reporter?:

There is nothing customary about dashing out YOUR money. As a citizen, you should be concerned that the office of the Presidency
is engaging in such despicable act.
We are know it's a subtle bribe. No one expects the presidency to say "here is 50k bribe."

Jonathan’s attempt to bribe the SNG is a reminder of last October’s allegation by Global Information System, a private think tank of retired U.S. military strategists, of Jonathan’s ongoing “corruption of the Nigerian political process.” The think tank reported that Jonathan was buying up delegates to the forthcoming PDP primaries for $13,000 (two million Naira) per vote.

princekevo (m)
Taipa(Macau)
Posts: 1735

Offline

Only God knows how much of public funds that goes into this so called 'due and customary' per year.

[size=13pt]Nigeria: Investigate $50,000 SNG Bribe, Lawyer Tells EFCC, ICPC[/size]

A lawyer, Mr Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), yesterday asked the country's anti-graft agencies to investigate the issues surrounding alleged bid to bribe a delegation of Pastor Tunde Bakare-led Save Nigeria Group (SNG) after their visit to the Presidential Villa.

The Minister of State, Niger Delta, Mr Godsday Orubebe, was accused of offering $US50,000 to the SNG team. The minister had denied the accusation.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja yesterday, Akintola said the allegation is serious if it is true and must be probed by either the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

He said any issue raised by Pastor Bakare and Yinka Odumakin should not be swept under the carpet.

He said, "All I know is that the people involved are not frivolous people, I mean Pastor Tunde Bakare and Odumakin. Odumakin and I have been in the trenches for a very long time. So I know him very well to be a man of impeccable character who will not cry wolf where there is none. I do know that he is not one of the charlatans you find around the corner that go to government offices to collect money. I think they made a mistake.

"Whoever mooted the idea in the first place against the likes of Odumakin and Tunde Bakare made a mistake because they are not the type of people that run in the mill of charlatans. Though the authenticity of it is still in doubt, if it is true that such money was given to support the ambition of Mr. President, that would be quite unfortunate because one, you have to ask where does that money come from? Then why was it denominated in dollars? Then if it was so given to who? To do what? For what purpose?" he queried.

oyb:

for the idiots whose education was wasted and who slept through ethics 101 classes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribe

Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift given that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty. The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient's conduct. It may be any money, good, right in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, object of value, advantage, or merely a promise or undertaking to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity.


Many types of bribes exist: [b]tip, gift, perk, skim, favor, discount, waived fee/ticket, free food, free ad, free trip, free tickets, sweetheart deal, kickback/payback, funding, happy meal, inflated sale of an object or property, lucrative contract, grease money, donation, campaign contribution, fund raiser, sponsorship/backing, higher paying job, stock options, secret commission, or promotion (rise of position/rank).[/b]

One must be careful of differing social and cultural norms when examining bribery. ( in the book of gej for instance) . .   Expectations of when a monetary transaction is appropriate can differ from place to place. . . .

let he without sin cast the 1st stone`. Infact, are u guys now saying that its now wrong for the Government to support any independent group becos it can be tagged as bribe? And what will the government be bribing SNG for? are they voting in the PDP primaries?

[size=13pt]Nigeria: Group Urges Probe of SNG Bribe Offer[/size]

A group known as the National Coalition for Integrity in Government (NCIG) has called for the probe of President Goodluck Jonathan over the alleged bid to induce members of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) led by Pastor Tunde Bakare with $50,000.

The group in a statement signed yesterday by Alhaji Ibrahim Suleiman expressed outrage at the alleged use of public funds to buy the conscience of opinion leaders and advocacy groups in the country.

It said that the existence of slush funds to oil the campaign of the President has further weakened public trust in the government's ability to conduct credible elections.

"It is surprising, that a President who preaches anti-corruption and recently urged Nigerians to do away with money-politics could now be found connected to a failed attempt to induce members of the Save Nigeria Group, (SNG) with $50, 000," the statement added.

According to the group, it is inconvincible that the government could be handing out $50,000 as "transport allowance" to private bodies when the same government was reluctant to pay N18, 000 as minimum wage to workers.

seanet02:

Beaf, are you dead?

Narrating his case earlier today on naijapolitics, a popular listerv, Mr. Odumakin wrote as follows: “After the meeting with the President, he left the wing where we met for another [wing] and said ‘please don't go yet I'm coming’. Sensing what that could [mean] we headed for our cars…We would have left before Orubebe emerged from the president with a brown envelope but for the fact that the drivers were not allowed to stay in the cars.”

Odumakin further explained: “Before we could drive off he [Orubebe] brought the ‘gift’ from the President and he said so. We rejected the money instantly but he was persistent. Wisdom dictated we couldn't be creating scene at the [Aso Rock] villa gate after midnight.” 


“We headed to our hotel and called Mr. Tony Uranta to come up with us. We then called Orubebe and put him on speaker to let him know that we are returning the money through Uranta back to him and to the president. Mr. Uranta then said that he appreciated our integrity.”


Mr. Odumakin revealed that the $50,000 came in “five bundles and all $100”. He added that, in order to guarantee that the money was returned to source, they also called Oronto Douglas, a senior adviser to Jonathan, to inform him of their action.

“We had moved on and we ordinarily would not have embarrassed the Presidency on this matter,” Mr. Odumakin further wrote, adding, “But 48 hours after the visit Saharareporters called to inquire if we visited Jonathan, which we confirmed. We then learnt that the meeting leaked through the other party. At that point, it became clear that some people were out to do some dirty job. It was later revealed to us that the story that was actually sold was that we collected money from the Presidency.”


Muza:

He whu debates and run away lives to debate another day. . .

beaf,therez a way out of all this for u,just accept dat your corrupt,clueless and incompetent boss goofed,dats all,very easy,nobody is perfect,then u can go about to continue defending him,but on this issue just accept defeat.
LMFAO. . .LOL

Beaf:

So the matter was a storm in a teacup afterall! Bakare puts the blame for the miscommunication on Uranta and Orubebe. He seems to be quite exercised about the reaction of govt officials, who must have seen SNG's strange rejection of cover of their costs as a set up; perhaps, both sides should have approached the press jointly on the issue.

Quite clearly, the govt invited SNG and an offer was made to cover their transport, hotel and other costs (as is due and customary); but the SNG has made it clear that they will always pay their costs. Its just crossed wires.

Eziachi:

So in all your wisdom, a public servant, whose salary is paid from your own tax, just brandishded $50k and gave it unsolicitated and called it transport money is a storm in a tea cup for you?
How much is the salary of both Orubebe and Uranta and where did they get that kind of money from?
. . .