night had as at press time yesterday attracted 626 likes and 263 comments, mostly supportive from friends. While supportive, there were some, however, which said support for his comment did not mean backing a presidential bid by the former head of state.
Vowing not to surrender to zealots, Buhari said:
“As Nigerians, we must work together and support each other because the challenges we face are similar: rampant corruption, incompetent leadership, and the threat of insecurity.”
“We therefore share common goals, hopes and aspirations – for a new Nigeria that is free, secure and prosperous. As a result, we also share a common enemy; the predatory class of vested interests who want to sustain the status quo and perpetuate their monumental misrule.”
“It is for this reason that they create an artificial North-South, Christian-Muslim divide, chanting jingoistic slogans with the hope that we would goose-step in formation, ready to tear each other apart while they busy themselves plundering our commonwealth and betraying our collective destiny.”
“It is therefore left to us to decide whether we will allow them perfect this betrayal by acting as mercenary-collaborators in the destruction of our country, or organize collectively to rescue our fatherland from their murderous grip.”
“Do not be deceived, dear friends; there is only one Nigeria, and one single struggle; which is to reclaim the destiny of this country and shape it to suit our present realities and future aspirations. And on this, there is no quitting, no giving up and no surrendering! Keep up the hope, Nigeria shall be great again!”
Police Pension Fraud: How Accused Persons Cashed 400 Cheques In One Day
A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of seven persons accused of
complicity in the billion naira Police Pension fraud, Mustapha Sani
Gadanya, told Justice Hussein Baba of the Federal Capital Territory High
Court how 400 cheques were cashed in a day by the accused persons.
“Over 400 cheques were withdrawn and we got this information from the bank
statement furnished us by First Bank Plc,” Mustapha said.
Led in evidence by Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, Gadanya told the court that he
obtained and analyzed the certified true copy of instruments used in
making withdrawals in the name of Veronica Onyegbula and the Directors of
Police Pension office – Esai Dangaba, Atiku Kigo Abubakar and Inuwa Wada.
“We discovered that the three directors are all signatories to the
fraudulent cheques. We also discovered that Mrs. Uzoma Cyril Attang, John
Yusuf, Gabriel Ikpe, Mike Okoro and one Mrs. Amu (currently at large), are
among those who signed the cheques”, Gadanya said.
Gadanya further told the court that the directors carried out the cheque
transactions without any letter of exemption from compliance with the
e-payment circular from the office of the Accountant General.
On further analysis of the bank statements, he said, “we discovered that
between August 2007 and December 2007, over 4billion was withdrawn;
between January and December 2008 over 5billion was withdrawn; between
January and December 2009 over 8 billion was withdrawn and between January
and December 2010 over 3 billion was withdrawn”, Gadanya told the court.
Perhaps shocked by the staggering amount, Justice Baba sought to know from
the witness what currency was involved to which the witness responded:
“Naira my Lord”.
Gadanya then went on to state that between 31st January, 2011 and 6th May,
2011 over N1billion was withdrawn and that the sum of N650 million was
withdrawn on 31st January, 2011.
Gadanya also told the court that between February and May 2011 when Inuwa
Wada was the director of the police pension office, he withdrew about
N850million, while over N4 billion was withdrawn between December 2009 and
January, 2011 when Atiku Kigo Abubakar was the director of the police
pension office.
Also over N14 billion was withdrawn during Esai Dangabar’s tenure from
January 2008 to November 2009, bringing the total amount siphoned from the
police pension account to N20 billion in flagrant violation of extant
financial regulations.
However, attempt by the prosecution to tender two documents – the analysis
of the cheques and the certificate of identification- was opposed by the
defence counsel.
Justice Baba adjourned proceedings to March 12, for ruling on the
defendants’ objection and continuation of trial.
complicity in the billion naira Police Pension fraud, Mustapha Sani
Gadanya, told Justice Hussein Baba of the Federal Capital Territory High
Court how 400 cheques were cashed in a day by the accused persons.
“Over 400 cheques were withdrawn and we got this information from the bank
statement furnished us by First Bank Plc,” Mustapha said.
Led in evidence by Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, Gadanya told the court that he
obtained and analyzed the certified true copy of instruments used in
making withdrawals in the name of Veronica Onyegbula and the Directors of
Police Pension office – Esai Dangaba, Atiku Kigo Abubakar and Inuwa Wada.
“We discovered that the three directors are all signatories to the
fraudulent cheques. We also discovered that Mrs. Uzoma Cyril Attang, John
Yusuf, Gabriel Ikpe, Mike Okoro and one Mrs. Amu (currently at large), are
among those who signed the cheques”, Gadanya said.
Gadanya further told the court that the directors carried out the cheque
transactions without any letter of exemption from compliance with the
e-payment circular from the office of the Accountant General.
On further analysis of the bank statements, he said, “we discovered that
between August 2007 and December 2007, over 4billion was withdrawn;
between January and December 2008 over 5billion was withdrawn; between
January and December 2009 over 8 billion was withdrawn and between January
and December 2010 over 3 billion was withdrawn”, Gadanya told the court.
Perhaps shocked by the staggering amount, Justice Baba sought to know from
the witness what currency was involved to which the witness responded:
“Naira my Lord”.
Gadanya then went on to state that between 31st January, 2011 and 6th May,
2011 over N1billion was withdrawn and that the sum of N650 million was
withdrawn on 31st January, 2011.
Gadanya also told the court that between February and May 2011 when Inuwa
Wada was the director of the police pension office, he withdrew about
N850million, while over N4 billion was withdrawn between December 2009 and
January, 2011 when Atiku Kigo Abubakar was the director of the police
pension office.
Also over N14 billion was withdrawn during Esai Dangabar’s tenure from
January 2008 to November 2009, bringing the total amount siphoned from the
police pension account to N20 billion in flagrant violation of extant
financial regulations.
However, attempt by the prosecution to tender two documents – the analysis
of the cheques and the certificate of identification- was opposed by the
defence counsel.
Justice Baba adjourned proceedings to March 12, for ruling on the
defendants’ objection and continuation of trial.
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
APC NATIONAL YOUTH SUPPORT flays youth docility
An emerging youth group committed to the the promotion of the ideology of the All Progressives Congress, has condemned the docility of most Nigerian youths in the face of grave political and economic enslavement. Speaking at a forum of the group held in Ikorodu, Lagos State on Monday,the National Publicity Secretary of the group, Akim Alasan decried a situation whereby most youths " are ignorant and unaware of the political situation going on the country but are rather consumed by the rabid followership of European soccer leagues, thereby believing the lies and deceits of the PDP"
He said that the APC National Youth Support is poised and determined to take their political awareness and education campaign to the youths in their comfort zones.The National Officers of the group, he said would be meeting soon to set up modalities for convening a National Summit of APC Youths which will bring together members of the group which cut across the states of the federation.
He said that the APC National Youth Support is poised and determined to take their political awareness and education campaign to the youths in their comfort zones.The National Officers of the group, he said would be meeting soon to set up modalities for convening a National Summit of APC Youths which will bring together members of the group which cut across the states of the federation.
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