Nigeria to join international loot recovery initiative – Yar‘adua
By Olayinka Oyebode
Published: Saturday, 15 Dec 2007

President Umaru Musa Yar‘Adua has said on Thursday, in Washington D.C., United States that Nigeria will subscribe to the Joint United Nations and World Bank’s Stolen Assets Recovery (STAR) initiative in furtherance of his administration‘s war against corruption.

According to a statement by the Special Adviser on Comunication to the President, Mr Segun Adeniyi, made available to our correspondent in Lagos on Friday, President Yar‘Adua made the pledge at the United States Library of Congress during an event hosted by the American Chambers of Commerce. The event, the statement added, was witnessed by prominent US. business people and public officials.

The President said he had already given directives for the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime and the World Bank to be formally informed of Nigeria‘s accession to the STAR initiative.

The initiative was launched in September by the World Bank, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to help developing countries recover assets stolen by corrupt leaders and invest them in effective, people-oriented development programs.

President Yar‘Adua also identified the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as one of the main focal points of his administration‘s war against corruption.

Yar‘Adua said , “One of the areas we are going to clean now is the national oil company, the NNPC. In Nigeria, it has not been transparent, and it is one of the most difficult agencies of government to tackle because of the vested interest of very powerful people in the country.

”But we are determined, knowing that when you break that up, it will help bring other agencies and ministries in line. NNPC will operate like any other company in the private sector and source funds for its joint venture operations from the capital market.

”With such funds, investors would protect their money and ensure transparency. We will then deploy what we have saved from that to social sectors like education and health.”

Responding to questions from the audience, President Yar‘Adua reaffirmed his Administration‘s zero tolerance for corruption, but stressed that its campaign against corruption ”goes hand in hand with the determination to ensure respect for the rule of law”.

”What I have done is to give the anti-corruption agencies like EFCC, ICPC and the Code of Conduct Bureau, the full support of government and total independence to act on any case of corruption.

”The other thing that we are doing to fight corruption, apart from the work of these agencies, is trying to ensure that due process is followed in the conduct of official government business and from the President down to the lowest official, nobody can put himself above the law, everybody must act in strict compliance and conformity with the law establishing the functions of their office.

”This is an extremely difficult challenge, but we are following it and we are making sure that the opportunities to be corrupt are being checked. We are going to expand the horizon of the war against corruption beyond the activities of agencies like the EFCC and ICPC to the complete reformation of key institutions like the Nigerian Police Force.

The President said his government would reform and aid the judiciary in its bid to reform itself. “I am insisting that the rule of law must be supreme, and that every judgment of the law court must be respected and obeyed.

”The challenge is that where you have a corrupt system you find that even the judiciary is affected, it is not excluded. The serious challenge that we would have is to get a corruption-free judiciary, because the rule of law can best be anchored on a corruption-free judiciary.

”We have given the anti-corruption agencies free hands to act and we encourage them that once they notice a corrupt court judgment, they should immediately appeal to a higher court so that the judgment can be vacated. By doing that they would have set precedence, such that this kind of action can never happen in the lower court again. Because if you say you don‘t want to obey a court order because you believe it is corruptly procured, you are destroying a system and it doesn‘t help your cause.

President Yar‘Adua also met with the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, who praised his adherence to the rule of law while pledging the assistance of the US government to Nigeria in the area of electoral reforms, education, providing lasting solution to the Niger Delta problem and the fight against HIV/AIDS.

At the United States Congress where he was received by the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Relations, President Yar‘Adua said Nigeria‘s stand on AFRICOM was that the US should assist in training, equipping and providing other logistical support for an African stand-by force to which countries within the continent would contribute troops.

Yar’Adua Restates Resolve to Cleanse NNPC
•Denies Accepting AFRICOM
From Constance Ikoku in Washington and Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 12.15.2007

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President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has identified the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as one of the main focal points of his administration’s war against corruption.
Making this known in Washington D.C. yesterday, the president said in furtherance of his administration’s war against corruption, Nigeria shall subscribe to the joint United Nations and World Bank Stolen Assets Recovery (STAR) initiative.
[b]The president’s accession to the STAR initiative coincided with his clarificaton that the partnership with the US/African Command (AFRICON) does not translate to an acceptance of the command.
Yar’Adua’s sudden volte face is coming on the heels of his meeting with President George Bush of the US at the White House, Thursday, during which he affirmed Nigeria’s commitment to partner with the US on AFRICON for the provision of security in the continent.
But in an interview with the Hausa service of the Voice of America (VOA) in Washington DC , monitored by THISDAY, he said Nigeria plans to establish military bases in Africa to be managed by Africans for the protection of oil reserves.
He stated: "I did not accept AFRICOM in my discussions with Bush. I asked for assistance and told Bush that we have our plans to establish bases for African countries. We asked for training on weapons and training to establish our bases to be managed by our people.”
“Seven countries in the Gulf of Guinea will be involved,” he stated. The president said he asked for training from the US government. The US insisted it can only render help through its AFRICOM base in Stuttgart, Germany, said Yar’Adua.
The President claimed there was a misunderstanding of his comments at the White House on Thursday. It is a partnership, not an acceptance, he stressed.
His acceptance to partner with the US on AFRICOM during his meeting with the US president on Thursday, strayed from the opposition to the establishment of the command by the Council of States of which the president is the chairman.
Also, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Madu-ekwe, who is part of the president’s delegation to the US had himself stated that Nigeria would not support the presence of US troops on African soil under the auspices of AFRICOM.[/b]
Meanhile, while speaking at the US Library of Congress at an event hosted by the American Chambers of Commerce and witnessed by prominent businessmen and US public officials, Yar’Adua said “One of the areas we are going to clean now is the national oil company, NNPC.
“In Nigeria, it has not been transparent, and it is one of the most difficult agencies of government to tackle because of the vested interest of very powerful people in the country.
“But we are determined, knowing that when you break that up, it will help bring other agencies and ministries in line. NNPC will operate like any other company in the private sector and source for funds for its joint venture operations from the capital market.
“With such funds, investors would protect their money and ensure transparency. We will then deploy what we have saved from that to social sectors like education and health,” the President said.
The president disclosed that he had already given directives for the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Bank to be formally informed of Nigeria’s accession to the STAR initiative.
The initiative was launched in September by the World Bank, in partnership with UNODC to help developing countries recover assets stolen by corrupt leaders and invest them in effective, people-oriented development programs.
Responding to questions from the audience, Yar’Adua reaffirmed his administration’s zero tolerance for corruption, but stressed that its campaign against corruption goes hand in hand with the determination to ensure respect for the rule of law.
“What I have done is to give the anti-corruption agencies like EFCC, ICPC and the Code of Conduct Bureau, the full support of government and total independence to act on any cases of corruption.
“This is an extremely difficult challenge, but we are following it and we are making sure that the opportunities to be corrupt are checked. We are going to expand the horizon of the war against corruption beyond the activities of agencies like the EFCC and ICPC to the complete reformation of key institutions like the Nigerian Police Force.
“When we reform the police then we can get the judiciary to reform itself because I am insisting that the rule of law must be supreme, and that every judgment of the law court must be respected and obeyed.
“The challenge is that where you have a corrupt system you find that even the judiciary is affected, it is not excluded. The serious challenge that we will have is to get a corruption-free judiciary because the rule of law can best be anchored on a corruption-free judiciary,” the president stated.
Yar’Adua told his audience that the government had given the anti-corruption agencies a free hand to act and that they are being encouraged to appeal corrupt court judgments at higher courts in order to vacate the flawed ruling passed down by the lower court.
“By doing that,” he explained, “they would have set a precedence such that this kind of action can never happen in the lower court again, because if you say you don’t want to obey a court order because you believe it is corruptly procured, you are destroying a system and it doesn’t help your cause.
“So it is a long drawn process and a very hard battle. But the important thing is that when you fight such battles, you succeed when the majority of the citizens are with you. On this fight, we will succeed because Nigerians want corruption stamped out of their system,” the President stressed.
President YarAdua also met with US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, who praised his adherence to the rule of law while pledging the assistance of the US government to Nigeria in the area of electoral reforms, education, providing lasting solutions to the Niger Delta problem and the fight against HIV/AIDS.

See how Nigerian media operate, they have started retracting their statements under different headlines

If any of them was lucky not to report the news yesterday what you will hear will be "Yaradua denies accepting AFRICOM after another Newspaper not THISDAY reported he accepted, "

Why cant they be honest enough for their collective misconception.

You dont even need to be at the OVAL office to notice the disparity between the news and qoutes from Government officials.

The president’s accession to the STAR initiative coincided with his clarificaton that the partnership with the US/African Command (AFRICON) does not translate to an acceptance of the command.The President claimed there was a misunderstanding of his comments at the White House on Thursday. It is a partnership, not an acceptance, he stressed.

Ah!Its makes sense now.Nigeria entered into a partnership with what it rejects!

Well,  I am glad the news media agree that it was reported that he did do an about turn on his initial. I mean even though the report now says he did not, it does not say that the former was not what was initially reported. So, it was not my fault that I read what was printed at all and to be honest, that article does not convince me at all that he did not say what the media reported that he did earlier. It only shows that there were two sides but does not necessarily try to confirm which story is true and which is false.

I try to avoid reading EXTRA meaning into things and like to present them as I see it. I mean I do not know Yar Adua. I would not necessarily say I am a supporter, neither do I hope he fails. I do know the history of things in that country and have come to accept that such is not new and should not be a surprise. So I will wait until I read a report that actually CONFIRMS and points out the mistakes that may have been made and by whom to decide what to believe in this.

no damned foreign military base in our land

i laugh in idoma

i know my people. let yankee go and build the base in cuba, or russia

You know it is sad that Nigerians don't understand their leaders. I recalled this debate while reading punchonline and couldnt help but post after not being on nairaland for a while.

The report states that govt has soft pedalled its position on AFRICOM, in my opinion this has been the position from the beginning, i invite debosky, Mckren and the other "objective" and extremely intelligent and enlightened folks to attempt to spin this.

I eagerly wait for the responses and while at that can the author please amend the title.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200805282131648

Nigeria backpedals on Africom
By Oluwole Josiah, Abuja
Published: Wednesday, 28 May 2008
The Federal Government may have reconsidered its stand on the United States Africa Command, known as Africom, as it has accepted most of the proposals in the policy.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, said the US policy had been around for a long time.

He noted that Nigeria rejected a situation in the past when the US military made incursions into parts of Africa without seeking the consent of African countries.

He described the situation as Africom 1, adding that the practice of unwarranted incursions by US military formations was a thing of the past.

On Nigeria‘s new position, Maduekwe said the proposal was examined by Nigeria and it was found suitable for her survival as a nation.

He said it was not wise for Nigeria to maintain a ”cold war” posture by exhibiting the old communist anti-west stance.

He said the Africom proposal would be beneficial to both Nigeria and the US interests in handling the issue of terrorism and the building of the capacities of African soldiers.

He said, ”The Africom 2 is one that will continue to exist for US cooperation with African militaries in the area of training, logistics and equipment support. It is the Africom that will see our officers going to the US War College and that had existed for many decades, but now if they have been admitting five of them, they can now admit 20 of them because there is a new understanding.

”This Africom 2 is that which will avail us satellite governance to enable us enhance our own capacity for nipping terrorist attacks. Terrorist attacks know no boundary and if there is terrorist attack in Nigeria it can literally cripple our economy because we still have a fragile economy.

”So, if there is a level of infrastructure available somewhere, it does not have to be in America, it could be any other country. But now the Americans have offered what they have been offering us but they have said ‘let us make it more administrative tidy‘ rather than getting this support from Europe.”

On Nigeria‘s bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, Maduekwe said the country was better positioned to get it.

Just as I have rightly stated in the other related thread, there is only one underlining motive for all these moves by The US and everything is under the disguise of peace and war against terror. In the end it is all about one (1) world goverment. "The New World Order" that is what this is all about. If you can take time out and watch the whole 5 segments of this youtube videos you guys will understand. He who has ears let him ear,

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hEZfMruLMSI&feature=related