Former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo clocked 75 today and declared that he was not willing to celebrate his birthday in a lavish manner until when God spares his life till he hits 80.


Olusegun Obasanjo

The 75th birthday of the former president was being marked at the premises of his Presidential Library located along IBB Boulevard, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria, as at press time today with the launch of two books to commemorate the milestone.

Obasanjo, who refused to make elaborate speeches, said the situation in Nigeria today called for sober reflection which will not allow him to celebrate his birthday in a big way.

He noted that the rate of unemployment and the lack of food and insecurity do not give him joy to roll out the drums to mark his birthday.

He expressed the hope that God will spare his life till the next five years and when he clocks 80, the Nigeria of his dreams must have been achieved and he would celebrate his 80th birthday better.

Speaking at the occasion, the Vice President of the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, eulogised the former President, saying that to the people outside Nigeria, Obasanjo is a role model and a leader worthy of emulation.

She urged Nigerians to tap from the wealth of experience of the former president.

She advised Africans to strive to achieve more on food production to achieve food security, stressing that instead of fighting themselves, they should fight hunger and poverty.

As part of the former leader’s 75th birthday today, school children presented a drama. They also recited some poems.

The programme was ongoing as at press time.

However, as low-keyed as Obasanjo might want his 75th birthday celebration, prominent Nigerians this morning started to shower encomiums on the former president.

First, President Goodluck Jonathan, in a message, described Obasanjo as a leader who had served Nigeria throughout most of his adult life.

Similarly, Senate President, David Mark; Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal; former military leader, General Ibrahim B. Babangida; Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State; Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo, National Vice Chairman of PDP in Southwest; Dr. Olusola Obada, Minister of State for Defence; former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola and other prominent Nigerians bought spaces in national dailies today to congratulate him.




http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2012/03/05/i-will-celebrate-big-at-80-says-obasanjo/

ok, so u are not considering death so that nigeria will start moving forward? do you think nigerians will wait forever? abeg, die jor.

Support because you will never celebrate another in hell

Is he not more than 80, Don't mind him, the 75 years is his 'football' age

If God say so, so be it.

You will celebrate big only if you live to be 80. Start praying as you have made Nigerians life expectancy to be less than that.

may you reunite with stella before you turn 76. with that, you will celebrate your 80th birthday in hell. your thieving types are alive(old men not ready to die) while we just lost someone young and bright and so good in this forum. OBJ jagajaga

[size=23pt]Obasanjo stole 2.4 trillion Naira, says CNPP[/size]

While the controversial N3.5 billion contract scam involving Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello is still yawning for investigation and prosecution, a fresh allegation against her father, former president Olusegun Obasanjo, has surfaced in which he is accused of robbing the country of over $900 billion and N1.4 trillion.

This is contained in a petition by the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the former president.

Anchoring its request for EFCC’s investigation and prosecution of Obasanjo on section 15(5) of the 1999 constitution which stipulates that the state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse of office, CNPP alleged in its petition that Obasanjo’s clan of “lucrative holdings” runs into billions of dollars and trillions of naira.

The group, made up of opposition political parties in the country, stated that Obasanjo illegally appointed himself minister of petroleum resources contrary to section 147 of the constitution, knowing full well that the oil sector was the cash cow where he and his cronies could have a field day.

“As petroleum minister, the transaction detail was only between himself and the managing director of NNPC. Our investigation shows that between 2000 and 2006, Nigeria lost over $130 billion unaccounted revenue.

“A thorough investigation would crack the secrecy and reveal the wanton billion of dollars that had vanished from the sales books,” the petition reads.

CNPP further alleged that the former president collaborated with two companies employed to handle the four oil refineries in the country to swindle over $1 billion meant for the refineries’ rehabilitation.

“The rehabilitation failed and Nigeria was criminally left at the mercy of international oil market fluctuation as importation of petroleum products became subject of volatility of the exchange rate of the naira to the dollar and prices of oil at world market.

“On this score, we have since confirmed that more than $700 million were misappropriated to enrich Chief Obasanjo and his cronies and to fund his political party, the PDP,” it noted.

The CNPP further stated that in spite of the fact that the companies’ contracts were controversial because they lacked record of specialisation in refinery rehabilitation, Obasanjo “turned a blind eye to the scandal” and the result was that in the twilight of his regime, he sold the refineries to his cronies as scraps.

“In the case of Kaduna refinery, he spent over $200 million to repair it and auctioned it at $106 million.

“Mr Chairman, these monies can easily be located in banks, where Chief Obasanjo used proxies and fanthom names to acquire dominant shares.”

While urging the anti-corruption agency to “exhume the rot in the oil industry,” CNPP asked the commission’s chairman, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, to “study the external firms that audited the account of the NNPC.”

It further claimed that Obasanjo withdrew over N1 trillion “unauthorised and unappropriated by the National Assembly from the NNPC account and the federation account,” adding that it regarded those withdrawals as gross economic and financial crime.

“The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission severally fought to stem the tide of the withdrawals scourge; as a last resort it had no alternative but to sue the executive.

“This clearly shows that the cost of corruption under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo reached earth-shaking proportions for an arm of government to resort to court process against its principal.

“On account of this face-off, Obasanjo wrote to the Senate requesting for the dismissal of the chairman of RMAFC, Alhaji Hamman Tukur, a dubious requests that was turned down.”

The CNPP further alleged that Obasanjo, in the name of privatisation, sold NITEL to the Investors International Limited (IIL) of London, a company owned by his cronies. But the deal failed because the company was unable to pay 51 per cent shares it bidded to BPE, it said.

“The aftermath of the IIL fiasco was another bizarre fiasco when BPE nominated Dutch company with headquarters at a defunct church house called Pentascope. Pentascope, instead of diligently managing NITEL, reaped of its revenue reserve. In the event NITEL lost N51 billion.”

CNPP also tasked the anti-graft commission to go deeper “to not only recover the price differential and the $160 million paid for dredging Imo River, but possibly revoke the transaction.”

It stated that a total of $7.7 billion was fleeced off to build substations, transmission lines, “and gas pipelines have not taken off, while payment has been made,” adding that the N27 billion medical equipment supply was “over-invoiced and only few of the universities listed to benefit have their equipment installed. We strongly suspect fraud.”

The CNPP finally noted that Obasanjo’s abuse of power and corrupt enrichment were “never exposed in any transaction more than in the acquisition of 200 million shares in Transcorp Plc; for we are aware that out of prison in 1998, the man was going by his own account worth less than 20,000 naira in cash.”

The group then appealed to EFCC not to shirk its mandate as “failure to investigate and prosecute Obasanjo and his cronies and possibly confiscate their illegally acquired properties would send wrong signals and endorse wanton stealing of public assets.

“We shall furnish information and documents as we progress in the investigation and prosecution.”

The petition was signed by Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa for PRP, Chief AC Nwodo for PAC, Malam Mani Ibrahim for ADC, Malam Yunusa S. Tak, William Eziguni and Osita Okechukwu for CNPP.

Meanwhile, in a press statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Osita Okechukwu, CNPP accused President Umaru Yar’Adua of complacency towards the war against corruption.

It stated: “Most importantly, we took into cognisance of the fact that President Umaru Yar’Adua is lukewarm, reticent and reactive, rather than proactive in favour of war against corruption.

“We waited patiently for over six months; the little we observed was reactions to Wilbros scam in Texas, Metropolitan Police found in United Kingdom, Siemens scandal in Germany and Iyabo-gate in Paris.

“None emanated from Nigeria, whilst Mr President is sitting on top of files of monumental corruption.”

http://www.nigerianmuse.com/20071225100551zg/nigeria-watch/official-fraud-watch-towards-fraud-free-governance-in-nigeria/olusegun-obasanjo-stole-2-4-trillion-naira-says-cnpp/

dats if God want it, but i can see baba is doubtful,their is so much uncertainty in his statement. He is really scared!

[size=20pt]Obasanjo -Fool,

The food scarcity may not have occured if you had not converted Nigeria's Agricultural budget and land for your "Feed the Nation" Scam in 1978; for  your own personal (Ota) farm  [/size]

[size=18pt]Obasanjos used Privatisation Policy to Steal Billions of Dollars[/size]

Privitisation: Another multi- billion naira drawback from Obasanjo

Written by Nuruddeen M. Abdallah, Turaki A. Hassan and Abdul-Rahman Abubakar Sunday, 14 August 2011 00:00

Revelations coming out of the Senate hearing on the privatization exercise indicated that almost all the 120 public enterprises sold to private firms since 1999 are either completely dead, or are currently operating at capacities worse than before they were privatized. As the committee sits, it also comes forward with a harvest of fraud, racketeering and official corruption. It also further dimmed former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration’s dwindling image. Not only that, people who were believed to be business geniuses were exposed as mere opportunists who fed on carcasses.
The probe has definitely changed the public perception of the privatization implemented by Obasanjo’s administration from 1999 to 2007. At its inception, the government came up with the policy of “government has no business doing business.” The policy sought to handover all Federal Government-owned companies to private operators either through privatization or commercialization. This resulted in the establishment of the Privatization and Commercialization Act of 1999. Consequently, in November 1999, Malam Nasir el-Rufa’i was appointed Director General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), the agency saddled with the sole responsibility of selling off the companies. Available rrecords indicate that the Federal Government spent over $100 billion from 1973 to 1995 to establish public enterprises.



Government’s reasons for privatization

So many reasons were put forward by the federal government for the sale of virtually all its enterprises. Some of the cogent ones included that they had become completely inefficient and unable to deliver the much needed services to Nigerians, become conduit pipes for siphoning public funds as well as huge burdens on the government’s revenue.

The motive behind the policy introduced by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration was to ease government of the burden of running moribund firms by transferring them to private hands, believed to be more efficient in steering the wheels of business and economic growth. The policy was to ensure that the declining government companies are revamped through the injection of technical expertise, experience and funds by the private entities. The private firms were to ensure growth of the companies thereby creating jobs and opportunities for the people.

Also, it argued that since the late 1970s, public enterprises were not working. Instead, they were not only a drain on the economy as they were not providing services, but “were captured by the elites for their own benefits.” “In the BPE then we crafted a phrase which we called ‘the reverse Robin hood.’ They were stealing from the poor and giving to the rich. This is because only the rich and the connected get the services,” el-Rufa’i said.

In 1998, public enterprises were costing the country N265 billion; which is more than a billion naira per day to support the enterprises. The money came from subsidies on foreign exchange, import duty and tax exemptions. Also, they were not paying VAT to revenues they don’t remit.

El-Rufa’i also gave an insight into the state of the companies then when he said that, “as at 1998 during the military regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), the budget of the federal government was N300 billion but the government spent N265 billion supporting inefficient, corrupt and epileptic public enterprises. That was the philosophy behind privatisation and commercialisation of the companies.”

That is if you never die before then! anumpam!

[size=18pt]WikiLeaks: Obasanjo and his inner circle Stole Nigeria's Billions of Dollars [/size]
Friday, 09 September 2011 17:09 [elombah.com]

Corruption pervades the entire levels of the private and public sector under the administration of Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, so said a US Diplomatic cables revealed by wikileaks. The report said that "the arrests in London of the Bayelsa and Plateau State governors have barely scratched the surface of the endemic corruption at the federal, state, and local level. The diplomatic cables noted that in a widely-circulated August 22 letter to President Obasanjo, Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu accused Obasanjo of corruption, listing a number of dubious deals, including:

--Cancellation of the contract for the construction of the national stadium in Abuja, only to re-award the contract to a different vendor at a higher price.

--Use of public funds for capital improvements at two private schools secretly owned by Obasanjo.

Obasanjo's response was to agree to be "investigated by the EFCC, which reports to the President. When the EFCC invited Kalu to provide evidence to support his accusations, Kalu refused, pointing out that the EFCC was not an independent investigative body and had no authority to prosecute the President, and the investigation died out.

The President's chicken farm in Otta is one of the largest in Nigeria. A Presidential spokesman said in November 2004, in order to explain Obasanjo's personal wealth, that the farm generated about $250,000 per month in income, though it was nearly bankrupt in the late 1990s (ref
A). Regardless of whether the current income figure is accurate, at least some Nigerians think it is unlikely that Obasanjo's military pension and benefits were the sole source of investment for establishing this huge enterprise, valued by a construction engineer involved in the construction at
more than $250 million.

It is also widely believed that the President's inner circle also reaps hefty rewards with impunity. Some frequently cited examples are:

--Edmund Daukoro, recently named Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, was charged in 1994 for embezzling some $47 million as a managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The charges were abandoned, and Daukoro's political career soared when Obasanjo took office in 1999.

--Senator Florence Ita Giwa, indicted for misappropriation of funds by the Idris Kuta Panel in 2000, was pardoned along with other indicted senators, and she was named a special advisor to Obasanjo when she left office.

--The head of the National Airport Management Authority (NAMA), Rochas Okorocha, was caught and dismissed for embezzling about $1 million through an inflated contract; Obasanjo then appointed him as a senior aide, without requiring Okorocha to repay the stolen funds. Okorocha was
eventually fired on July 13 in a cabinet reshuffle, but went on to start a political party for his renewed presidential ambitions.

--The recent auction of oil blocks included some firms bidding,, sometimes with no prior ties to the oil industry, that were linked to Obasanjo associates, including Daukoro, Rivers State governor Peter Odili, Ogun State governor Gbenga Daniel, presidential advisor Andy Uba, presidential
chief of staff Abdullahi Mohammed, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nasir al-Rufai and PDP Board of Trustees Chairman Tony Anenih.

--Anenih was indicted by the National Assembly for the sum of 300 billion Naira (approximately $2.4 billion) missing from Ministry of Works and Housing while he was the minister. The missing money is widely believed to have paid off 2003 elections "expenses," including to Balogun, in addition to
lining his own pockets.

--Minister of Finance Ngozie Okonjo-Iweala is said to have steered contracts to her brother (JonJon) with the help of el-Rufai. The contracts, said to amount to about $50 million, have been paid for consulting work for the Ministry.

--Al-Rufai is at the center of the corruption allegations. Well-known to PolCouns eight year ago, when he was homeless and seeking a loan to import a taxi from the UK, al-Rufai is said to have recently purchased seven upscale properties in a posh Abuja neighborhood. His demolitions of commercial and residential buildings in the capital have reportedly provided an opportunity for himself and several of his friends. After demolishing residential properties in Kubwa, the land was reallocated to several of his friends and to an investment company he allegedly owns. The community of Chika, where about two square miles of development was demolished in December, has allegedly been allocated to the same group of people.

--Chief Olabode George, current PDP National Chairman (Southwest) is a close friend of President Obasanjo and a leading proponent of the Third Term Agenda. He is one of the people accused of financial recklessness in the affairs of the National Port Authority, where he was chairman when the financial scandals were allegedly committed. He was retired from the Navy in the 1990s by the Babangida Administration after serving as military governor of Ondo State from 1987 to 1990 in addition to other military postings.

--Chris Uba, recently appointed to the PDP Board of Trustees, admitted rigging during the 2003 elections and attempted to kidnap the governor of Anambra state to try to collect payments for his efforts. Linked closely to several vigilante groups in the state, he is widely believed to be
responsible for the burning of many state government buildings in Awka, crimes that have yet to be solved.

¶10. (C/REL UK) Obasanjo himself is believed to be one of the owners of Suntrust Petroleum. And questions remain about the Obasanjo Library project, which collected enormous sums of money from government contractors, banks, industrialists, and state governors, ostensibly for the construction of a presidential library, the plans for which are vague. It is widely believed throughout the country that Obasanjo and his
son, Gbenga, are major shareholders in the newly reorganized Zenith Bank and UBA Bank as well as in airlines and the telecommunications sector.

¶11. (C/REL UK) The Bureau of Private Enterprises oversaw the privatization of many government-owned business, including sugar, steel, rice and other sectors. It is widely believed that the privatization exercise benefited both the President, through Aliko Dangote, and the Vice President,
through various agents.

¶12. (C/REL UK) Meanwhile, at the state level, the personal excesses of several governors indicate that they are finding ways to supplement their government salaries:

--Edo State governor Lucky Igbenedion purchased a $6 million mansion in London in 2000 through a series of shell companies, a year after he was elected governor. He has two Ferraris on the premises. He also owns reputedly the most expensive residence in Abuja, estimated at $25 million.

--Delta State governor James Ibori owns two London estates. The properties were purchased for $3 million and $4 million, respectively, after Ibori was elected governor. Through a shell company registered to his London-based wife, he offered for public auction an ongoing supply of 6 million barrels of oil per month. When reporters confronted his wife, the shell companies abruptly changed their directors so that Ibori's wife was no longer listed.

--Rivers State governor Peter Odili has built an impressive portfolio from his corrupt dealings as governor of one of the oil-rich states in Nigeria since his first election in 1999. Beginning his political career as a medical doctor with a small private clinic in Port Harcourt, he now hosts extravagant events and boasts that it would not have been possible "before he became governor." Further, he is widely suspected of being directly responsible for facilitating massive irregularities in both the 1999 and 2003 elections. His own state officials have claimed that Odili has employed militia groups, many of which are responsible for the continuing unrest in the delta region.

--Each of the 36 state governors donated 10 million naira (about $75,000) to the Obasanjo library project. Following a public outcry, the library organizers stated the donations were from the governors' personal funds, but several governors backpedaled from their commitments, claiming they
had made no such pledges. When a Lagos lawyer filed a code of conduct complaint alleging conflict of interest in the President's receiving these donations from recipients of government funds, Obasanjo invoked the immunity clause of the constitution, and the complaint died out.

Section 308 of the 1999 constitution gives immunity from civil or criminal prosecution to the President, Vice President, Governors, and Deputy Governors, and many holders of these offices have clearly taken advantage of this privilege.

The rest of the wikileaks report:

SUBJECT: CORRUPTION: NIGERIA "IMPROVES" TO SIXTH-WORST IN THE WORLD, WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
-------
Summary
-------

¶1. (U) Transparency International recently released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index for 2005, showing that
there are now five countries in the world perceived to be more corrupt than Nigeria. In 2004, only two countries had
been listed as more corrupt. As expected, the GON both claimed credit for the "improvement" in position, and denied
that there was still a corruption problem in Nigeria.

¶2. (S/REL UK) Corruption remains widespread in Nigeria at all levels of the private and public sector. The arrests in
London of the Bayelsa and Plateau State governors barely scratched the surface of the endemic corruption at the
federal, state, and local level. The current campaign to ferret out corrupt officials is widely perceived to be nothing more than a political witch hunt by President Obasanjo, a view supported by examining cases targeted at
high-level officials.
Section 308 of the 1999 constitution gives immunity from civil or criminal prosecution to the President, Vice President, Governors, and Deputy Governors, and many holders of these offices have clearly taken advantage of this privilege. There is no such immunity from U.S. visa revocation under Presidential Proclamation 7750, however, and post plans to submit further requests for revocation of visas of corrupt public officials. End Summary.

--------------------------------------------- --------
Transparency International: Nigeria's a Little Better
--------------------------------------------- --------

¶3. (U) Transparency International (TI) recently released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index for 2005, showing
that there are now five countries in the world perceived to be more corrupt than Nigeria: Chad, Bangladesh,
Turkmenistan, Myanmar, and Haiti. In 2004, only Bangladeshnand Haiti had been listed as more corrupt. Nigeria's
absolute rating increased slightly, from 1.6 (out of 10) to 1.9, though the range of the confidence interval could have
placed the country anywhere in the bottom nine. As expected, the GON claimed credit for the "improvement" in position, saying it was evidence of the Obasanjo administration's reforms. And as expected, the GON also faulted TI's
methodology and denied there was still a corruption problem in Nigeria.

¶4. (U) The World Economic Forum has released the results of a survey finding improvement in Nigerian firms'
perceptions of corruption in the country. For example, from 2002-2005, the percentage of Nigerian firms that believed
public funds in Nigeria were diverted due to corruption decreased from 100% to about 75%.

¶5. (U) The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and its chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, continue to grab
headlines, as newspapers eagerly report the rumored targets
of EFCC investigations. Independent Corrupt Practices
Commission (ICPC) chairman Mustapha Akanbi stepped down on
September 29 and was replaced by another former Supreme Court
justice, Emmanuel Olayinka Ayoola. Meanwhile, the EFCC and
the ICPC have won only a single conviction of a high-level
public official: on November 22, former Inspector-General of
Police Tafa Balogun, fired for corruption, pled guilty to
minor obstruction charges and received a sentence of just six
months, less time served.

---------------
What Can We Do?
---------------

¶13. (S/REL UK) While we cannot prove all of these
accusations in a court of law, their significance is that
they are widely believed both among political figures and
among that part of the general public that is politically
aware. It is in the USG's interest to support Nigeria's
efforts to root out corruption and, while our positive public
pronouncements contribute to the environment, the biggest
influence we can have is the judicious use of U.S. visa
revocation for corrupt practices, as provided by Presidential
Proclamation 7750. Though we are unable to identify every

ABUJA 00000483 004 OF 004

corrupt official, the Mission is compiling a list of some
prominent and egregious corrupt officials from throughout the
country. This list will take into consideration the
individuals, levels of corruption and the impact on Nigerian
stability of a 7750 decision. The list could be expanded in
many directions, but the Mission feels that such an effort
would demonstrate the sincerity and seriousness of the USG's
commitment to good governance and, if these individuals are
found ineligible, that finding could contribute greatly to
entrenching the precepts of good governance and
accountability in Nigeria.

Start praying as you have made Nigerians life expectancy to be less than that.[img]http://www.crzxy.info/hjk[/img]

[size=18pt]16th September 2003    -  BBC News
Obasanjo's shame: $15bn (N2,400bn ) feared stolen from Government Pension Fund[/size]
Nigerian authorities have uncovered a huge deficit in the state pension fund, confirming what many unpaid former state workers have feared for years.

Retired civil servants have long complained of non-payment of their pensions, with many forced to queue for days to claim what they are owed, 

According to Nigerian government calculations, the shortfall in the state pension fund amounts to at least 2 trillion naira (£9.3bn; $14.8bn).

The revelation is likely to stir suspicions that some of the money may have been misappropriated.

Corruption was a major issue in Nigeria's recent election, which saw won by President Olusegun Obasanjo and his People's Democratic Party (PDP).

'Unfortunate activity'

Experts have not ruled out that some of the money may have been stolen, but there has also been criticism of the pay-as-you-go scheme the state uses to raise pension funds.

"We think there has been some unfortunate activity," Ahmed Mohammed of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund told the BBC's Network Africa.
 

"This pay-as-you-go scheme has been abandoned in many countries. Payments have not been made on time."

Pensioners regularly travel to Abuja, often camping outside government offices, in the hope of getting some of their money.

Many reacted to the news with dismay.

"I don't have a roof on my head,  There is no sign that the government will be able to pay our pensions," said one pensioner.

"The government is fighting against corruption. If the government can't pay this money, then they cannot stop all these things," said another.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-693700.480.html

dabrake:

may you reunite with stella before you turn 76. with that, you will celebrate your 80th birthday in hell. your thieving types are alive(old men not ready to die) while we just lost someone young and bright and so good in this forum. OBJ jagajaga

Hmmm. Painful. We lost the lady.

OBJ and his agemates have lost their opportunity to make the country great.

The country will go into a bloody war at a time.

official age.

[size=18pt]22nd May 2003 - BBC News
Bank fraud rises by 40% as President Obasanjo commences his second term[/size]

Nigeria's banks have seen almost $10m disappear through employee fraud in 2002, a rise of more than 40% on the year before, a survey by the country's banking regulator has found.
The total amount stolen was 1.29bn naira, up from 906.3m in 2001, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation reported.

Ten times that amount - 12.91bn naira - was recorded in attempted fraud, up from 11.24bn for a rise of 15%.

Most of the thefts, NDIC said, were the result of either forgeries or illegal withdrawals from customers' accounts.

The figures may well be an understatement, though, as NDIC said it believes financial institutions routinely underreport fraud losses for fear of negative publicity.

Bad name

Fraud and corruption have become an unfortunate staple in Nigeria's international reputation.

The country regularly features at the top of international surveys measuring the part played by graft in different economies.

Successive dictatorships have extracted billions from the exchequer, denuding the public purse of revenues from Nigeria's rich oil reserves.

Outside the country, Nigeria has become synonymous with fraud as some of its citizens use the boom in internet cafes to send "spam" e-mails, promising millions in exchange for the gullible recipient's bank details.


https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-693700.448.html

[size=30pt]E ma roku ro AREMU[/size]

[size=18pt]5th September 2002 - The NY Times
National Assembly moves to impeach President Obasanjo for twice ordering massacre of civilains[/size]

ABUJA, Nigeria, Sept. 4— Lawmakers from Nigeria's ruling party stepped up efforts today to impeach President Olusegun Obasanjo, accusing him of twice ordering soldiers to massacre civilians.

The allegations were the most damning on a list of 17 charges of ''gross misconduct'' leveled by the Peoples Democratic Party caucus, which controls the House of Representatives. It was the first time lawmakers had publicly accused Mr. Obasanjo of ordering the attacks.

The president's spokesman, Tunji Oseni, said the presidency would respond formally in the coming days.

The first attack allegedly ordered by the president was an army raid on Odi, in the Niger delta, in November 1999 after seven police officers were killed in the area. Soldiers killed an estimated 1,000 civilians. The second was in October 2001, when the army killed hundreds in central Benue State after local militiamen executed 19 soldiers.

''He authorized the deployment of military troops to Odi to massacre innocent citizens without recourse to the National Assembly,'' the House spokesman, Farouk Lawan, said today, and also sent the army into Benue ''without lawful authority.''

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-693700.416.html

he will not die? lol

[size=18pt]11th  February 2002, BBC News
Obasanjo has  devalued Naira by approx 450% (four hundred and fifty percent) since coming to office and further devaluation is expected[/size]

The Nigerian naira fell on the official currency market, following a slide on the black market on Friday on fears that a devaluation is imminent.
The currency fell 0.6% to 114.7 against the US dollar after dropping 2.5% on the black market on Friday.

A spokesman for the central bank attributed the currency's plunge to calls from parliament for a massive devaluation to narrow the gap between official and black market rates.


https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-693700.384.html

[size=18pt]21st February 2002 - BBC News
Obasanjo accused of ordering closure of Savannah Bank to embezzle its money.[/size]

The board of one of Nigeria's biggest bank, which was closed down on Monday, has been accused of mismanagement by its auditor.
"The central bank gave the management and board several warnings on the ways they run the bank, but all our warnings had been disregarded," NDIC receivership and liquidation director Mohammed Ahmad told Reuters.

The Central Bank of Nigeria revoked Savannah Bank's trading licence claiming it was insolvent and put the directors under investigation.


Liquidation is a regulatory option to solve a bank's problems, but there are procedures that are supposed to be adhered to before going to that final stage

Stanley Ngwaba
Treasurer, Savannah Bank

"I think the writing was on the wall," Busola Solanke, head of research at SecTrust in Nigeria told the BBC's World Business Report.
"The operating performance of Savannah Bank over the last few years would have sent a red signal."

The bank's management has responded by accusing the central bank of trying to protect top government officials who had debts with the bank.

No instability

The closure of Savannah, one of the top ten banks in Nigeria, comes after months of denials by authorities that Nigeria's banking sector was under strain.

But analysts say it is unlikely to destabilise the banking sector.

"The impact is not going to be as severe as its size suggests," said Ms Solanke.

"Savannah has quite a huge asset base and the regulators might have felt it was the best time to intervene before there was any more damage."

A sign on the door of its Lagos headquarters assures account holders they will not lose their money and refers them to the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), which has been appointed by the central bank as liquidator.

Conflicting reports

Savannah's Treasurer, Stanley Ngwaba claims he had no indication from the central bank about the closure.

"Liquidation is a regulatory option to solve a bank's problems, but there are procedures that are supposed to be adhered to before going to that final stage," he told Reuters.

Nigerian officials denied claims they failed to warn the management before closing the bank.

[size=18pt]7 June, 2001 - BBC News
Obasanjo's shame: 13 States including entire Eastern Nigeria in darkness as power cut is expected to last two weeks[/size]

The Nigerian Electricity Power Authority (Nepa) says 13 states, including the entire eastern part of the country, may be without electricity for two weeks after what it calls an attack by vandals on a vital transmission line.

Tens of millions of people in eastern Nigeria have been without electricity since Monday night.

Nigeria's Government has struggled to improve the country's notoriously inefficient electricity network since coming to power two years ago.

Nigerians are well accustomed to power cuts but rarely on such a devastating scale.

The huge area affected by this latest blackout includes some of Nigeria's largest and economically most important cities.

Struggling industries and public services, as well as private households, are already experiencing enormous inconvenience and discomfort.

Sabotage

A Nepa official told the BBC that a tower on a vital power line serving the east had been attacked by vandals and that it may take two weeks to repair.


Power lines in Nigeria are often sabotaged by gangs working for scrap metal traders, although in this instance one Nepa official is quoted as saying that no pieces had been removed from the damaged tower.
Last year an angry President Olusegun Obasanjo took direct charge of Nepa, accusing it of notorious and endemic corruption.

President Obasanjo has pledged to to increase output to a constant 4,000 megawatts by the end of this year.

But even if Nigeria attains this target, it will be producing one-tenth as much electricity as South Africa, with about three times the population.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-693700.352.html

OBJ, may u never withness 75 & half years, Amen,

May he die before that date, he's just a waist of fluid.

Yeske!:

May he die before that date, he's just a waist of fluid.

That is too harsh

Haba, so much hatred in you people heart. Come to think of it, do you people pray at all with much hatred. I love everyone God has made. He is my Leader, a great mentor that has achieved so much. Baba HBD. Many years returns. HBD once again.

My people remove hatred from your heart if you want to grow and stop being internet rat that complain and condemn any thing that comes your way. The more you use internet for rubbish the more you will never , finish.