₦airaland Forum

chinchum:
touche !

October 26, 2015 - Emmanuel Mayah

MTN has consistently prided itself as the foremost telephone company that is getting Nigerians talking the most. Now the South African company is about to set tongues wagging across networks with revelations that it has routinely been shipping billions of naira overseas to avoid paying its fair share of tax in Nigeria.

An 11-month-long investigation by PREMIUM TIMES reveals that MTN has been running circles around Nigerian revenue authorities using a complex but noxious tax avoidance scheme called Transfer Pricing.

For any economy, it is a slow death.

The red flag was raised the moment our investigations showed that MTN Nigeria has been making payments to two overseas companies – MTN Dubai and MTN International in Mauritius – both located in tax havens.

It was discovered that in 2013 for example, MTN set aside N11.398 Billion from MTN Nigeria to pay to MTN Dubai. A similar transfer of N11.789 Billion was made by MTN Ghana to the same MTN Dubai, making it a total of N23.187 Billion that was shipped to the Dubai offshore account.
In a rare disclosure in 2013, MTN admitted it made unauthorized payments of N37.6 Billion to MTN Dubai between 2010 and 2013. The transfers were then “on-paid” to Mauritius, a shell company with zero number of staff and which physical presence in the capital Port Louis is nothing more than a post office letter box. The disclosure amounted to a confession given that MTN made the dodgy transfers without seeking approval from the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), the body mandated to oversight such transfers.

On the basis of an earlier management fees agreement that was technically quashed by NOTAP and on the basis of MTN’s reported revenues, it is estimated that N90.2 Billion could have been transferred out of Nigeria in management fees alone since the company was founded in 2002.

Transfer Pricing
For corporate organizations determined to escape the taxman but still cleverly staying on the right side of the law, Transfer Pricing is the new cellar door constructed by the most ingenious of accountants. It is a new global disease to which Third World economies are the most vulnerable.

Multinationals employ Transfer Pricing to move their profits offshore, leaving behind a shrinking tax base in their host countries and inexorable cuts to public services.

In Africa, tax avoidance has been named as one of the factors holding the continent back by starving governments of the revenues it needs for development.

A report jointly commissioned by the United Nations and the African Union and drafted by a high level panel led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki considered tax avoidance by multinationals to be an “illicit financial flow” and a significant drain on government resources across the continent.

In total illicit financial flows, which included corruption and the proceeds of crime, were determined to be costing the continent $50billion a year.
Just last year, South Africa’s deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa had harsh words for tax dodgers. He said: “Tax evasion is not only a crime against the state; it’s also a crime against the people of our country, ordinary people.”
Curiously, the same Cyril Rhamaposa was non-executive chairman of the board of MTN between 2001 and 2013 before he became South Africa’s No.2 man. In effect, the same tax practices which the deputy president strongly condemned in his country as financial crime is vigorously being promoted in Nigeria.

MTN is the largest cell phone company in Africa with 227.5 million subscribers. The company, which operates in more than 20 countries across Africa and the Middle East, has Nigeria as its biggest operation.
Until now, tax justice investigations had focused on computer giants, corporations in the extractive industry, food and beverages; in fact everywhere but the mobile phone sector despite the cell phone industry in Africa being one of the largest and most important industries for the continent.

Mobile phone has been a cheap and quick way of rolling out the vital communications infrastructure that has underpinned Africa’s growth story over the last decade. As a result the industry has seen explosive growth. With 685million mobile phone users in Africa, the success story means that cell phone companies are now the largest contributor to government revenues in many African countries. That is when they pay their fair share of taxes.

Artificial operating costs
To pay little or no tax, companies determined to cheat begin by seeking ways to create artificial operating costs in the country where they operate. For example, a company is in Nigeria but has a parent or subsidiary company in another country. It makes huge profit but decides to declare a much lower profit-before-tax. To achieve this, it pays the parent and/ or subsidiary company for services not rendered and ships cash to them. Where services are rendered, the costs are inflated. Such services may include royalty for the use of brand name, procurement services, technical services and management services.

Typically, the recipient company is located in an offshore territory under a different financial jurisdiction. MTN has a substantial network of subsidiaries in offshore tax havens, including the British Virgin Islands, Dubai and Mauritius.

Because of the growing concerns that multinationals are using intra-company trading to shift profits around the world by overcharging for services delivered or in more extreme cases by creating artificial transactions where no services was rendered at all, respective countries have a maximum percentage of profits it can allow companies to pay out as management fees.

For example, in Senegal, accounts from the company Sonatel show that the company has a ‘cooperation agreement’ with parent company France Telecom that is capped at 1.43% of revenue.

Until 2010 MTN Nigeria had an agreement with MTN Dubai to pay 1.75% of revenues to the company for management, and royalties for the use of the MTN trademark. Nigeria requires that management fees paid by multinationals are approved by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP). The fee payments had been reversed following a failure to come to a new agreement on management fees with Nigerian regulators.

MTN’s previous agreement with NOTAP expired in 2010.

Notwithstanding, MTN has continued to make payments overseas. When we sent questions to MTN over these unauthorized payments, the company told us that this was because they expected NOTAP to approve a new deal and backdate it to the date of the expiry of the previous deal.

MTN’s financial activities are now being questioned by more than one tax authorizes in Africa.

In Ghana the MTN subsidiary, Scancom, has been paying vast management fees to companies located offshore. Our investigations reveal that Scancom paid 758m GHS in management and technical fees to MTN Dubai between 2008 and 2013. This was 9.64% of the company’s revenue. Normally the maximum fee level allowed in Ghana is 6%.

We can reveal that the high levels of fees attracted the attention of Ghana’s intelligence services, which launched an investigation into “economic fraud” between 2012 and 2013.

MTN’s management fees need approval from the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC). The Ghanaian “National Security Taskforce” has called for a “review of all technology transfer and management service agreements currently held by GIPC to remove sections which are inapplicable and wrongly provided for” and upgrading and training of state systems and staff.

In response to this, MTN in Ghana told us: “The technical and management services agreements between Scancom and Investcom were duly approved by the GIPC.”

The current head of the GIPC is Mrs. Mawuena Trebarh, who between 2007 and 2012 was responsible for government relations at MTN Ghana. This reporting team asked Mrs Trebarh to comment on whether her previous role could be perceived a conflict of interest. She did not respond to our requests.

In response to our enquiries MTN confirmed that the company paid 12 billion West African Francs in 2012 and 14 billion West African Francs in 2013 in management fees to MTN International. The figure for 2013 is equivalent to 5% of the revenue made by MTN in Cote d’Ivoire.

Dubai paradox
Dubai is one of the places MTN ships huge profits to. Meanwhile, MTN does not operate any mobile phones in Dubai, yet it has significant operations in the small city state.

MTN told us that it employs around 115 people in Dubai who provides services to the MTN group such as group procurement, group finance, legal services, human resources and other corporate functions.

One tool that campaigners have said will be helpful is to look at company reporting on a country by country basis. If a company is making huge revenues in a country where it has few employees but there is a low tax rate, which would suggest that there may be some profit shifting taking place.

In Uganda, a dispute between the Uganda Revenue Authority and MTN has revealed that the company is paying 3% of its turnover in management fees to MTN International.

The fees have been challenged by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) who issued MTN with a “notice of assessment” in 2011. This was for a number of tax issues between 2003 and 2009, but a large portion was to do with a dispute over management fees, most of which had been paid to Mauritius.

Correspondence between the URA and MTN seen by us show that the URA questioned the legitimacy of these fees, and pointed out that MTNI, the company providing “management services” to MTN Uganda had not spent any money in the years they had looked into. The URA said this could only mean two things: that management services provided to MTN Uganda had either already been paid for by MTN Uganda (and so MTN was in effect charging twice for the same thing) or they were never provided at all.

The Ugandan authority told the company: “We have repeatedly asked for evidence of specific work performed by MTN Group for MTN Uganda for each of the tax years 2003 to 2009. We have only been provided with very little information relating to 2009 and the latter years. This information is very far from justifying a payment of 3 per cent of MTN Uganda’s turnover as management fees.”

NOTAP keeps mum
Asked to confirm the amount of fees paid out to MTN Dubai and Mauritius based on the company’s reported revenue between 2002 and today, MTN told PREMIUM TIMES: “There is no disclosure obligation for this information in South Africa or Nigeria.”

Asked to explain the possible justification for MTN Nigeria to pay fees for management and technical services to a company with no employees, MTN said: “It is the contracting party’s prerogative as to how it elects to discharge its contractual obligations.”

Meaning is that MTN Mauritius can perform its task without a single staff member.

PREMIUM TIMES made sustained efforts to get NOTAP and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to comment on the MTN practices in Nigeria.

The Director in charge of Technology Transfer and Agreement, Ephraim Okejiri, initially pleaded that he was in a meeting, and that the reporter should wait.

But after over four hours of waiting, he sent a secretary to say he would not be able to give any information on MTN.
Similarly at Nigeria’s tax agency, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Director of Public Communications, Emmanuel Obeta, who had earlier promised on three occasion to make information available on the matter suddenly had a change of mind.
He said relevant officials who should provide him with the information sought were all not available.

Additional report ‎by Bassey Udo and Nicholas Ibekwe.

By Francis Igata
ENUGU—A pressure group in Enugu, known as,”Concerned Citizens of Enugu State,CCES,” has condemned the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra,IPOB,over the continued detention of their leader and Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnadi Kanu, who was arrested at the Lagos Airport.

The group described the recent protest by the pro-Biafra group in Enugu as illegal, unacceptable, anti-democratic and an adventure that was capable of undermining the unity of the country and the existing peace and tranquility.

A statement by the group’s leader, Chief Jeremiah Udeh said: “We, the Concerned Citizens of Enugu State,CCES, condemn in its entirety the unlawful approach of violent protests adopted by the so-called IPOB in promoting its course.

We do not and will not encourage any unlawful act that will be inimical to the peace and unity of the country and the tireless efforts of the present administration in Enugu State to advance development in the state.

enomakos:
so he hads visit nigeria before?

menabadoo:
any Igbo killed with attract 10 Fulani heads rolling. Coward tribe

menabadoo:
any Igbo killed with attract 10 Fulani heads rolling. Coward tribe

menabadoo:
eh pain am

menabadoo:
you can't try such in Igbo land and go free, see this, Igbo youth kills Fulanis to retaliate.we are not cowards, their heads rolled

http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/71638-fulani-herdsmen-killed-youth-enugu.html

https://www.google.com/m?q=fulani+murdered+in+udi

menabadoo:
Don't you think its high time yorubas stand against the maltreatment they are receiving from the Fulanis? The abduction of falae should be a wake up call for the coward Yoruba race. Just an advice.

With his vision to make Lagos the choice investment destination, the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode created the Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment at his inauguration, which will radically revolutionise the flow of FDIs into the state. Gboyega Akinsanmi writes

Like other governors in the federation, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode was 100 days in office penultimateSunday. But Ambode did not mark his first 100 days; neither did he address a news conference on his milestone since he assumed office. This was a sharp contrast to the tradition of his immediate predecessor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who marked every 100 days in office.

Even though Ambode did not continue Fashola’s tradition, his aggressive hunt for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) has indeed paid off since he took up the mantle of leadership in the state. As a result, Ikeja House, the state’s official seat of power, has been a point of call for foreign missions looking for opportunities they can exploit and foreign investors that chose to do business in the state.

The new scramble for Lagos soul did not happen by accident or by chance. Likewise, it was not just an offshoot of an era gone by. It was largely a product of Ambode, who at his inauguration created an office of office of Overseas Affairs and Investment. The new office is now a beacon for global brands that a new market with varying degrees of opportunities has emerged on the coast of West Africa.

Ambode’s grand strategy for the new office was simply “to assure the business community and corporate Lagos that the ease of doing business in Lagos will be improved upon earnestly and that Lagos is open for greater business.” Contemplating at building friendlier regime, Ambode said the new office became imperative “to enable investors fly into Lagos; start their businesses and work and live in the state.”

True to his ambitious promise, Ambode succeeded creating a new investment climate and an atmosphere for doing business, which he said, dictated his on-going public sector reform; defined his approach to law enforcement; testified to his commitment to public order and safety and explained the rationales his administration had kicked off a comprehensive reform of the state’s judicial sector.

Enabling Climate
At a recent strategic meeting, Ambode provided background to Lagos economy. For him, the size of the state’s population is simultaneously its greatest sources of strength and challenges. But he has been strengthening the state institutions for robust response. He thus said Lagos “leverages on its population and cosmopolitan nature,” which he said, had earned Lagos the most buoyant economy in West Africa.

In terms of economy, Ambode said Lagos “represents the future citadel of entrepreneurship in this country. The state has a population of 21.9 million, of which four million are actually middle class. Lagos is the fifth largest economy in Africa and our GDP has hit $131 billion,” which he said, is more than the GDPs of 42 African countries put together. By this, he said, the state is a destination for investors.

But Ambode acknowledged socio-economic challenges associated with megacities globally. Already, he noted that his administration had started evolving policies and initiatives, which he said, would contain high crime rates and infrastructure deficit and transform Lagos to a choice megacity for foreign investors. He said this explained the creation of an Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment; continued reform of judicial sector and strengthening of security strategy and institutions.

The governor thus explained his administration’s commitment “to the rule of law, judicial institution and security sector,” which he admitted, formed the critical elements investors would want “to see before injecting their capital. The efforts are geared towards ensuring that business transactions are done transparently. We are running a government of integrity,” which seek to protect Lagos and investors.

But at a meeting recently, Hon. Darelle Issa, who led a delegation of Congressmen to Lagos House, described as the citadel for growth and development of Nigeria, hence necessitating the new scramble for Lagos. But Issa, a Republican, canvassed a well-managed synergy between the federal and state governments to contain diverse security issues, which he said, could undercut investment flows.

If the flow of investment to Lagos must be sustained, Issa urged the Ambode administration “to collaborate with the federal government to tackling issues of insecurity in Nigeria, especially the Boko Haram menace. The fight could not be left alone for the government at the centre to handle. Rather than emulate the American democracy, Nigeria should strive to better the America experience.”

Scramble for Lagos
Ambode’s critical reforms, which cut across all strategic sectors, must have propelled the rush of foreign investors to the state. Just under 100 days in office, foreign missions representing different countries in Nigeria have started trooping to Ikeja House in good number. In the same way, the representatives of global brands and conglomerates have not been left behind in the new scramble for Lagos.

During each of these visits, the governor always spent quality time, marketing Lagos “to them and providing insights into diverse opportunities that doing business in the state readily offers. As the economic hub of Nigeria, we pride ourselves as the largest of the country’s economy with the GDP of $131billion. For any company that wants to do business in Nigeria, Lagos is your best bet. We are committed to the rule of law and we assure you of a safer and secured environment.”

At this instance, Australian High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. Jonathan Richardson had led a high-powered delegation of envoys to Ikeja House. Likewise, French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Denys Gauer, British Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. Ray Kyles, US Consul-General in Nigeria, Ms. Dehab Ghebreab, Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Ajjampur Ghanashyam and German Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Michael Zenner among others, seeking business opportunities for their investors.

Also, the President of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Ms. Shelley Broader personally led a delegation of the company’s top executives to the governor sometimes in July. At the meeting, Broader unveiled the group’s strategic plan to expand its business frontiers to Nigeria and the decision of the management to kick off in Lagos. Under two months, she said, Wal-Mart would open more game shops in the state.

More excited about opportunities Lagos market offers, the Smart City Group came with a retinue of directors on its board and a big investment plan. An eminent professor of political economy, Prof. Pat Utomi led the delegation, which comprised the Chief Executive Officer of Smart City Dubai, Mr. Jaber Bin Hafer and the Managing Director of Smart City Lagos, Mr. Uzo Udemba among others.

The Knauf Group International, Germany’s leading manufacturing company, came with the insignia of German Government. Zenner, the German ambassador to Nigeria, personally led the delegation of Knauf Group, which comprised the Head of its Management Committee in charge of Southern Europe, Middle East & Africa, Mrs. Isabel Knauf and German Consul-General in Nigeria, Mr. Ingo Herbert among others.

Another group of Indian investors under the Confederation of Indian Industry Business Group chose a different approach. Rather than visiting the governor, the Indian investors led by Executive Director (West Africa), Mr. Naresh Kumar Leekha toured Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), the state’s emerging investment hub that host Dangote Group’s over $11 billion Refinery and Petrochemical Company and a sizable number of Chinese manufacturing companies.

Broader, President of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., captured the rationale behind the new rush for Lagos in a terse address she made during her visit to the Lagos House about one month ago. She apprised the governor of her firm’s blueprint to open more Game Shops in Nigeria, thereby pointing out that the group would start with Lagos before moving to other states. She also indicated Wal-Mart’s interest “to explore other opportunities for greater investments in Lagos economy.”

But Ghebreab, the US Consul-General, provided more insight into the new rush for Lagos. She said the US “is interested in Lagos because it is the economic hub and capital of Nigeria as well as West Africa. Lagos is a very important state. We are here to help the state in any way it will want the US to provide assistance. Our investors from her country are ready to register their presence and provide assistance in Lagos and partner the state government on infrastructural development.”

The state’s investment might not be the real string pulling investors from the western world to Nigeria, Africa’s largest market and Lagos, West Africa’s biggest economic hub. Perhaps, the new rush has been ascribed to the renewed effort to recapture African market, which reports argued, apparently posed grave threat to the stakes of Chinese and Lebanese businesses and corporations that have been dominating the state’s investment climate in the last decade.

Investment Flows
Already, Ambode’s investment drive has started paying off. Each of the global brands that visited the governor came with some volumes of investment. Wal-Mart, for instance, divulged two different plans. First, according to Broader, Wal-Mart has social corporate responsibility plan aimed at training Nigerian youths in customers’ relations and how to produce and package products for exports.

Second, Broader unveiled Wal-Mart’s investment plan, though did not specifically mention how much the group would inject into Lagos economy. She said the group had developed a blueprint “to open two more Game Shops in Nigeria within the next two months while exploring other opportunities for greater investments in the economy, though the company entered into the Nigerian market in 2010.”

Currently operating under its Massmart division, Broader said Game Discount World Nigeria Limited, Wal-Mart “runs three stores in Lagos under Game and Valumart brands. Currently operating in 28 countries, the group’s net sales for the 2015 fiscal year globally since it was established in 1962 is put at $486 billion,” which Ambode believed, would have tremendous impact on Lagos economy.

But the entry of Smart City Dubai excited the governor much better. Utomi, the company’s head of delegation, provided the succinct profile of Smart City Dubai, which he said, was reputable globally for transforming a desert village to the world’s business hub in one generation. Utomi’s statement raised a critical question: How much of Lagos slums can Smart City Dubai turn to paradise?

Apparently, the group of Dubai investors insatiably aspired to play a role, which Utomi said, would significantly change the business climate in the state.” Within a period of time, the Dubai group had developed a business template, which Utomi said, would successively bring as much as $10billion into Lagos economy, which analysts said, might be the largest single investment in the state’s history.

In the case of Knauf Group, an investment of $70 million has been perfected to kick off the first phase of the group’s manufacturing venture in Lagos. Zenner, the German envoy, announced the group’s investment package, but Knauf provided details about what the group planned to do in Lagos. She thus solicited Ambode’s support “to set up building and construction tools manufacturing in Lagos.

“We are looking to invest and build a factory in Lagos. We are soliciting the support of Lagos State Government. We have been to Lekki Deep Sea Port and want to proceed on investing straight off. I wish to express our interest in our in investing about $70 million in construction tools manufacturing company in the first phase. Successively, we will inject more investments as time goes on,” she said.

Areas of Priority
Really, the flow of FDIs remains Ambode’s single breakthrough. But the governor is concerned about the areas investors are injecting capital. At a meeting with the Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Sesan Hoy, Ambode emphasised the area of investment priorities. His concern centred more on meeting the state’s food security requirements, which he said, was critical to attaining the goal of self-sufficiency.

The governor gravely lamented the annual spending on rice importation, which he put at N300 billion. He noted that the state could produce only five percent of rice its residents consumed per annum, which according to him, suggested that the state “needs sustained investments in agriculture. And such investments will help create job opportunities and also end the food security gap.”

For him, increasing rice importation is not the answer. Ambode said the state government “cannot claim that we are self-sufficient right now. But the state has a plan to be able to feed ourselves at some point in time. So, one area that Lagos is really interested in is in the agro business. We have a population of over 20 million. We should be able to plan properly the food security of the state.”

Ambode thus said the state government was partnering with agro-allied investors, noting that the state “is looking for a situation where we would expand the potentials of our farmers and cross into other states and be able to produce staple products for the people of Lagos. So if we have any partnership that can assist us in securing the future of our people in terms of agro business will be highly welcomed.”

Kasiem2:
one person said that since obiano became a governor that the only thing he's been improving on is his bleaching cream. Oga, let's not bring that drunkard into this discussion biko. Obiano is another rochas in the making but you know we dont take rubbish in anambra so we are just waiting for. Another election

— Sep 19, 2015 4:15 am

Abdullahi Olesin, By George Agba, By Jonathan Isaiah, Kunle Olasanmi

As the case against the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, over alleged false declaration of assets took a different turn, Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase has promised to arrest the Senate President before Monday.

This was disclosed yesterday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Olabisi Kolawole, in a telephone interview with our correspondent. She said, “We are going to promptly arrest the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and produce him before the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Monday. Since it is a bench warrant issued by a competent court, the order will be carried out without delay. We don’t want to pre-empt anything,” Kolawole stated.

IGP Solomon Arase
IGP Solomon Arase

The Code of Conduct Tribunal sitting in Abuja, had on Friday, issued a bench warrant for Saraki’s arrest, for failing to appear in court over his ongoing trial for alleged false declaration of his assets. Prior to the issuance of the arrest warrant by the CCT, Saraki had approached a High Court which gave ruling faulting the process of his planned arraignment at the of Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

The Tribunal, however, ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to arrest and produce the Senate President and former governor of Kwara State before it on Monday. The Tribunal ruled that Saraki must be available to take plea in the 13-count charge slammed on him by the Federal Government over alleged false declaration of assets.

A deputy director in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. M.S. Hassan, applied for the arrest order following Saraki’s refusal to appear before the Tribunal to enter his plea to the 13- count corruption charge against him.

But the lead Counsel to the Senate President, John B Daudu (SAN) said that they would approach the Court of Appeal to set aside the ruling. Saraki who was billed for arraignment yesterday morning , sent his team of lawyers to serve the Tribunal with a copy of the ruling of Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, which summoned the Ministry of Justice to appear on Monday to show cause why the trial should be allowed to proceed.

Equally summoned by the court were the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar and that of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Mr. Sam Saba, as well as Mr. Hassan, who signed the charge against Saraki. However irked by Saraki’s absence at the Tribunal for the commencement of his prosecution over the alleged false declaration of assets, the Ministry of Justice prayed the Justice Umar-led panel to order for his arrest, saying “he cannot sit in the comfort of his chamber and object to his trial in absentia”.

The prosecution further maintained that Justice Mohammed lacked the powers to summon the CCT and CCB chairmen, even as it accused Saraki of engaging in “forum shopping” in a desperate bid to scuttle his trial. According to charge number ABT/01/15, dated September 11, the 13-count charge against Saraki, accused him of making anticipatory declaration of assets, false declaration of assets and maintenance of foreign account contrary to the provisions of the Third Schedule of the 1999 constitution.

It said “In the assets declaration form for public officers on assumption of office as Governor of Kwara State by making an anticipatory asset declaration in that you claimed to have owned and acquired No. 15A and N0. 15B McDonald Ikoyi, Lagos through your company Carlisle Properties Limited in the year 2000 when the said property was in actual fact, sold by the Implementation Committee on Federal Government landed property in the year 2006 to your companies, Tiny Tee Limited and Vitti Oil Limited, for the aggregate sum of N396, 150, 000.”

Saraki also allegedly violated the law barring elected public officers in the country from operating foreign accounts while in office. Specifically, he allegedly operated an American Express credit card account during his tenure as Governor, into which he allegedly wired at least $3.4 million from a Nigerian account.

In a press statement released on Wednesday, Saraki’s office denied all the 13-count charges levelled against him, saying all the allegations were false, incorrect and untrue. The statement stated that “Dr. Saraki has consistently declared his assets as required by law at every point before resuming any political office and that of 2015 is not an exception.

“It is surprising that the alleged charges are now referring his asset declaration made in 2003 while in office as Governor of Kwara State to formulate their charges. They therefore ignored the recent declaration for which they last week issued an acknowledgement.

“That we believe that the Code of Conduct Bureau following their processes in which after a declaration is submitted to the bureau they carried out verification of the assets and ascertained the claims made, should not wait till 12 years later to be pointing out an alleged inconsistencies in a document submitted to it in 2003. This same Dr. Saraki submitted asset declaration form in 2007, 2011 and 2015. It is unexplainable that the case in question is now based on the 2003 declaration,” the statement added.

The media office further alleged that “those behind this plot will definitely meet Dr. Saraki in court as this case, which is based on outright fabrication and mischief, will not and cannot stand the test of justice”.

Saraki had approached an Abuja High Court to challenge the CCB and CCT for allegedly running afoul of Section 24 of the Act establishing them because there is no subsisting Attorney-General of the Federation who should initiate such proceeding. But his prosecutors have asked for bench warrant to compel him to stand trial.

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday, had ordered that all parties to the dispute appear before it on Monday to convince the court why the ex-parte application seeking to restrain the Federal Government, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Tribunal from arraigning him should not be granted. The CCT order also asked that all parties appear on Monday.



CCT decision an abuse of the rule of law – Saraki

In his reaction to the issuance of arrest warrant on him however, Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, said that the decision of the court was an abuse of the rule of law.

A statement signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), said the Tribunal ignored a subsisting order of a Federal High Court by sitting.

Parts of the statement titled: “ Defiance of Subsisting Court Order : Our Stand “ reads thus: “ Following the development in the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) today, Friday, September 18, 2015 when the Tribunal chose to ignore the subsisting order of a Federal High Court by sitting, we hereby state our position as follows:

While the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, had stated and maintains that he is ready to submit himself to due process of the law on any issue concerning him, he also believes he has an inalienable right to resort to the same judiciary for protection when he feels his fundamental rights are about to be infringed upon.
It is for this reason that Dr. Saraki, having satisfied himself that the case filed by the CCB and the manner in which the case was filed show that he will not be given justice, resorted to the Federal High Court for the determination of the issues of competence of the prosecutor as well as compliance with the procedure stipulated in the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.
The Federal High Court on Thursday, September 17, 2015, therefore ordered that the all parties in the case should appear before it on Monday, September 21, 2015. The implication of this ruling by a Court of competent jurisdiction is that the sitting today has been overtaken by event. It is for this reason that Dr. Saraki chose to go about with his normal official schedule.
Today at the Tribunal, Counsel to the Senate President, Mr. M. A. Mahmud (SAN), raised a motion stating that there is a pending constitutional matter before the Federal High Court to be decided on Monday and that the Tribunal should hold the trial until the constitutional matter is disposed of.
We are however dismayed that the Tribunal chose to disregard the order of the Federal High Court and the motion to suspend hearing till Monday when all parties are expected to argue their positions on the constitutional matter.
It is also a surprise to us that despite the application by the lead counsel to the Senate President that he will produce Dr. Saraki on Monday and the personality of the person involved as the Number three man in the country, the Tribunal insisted on issuing a warrant of arrest as if its intention is simply to embarrass Dr. Saraki. We are not unmindful of the fact that the Tribunal is acting under political influence and external pressure. This is dangerous to our democracy.
The conduct of the Tribunal today left nobody in doubt that it cannot do justice on the matter before it. It is also clear that today’s decision is an abuse of the rule of law which portends danger to our judicial system. The Tribunal has equally set a bad precedent in the way and manner it conducted itself during the proceedings.


Mixed reactions at National Assembly over warrant of arrest on Saraki

However, Saraki’s colleagues at the National Assembly reacted differently when they heard the news yesterday, following a bench warrant issued by Justice Danladi Umar’s of the Code of Conduct Tribunal on the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

A senator from the North-east zone who spoke to LEADERSHIP Weekend on the condition of anonymity, maintained that he would have appeared before the Tribunal to save himself of this embarrassment, noting that it was not a death sentence as things had really changed.

“Was it a death sentence for Mr Senate President to be invited before a Tribunal? He should have appeared to save himself of this embarrassment, after all others before him have had this kind of experiences too”, he said.

In Saraki’s home state Kwara, mixed reactions have trailed the Senate President’s invitation by the Code of Conduct Tribunal over alleged false claims in his asset declaration. A group known as Maja Elders’ Forum (MEF) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to save Saraki from the hands of some anti graft agencies in the country.

But the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asked the embattled Senate President to face the charges leveled against him with courage. A statement issued on Friday by MEF Coordinator, Alhaji Kayode Yusuf, said the alleged witch hunting of Saraki since his emergence as the Senate President few months ago, should be halted in the interest of peace in the polity.

Chairman of PDP in Kwara, Akogun Iyiola Oyedipo, said, “Senator Saraki should go and face the charges leveled against him. I don’t see anything he is doing to exonerate himself on the pages on newspapers. “I think that his claim that one of the charges happened in 2003 is uncalled for. It is one of the reasons why I urged Kwarans not to solidarise with him, rather, they should allow him to face the charges levelled him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.”

•Condoles Mecca crane crash victims’ families

From Judex Okoro, Calabar

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday, September 21, perform the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of a 260km super highway in Cross River State.
Governor Ben Ayade had, on May 29, while being sworn in, promised a super highway and the Calabar deep sea port as two signature projects.
The highway, which will run from Calabar through Ikom to Obudu and terminate at Benue State, is expected to ease transportation difficulties faced by motorists and travellers alike.
In a statement signed by The Special Assistant on Media/Chief Press Secretary to Governor, Mr. Christian Ita, said on completion, the super highway would serve as the evacuation route for the seaport.
Ita stated that the major geo-technical studies have been carried out on the other signature project , the Bakassi Deep Seaport.‎
He said the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, conveyed the President’s acceptance to perform the ceremony in a letter to the governor.

The letter read: “I write to inform you that President Muhammadu Buhari, has acceded to your request. Mr. President will perform the ground breaking of the 240km Super Highway dual carriage road from Calabar to Northern Nigeria.”

When completed, the road will reduce travel time from Calabar to Obudu Ranch Resort from six to two hours.

Meanwhile, the President has extended his heartfelt condolences to the families, relations and friends of the Nigerian victims of the crane accident in Mecca on Friday which claimed many lives. He commiserated with the governments and people of Kaduna, Katsina and Gombe states from which pilgrims who lost their lives came from.

terrymason:
my guy na taboo to poor oh! The biggest crime /disease is to be poor! Tho no body pray 4 poverty sha.

mikolo80:
when you de Bleep without condom you no need any help dat time ba

nwanna89:
Not govt's business.

■ Couple agonises over burden of triplets
■‘Govt offers bag of rice, 12 toilet tissues, N2000


A couple in Anambra state, Mr and Mrs Asiegbu Mmadubuko have cried out for help after giving birth to triplets which they say they cannot adequately cater for. They said they got help from the Anambra state Ministry of Women Affairs but it wasn't enough. According to them, they got 1 bag of rice, 12 toilet tissues, 1 Dettol liquid, 1 packet of pears soap and 1 pears cream for children, and N2000.

According to Saturday Sun, Oluchukwu gave birth unexpectedly at their home on June 16th, without knowing she was about to give birth to triplets. Her husband, Asiegbu narrated the ordeal they went through in giving birth to their children, two girls and a boy christened - Ibetom, Okuanata and Chukwusomeje.

"On the 16th June, 2015 around 2am, my wife woke me up amid deep groaning, telling me that she was in labour. Before I could lead her out of the house in order to take her to the local birth attendant where she used to go to for antenatal, the baby started coming out. The whole event surrounding it was so strange to me because I had never witnessed that kind of thing before. I don’t know what to do and where to start.

Luckily, there’s a nurse living in our neighbourhood so I quickly ran to her house to solicit for her assistance. When she came, she was apparently confused too as she could not give me satisfactory answer on the cause of the continued painful moaning of my wife despite the fact that a baby had come out. With hot tears in my eyes, I painfully and helplessly watched my wife going down.

I couldn’t bear it; hence, I summoned courage and went down to the local birth attendant who presided over her antenatal although it’s a bit far from my house. At first, she declined to come to our aid saying she could not come out by that time of the night but I begged fervently; explaining the pathetic condition of my wife. I told her that I don’t understand what the first nurse was doing and that I can’t afford to lose my wife. When we got to my house, we took her inside the room to ascertain the exact problem because the baby came out while we were outside. Before we knew it, my wife was delivered of a second baby.

I never expected that. In fact, I was dumbfounded. I don’t know whether to start rejoicing or what. You know that kind of thing. I was very concerned about the health condition of my wife that night. Still surprised, they told me that the third child has come out. Ha! I never expected that my wife would be delivered of twins talk more of triplets. Just then, my wife collapsed; shaking very convulsively. She was bleeding too. Lord! I was seriously devastated. At once, I was gasping for breath. It felt like the whole air in the world has been exhausted. But the nurse said I should bring her to her own ‘clinic’. She said she could handle it. There again the problem of transport means popped up.

But luckily, my brother’s car was available so he came over and we headed to the nurse’s apartment. But my spirit was not comfortable with the treatment the nurse was giving her because she wasn’t responding to the treatment as expected. I was praying fervently for the day to break so that I could seek alternative means. In the morning, I rushed her to Amaku General Hospital, Awka.

I was hoping that the government would come to our aid given the condition we found ourselves. But before I knew it, expenses were heavily raining on me. I never minded because my major concern was my wife and the triplets. But there again, she started shaking convulsively in the hospital. That was when the health workers knew it was a serious matter. Thank God they were able to manage the convulsion and bleeding and other complications. Thereafter, I paid for some pints of blood that she was given and numerous expensive drugs. I was paying for drugs every day. I expended about N200,000 which I borrowed from the village meeting in that hospital. That is in addition to N180,000 I had earlier saved, waiting for her delivery date. At a point, I told them that the money I borrowed has been exhausted.

I pleaded with them to direct me on how I can get assistance from the Anambra State government. Sadly, because I was no longer able to pay for their numerous medical bills and drugs, they stopped attending to my wife; you know how hospital people used to behave. As we speak, I owe many people heavily. The first money I borrowed was N100,000 and later on I borrowed another N100,000 making it N200,000 plus other smaller amounts I borrowed. I also paid the previous two nurses who attended to her in the village N10,000 each.

Nevertheless, I thank God for everything” he said, adding that “The health workers did not tell me exactly what the problem was, rather, they were blaming the local nurses who attended to her in the village. They said she was supposed to undergo caesarean operation. I said God forbid; thanking God it was not through operation. I told them since God has made it that way they should do the needful as my major concern was the welfare of my wife and triplets. They kept writing drugs upon drugs and there was nothing concrete they said was the cause of the convulsion. But I suspected she was short of blood as she had bled throughout the time her labour lasted.”he said


Speaking further, he said "Due to lack of money, we left the hospital before the due date to the village. As we speak, my wife is still sick. The newly born babies are not feeding well. All we are offering them is pap. There is no way she can breastfeed the three of them at the same time. The nursing mother should be feeding very well so that the breast would be producing enough rich milk for the infants. I am just managing the whole thing. There are several nutritional foods they should be eating but because there is no cash in my hand they don’t. We are passing through difficulty now. Her postpartum has been ruled out because there is no money.

At a point, I wrote a letter to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development humbly requesting for their assistance. I also attached pictures of all of us while in the hospital. But since that month of June to date, they did not respond. My wife, knowing the condition she was passing through, complained that she and her new babies were feeding poorly. Truly she was right. I had to go back to the ministry to know what has been holding back my humble request for assistance but the commissioner wasn’t on seat. The officials I met kept directing me from one office to another. When I went to Child Department, I didn’t see anybody but a corps member.

She told me that the workers in that department did not come because their children were sick. She directed me to come back later without any specific date. Later they directed me to another office, which also directed me back to Child Department. I waited a whole day without result and I had to go back home. Unfortunately, my first two children, a girl and a boy fell seriously sick due to malaria fever recently. I was just returning from the chemist shop where I took them to get drugs and saw some people in my house. They said that it was Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development that sent them. They came with 1 bag of rice, 12 pieces of toilet tissue, 1 Dettol liquid, 1 packet of pears soap and 1 pears cream for children, and N2000. They said that I shouldn’t come back to the ministry again. They said the N2000 was for my sick children. I wrote that letter on 22nd June, 2015. It was just three days ago that these officials from the ministry came to my village. My wife would have died if not the assistance the village meeting rendered to us.”he said

His wife also complained also complained of poor feeding of her babies
"My children are not feeding well as they should. A quantity of milk that is meant for one person is shared among the three; and I must say it is affecting them seriously. Also, breastfeeding them without adequate balanced food intake, is affecting me too. I’m not yet back to my normal self, health wise. I have not been going to postnatal because things are quite hard for us financially.”she said

eaglechild:
In other words anything one reads online is fact.

eaglechild:
How do you know that?

Enugu has about the densest population of doctors relative to any Nigerian city.

Anambra has about the highest number of doctors by state origin so what exactly are you saying.

Try and leave your enclave sometimes.

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/unth-as-a-metaphor-of-a-failed-state/

"As I lay there helplessly, I quickly took in the entire environment that was reeking with urine and my mind conjured the refugee hospitals that I saw so often on the television or a hospital in the war-torn Biafra. I looked around and saw patients lying and groaning forlornly in beds scattered in that open emergency ward. The place was obviously unfit for a Nigerian, I thought, yet, there they were, hoping, as the doctors and nurses worked around the clock, for the best. I silently beckoned to Phil to inform him that instead of being admitted there, I should be allowed to die elsewhere.

jude33084:
All I see is buildings.

akpumping7720:
UCH should be federal not state.... He won't compile best Federal University Teaching Hospitals and not make UCH the no. 1...

scholes0:
What makes these ones you posted the TOP 5?
you must give us all a criteria to work with or something..... or, are one or two "fine" admin buildings your criteria?

That new hospital commissioned by Akpabio which you placed in the no1 position , hasn't even produced a single Doctor, Nurse, Physiotherapist or health technicians (yet)..... so, how is it the no1 TEACHING hospital?

dearpreye:
Leave all their noise. They can't do without oil- at least FOR NOW!