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Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. - Politics (7) - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. (49654 Views)

Saraki tells 3 Ex-Presidents, Influential Nigerians To Come To His Rescue-Nation / Obasanjo Appointed Co-chair Of Council Of World Ex-presidents / APC Will Meet Obasanjo Soon - Buhari (2) (3) (4)

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Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by mumubynature(m): 5:35am On Nov 10, 2014
Now i believe this country Nigeria is owned by some set of people.Our vote does not count.Imagine 2people opinion stronger than that of 170m.Democracy indeed!

2 Likes

Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by onatisi(m): 5:43am On Nov 10, 2014
mumubynature:
Now i believe this country Nigeria is owned by some set of people.Our vote does not count.Imagine 2people opinion stronger than that of 170m.Democracy indeed!
kai!!! What kind of reasoning is this,how can 2 people opinion stand against 170million people? At times it is useless arguing with people on this site .

1 Like

Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by mumubynature(m): 5:49am On Nov 10, 2014
onatisi:
kai!!! What kind of reasoning is this,how can 2 people opinion stand against 170million people? At times it is useless arguing with people on this site .
Who is this?Do i know u?Did i quote u?Chei some people can be pain in theazss
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by abysirius(m): 6:23am On Nov 10, 2014
Obj sent GEJ a letter titled 'Before it is too late' and he also replied Baba almost immediately. And baba confirmed that it is already late. What do u think that statement mean?
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Cchuks27(m): 6:58am On Nov 10, 2014
Hmm. This is a deicey one. Well, I cannot draw conclusions on the visit but I just hope GEJ has got a strong plan B and C.
Btw, where is "Babangida Aliyu"? Niger State governor? I don't trust that man one bit. I know him to be a very loud man, so he has been quiet for too long now. Even though he pledge his support to GEJ admin, He might be dinning and strategizing with the opposition now don't be suprise.

1 Like

Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Baawaa(m): 7:07am On Nov 10, 2014
scribble:
Nonsense


Jonathan doesn't need Approval of these clowns.

GEJ till 2019
GEJ which is your boss is crying for their support and you are here saying they should not support him.You are one of those who finished him
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by abysirius(m): 7:12am On Nov 10, 2014
Not surprise at all that some pple are still praying for the continuation of a failed administration like this GEJ govt. After all, GEJ isn't worst than the devil himself. And even Idi Amin of Uganda also had followers back then. Same with Mobutu Sese seko. They are bad leaders...many pple died under their regime with corruption exalted as we're witnessing with our own GEJ yet they had followers..

One thing I will just like to point out here.. People should desist from using Islamisation of Nigeria as a tool to campaign against GEJ opponents. I'm a christian and my own bible tells me that my God is an all knowing God. He knows everything and He will handle His own affairs. Please don't try to help God. Afterall Fashola is not a church goer like GEJ yet he's done better... When a Christian leads everyone will see. All the same, God knows best. We can only comment on what pple have done and not what we think they would do.

2 Likes

Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Nobody: 7:14am On Nov 10, 2014
Faitholu:


Who are the "we"? I mean who are those not interested any longer in GEJ? Abeg, those who are with him are more than those who are against! Yes.
Well in ur opinion but I think those who aren't interested in him are much than those who are. Click Like if u aren't interested in GEJ and click Share if u are

3 Likes 1 Share

Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by IYANGBALI: 7:32am On Nov 10, 2014
Hussaini709:

And come to think of it, if he wins it again dat wld mean he rules for ten yrs instead of eight.
my brother Nigeria is a jungle where anything can happen
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Vernor(m): 7:55am On Nov 10, 2014
I got my PVC yesterday i can't wait 4 val day to vote out d best mumu in d world but i can still change my mind

1 Like

Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Objektive: 8:17am On Nov 10, 2014
babestella:


$12 billion dollar gulf oil revenue disappeared during IBB, $16 billion dollars spent by OBJ on power, do you have electricity in your home today. Do you know what $16 billion dollars could have done in our power sector if it was actually spent on that sector?
Have you asked yourself why GEJ privatized the power sector? Have you asked yourself why we can't have local refineries working? Corruption is too much, Nigerians employed to manage government agencies are overtly corrupt, build a refinery and employ people to manage it, they will run it down. Please the change must start with us too, not blaming GEJ for everything. Please they all have their share of blame. All of them.
Walk into an eatery today and forget your Smartphone for just 30 seconds and tell me if you'll ever find that phone again. Yet the one who took it will come to social fora to condemn others for being corrupt. If you place him in position of authority, he'll loot the place dry.

Please we also need to change to being better people.

BUHARI IS A SAINT (OSTRICH SAINT)

You honestly believ that Buhari did not profit from heading any of these agencies or there was no accusation of corrupt enrichment?

Have we all forgotten that as commissioner (minister) of petroleum, 2.8 million dollars (billions in today’s currency) went missing under his watch. Till date they say he was not the thief. Others stole it. Okay oh! At this juncture, I think it is imperative that we discuss his chairmanship of PTF:

Gen. Buhari was Executive Chairman of the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund from its inception in 1994, to its disbandment by the Obasanjo administration in 1999. According to the report of the Interim Management Committee, which was set up in that year to investigate the affairs of the Fund, the total income accruing to the Fund from mid-1994 to July 1999 was in excess of N181 billion. There were six major areas in which the PTF intervened directly during the period. They were: roads and waterways; supply of educational materials and rehabilitation of educational infrastructure; food supply; health; water supply; and what was curiously termed other projects.

The management structure of the Fund was so capricious, from start, as in retrospect to suggest that the executive chairman was far more impressed by his position as an alternate Head of State, an Interventionist Czar who was answerable to no one, not even the Head of State himself, than anything else. First, he unilaterally appointed a single consultant, Afri-Projects Consortium, as the sole adviser to the Fund. Then he delegated virtually all his powers to this agency. Afri-Projects Consortium was given the exclusive power to initiate projects, assess their probable cost, approve the costs, execute the projects, and assess the quality of execution, all alone. The Consortium's decisions could not be questioned by anyone outside the Fund. Even the statutory members of the Fund's Board of Trustees found themselves helplessly watching as huge sums of money were paid out for questionable projects. And not surprisingly, the three professional management firms recruited by the Interim Management Committee to audit the performance of Afri-Projects Consortium came up with the unanimous conclusion that APC had over-charged the Fund for its services to the tune of over N2 billion.

APC directly managed the HIV/AIDS Intervention Programme of the Fund. Its managerial incompetence was found to be staggering. It knowingly imported sub-standard, poorly packaged, poorly stored, expired, or soon to expire treatment kits and drugs. And in the end, the auditing firms that investigated APC's performance concluded that it had cost the government N579 million by stocking huge silos of useless drugs and kits, purchased at inflated prices.

PTF's intervention in other areas of the health sector was equally atrocious. For instance, under the supervision of the omnipotent APC, PTF purchased large quantities of spectacle frames which were at the time costing only N800 a piece locally, for N1,900 a piece. This cost the public treasury over N45 million in inflated charges.

Ambulances whose going price at the time was N3 million each were found to have been purchased for N13 million each, leading to a loss to the treasury of N900 million.

PTF, through APC, purchased general drugs at the cost of N3 billion. The Interim Management Committee's consultants concluded that the Fund had been cheated by as much as N1.5 billion through inflated charges, and because most of the drugs had already expired before they could be safely used.

The Interim Committee's consultants also discovered that PTF had decided, without approval from the government, to build a residential estate in Wuse, Abuja, a project which was clearly outside the scope of its intervention mandate. The project purportedly cost PTF N703 million. But the consultants concluded that a realistic valuation of the project could not exceed N328 million. The project cost was inflated by more than 100 per cent, at N375 million.

In virtually every other area of PTF activity, three separate consultants engaged by the Interim Committee, and working independently, concluded that there had been massive fraud or criminal mismanagement of funds belonging to Buhari's empire. The Headquarters Extension and Renovation Project of the PTF cost the Fund N461 million. The consultants determined that it should not have cost more than N326 million. The Fund had been defrauded by N135 million.

The PTF had three main bank accounts. The independent consultants concluded that the Fund had been short-changed by as much as N3.6 billion by way of short payment of interest accruals from deposits, or excessive charges on Cost of Turnover by preferred banks.

The Rural Water Supply Scheme was another funnel from which huge sums of money were siphoned away. The independent consultants determined that as much as N1 billion was recoverable from inflated costs and mobilisations for work that was never done. They discovered, also, that the Fund had lost as much as N900 million in the Educational Materials Supply Scheme, through inflated charges and non-performance of contracts duly paid for.

The Rural Telecommunications Development Scheme was another such scheme from which money was cynically carted away by favoured clients. The scheme was designed in two parts: a Pilot Phase, and the Main Phase. The Pilot programme was intended to determine the viability of the project. But this did not deter PFF, under Gen. Buhari, to award contracts for the main programme to the tune of N1.6 billion, without any contracts signed, and before any conclusions could be drawn from the Pilot project.

It is a horrendous story of criminal negligence, cynical fraud, and unprecedented disregard for all civilised standards of prudence and transparency in the disbursement of public funds. In the end, the independent consultants concluded that of the N181 billion that accrued to PTF in the four and a half years of its existence between July 1994 and July 1999, as much as N25 billion was either stolen or improperly expended.

The great man's defence

Sources from within the PTF Interim Management Committee assert that when Gen. Buhari was invited to comment on the findings of the committee's consultants regarding the conduct of the empire over which he presided, he coyly retorted that he was not aware that such massive fraud went on his watch, but that in any event, he could not have benefited personally from the hideous purloining of the treasury.

That may be true, but it does not detract from the fact that he delegated to this outfit the sole and exclusive power to initiate projects, assess those submitted by other companies, approve variations on contract sums, and determine the quality of work done. He also, by his own admission, according to our sources, approved in writing all recommended payments from the Fund. But he did not know, he claimed, that those to whom he had delegated virtually all his powers were stealing the country blind. And no one has a right to call him to account, since to do so would be to question his famous reputation. So much for a clean slate, no nonsense leader.
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by hyfr(m): 9:15am On Nov 10, 2014
Odutodaiwa:
Day of reckoning 14/02/2015 as INEC leads GEJ to the abattoir.
U DON'T KNOW GEJ YET WAIT ABD SEE
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by leofab(f): 9:53am On Nov 10, 2014
Vernor:
I got my PVC yesterday i can't wait 4 val day to vote out d best mumu in d world but i can still change my mind
but you can still change your mind? Why? GEJ is not Feyemi of Ekiti state that share rice oh, so if you hoping on that, better forget it!!!
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Godmann(m): 10:38am On Nov 10, 2014
Objektive:


BUHARI IS A SAINT (OSTRICH SAINT)

You honestly believ that Buhari did not profit from heading any of these agencies or there was no accusation of corrupt enrichment?

Have we all forgotten that as commissioner (minister) of petroleum, 2.8 million dollars (billions in today’s currency) went missing under his watch. Till date they say he was not the thief. Others stole it. Okay oh! At this juncture, I think it is imperative that we discuss his chairmanship of PTF:

Gen. Buhari was Executive Chairman of the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund from its inception in 1994, to its disbandment by the Obasanjo administration in 1999. According to the report of the Interim Management Committee, which was set up in that year to investigate the affairs of the Fund, the total income accruing to the Fund from mid-1994 to July 1999 was in excess of N181 billion. There were six major areas in which the PTF intervened directly during the period. They were: roads and waterways; supply of educational materials and rehabilitation of educational infrastructure; food supply; health; water supply; and what was curiously termed other projects.

The management structure of the Fund was so capricious, from start, as in retrospect to suggest that the executive chairman was far more impressed by his position as an alternate Head of State, an Interventionist Czar who was answerable to no one, not even the Head of State himself, than anything else. First, he unilaterally appointed a single consultant, Afri-Projects Consortium, as the sole adviser to the Fund. Then he delegated virtually all his powers to this agency. Afri-Projects Consortium was given the exclusive power to initiate projects, assess their probable cost, approve the costs, execute the projects, and assess the quality of execution, all alone. The Consortium's decisions could not be questioned by anyone outside the Fund. Even the statutory members of the Fund's Board of Trustees found themselves helplessly watching as huge sums of money were paid out for questionable projects. And not surprisingly, the three professional management firms recruited by the Interim Management Committee to audit the performance of Afri-Projects Consortium came up with the unanimous conclusion that APC had over-charged the Fund for its services to the tune of over N2 billion.

APC directly managed the HIV/AIDS Intervention Programme of the Fund. Its managerial incompetence was found to be staggering. It knowingly imported sub-standard, poorly packaged, poorly stored, expired, or soon to expire treatment kits and drugs. And in the end, the auditing firms that investigated APC's performance concluded that it had cost the government N579 million by stocking huge silos of useless drugs and kits, purchased at inflated prices.

PTF's intervention in other areas of the health sector was equally atrocious. For instance, under the supervision of the omnipotent APC, PTF purchased large quantities of spectacle frames which were at the time costing only N800 a piece locally, for N1,900 a piece. This cost the public treasury over N45 million in inflated charges.

Ambulances whose going price at the time was N3 million each were found to have been purchased for N13 million each, leading to a loss to the treasury of N900 million.

PTF, through APC, purchased general drugs at the cost of N3 billion. The Interim Management Committee's consultants concluded that the Fund had been cheated by as much as N1.5 billion through inflated charges, and because most of the drugs had already expired before they could be safely used.

The Interim Committee's consultants also discovered that PTF had decided, without approval from the government, to build a residential estate in Wuse, Abuja, a project which was clearly outside the scope of its intervention mandate. The project purportedly cost PTF N703 million. But the consultants concluded that a realistic valuation of the project could not exceed N328 million. The project cost was inflated by more than 100 per cent, at N375 million.

In virtually every other area of PTF activity, three separate consultants engaged by the Interim Committee, and working independently, concluded that there had been massive fraud or criminal mismanagement of funds belonging to Buhari's empire. The Headquarters Extension and Renovation Project of the PTF cost the Fund N461 million. The consultants determined that it should not have cost more than N326 million. The Fund had been defrauded by N135 million.

The PTF had three main bank accounts. The independent consultants concluded that the Fund had been short-changed by as much as N3.6 billion by way of short payment of interest accruals from deposits, or excessive charges on Cost of Turnover by preferred banks.

The Rural Water Supply Scheme was another funnel from which huge sums of money were siphoned away. The independent consultants determined that as much as N1 billion was recoverable from inflated costs and mobilisations for work that was never done. They discovered, also, that the Fund had lost as much as N900 million in the Educational Materials Supply Scheme, through inflated charges and non-performance of contracts duly paid for.

The Rural Telecommunications Development Scheme was another such scheme from which money was cynically carted away by favoured clients. The scheme was designed in two parts: a Pilot Phase, and the Main Phase. The Pilot programme was intended to determine the viability of the project. But this did not deter PFF, under Gen. Buhari, to award contracts for the main programme to the tune of N1.6 billion, without any contracts signed, and before any conclusions could be drawn from the Pilot project.

It is a horrendous story of criminal negligence, cynical fraud, and unprecedented disregard for all civilised standards of prudence and transparency in the disbursement of public funds. In the end, the independent consultants concluded that of the N181 billion that accrued to PTF in the four and a half years of its existence between July 1994 and July 1999, as much as N25 billion was either stolen or improperly expended.

The great man's defence

Sources from within the PTF Interim Management Committee assert that when Gen. Buhari was invited to comment on the findings of the committee's consultants regarding the conduct of the empire over which he presided, he coyly retorted that he was not aware that such massive fraud went on his watch, but that in any event, he could not have benefited personally from the hideous purloining of the treasury.

That may be true, but it does not detract from the fact that he delegated to this outfit the sole and exclusive power to initiate projects, assess those submitted by other companies, approve variations on contract sums, and determine the quality of work done. He also, by his own admission, according to our sources, approved in writing all recommended payments from the Fund. But he did not know, he claimed, that those to whom he had delegated virtually all his powers were stealing the country blind. And no one has a right to call him to account, since to do so would be to question his famous reputation. So much for a clean slate, no nonsense leader.



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/comparing-buhari-jonathan-2/

That is my answer to your lies.

Just a part in it

“Under Buhari’s watch as Petroleum Minister in the late 1970s, $2.8 billion (worth billions of naira today) was missing from the NNPC ACCOUNT.

President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd)
President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd)
The matter was subject to Senate investigation under the Chairmanship of Olusola Saraki in 1983.

But, before the report could be dealt with, Buhari conveniently overthrew the Shagari government in a military coup.” Femi Aribisala, VANGUARD, Tuesday, October 21, 2014.

“Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny.” Shakespeare, 1564-1616. (VANGUARD BOOK p 25).

N.B. The title had been slightly amended from Part 1. I never experienced so many tears shed over a few words; so many crying more than the bereaved. And, the fun is just starting.

Aribisala, in an astonishing demonstration of arrogance of ignorance piled more falsehoods into one paragraph than any respectable columnist and public opinion molder should be allowed to get away with in two years.

I don’t know how old Femi is, but let me present FACTS which can be verified, not wooly statements like “in the late 1970s”.

Buhari became the Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources in 1976 and held that position until April, 21, 1977 when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, was promulgated into law by Decree 33 of 1977.

Buhari was made the non-Executive Chairman of the Board which included, the Managing Director, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Economic Development, the Managing Director, and three persons to be appointed by the Federal Executive Council.

Contrary to what Femi, in his absolute ignorance wrote, the Commissioner’s power under the decree were so proscribed he could not have single-handedly removed a kobo, not to talk of $2.8 billion, which the NNPC, in 1977-79, never had. (See my book PDP: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED Chapter 10.

In addition, I challenge Femi Aribisala to provide the Annual Reports and Accounts of the NNPC from 1977 to 1979 to prove that the Corporation, in its entirety, was worth $2.8 billion. If the entire organization was not worth that much, how on earth could $2.8 be missing?

At any rate what were the MD, the Permanent Secretaries and the other Board members doing while Buhari alone made $2.8 billion to disappear?

Furthermore, at the time, the President granted the crude lifting permissions; and the revenue was paid directly into the Central Bank account. How did Buhari collect $2.8 billion from the CBN? And where is Femi’s proof? I can bet my life he can provide none. NONE!!!

For Femi’s education, because he badly needs it, the only $2.8 billion which made the headlines in 1978-1979, and later became the stuff of hostile columns by people like late Dr Tai Solarin and the butt of jokes by Fela Anikulapo, Abami Eda, was the $2.8 billion loan which Obasanjo secured for Nigeria and which several people claimed was mostly embezzled.

I have no proof of theft. But, I know that $2.8 billion had featured in our history only once in 1978-1979 and it was the loan.

Now, let me quickly turn to the coup of 1983 and Buhari’s involvement in it, which Femi, deliberately inferred was staged to prevent a report by Saraki from being presented.

Here again, Femi’s grasp on Nigeria’s history is so poor that I hope this is not representative of the stuff he teaches; if it is, the students have my sympathy.

To start with, Buhari was the Head of the Third Armored Division in Jos when the coup plotters, led by Babangida and Abacha struck.

They invited Buhari to come and take charge and removed him at their conveniece. So, the statement “Buhari conveniently overthrew Shagari” is a blatant lie. The lie is made more heinous by the fact that there was no Saraki report to “be dealt with”. Let me quickly explain why.

Shagari was re-elected for the second term and sworn in October 1, 1983. From October to December of that year, just three months, both the Executive and the legislative branches of government were still taking shape.

The Senate President had just finished the composition of the numerous committees of the Senate and none had resumed work before they went on Christmas break in mid-December – and from there into retirement.

When exactly did the Saraki “investigation” start? Who were the people called? And when was the report prepared? Even the village idiot knows that the Nigerian Senate does not work so fast as to dispose of alleged theft of $2.8 billion in two and a half months. Was Buhari called or are we to believe that the Committee would investigate a matter and write a report without calling the one accused?

The whole damned thing is simply a figment of Aribisala’s over-fertile imagination thrown up to satisfy his anti-North, anti-Islam bigotry…
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Godmann(m): 10:39am On Nov 10, 2014
Objektive:


BUHARI IS A SAINT (OSTRICH SAINT)

You honestly believ that Buhari did not profit from heading any of these agencies or there was no accusation of corrupt enrichment?

Have we all forgotten that as commissioner (minister) of petroleum, 2.8 million dollars (billions in today’s currency) went missing under his watch. Till date they say he was not the thief. Others stole it. Okay oh! At this juncture, I think it is imperative that we discuss his chairmanship of PTF:

Gen. Buhari was Executive Chairman of the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund from its inception in 1994, to its disbandment by the Obasanjo administration in 1999. According to the report of the Interim Management Committee, which was set up in that year to investigate the affairs of the Fund, the total income accruing to the Fund from mid-1994 to July 1999 was in excess of N181 billion. There were six major areas in which the PTF intervened directly during the period. They were: roads and waterways; supply of educational materials and rehabilitation of educational infrastructure; food supply; health; water supply; and what was curiously termed other projects.

The management structure of the Fund was so capricious, from start, as in retrospect to suggest that the executive chairman was far more impressed by his position as an alternate Head of State, an Interventionist Czar who was answerable to no one, not even the Head of State himself, than anything else. First, he unilaterally appointed a single consultant, Afri-Projects Consortium, as the sole adviser to the Fund. Then he delegated virtually all his powers to this agency. Afri-Projects Consortium was given the exclusive power to initiate projects, assess their probable cost, approve the costs, execute the projects, and assess the quality of execution, all alone. The Consortium's decisions could not be questioned by anyone outside the Fund. Even the statutory members of the Fund's Board of Trustees found themselves helplessly watching as huge sums of money were paid out for questionable projects. And not surprisingly, the three professional management firms recruited by the Interim Management Committee to audit the performance of Afri-Projects Consortium came up with the unanimous conclusion that APC had over-charged the Fund for its services to the tune of over N2 billion.

APC directly managed the HIV/AIDS Intervention Programme of the Fund. Its managerial incompetence was found to be staggering. It knowingly imported sub-standard, poorly packaged, poorly stored, expired, or soon to expire treatment kits and drugs. And in the end, the auditing firms that investigated APC's performance concluded that it had cost the government N579 million by stocking huge silos of useless drugs and kits, purchased at inflated prices.

PTF's intervention in other areas of the health sector was equally atrocious. For instance, under the supervision of the omnipotent APC, PTF purchased large quantities of spectacle frames which were at the time costing only N800 a piece locally, for N1,900 a piece. This cost the public treasury over N45 million in inflated charges.

Ambulances whose going price at the time was N3 million each were found to have been purchased for N13 million each, leading to a loss to the treasury of N900 million.

PTF, through APC, purchased general drugs at the cost of N3 billion. The Interim Management Committee's consultants concluded that the Fund had been cheated by as much as N1.5 billion through inflated charges, and because most of the drugs had already expired before they could be safely used.

The Interim Committee's consultants also discovered that PTF had decided, without approval from the government, to build a residential estate in Wuse, Abuja, a project which was clearly outside the scope of its intervention mandate. The project purportedly cost PTF N703 million. But the consultants concluded that a realistic valuation of the project could not exceed N328 million. The project cost was inflated by more than 100 per cent, at N375 million.

In virtually every other area of PTF activity, three separate consultants engaged by the Interim Committee, and working independently, concluded that there had been massive fraud or criminal mismanagement of funds belonging to Buhari's empire. The Headquarters Extension and Renovation Project of the PTF cost the Fund N461 million. The consultants determined that it should not have cost more than N326 million. The Fund had been defrauded by N135 million.

The PTF had three main bank accounts. The independent consultants concluded that the Fund had been short-changed by as much as N3.6 billion by way of short payment of interest accruals from deposits, or excessive charges on Cost of Turnover by preferred banks.

The Rural Water Supply Scheme was another funnel from which huge sums of money were siphoned away. The independent consultants determined that as much as N1 billion was recoverable from inflated costs and mobilisations for work that was never done. They discovered, also, that the Fund had lost as much as N900 million in the Educational Materials Supply Scheme, through inflated charges and non-performance of contracts duly paid for.

The Rural Telecommunications Development Scheme was another such scheme from which money was cynically carted away by favoured clients. The scheme was designed in two parts: a Pilot Phase, and the Main Phase. The Pilot programme was intended to determine the viability of the project. But this did not deter PFF, under Gen. Buhari, to award contracts for the main programme to the tune of N1.6 billion, without any contracts signed, and before any conclusions could be drawn from the Pilot project.

It is a horrendous story of criminal negligence, cynical fraud, and unprecedented disregard for all civilised standards of prudence and transparency in the disbursement of public funds. In the end, the independent consultants concluded that of the N181 billion that accrued to PTF in the four and a half years of its existence between July 1994 and July 1999, as much as N25 billion was either stolen or improperly expended.

The great man's defence

Sources from within the PTF Interim Management Committee assert that when Gen. Buhari was invited to comment on the findings of the committee's consultants regarding the conduct of the empire over which he presided, he coyly retorted that he was not aware that such massive fraud went on his watch, but that in any event, he could not have benefited personally from the hideous purloining of the treasury.

That may be true, but it does not detract from the fact that he delegated to this outfit the sole and exclusive power to initiate projects, assess those submitted by other companies, approve variations on contract sums, and determine the quality of work done. He also, by his own admission, according to our sources, approved in writing all recommended payments from the Fund. But he did not know, he claimed, that those to whom he had delegated virtually all his powers were stealing the country blind. And no one has a right to call him to account, since to do so would be to question his famous reputation. So much for a clean slate, no nonsense leader.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/comparing-buhari-jonathan-iroko-versus-rotten-wood-1/

Comparing Buhari with Jonathan: Iroko versus rotten wood –1

on November 02, 2014 / in Frankly Speaking 12:39 am / Comments




By Dele Sobowale
“Every attempt to heal a sick country is an affront to those who benefit from its sickness.” Bernard Malamud, in THE FIXER.

President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd)
President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd)
Generally, you can assess the quality of a man, especially a politician by observing those who rise up against him. General Buhari (rtd) is a shinning example of such a person. Expectedly, his declaration for the Presidency, more than that of any other possible opponent of President Jonathan, had thrown a lot of people into a manic frenzy. Some of them are my co-columnists in the Lagos/Ibadan axis – as papers like PUNCH, THISDAY, GUARDIAN and VANGUARD are called.
For the purpose of this series of articles, I want to single out the Professors writing for PUNCH and VANGUARD, who, are usually erudite, futuristic, well-informed and reasonably objective; but who have joined the illogical, and the ill-informed in the pack attack on Buhari.

When an Area Boy finds himself confronting several adversaries, at once, he steels himself for battle by announcing to his opponents, “Ee ti po to [you are too few for me]”. So, to Professors Abidde, Adelakun, Akinnaso, Olukotun, of the PUNCH, and our own Femi Aribisala, I declare “you are too few” for this battle.

Comparing Buhari with Jonathan is like comparing solid “Iroko” with rotten wood. For starters, every carver knows that nobody can make a masterpiece out of rotten wood. And Jonathan’s government is rotten from the head down. So anybody canvassing for a continuation of this government should be regarded as an accessory to the grand larceny going on now in the name of governance.

For the readers, I said they are too few because, when reading their articles, one can notice that they are virtually writing out of the same set of notes – packed full with their opinions, half truths, some falsehood and some venom. The bile belongs to Femi Aribisala, the VANGUARD columnist, who, like Doyin Okupe, must be operating with a dictionary compiled by the devil – when writing about Buhari, Tinubu and APC. Let me assure Femi that we also have a dictionary at UniJankara, full of hotter words. So nobody should be under the impression that he owns a monopoly of such words.

First, the readers of this defence of Buhari might want to observe that all those mentioned above, pretending to reflect “the views of Nigerians” are Southerners, Christians, mostly Yoruba, employed and well-paid, well- or over-educated, and they probably have not stepped into Kano, Sokoto, Bauchi, Nassarawa or Kogi States in the last five years – if at all. Buhari who they all love to “hate” or “hate to love”, however is a Muslim, Northerner, Fulani, and has spent most of his time in the north since retirement.

The ethnic and religious prejudices, obvious to me, might be a mere coincidence to them but, there is no denying the fact that none of that group can sustain the illusion that they speak for the average Northerner, ill-educated, unemployed, lacking all the basic amenities and clinging to life made more tenuous by Boko Haram insurgency which had escalated during Jonathan’s tenure of office. None can because none knows where the shoe pinches; they write in the comfort of their offices and homes, proclaiming how millions, who they have not met will vote in the North especially. This is rotten scholarship. In fact, nobody among them knows how most Northerners will vote.

Among their often-repeated fallacies, based on prejudice, is the charge that Nigerians will not vote for Buhari because he is a “religious fanatic”. Even if true, two observations will dispel this rumour peddled as truth. One, no Muslim in the entire country had ever mentioned to me that he considers Buhari a fanatic and none will vote against him for that reason. The hang-up about Buhari’s perceived fanaticism belongs to some Christians. Second, one person’s fanatic is another person’s staunch believer in his faith. So, “fanaticism” might actually work in his favour.

Speaking strictly for myself, a Muslim fanatic is preferable to a wishy-washy Christian. Everybody knows where the first stands on issues affecting morality; nobody can trust the second. At any rate, my own reading of the two Holy Books – Bible and Quran – has convinced me that there is very little the Bible abhors which the Quran supports; and vice versa. Our “Christian” columnists are only raising false alarm.

Having disposed of that, at least for now, let me turn, briefly, to the issues of Jonathan’s performance and corruption. Kindly let me quote verbatim what Adelakun and Aribisala wrote in defence of Jonathan and to run down Buhari’s bid for the Presidency.

First Adelakun, in PUNCH, October 23, 2014. “Even though many Nigerians are probably weary of Jonathan’s government by now, they are still practical enough to understand that another four years of Jonathan’s government will not kill them. It might bring Nigeria to her knees but at the same time, it is a pain that can be endured.” [italics mine]. Despite the use of “probably”, when the word to use is “certainly”, nobody reading that sentence can fail to shed tears for Nigeria. When the brightest and the best expect us to re-elect a President who will not alleviate their suffering, but deepen them till 2019, then all is lost.

Let me close this first part by drawing attention to Aribisala’s statement, undoubtedly made proudly about “his country”, not mine. “In Nigeria, nobody gets elected as President on the platform that he is going to be an anti-corruption crusader when he gets into office.” Apparently, Femi approves of that situation and will like it to continue – as long as Jonathan gets re-elected. This is a Professor? I thought professors are supposed to be engaged in advancing positive original ideas, not in telling us to continue to go to hell, as we are doing now

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Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by ladodo: 10:43am On Nov 10, 2014
A yoruba proverb say's A CHILD ABBUSE AN IROKO TREE, LOOKS BACK AND LAUGH NOT KNOW D IROKO TREE WILL KEEP ITS VENGANCE 4 A LATER DATE. GEJ should be ready 4 what is coming on his way. People like okupe and soon BABA OTA made them what they are 2day, they av not seen nothing yet.
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by GodsKate: 10:46am On Nov 10, 2014
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Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by manot: 11:28am On Nov 10, 2014
na dem know all l want make bag of cement to be 500naira
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Newshunter: 12:52pm On Nov 10, 2014
This is another craft by Nation newspaper owns by Tinubu. Where is the source of their news? To tell you it is a lie, was Danjuma not the one GEJ appointed to head the committee formed to bring truce in the NorthEast insurgency? If he does not support GEJ would he take the job? Was Babangida not the one who recently challenged those (APC) calling for GEJ resignation, by saying that they are not serious? APC knows Nigerians are easily deceived by falsehood. So they are giving it to Nigerians, mind controlling you people. GEJ remains the best President Nigeria ever had. After all, did OBJ not prostrate to Atiku before he was allow to come for second term. If GEJ seek support for all these oldies, it is normal in politics. Only OBJ cannot stop GEJ, none of them can by the way. Only Baba God. OBJ had to worship Atiku to be re-elected, at least GEJ has not gone that low. Stop making OBJ what he is not. He may be the one seeking relevance by going back to Aso Rock. Why did he go by the way? He has seen all his tricks and antics against GEJ have failed and will continue to fail. His Tambuwal is in trouble, he has misled the young fool. OBJ may be seeking GEJ attention to pardon Tambuwal.
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Nobody: 1:01pm On Nov 10, 2014
A Nation of F00lish citizens and F00lish but greedy Leaders.. so Babangida is the goto guy for Political Wisdom, the guy who single-handedly aborted Nigeria's Democratic Progress and turned Corruption into en enviable profession.
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by OROSUNBOLB(m): 1:03pm On Nov 10, 2014
omenka:
Someone is about to take a revenge! grin

Shebi ordinary letter, they descended on him like a pack of hyenas. Even Okupe of all people had the nuts to take a swipe at him. They've drawn blood, and the "failed unimportant Old Ota politician" will surely take his own pound of flesh.

Baba won't disappoint I know. grin

Trust Baba now.
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Olufemiolaolu(m): 1:09pm On Nov 10, 2014
scribble:
Nonsense


Jonathan doesn't need Approval of these clowns.

GEJ till 2019
Naa only you go vote 4 gej now. u re chief of clowns too now. otueke shd start planning gej welcome party.
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Nobody: 1:13pm On Nov 10, 2014
all this drama because Jonathan wants to declare for re-election tomorrow?

Bomb Blast at a school?
Shekau Video preaching to a village?
Ex-Presidents meeting?

Jonathan should go ahead and declare and also run for election.

We must make it quite clear that the only to alter the government and remove a sitting President is through campaigns/elections NOT violence!!!!

GEJ till 2019!!!!!
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Nobody: 1:15pm On Nov 10, 2014
omenka:
Someone is about to take a revenge! grin

Shebi ordinary letter, they descended on him like a pack of hyenas. Even Okupe of all people had the nuts to take a swipe at him. They've drawn blood, and the "failed unimportant Old Ota politician" will surely take his own pound of flesh.

Baba won't disappoint I know. grin
how stuppid is it for yall thinking like this! Gej is smart n as long as he gets what he wants he can as well beg da devil..and at da end of da day,yall rodents gonna be smilling indeed..step on n step up da giggle throttle..
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Nobody: 1:26pm On Nov 10, 2014
Baawaa:

GEJ which is your boss is crying for their support and you are here saying they should not support him.You are one of those who finished him
gej is crying for da support from da likes of ibb n u're obviosly proud! U're one of those who finished the country and making da future bleak..
#gej needs da support of God and the people..sending emissaries to those exes is fulfilling political scriptures. So pls,dont get it twisted..
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by OROSUNBOLB(m): 1:28pm On Nov 10, 2014
Newshunter:
This is another craft by Nation newspaper owns by Tinubu. Where is the source of their news? To tell you it is a lie, was Danjuma not the one GEJ appointed to head the committee formed to bring truce in the NorthEast insurgency? If he does not support GEJ would he take the job? Was Babangida not the one who recently challenged those (APC) calling for GEJ resignation, by saying that they are not serious? APC knows Nigerians are easily deceived by falsehood. So they are giving it to Nigerians, mind controlling you people. GEJ remains the best President Nigeria ever had. After all, did OBJ not prostrate to Atiku before he was allow to come for second term. If GEJ seek support for all these oldies, it is normal in politics. Only OBJ cannot stop GEJ, none of them can by the way. Only Baba God. OBJ had to worship Atiku to be re-elected, at least GEJ has not gone that low. Stop making OBJ what he is not. He may be the one seeking relevance by going back to Aso Rock. Why did he go by the way? He has seen all his tricks and antics against GEJ have failed and will continue to fail. His Tambuwal is in trouble, he has misled the young fool. OBJ may be seeking GEJ attention to pardon Tambuwal.

Rubbish.
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by olajide8(m): 1:45pm On Nov 10, 2014
The problem we face now - in getting this clueless man out of office is getting our voters card- its better they allow s do it peacefully - because they may not be able to comprehend what would happen next - they would say we are cowards - but we would surprise them, imagine people that have already started rigging b4 the election starts - allow us register and give us our VOTERS card, enough of NOI false economic principles -
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by JEITO: 2:14pm On Nov 10, 2014
No amount of support is too much! The more the better.


GEJ till 2019
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Marrier: 2:16pm On Nov 10, 2014
Election period is very close. More are to be expected. www.everywomanstopshopnigeria.
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Nmeri17: 2:38pm On Nov 10, 2014
cutemii:
Meaning OBJ and IBB are still ruling this country??


I give up...

they are not ruling the country. they are the kingmakers cool they hand pick who rules. u get??

BTW why this severe hatred for GEJ he's not even dictatorial or autocratic. Y'all no like better thing at all -___-
Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Nobody: 3:58pm On Nov 10, 2014

Re: Ex-Presidents, Others To Meet Obasanjo, Babangida Over Jonathan. by Nobody: 4:11pm On Nov 10, 2014
tonyot:
Let them do the needful.
GEJ must return.
No vacancy in Aso Rock till 2019

What ever we say or do , no one can determine 2015.Let the Almighty's will be done

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