Wonders shall never end.

‘How I Spend My Bribe Money’—Gov Obi


Governor Peter Obi of Anambra state has said unlike other public officers, he channels his bribe money into bettering the lot of the people of his state.

Obi, who spoke with journalists in Awka, the state capital, last weekend, explained that since contractors would always want to part with some percentage of their profit, he has devised a means to channel the “kick-back” into welfarism programmes.

In less than three years in office, the governor said he has been able to save N350 million through this process, proceeds of which, he said, are pumped into the acquisition of 50 taxi cabs and 50 buses donated to the people of the state to alleviate transportation problem.

“They will always come to say ‘thank you’ with huge sums of money. At first, I was rejecting it, but I gave it a second thought and came to the realisation that the money is the state’s money and can be beneficial to the people of the state. Today, the 50 yellow buses and 50 yellow taxis you see plying various routes in Anambra state are as a result of this effort,” he explained.

The governor, who said he rejected the proposal of two bullet proof vehicles valued at N150 million upon assumption of office, explained further that it was the money that he used in acquiring 50 Peugeot 406 cars on direct purchase from PAN, at a cost of N3 milllion each.

The vehicles, he said, were given to his commissioners and permanent secretaries who had no official vehicles as at the time he took over. The Anambra state governor is, however, changing his mind on the use of bullet proof vehicles, an idea he earlier jettisoned, especially as another election year is approaching.

“I have ordered for a bullet proof car valued at N25 million and have been paying the money since June last year and very soon, the car will be delivered to me,” he said.

He also said it has become necessary to acquire the bullet proof car because of the turbulent and peculiar political climate in Anambra state, adding that, “with election approaching, I can’t afford not to acquire the bullet proof car.”

Speaking on the forthcoming election, governor Obi said it is time for Iwu to go. “We can’t trust Iwu’s INEC to conduct elections in Nigeria in general and Anambra in particular. I suggest we hire the Ghanaians to come and conduct elections for us. That is the only time we can be sure of a free and fair election in Nigeria. If we can’t emulate America, let us, at least, emulate Ghana,” he emphasised.

On the issue of godfatherism in Nigerian politics, he said “we must gang up to kill godfatherism in Nigeria politics, adding that it is for the purpose of those who gang up to loot the common wealth of the people. The only weapon which they have and which they have always used is rigging.”

According to him, in a free and fair election, he would win his opponents clean and clear because the downtrodden, grassroots people of the state have identified with him following his development projects and road construction across the length and breath of the state through the Anambra State Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS).

http://news.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=466&z=12

Peter Obi you liar! We shall not accept the insitutionalisation of bribery and corruption.

Ibime:

Peter Obi you liar! We shall not accept the insitutionalisation of bribery and corruption.

He's still far better than the charlatan Uba & his brother. My advise is that himself & Ngige (the hero that delivered that state) should join hands to develop Anambra and not fight each other.

you are still corrupt, the fact that you received it makes you corrupt. the fact that you didnt have them prosecuted makes you guilty.

must_a_far:

you are still corrupt, the fact that you received it makes you corrupt. the fact that you didnt have them prosecuted makes you guilty.

Well Spoken.

Robin hood!

Well if he does not take it someone else will. At least his doing something, what about those that take and pocket every single penny?

yarodin:

Well if he does not take it someone else will. At least his doing something, what about those that take and pocket every single penny?

Takin it an using it "wisely" will not impress me,its still bribery.
What we want is for him to stop the practice of givin kickbacks completely.

Takin it an using it "wisely" will not impress me,its still bribery.
What we want is for him to stop the practice of givin kickbacks completely

.

I wonder when we will reach that stage.

Roflmao!!! The man has the guts to tell us he recieves bribe money? roflmao!!

Kobojunkie:

Roflmao!!! The man has the guts to tell us he recieves bribe money? roflmao!!

you see as this governor dey call spade spoon? and someone would say in the governors defence that "at least he didnt collect and pocket it"

Kobojunkie:

Roflmao!!! The man has the guts to tell us he recieves bribe money? roflmao!!

He can say anything he wants, don't they all have immunity anyway. None of the governors should be scared after the "punishment" of Igbinideon.

yarodin:

Well if he does not take it someone else will. At least his doing something, what about those that take and pocket every single penny?

Pardon me but with such a take on things do you genuinely feel you should ever criticise the Nigerian government or 'lament' at the position corruption has put the country in? Good thing for freedom of speech if not no offence but some people should be barred from complaining or lamenting at "the state of things". You can't have your cake and eat it. You can't make excuses for corruption even to the point of almost commending it and then expect it to go away. You can't shout development and progress from the roof tops then find ways to morally "tolerate" blatant corruption and bribery. You can't shout and demand  that foreigners respect the green passport and see Nigeria as "developed" when corruption is so openly accepted and even commended if a cut of the stolen wealth (the people's money) is used to build a road or two. How impressive, someone went to the market with 50,000 naira of your money, bought a bag of pure water and gave you 5naira change, how noble of them.

Modern day ROBIN HOOD.

Why is he encouraging bribery and corruption? And he still has the guts to say that he collects bribe. Who cares if he used the bribe the buy yellow buses or whatever. The fact that he collected the bribe shows that he is not different from the rest. We all need to change our value systems in this country.

14 responses on topic, 10 against, 3 for and 1 neutral. Conclusion, 10 will collect and pocket the money, 3 will collect and use the money like Obi and one is not sure . Naijaaaaaaa! W e have a long way to go.
As for me, I hail Obi for the action. Out of 2 bad things, one is still better than the other. Outright refusal will mean the money go back to private pocket. It is a way to recover looted funds and for the money to be used for public benefit. Changes come in bits and pieces. Only few eyes see it when it is in this humble stage.

Jamace you are a corrupt fellow

Why continue to award contract to corrupt individulas? If you cant beat them you join them. If obi wants to stand out, let him stand out tall and clear and if he cannot he should join them abeg. which one is nigerian robin hood he's trying to portray himself as.

Jamace you are a corrupt fellow

Why continue to award contract to corrupt individulas? If you cant beat them you join them. If obi wants to stand out, let him stand out tall and clear and if he cannot he should join them abeg. which one is nigerian robin hood he's trying to portray himself as.

No doubt, am not an angel.

You know too well that to create an abrupt change in present day Nigeria is suicidal. He is contributing to change in a subtle way through wisdom. I can bet that all of you condemning his action will collect and pocket the money and if possible do thanksgiving that God has prospered you. There is nothing as cheap as criticising.
Let me educate you that change in Nigeria has started in a gradual way and Obi's effort is just one of those efforts, though not yet recognised by critics.

jamace:

No doubt, am not an angel.

You know too well that to create an abrupt change in present day Nigeria is suicidal. He is contributing to change in a subtle way through wisdom. I can bet that all of you condemning his action will collect and pocket the money and if possible do thanksgiving that God has prospered you. There is nothing as cheap as criticising.
Let me educate you that change in Nigeria has started in a gradual way and Obi's effort is just one of those efforts, though not yet recognised by critics.

Oh please, its always amusing and sometimes a bit irritating when people do this. Just because you would steal the money and stifle the development of the people you are meant to be responsible to does not mean everyone would walk thesame road. Please don't let guilt or whatever feeling you might have lead you to be so quick to throw thesame blanket on everyone by assuming that everyone would do thesame as an excuse for your own questionable standings. Doing so just seems to show you know that such a stand is selfish, immoral, corrupt, bankrupt and bereft of compassion. Money is not everything to everybody. So please speak for yourself : )

jamace:

No doubt, am not an angel.

You know too well that to create an abrupt change in present day Nigeria is suicidal. He is contributing to change in a subtle way through wisdom. I can bet that all of you condemning his action will collect and pocket the money and if possible do thanksgiving that God has prospered you. There is nothing as cheap as criticising.
Let me educate you that change in Nigeria has started in a gradual way and Obi's effort is just one of those efforts, though not yet recognised by critics.

WOW!! And people wonder why I say the problem with Nigeria is the Nigerian people!. Here we have someone trying really HARD to yet again rationalize the irrational and we wonder why we keep getting the same sort of crooks, even when we get THE NIGERIAN YOUTH in to the picture?

@Jamace, how does one more crime change things in a country riddled with crime? How in the world can you justify a CRIMINAL act punishable by our own laws in such a way? So, you are now saying IT IS OK to collect BRIBE as long as you can fabricate a story of how you spent the bribe for good?

So, how do we go after the criminals who bribe the governor in the first place when the governor himself by his collecting bribe is as guilty as them? How do we expect them to change help curb crime when they commit crime and then come back to tell us sweat tales? Why do we sit and wonder why these people continue to get away with their crimes against Nigerians when we are the ones quick to praise people like Obi for his own part in the crime? WOW!!

Why do I think you critics are unduely hasty?
I read the original article and I see "they won't stop coming back to say thank you with huge, ". May be you guys ca't see that you cannot prosecute anyone for coming with a thank you offer after executing a job. I don't know Gov. Obi so I can't atest to his honesty but I know that if he rejected the gifts the useless contractors will pocket it and the people would not have had anything out of the balance of bloated contracts.

Mowire:

Why do I think you critics are unduely hasty?
I read the original article and I see "they won't stop coming back to say thank you with huge, ". May be you guys ca't see that you cannot prosecute anyone for coming with a thank you offer after executing a job. I don't know Gov. Obi so I can't atest to his honesty but I know that if he rejected the gifts the useless contractors will pocket it and the people would not have had anything out of the balance of bloated contracts.

your idea of a bribe is collecting money to seek favor. a bribe is a bribe whether it is collected/given either before, during or after a contract is awarded, executed or completed. there is no statute of limitation in the case of a bribe. if you receive it 10 years after, its still a bribe.

Mowire:

Why do I think you critics are unduely hasty?
I read the original article and I see "they won't stop coming back to say thank you with huge, ". May be you guys ca't see that you cannot prosecute anyone for coming with a thank you offer after executing a job. I don't know Gov. Obi so I can't atest to his honesty but I know that if he rejected the gifts the useless contractors will pocket it and the people would not have had anything out of the balance of bloated contracts.

Interesting! Since we are on maybes. How about maybe, when the books are checked and it is discovered that the excess was pocketed by the “useless” contractors, then we can prosecute them and make them an example to other contractors out there who are doing the same? I mean we cannot do that now since the dear governor is himself in the business of accepting “gifts” from the contractors, who most likely still pocket a portion of the money regardless. So in this case, the people still get stiffed and worse, they can NEVER really get justice as long as Obi is willing to cover his tracks by manufacturing SWEET scented fairy tales of how he used his portion to help the people. I mean what stops those contractors from coming up with the same sort of stories about how they spent their own share now?

Mowire:

Why do I think you critics are unduely hasty?
I read the original article and I see "they won't stop coming back to say thank you with huge, ". May be you guys ca't see that you cannot prosecute anyone for coming with a thank you offer after executing a job. I don't know Gov. Obi so I can't atest to his honesty but I know that if he rejected the gifts the useless contractors will pocket it and the people would not have had anything out of the balance of bloated contracts.

I understand the point you are trying to make and i saw the text you referenced. However critsicms are not necessarily directed at the article but at the responses it is generating. Some people are basically saying it is ok to accept bribe as long as you "give back to the community" while others are using the excuse of not just "everybody does it" but also "everybody would do it" to justify such stances.

Even if we have to address the article, perhaps a more conservative fiscal approach would suffice instead of the common practise in Nigeria of giving out over inflated and unecessarily padded contracts which seem to consist of on the spot made up figures devoid of any competitive tendering or price searching. Perhaps then contractors won't have to come back offering "gifts". And please let people not come back with lame excuses like "it happens in the US", we are speaking of government money, we are speaking of Nigeria and sorry to break it to those still in doubt but Nigeria is poor. Any money being "saved" by the government is actually simply being wasted because there are things to be done, infrastructure to upgrade, hospitals to build, economic schemes to instigate, power to generate, industries to facilitate, etc, therefore such a wreckless approach to government spending should not be encouraged.

If at the end of his tenure all Yar Adua can show is "saved money" with retrogression in terms of development or none at all, it would not be any favour on Nigeria's path because all it would ammount to is more wasted time and hence delayed progress. It is even more scary for instances whereby the actual money spent on the project is not known and then people come bearing gifts. The 50,000 naira pure water with 5naira change analogy still stands until such information is known.

Can we just say What is the true definition of A Bribe?

Say I'm making excuse for bad behaviour but the truth on ground is: There is hardly any contractor in Nigeria who will does not return to say thank you. The JBs' of this world started it.
Really I agree that instead of giving room for inflated contracts the gov. ought to have devised a system of preventing it. But then the contractor will still come back to say "thank you" with or without corrupting intensions.

Mowire:

Say I'm making excuse for bad behaviour but the truth on ground is: There is hardly any contractor in Nigeria who will does not return to say thank you. The JBs' of this world started it.
Really I agree that instead of giving room for inflated contracts the gov. ought to have devised a system of preventing it. But then the contractor will still come back to say "thank you" with or without corrupting intensions.

Saying ‘Thank You’ is one thing. Saying ‘Thank you’ with a bribe is another. This man is here confessing that he does accept bribe alongside the ‘Thank Yous’ and that, to me, is a problem. This is a governor we have in office to help quell the Bribery and corruption culture we have in that state, not facilitate it. He can always put together a task force to check the books on every contractor to ensure that money allocated for projects are effectively applied and that those who have a serious need to say their ‘thank yous’ can make donations to causes that benefit the people directly, rather than giving the money directly to the governor and his men.
We need to make a decision in that country. Are we willing to continue excusing some crimes? Or are we willing to ensure that ALL crimes are punished?

Here we go again. the it didnt just start so why the noise rhetoric is being played. I'm not perfect but i know BS when i see one, especially when the BSer is trying to portray his BS as a good deed.




a former Governor used to give out money at the mosque after Friday prayers every Friday. _{total BS} whether he performed during his tenure at the "round house" doesn't make his giving out money right/proper.  i saw his money giving actions as patronising the people, improve the lives of ur people an they'll sing ur praise not by saying,"oh the governor always dolled out money to us on friday" but by saying, "my commute to work is now less than 30minutes because the road network project the government worked on was the master stroke we had been craving". by the way the money giving sessions always caused a stampede, im surprised no one ever got trampled to death.

This is nothing but a systematical way of stealing.

This man truly thinks Nigerians are stupid.
I honestly think Gov. Obi is already building his case (for EFCC) just in-case something jumps out in future.
Bribery is corruption and it is absolutely against our law.
It doesn't and shouldn't matter what you use the money for, once you collect bribe, it means you've disobeyed the rules; and you should be punished.

I take what doesn't belong to me, but also give it away to people that need it = You're a thief.

What kind of example is this man displaying? There is something wrong with this picture, he needs to be investigated.

In-fact, for him to boldly come out to make this statement says a lot about our weak constitution, the level of retardation of our leaders and the uncivilized state of mind of the citizens.
This man should be arrested immediately.

Imagine the same statement being made by a governor of a state in United States. What do you think would happen to this governor?

What a dumbass governor ! Admitting to collecting bribe