₦airaland Forum

Corruption: EFCC removes Ibori from list of ex-governors on trial
By Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja
Published: Saturday, 11 Apr 2009
There are strong indications that the Federal Government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission might have tactically discontinued the corruption trial of a former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori.

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Photo file
Chief James Ibori

Presidency sources said that Ibori‘s name did not appear on the list of former governors still being tried by the EFCC for corruption while in office.

But the names of former governors Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Orji Kalu (Abia) Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu), Sani Ahmed (Zamfara), Saminu Turaki (Jigawa), Rashidi Ladoja (Oyo), Joshua Dariye (Plateau) and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State were still on the new list.

Also, it was gathered that the EFCC had appealed the ruling of the Federal High Court Enugu, on a former governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion.

The court had sentenced Igbinedion to a fine of N3, 579,524.16 on a one count charge, for his failure to declare the said amount found in his Guaranty Trust Bank account.

Before Igbinedion was let off the hook, he was slammed with a 191-count charge for corrupt enrichment, money laundering and embezzlement by the commission during the early period of his trial before the charges against him were abridged.

Ibori, the two-time ex-governor of Delta State, is believed to be the biggest financial sponsor of Alhaji Umaru Yar‘Adua‘s Presidential campaign in the 2007 election. His arrest, detention and trial marked the beginning of the chain of events that culminated in the removal of the former EFCC boss, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu.

It was learnt that the EFCC compiled the latest list of ex-governors undergoing trials, in which Ibori’s name was omitted, on Tuesday last week.

”Do you know that the commission has just compiled the names of those facing trials for alleged corruption and the name of Chief James Ibori is conspicuously missing? I don‘t know why it is like that, but all I can tell you is that his name is no longer on the list, which I saw,” a source in the EFCC said.

Since the inception of Yar‘Adua‘s administration, Ibori is known to be an influential figure supporting his government and had a cabinet nominee, just as he had followed the President on a state visit abroad.

Apart from his botched prosecution in Nigeria, Ibori was also tried in London where a case against him was dismissed on the grounds that the evidence did not emanate from the Nigerian government.

A day after the Court of Appeal in London ruled on the matter, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, had said that the trial of Ibori would continue in Nigeria .

He said the Nigerian government would not shield anyone from being tried for corruption.

Andoakaa had said that the evidence of the London Metropolitan Police and the trial of Ibori were abuse of Nigeria ‘s bilateral agreement with the UK, stressing that his office would seek for the evidence with a view to studying it.

He had said, ”We have no intention to protect any corrupt person in the country. The case against James Ibori would run its natural course in the court. We protested against what the Met Police did, not because it was Ibori, but it was against the sovereignty of the country. We have to look at the treaty which says that such evidence must have the permission of the government as not doing that could lead to anarchy as several people could just come here and take evidence and use it to prosecute people anyhow.

”In that case, the sovereignty of Nigeria is at stake and I am happy the judges in London agreed that you don‘t just enter into another country and bring evidence against an accused person without the authority of the government in that country.”

Hardly had he finished speaking on December 19, 2008 than the Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna said it was wrong to arraign the former governor in far away Kaduna.

The court said that it was wrong for the EFCC to try Ibori in Kaduna which is about 700 kilometres away from Delta State, where he allegedly committed the offence.

According to Justice Amina Adamu-Augie of the Appeal Court, who delivered the lead judgment, the case file should be returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to a court of competent jurisdiction.

But since the December ruling, neither the EFCC nor Aondoakaa‘s office had taken any steps towards continuing the trial.

An EFCC source told Saturday Punch that since the Appeal Court ruling, many of the commission‘s cases against ex-governors had suffered set backs as they now claim that the courts where they were currently being tried lacked jurisdiction to handle their cases.

However, reacting to the delisting of Ibori‘s name from the EFCC list of ex-governors facing trial, Aondoakaa said the case would be pursued to its logical conclusion.

Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Taiye Akinyemi, on Thursday in response to an enquiry by our correspondent, the AGF reminded Nigerians who are anxious to see the determination of the Ibori case that the Halliburton bribe scandal happened 14 years ago and it is now that some facts about it are unfolding.

He said both the EFCC and the London cases would be looked into.

”This (London) case is not the type of case that can be rushed. What Nigerians should know is that there must be a structure and that rule of law must be followed. That is what the government is doing in collaboration with the foreign country involved,” Akinyemi said.

The AGF spokesman added, ”No matter the interest we have and our level of impatience, we must follow what the law says, and that is the only way we can achieve success. The request that the AGF talked about in December 2008, as you said, had been made and as soon as a reply is got, action would be taken and Nigerians would be duly informed
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200904111501426

I’ll resist Obi’s re-election - Ngige http://www.tribune.com.ng/10042009/news/news7.html
Sylvanus Eze, Awka - 10.04.2009

FORMER governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, has promised to resist attempt by Governor Peter Obi to be re-elected governor of the state.


He said 2010 governorship election was a time to demand his pound of flesh from the sitting governor, who he said, had shown an interest in second term.


Dr. Ngige told some of his loyalists on Thursday that his objective in 2010 was to make sure that Obi was not re-elected.


“Gentlemen, I am in the governorship race primarily to stop Peter Obi from being re-elected. I am sure I am more popular by every standard. So, as we go to win that election, let’s know that the battle is between us and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA),” he said.


When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Mike Udah, said Ngige was not a subject to discuss.


A protocol officer in the state who gave his name as Benjamin, said Ngige was fast becoming a nuisance, while describing his threats as empty.


He added that the developmental strides of Governor Obi, under the Anambra State Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS), would make him win any political seat.


He, however, implored Ngige to mind his utterances, saying he had the right to kill himself if he so desired without associating anybody with it.

N500m capital base: Bureau De Change operators cry out *Say it is anti-North policy 
Written by Abubakar Buba     
Friday, 10 April 2009 
Some Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in the Federal Capital Territory have described as a ploy against the North and an apparent move to cause further friction in the nation’s economy the recent reform by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the foreign exchange market.

The CBN had in the last 3 months introduced various reforms aimed at sanitizing the bureau de change segment of the foreign exchange market by making it mandatory for operators seeking class ‘A’ license to have a minimum capital of N500 million verifiable at all times.

Based on the conditions for the granting of the license, the apex bank stipulates a mandatory deposit of US$200,000 00 non- interest bearing; non-refundable application fee of N100, 000; licensing fee of N1 million; annual renewal fee of N250,000 and minimum IT infrastructure that enables the BDC to make daily returns to CBN.

Chairman of the Bureau De Change traders association in the FCT Alhaji Shehu Mahmud said that the reform slammed down by CBN will cause further hardship in the society considering the rising rate of foreign exchange.

He said that the reform is a deliberate attempt to sabotage the effort of northerners who are into Bureau De Change business, adding “about 60% of BDC operators in the country are northerners who cannot even boast of having N100, 000 in their accounts”.

Alhaji Mahmud said: “As an association, we have been trying to raise the N500 million requirements for licensing into the class ‘A’ category for the last 5 weeks without success. We only managed to raise N82.5 million which is not even half of the requirement”

“If as an association, we couldn’t raise the said amount, then it will be practically impossible as a single Bureau De Change outfit to raise that kind of money”.

Commenting on allegation that BDCs are responsible for leakages in the economy, Alhaji Mahmud said that the blame should not be fingered on BDCs who act as mediators between the CBN and end users, but banks who receive foreign exchange at official rates and hoard it.

“Imagine, CBN has pumped about $200 million foreign exchange to banks for the last 3 months without any noticeable change in the price of foreign exchange in the parallel market. Before the reform, a dollar was sold at N116, but has nosedived to N182 as at yesterday.

“Fluctuation in the dollar can be checked if the CBN can sell directly to us”, he added.

Meanwhile, Alhaji Mahmud said that the association had written to the CBN and the national assembly for interference into the matter.

However, Mr. Ukasaonya Innocent of Peace BDC disagreed with the notion that the policy is a politically motivated and a ploy against the North.

http://www.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7653&Itemid=7

or better still lets assume otherwise, he isnt retired. he lost his job and family due to job loss. got depressed and becomes destitute. all other variables from the above still stands. who takes care of him?

read kobojunkie's posts and ask him the same question.

Dude . . . . No one is making it about you. I asked you those questions wondering why you were trying to draw some connection between those twisted claims made and this topic here. We are not talking about a COUNTRY or COUNTRIES. This is about the relationship between STATES WITHIN THE SAME COUNTRY. Would ALABAMA deport you to DELAWARE? Or are you saying that ALABAMA can somehow DEPORT YOU BACK TO your NIGERIAN State of Origin when it deems you an INCONVENIENCE in some future, even though you have a RIGHT TO BE HERE as an AMERICAN?

I am sure there are ways to determine such. After all, the National ID card undertaken some years back. But the truth is that, this action would spark-up states taking responsibility for their people.

Nigeria to supply power to Cameroun
By Ihuoma Chiedozie, Abuja
Published: Friday, 10 Apr 2009
Nigeria will supply electricity to Cameroun, once the President Umaru Yar’Adua administration fixes the sector currently bedevilled by chronic problems.

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Photo file
President Umaru Yar‘adua

Nigeria also stands to receive power from the neighbouring African country in line with the bilateral power distribution agreement between both countries.

The two countries took the decision to go into a bilateral power supply agreement at a meeting between Nigerian and Camerounian officials in the State House, Abuja, on Thursday.

The meeting, which was chaired by Yar’Adua with some state governors in attendance, also agreed on the need for greater corporation between the Federal Government and the state governments in ongoing efforts to resolve the problems in the power sector.

The Federal Government entered into the agreement in the expectation that Nigeria would, in future, be able to supply power to Cameroun and other countries, once it fully develops its power sector.

Minister of Power, Mr. Lanre Babalola, while addressing newsmen after the meeting, said the bilateral power relationship with Cameroun was similar to existing ties with neighboring countries like Benin Republic and Niger, in line with the West African Power Pool.

The new agreement with Cameroun, he said, would increase the power pool.

He said, “It is similar to the relationship we have with Niger Republic and Benin Republic where there is interconnects.

“You are aware of the West African Power Pool, we believe that as we develop our system, the situation may arise in future that it will stand us in good stead to actually supply power to them, and in some cases, receive power from these countries. So it is actually a bilateral agreement.”

“Ostensibly a decision was taken on increasing the interconnect with one of our neighbours, Cameroun in particular, to see how we can establish a bilateral power relationship with Cameroun, ” he added.

A decision was also reached between the federal and state governments to ensure greater cooperation in the power sector.

The minister said, “There were two substantial issues, which we discussed and got very good resolutions on.

“The first is the continued cooperation between the federal and state governments and also to explore various sources of power supply to Nigeria.

“Also, the decision on investments of government, which started some time back in transmission, I refer to the Gombe, Jalingo 330KV transmission line, which is to improve power supply to the Yola-Gombe-Jalingo axis and will serve about three or four states there.

“There were some resolutions on that project and we expect it to be completed in the next few months, this will substantially improve not just power supply to the north-eastern part of the country, but also increase the voltage profile due to the long distance of the lines that are required to carry power to those states”.

Babalola further announced that the Yola/Gombe/Jalingo transmission line would be completed within six months.

http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2009040910273150

I still hate Ojukwu anyway for killing millions of Igbos during the war

The statement in bold is based on what? I happen to be a Christian whose values actually PROMOTE democracy. So How can it then be said that Christian values DO NOT promote Democracy?

in less than 50 replies,they have turned this one into a tribal issue again, hmmmn nigerians,
like i do most times,i wont blame the government seeing as its obvious they have neglected and totally abandoned their fiscal responsibilities but the individuals,who have tacitly ignored these issues untill it degenerated to this level,in my personal opinion nigerians in general not just the north have to see the issue of education and enlightenment in the north as a national crisis and adress it as such devoid of any tribal/ethnic bias