Arrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh! Naija Stinks! 

In a dramatic twist, the members of the Review Committee set up to complete and fill the gaps in the report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) resigned in a dramatic manner.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Umaru Tsauri and the six other members of the Committee tendered a joint letter of resignation, dated March 20, 2007 to the President of the Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani. The one-page letter entitled: "Re: Resignation From Senate Review Committee on PTDF" reads: "We wish to inform the leadership that the Review Committee set up by the Senate to review the report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the PTDF concluded its report as scheduled. "However, considering the fact that the leadership is not certain about the time it would want the report to be presented, we, members of the Review Committee, hereby respectfully resign our membership. We remain grateful for the honour of consideration to serve."

The Senate President said so many things had gone wrong and that the Presidency had been degraded, adding "this whole thing is getting messier." According to Nnamani, "it was only yesterday morning that the Chairman of the Committee came to the floor of the Senate to request for more time. "The Committee Chairman said that because of the testimony of Otunba Johnson Fasawe and the fresh revelations, there was need to request for more time to do a thorough job.

Bla bla bla.

We all know that those guys have resigned out of fear of the Presidency! Some of our leaders actually assume that we are daft! What a pity!

God Bless Naija!         

i no fit shout again may God help nigeria

Razorr:

We all know that those guys have resigned out of fear of the Presidency! Some of our leaders actually assume that we are daft! What a pity!

We don't know nothing. Why didn't you post the reasons the senetors gave for resigning? I think YOU stink.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article01

DISCOMFORTING tension pervaded the Senate yesterday as all members of its seven-man special review committee on the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) resigned, despite having concluded their assignment.

They expressed fears over the decision by the leadership of the legislative chamber to shift debate on its work to a later date which, according to them, could jeopardise their findings.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f121032007.html

In the letter to the President of the Senate, the Review Committee members said they were resigning for what they called the indecision of the Senate leadership on the timing of the presentation of the report.
The Senate is expected to go on election break today or tomorrow paving the way for the report to be swept under the carpet.

Committee members that were contacted last night were in rage that the leadership had taken them for a ride and about destroying their own individual reputations. “The report is ready but he (Nnamani) wants it because he said he wanted to look through it and make his own input but we are never going to allow him,” a Committee member said last night.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200703212325312

Their resignation letter, dated March 20, 2007 and titled, “Re-Resignation from Senate Review Committee on PTDF,” was submitted to the President of the Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani, shortly after the Senate plenary session.

Before the development, the Senate had granted the committee an indefinite extension to consider more evidence from the public.

Members of the committee are Senators Timothy Adudu; Sa‘ad Muhammed; John Azuta-Mbata; Akinlabi Olasunkanmi; Chris Adighije; and Bello Yusuf.

The letter of resignation read, ”We wish to inform the leadership that the committee set up by the Senate to review the report of the Ad-hoc Committee on the PTDF concluded its report as scheduled.

“However, considering the fact that the leadership is not certain about the time it would want the report to be presented, we, members of the review committee, hereby respectfully resign our membership.

“We remain grateful for the honour of consideration to serve.”

Na wa o! This PDP members on nairaland have come again! I rest my case!

Typical response.

what stinks there, it happens everywhere, if someone wan die put for a position, una go say make im resign, if someone resign, una go say why im resign - unu be ponmo.

Intellectual laziness.

Razorr:

Na wa o! This PDP members on nairaland have come again! I rest my case!

So whenever misinformations are corrected for the interest of the general public it means that PDP members are doing the corrections? This line of thinking is plain silly and stupid.

Rather than address the statements made as a way of correction you have decided to do what all lazy Nigerians do, call names and disappear.

u are all cow meats.

PDP members on nairaland, oya I'm sorry. I would decamp now! How do I join the PDP? It seems you guys are winning!

Sources said the senate leadership removed the report from the order paper, allegedly because the committee members were adamant on not changing the recommendation indicting President Olusegun Obasanjo on the PTDF scandal. Sources further disclosed that Senator Ita Giwa had gone to the home of the Senate President Ken Nnamani on Tuesday morning where she appealed to him to ensure that President Obasanjo’s indictment is expunged from the PTDF report, saying “Baba will collapse if this report is released.”
Link to www.http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2007/mar/21/national-21-03-2007-01.htm
for details.

Austincrow:

Sources said the senate leadership removed the report from the order paper, allegedly because the committee members were adamant on not changing the recommendation indicting President Olusegun Obasanjo on the PTDF scandal. Sources further disclosed that Senator Ita Giwa had gone to the home of the Senate President Ken Nnamani on Tuesday morning where she appealed to him to ensure that President Obasanjo’s indictment is expunged from the PTDF report, saying “Baba will collapse if this report is released.”
Link to www.http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2007/mar/21/national-21-03-2007-01.htm
for details.

Their "sources" sure are awesome. They even know the exact words used during an alleged private meeting between Ita Giwa and Ken Nnamani. Wow, sun newspaper has more contacts than even the SSS. *rolleyes*

@Razzorr

As much as I dont agree with you, please guys lets accomodate a rare sister who's come to contribute on thread politics. If we continue like this, this section of Nairaland will be an all boys affair.

Although guys like Donzman, donnmikky do snick to other female-friendly threads to get a life.

@Topic
In whose interest will it be to impeach the President/VP less than 30 days to election. I believe the Senate leadership is only displaying maturity. I had always known that the best thing will be a flat indictment of OBJ/Atiku without impeachment. With that the Senate would have succeeded in edging out both Atiku and OBJ from our political future.

Once upon a time they stopped OBJ from a  third term, now they need to also stop Atiku from election for this Nation to move on. The only problem is most Senators who benefited   when Atiku was defacto President will not allow this.

Tonyblu:

By the way, what does d Senate President stand to gain as the No. 3 man if this elections do not hold?

Are sycophants & lobbyist at him already?

Sorry the Senate President is'nt pursuing a personal agenda, he has never done that.

Yea! I believe he is a decent man!

Finally the dark side of Obasanjo is beginning to emerge in full glare. Let's see what the OBJ boys on this forum say now!. The so-called "messiah" of Nigeria is no better than those kidnappers in the Niger-Delta.

Danmasani:

Finally the dark side of Obasanjo is beginning to emerge in full glare. Let's see what the OBJ boys on this forum say now!. The so-called "messiah" of Nigeria is no better than those kidnappers in the Niger-Delta.

So there are OBJ boys on this forum?

If you cannot discuss the issue on ground why don't you just read, must you brand people to display your frustration in not being able to convince others to see things your way?

This is one huge disease that is eating up a lot of Nigerians. Once they are unable to defend a position they start calling you names, real shame.

If anybody in Nairaland is looking to draw up a list of fans of OBJ please I like "McKren" to be number one on that list.

why??

I know for a fact that if OBJ did not say it can not be bussiness as usual, if he allowed every tom, dy-ck and harry that find themselves on the corridors of power to loot the treasury at the expense of the Nigerian people the situation would have been different by now.
If he allowed the IBBs and Atikus do want they want and come may 29 hand over to one of them, trust me 99% of those who formed the AC would have been eulogising this President by now. The question is if OBJ did this what would he have lost personally (absolutely nothing)
Whose interest is this man protecting by destroying his relationship with his bossom friends to fight this cause/.
Some of us will like to argue that is he not corrupt himself? but the petinent question is how long would we have waited for this Mr. Clean to change the status quo in a society where virturlly every fabric of our life has been corrupted.
The fight against corruption, selective or not, however you want to view it. You can not take away the fact that it has brought to our awareness that corruption can not continue to be a norm in our daily lives.

HATE HIM OR LOVE HIM, NOW THAT THE END IS NEAR AND HE IS ABOUT TO FACE THE FINAL CURTAIN. I LIKE TO SAY IT CLEAR THAT MY GENERAL SHOULD HOLD UP HIS HEAD IN HIGH ESTEEM COS HE DID IT HIS WAY.

This is from the vanguard news paper God SAVE NIGERIA OOOOOOO:

Committee members that were contacted last night were in rage that the leadership had taken them for a ride and about destroying their own individual reputations. “The report is ready but he (Nnamani) wants it because he said he wanted to look through it and make his own input but we are never going to allow him,” a Committee member said last night.
Their letter to the Senate President:

The President of the Senate,
Senate Chambers,
Abuja

Sir,

RE: RESIGNATION FROM SENATE REVIEW COMMITTEE ON PTDF

We wish to inform the leadership that the review Committee set up by the Senate to review the report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the PTDF concluded its report as scheduled.
However, considering the fact that the leadership is not certain about the time it would want the report to be presented, we, members of the Review Committee hereby respectfully resign our membership.
We remain grateful for the honour of consideration to serve.

The chairman, Senator Umaru Tsauri, and all other members, namely Senators Timothy Adudu, Sa‘ad Mohammed, John Azuta-Mbata, Akin Olasunkanmi, Chris Adighije and Bello Maitama Yusuf signed the letter which was delivered to the President of the Senate last night.
Vanguard gathered that the Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani had directly requested the Committee members to present their prepared report to him during a breakfast meeting in his house yesterday.

The Committee members, it was learnt, had demurred leading to a request by its chairman, Senator Umaru Tsauri for an extension of time at the Senate plenary session yesterday.
In appealing for extension of time, Senator Tsauri had noted “another revelation which completely affects our report and therefore on behalf of the Committee, appealing that we will bring the report any time from now.”

In suggesting another revelation, it was generally interpreted that he referred to the allegation by Otunba Oyewole Fasawe that President Obasanjo paid N700 million into the MOFAS account used in funding the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

His request was met with a general uproar in the Senate. The Senate leader, Dr. Dalhatu Tafida, was to add to the confusion when he said the report would be presented as “soon as possible.”
Responding to the agitation on the floor, Chief Nnamani said the leadership wanted the Committee to do a “thorough job because we will not have another review.”

He had, in total disregard of the chorus against the postponement, waved the issue away as he ruled that the Senate progress with its deliberation for the day.
However, sources close to the Senate President said Chief Nnamani was under tremendous pressure from the presidency on the issue.

Senator Florence Ita-Giwa and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai were alleged to be the point persons of the presidency working to suppress the report and had reportedly recruited the EFCC boss in pilling pressure on the Senate leadership.
Senator Ita-Giwa in an interview with Vanguard last night, however, denied any role in the pressure to kill the report, affirming that she was expected to observe proceedings on the deliberation of the report.

She said: “Did we kill the report by Ndoma-Egba? So why would I kill this one. You saw me in the gallery when Ndoma-Egba report was presented and I am also going to be in the gallery when this report will be presented.”

Denying any role in the efforts to suppress the report, she said: “I am not in the Senate. I don’t have anything to do with the report. I am an adviser to the President. I don’t advise the Senate.”
Asked if she met with Committee members yesterday, she said: “Members of the Committee, I am told, were working until about 2.00 a.m. and so I don’t think I went near that Committee area.”

The Senate is expected to go on election break today or tomorrow.
Earlier at a press briefing, Senator Jonathan Zwingina, Deputy Senate Leader, refused to comment on the general disquiet regarding the development.

“I think that the right person to ask is the chairman of the Committee because he and his members are working very hard and I know that as late as yesterday they were taking submissions,’ he said, adding: “Don’t forget we are not setting up any other Committee. So, this is going to be the final Committee.

As soon as they finish, we are ready for them. If they finish today and they bring it tomorrow fine. Whenever they are ready, the Senate is ready. Nobody can keep a Senate report waiting.’’
Also contacted yesterday, Chief Osuntokun said the Presidency had no reason to want to kill the review committee report.

He said: “It does not make sense. It was a public hearing, an investigation. I find it ridiculous that anybody would suggest that we want to suppress the report. What is there to suppress? What did Fasawe say other than the usual scandal mongering? I think it would embarrass him (Fasawe) more than anybody else.

“How do you suppress a public hearing? Does it make sense? It was done in the open. Anybody making that kind of suggestion does not know the meaning of suppression," he said.

@topic,

When Governors (especially those in Baba's bad books) were suspected of corruption, EFCC pounced on them without due recourse to the law and the constitution. On the other hand, when the Presidency is found wanting, out leaders feel it was high time they set up a panel to review and reconcile the obvious gaps.

Where is the EFCC? Why the selective treatment?

I hope OBJ and co will renovate and revamp our prisons before they get out of office. It is almost certain they will be spending a good portion of their retirement time there.

Politics of dishonest cleverness~

Where is the EFCC? Why the selective treatment?

I hope OBJ and co will renovate and revamp our prisons before they get out of office. It is almost certain they will be spending a good portion of their retirement time there.

See~could not agree better!What is he afraid of?Isn't the EFFFC or whatever name they go by supposed to have found OBJ not corrupt at all?Why aint Nuhu shouting now?What is the magomago concerning the panel report?Why did OBJ not face the panel?He did face Oputa panel(before you begin to stone me) Politics of duplicity~OBJ misused public funds and as he once said himself,anyone who contravenes the law must be punished!
I know for sure as Tayo said~gaol is definife post May 29 for OBJ!Or are they gonna give him a Presidential pardon too?

An Update of the indictment report from the Guardian Today: - http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article01

AFTER meeting behind closed-doors for nearly three hours, the Senate yesterday resolved to shelve debate on the controversial Petroleum Development Trust Fund (PTDF) till May 2, when its members are to resume plenaries.

The legislative chamber also rejected the mass resignation of its special review committee on the fund but admitted the submission of its recommendations when.

By the time the Senate resumes sitting to deliberate on the matter, the coming general elections will have been concluded.

Some dissenting members of the chamber faulted the decision of the Assembly, arguing that May 2 is too far away at this critical election period when a decisive resolution on the report would have helped to shape the course of things in the country.

The report of the review committee, among others, recommends sanctions on President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar. It also strongly chided the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Special Adviser to the President on Petroleum and Energy, Mr. Funsho Kupolokun, for their roles in the PTDF matter.

But the Presidency last night reacted angrily to the Review Committee's Report which indicted Obasanjo for alleged "illegal acts" not in line with the mandate of the organisation. It said Nigerians should ignore the report "which was obviously influenced by extraneous forces outside the Senate."

The forces, it alleged, are arrayed and working on embarrassing President Obasanjo and at the same time frustrating efforts at recovering stolen PTDF funds.

One senator who was on the floor yesterday told The Guardian that by leaving the report untreated before the elections, the Senate had rendered it prostate.

"We merely succeeded in raising the hopes of Nigerians, with the Ad-hoc Committee and Review Committee reports, that we were out to sanitise the system and dashed their hopes; who will come after the elections and start to waste his time on the review report. It is as good as dead," he said.

Most senators who spoke shared his opinion.

In its recommendations, the review committee indicted both President Obasanjo and Vice President Abubakar, confirming information made available exclusively to The Guardian by the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Umar Tsauri. It asked that both men be dragged before the Code of Conduct Bureau.

Specifically, it recommended that "with regards to the approval which the Vice President gave in respect of the $20 million on 14th October 2003, without the authority of Mr. President, the committee views the approval of the Vice President as illegal and therefore recommends that the Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, be referred to the Code of Conduct Bureau for further action."

It added: "In respect of some projects commenced by PTDF in 2006 viz: Incorporation of Galaxy Backbone; Purchase of Computers for Civil Servants under the Computer for all Nigerians Initiative; Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) Rehabilitation for which Mr. President gave approval and later got them ratified retroactively, the committee views the action of the President, Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as illegal and therefore refers Mr. President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to the Code of Conduct Bureau for further action."

Other recommendations were:

"The Committee recommends that in the case of deposits that were placed in Trans International Bank (TIB) and Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB), the circumstantial coincidence that existed between the deposits and the loans could not be used to link PTDF money with the companies that were granted loans. If there are any irregularities, it is the responsibility of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sanction the bank.


"In respect of the approvals of $125 million on 25th April 2003 and the subsequent placements of $115 million in Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB) and $10 million in Trans International Bank (FIB), the committee is satisfied that due process was followed. The subsequent investment was within the contemplation of Section 1 (c) of the PTDF Act and Section 23 of the Finance (Management and Control) Act.

"However, in the case of the additional $20 million for which the then Executive Secretary, Hamisu Abubakar, misrepresented the facts and wrongfully obtained approval of the Vice President, the committee recommends that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is presently investigating the matter, should continue and prosecute him for any offence disclosed.

"Hussaini Jalo, a former Executive Secretary of the PTDF from July 2005 to November 2005, is under investigation by EFCC and the sum of N49 million and six vehicles have so far been recovered from him. The committee recommends that EFCC, which is presently investigating the matter, should continue and prosecute him for any offence disclosed.

"In respect of the progress report on Obasanjo Administration and Photographs for State House Library, for which the former Executive Secretary approved N4.5 million, the committee views the project as outside the mandate of the PTDF Act: The committee recommends that the Executive Secretary, Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri, should be referred to the Independent Corrupt Practices (ICPC) for further action.

"The committee sustains recommendation No. 8 of the Ad-Hoc Committee that all projects approved for the PTDF from 2003 to date should be verified and evaluated by the relevant committees of the Senate, that is:

(a) Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream); and
(b) Committee on Public Accounts; or alternatively;

(c) Ad-Hoc Committee for this purpose.


"The committee sustains recommendation No.12 of the Ad-Hoc Committee that all accounts in the name of PTDF within and outside Nigeria should be established by the Senate Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Public Accounts; or alternatively an Ad-Hoc Committee for this purpose.

"The committee sustains recommendation No. 15 of the Ad-Hoc Committee that the Agencies like the Central Bank of Nigeria, Ministry of Finance, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Department of Petroleum Resources and the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation that have direct bearing with the Fund should play their roles as expected to aid the Fund in meeting the objectives for which it was established.

"The maintenance of four different accounts by the Accountant-General of the Federation with the CBN in the name of PTDF, namely: Reserve Account, Inspectorate Account, Bank Operations Account and Independent Revenue Account pursuant to the approval of the letter initiated by the then Special Adviser to Mr. President on Petroleum and Energy, Funsho Kupolokun for which approval was given by Mr. President putting a restriction on PTDF funding, the committee states that the approval was illegal and a contravention of Section 1 of the PTDF Act. In this regard, both Mr. President and Funsho Kupolokun are culpable.

"The committee therefore recommends that a strict compliance with Section 1 of the PTDF Act should be enforced.

"The committee recommends that all accounts opened in contravention of section 1 (c) of the PTDF Act should be closed forthwith.

"That the Petroleum Technology Development Fund Act should be amended to accommodate the current realities in the oil and gas industry as well as the Solid Mineral sector.

The Presidency said that the over-bearing influence of those behind the report was evidenced from the exchanges between the senate leadership and the committee.
Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Mallam Uba Sani absolved the President from any acts of illegality saying that he acted on the best interest of the nation and not any narrow interpretation of the act, which would not help in the technological development of the nation.

He disagreed that the funds approved by the President from the organisation's accounts were for projects which were outside the mandate of the funds.

Describing the report as a calculated attempt by some people to smear the president, he said it was shocking that the members did not take into consideration the explanation earlier given by the president on his role on the PTDF.

He defended the approvals given by the president as within the mandate of the PTDF, pointing out that there was no way the committee could have arrived at the conclusion if it had taken a broader view of the PTDF's mandate.

Mallam Sani cited the President's earlier explanations to the Committee by the President, saying that the three key projects, namely, the African Institute of Science and Technology, buying of computers for civil servants under the Computer for All Nigerians Initiative and the other PTDF projects for which he granted approvals from the PTDF's account were to further the training and capacity building of Nigerians in petroleum technology.

He contended that it was in no doubt that the Act clearly mandated the Federal Government to take whatever actions it deemed necessary to ensure that Nigerians were educated, trained and developed to be experts and key players in petroleum technology.

The Presidential aide wondered that "not even the invitation extended to the committee by Mr. President to physically verify the projects and payments made on the projects in order to make sure he broke no laws as far his actions were concerned was taken up by the committee."

But he expressed implicit confidence that when the report of the review committee is finally debated by the senate, the recommendations, particularly that suggesting that the President be referred to the Code of Conduct Bureau would be thrown out.


May God Have Mercy on this Country. Amen.

Please give us a source of this story. This is just copyright infringment.

A person indicted is not fit to rule in any capacity for any lenght of time even for a day so[b] McKren[/b] telling us to leave OBJ for 30 days, only God knows how much he would do in 30 corruption filled days. He should resign if he has any honor in him or better still be impeached. So a case of pot calling kettle black.
If the presidency went o court to ask the V.P to be removed with a few months to the end of his dormant tenure and he cant be managed for the remaining time, OBJ too should resign as he is not no longer fit to rule this country even for 1 day longer!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seun, the source is there. Look at the top of the story.

I can't see it.

@ seun It is there o, look at it well, haba!

I agree with you guys. Those guys should resign o. That's what would happen in the civilised world. Na wa for this country sef.