Survivors of the last Thursday Boko Haram attack on a commercial vehicle conveying some travelers including soldiers and police personnel on Borno highway have revealed how Boko Haram abducted seven people.
Suspected Boko Haram militants in military camouflage and two military-coloured 4-wheel drive vehicles intercepted a mini bus along Maiduguri-Damaturu highway last Thursday at about 11:40am.
Two survivors who were in another vehicle behind the mini bus told Daily Sun on condition of anonymity how the insurgents with assault rifles, stopped the driver of the vehicle conveying some travelers around Jakana town.
“A soldier came out of the Sharon car and identified himself as a personnel. He thought those who stopped the vehicles were military personnel. He didn’t know they were Boko Haram but in military uniform,” one of the survivors said.
He said the soldier had come out of the Sharon mini bus thought the men in military camouflage were soldiers he persuaded them to allow the vehicle pass as is often with military personnel in plain clothes traveling along the road.
“They asked if he was actually a soldier and he brought out his army ID card. So he was asked to stay aside while they evacuate the other commuters in the Sharon bus,” another survivor said.
A military source said his wife and a policeman were among the other six abducted from the vehicle by Boko Haram who fired several guns into the air before they zoomed off in their vehicles with the victims.
Neither the military nor the police have commented on the incident, the first of such attack on the road this year.
Barely two days earlier, the convoy of the Theatre Commander, Maj Gen Olusegun Adeniyi was attacked by the terrorists around same area. Two soldiers were wounded and the commander’s official car was badly damaged.
Ganduje had attributed the high number to an influx of almajiri children migrating from other states.
Do yall plan on punishing the individuals exasperating the problem? If not you're going to be the dumping ground for new almajari. This is a good Initiative.
Determined to reduce out-of-school children in Kano, Governor Abdullah Umar Ganduje pledged to evacuate almajiri children from the streets to public schools.
Governor Ganduje disclosed the plan while flagging off distribution of instructional materials worth N150 million to public primary and secondary public schools in the state.
Ganduje said the policy targeted to reduce the increasing number of out-of-school children as part of its free and compulsory education policy.
there are about 12 million out-of-school children across northern Nigeria, with Kano accounting for 3 million. Ganduje had attributed the high number to an influx of almajiri children migrating from other states.
Ganduje affirmed readiness to fully enforce the implementation of free and compulsory education. He said about 98 per cent primary school’s teachers now met basic teaching requirement.
“Our commitment to effective and full implementation of the free and compulsory education knows no bound,” he said.
“Our government has resolved to zero tolerance to out-of-school children. That is why we took bold steps to ensure our primary school teachers have undergone the basic teaching qualification. We can reliably say we have about 98 per cent qualified teachers in our primary schools.
“Today, we are distributing instructional materials to make the policy on free education smooth. Now, no children in our public schools will make any payment. We have taken statistics of basic needs and very soon, we shall start the rehabilitation of public schools and build additional new ones”. Ganduje affirmed.
Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Mohammad Sanusi Saidu Kiru urged teachers in public schools to remain dedicated to their entrusted duties. He disclosed that the government will no longer tolerate indolence and abscond from the class henceforth.
The Comptroller General of NIS, Muhammed Babandede, said 45,000 of them were irregular migrants, with 35,000 regular migrants.
Wow I only estimated 50k people would be registered after 6 months. The amesty will last until January 19th 2020. We still need to know where these people are coming from. After this Nigeria needs to start mass deportation of illegal aliens.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has said it has registered 80,000 migrants since the migrant e-registration commenced in July last year.
The Comptroller General of NIS, Muhammed Babandede, said 45,000 of them were irregular migrants, with 35,000 regular migrants.
The CG said they also intercepted 70 human trafficking victims being taken out of the country from November to December last year.
He said a suspected human trafficker was intercepted with five female victims en route from Niger Republic to Europe on November 23.
According to him, 37 underage children were also nabbed at Dankama on November 26, while 28 people being smuggled out of the country were arrested at Kongolam, Katsina State, on December 2 by NIS officers.
Babandede denied reports that immigration officers in Sokoto were collecting N200 bribes to allow illegal immigrants into the country.
He said this in reaction to a report by BusinessDay that the NIS officials at checkpoints had “indirectly legalised illegal migration with their cash-for-pass attitudes”.
Spokesman for the body, DCI Sunday James, in a statement on Friday said the CG had ordered an investigation into the allegation.
He said, “The objective of the migrant e-registration is to afford the government the opportunity to know precisely the total number of migrants resident in the country as well as their status.
“The migrant data would also assist the government in sociopolitical and national demographic growth plans.
“So far, 80 migrants have been registered comprising 45,000 irregular migrants, representing 66 per cent of the total number of migrants registered, and 35,000 representing 34 per cent of regular migrants.”
The CG asked the public to report cases of extortion or any form of illegalities on the borders.
In a letter filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange, MTN said the government had decided to drop its case and refer the issue to tax and customs authorities "with a view to resolving contentious issues".
Weird I guess the FG didnt feel they could win case. Maybe they just settle for a few million. If that happens its a win for everyone. Why bother with the suit if they could just refer it tax and customs to begin with?
Jan 10 (Reuters) - Nigeria's attorney general has withdrawn a $2 billion tax demand against South African telecoms giant MTN Group, the company and attorney general said on Friday, in a closely watched case that investors say has damaged Nigeria's appeal.
In a letter filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange, MTN said the government had decided to drop its case and refer the issue to tax and customs authorities "with a view to resolving contentious issues".
"We are very pleased with the decision of the (attorney general) and we commend him for his wisdom," MTN Nigeria's Chief Executive Ferdi Moolman said in a statement.
In a statement, the office of Attorney General Abubakar Malami said the decision "demonstrates unflinching commitment to the rule of law where all statutory agencies will be allowed to independently work with a view to fulfilling their mandates."
Malami had ruled that the firm owed taxes relating to the import of equipment and payments to foreign suppliers from 2007 to 2017.
The Johannesburg-listed shares of MTN Group rose more than 5% after the announcement. Nigeria is its biggest market, with roughly 60 million users.
The company, whose local unit listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange last year, said at the time that it would sell more shares to the public and increase local ownership once the tax row was resolved.
MTN has a contentious history with Nigerian authorities.
In 2015, the communications regulator handed MTN a $5.2 billion fine reut.rs/36IFw61 for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM cards. MTN eventually reached a deal in which the fine was cut to $1 billion.
In August 2018, MTN's shares fell by more than 20% after the central bank demanded the company repatriate $8.1 billion reut.rs/2FCANHd that it said the company had illegally sent abroad. MTN agreed to pay $53 million /30an584 to settle the case.
Investment funds, banks and analysts have said the latest tax case, as well as the previous disputes, have made foreign investors reluctant to commit to long-term investments in the country.
($1 = 305.9500 naira) (Reporting by Libby George; additional reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru, Camillus Eboh in Abuja and Emma Rumney in Johannesburg; Editing by Pravin Char and Grant McCool)
Omoniyi Ilesanmi spent three months on the sickbed where he incurred N393,000 to treat himself of arthritis – the inflammation of one or more joints, causing pains and stiffness, which worsens with age. He served the Osun government for over 30 years.
“In 2013, I was on the hospital bed for three months nursing arthritis and spent N393,000 as medical expenses,” he narrated his post-retirement story.
“This is where we ‘less’ our thinking and wind away time,” Mr Ilesanmi said adjusting his cloth to position himself for an interview.
He had invited this reporter over to a drinking joint in Osogbo, the state capital, where he and old friends who retired from the state civil service have made a tradition of ”drinking away their sorrows” every evening.
Retired as an assistant director in 2012, he could only account for the medical bills and not miscellaneous expenses. “If my family were not around me, I would have died,” he lamented.
Another retiree and friend of Mr Ilesanmi also narrated his experience. The retiree, who asked not to be named, said he has been disposing of his properties to fend for his family. He retired in the security department of the state house of assembly.
“In 2014, when nothing was forthcoming from the government, I had to sell my building in Owode Ede at a cheap price in order to keep my family,” he said.
Both men complained of not being paid their gratuity – the statutory lump sum paid to an employee to sustain life after retirement – saying it worsened their predicament.
The amount paid as gratuity could be in millions of naira depending on years of service and the position held before leaving the civil service.
“Those who want to complete their building projects will be able to. Those who want to start a business will be able to get capital, those with ailments will be able to take care of themselves,” Mr Ilesanmi’s friend murmured while taking a look at the remaining drink.
They retired under the Defined Benefits Scheme, one that preceded the new Contributory Pension Scheme.
Although Mr Ilesanmi and his colleagues have been receiving their monthly pensions from the government, the Aregbesola-led government, during the years of modulated salaries, paid them ‘modulated pension’. Thus they await their arrears.
Rauf Aregbesola bowed out of office as Osun governor in 2018 after an eight-year rule and was appointed the Minister of Interior in 2019. He handed over the affairs of Osun to Gboyega Oyetola under the same All Progressives Congress after a keenly contested election in September 2018.
During the interview with this reporter, the old retirees talked about some colleagues who had died, were bedridden, ejected from their houses and those who withdrew their children from school.
“We left when we were given the option to retire under the old scheme or join the new scheme. About 17,352 of us left in 2012. Nearly 5,000 of us have died, untimely death,” Mr Ilesanmi said.
More lamentation
With stories similar to those who retired earlier, many of those who retired between 2015 and 2018 under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), have neither received any monthly pension nor the lump sum that ought to be paid as Bond.
Introduced through the pension reform act of 2004, the contributory pension scheme was signed into law by a former president, Goodluck Jonathan, in 2011, to further strengthen pension administration in Nigeria. It was domesticated in Osun State in 2012.
According to a former Director-General of National Pension Commission, Muhammed Ahmad, while addressing governors in Abuja on the benefits of CPS, under the former Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), most public sector schemes were unfunded and with unsustainable pension liabilities.
CPS provides for a mandatory minimum contribution of 10 and 8 per cent by the employer and employee respectively out of the employee’s monthly emoluments.
According to the Act, an employee is to open a Retirement Savings Account (RSA), into which the contributions are to be paid, with a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) licenced by the National Pension Commission. The PFA is to manage and invest the fund in the RSA, from where a contributor will draw benefits on retirement.
Upon retirement, a certain percentage will be paid as Bond (lump sum) and the remaining will be collected monthly based on the agreement between the PFA and the employee.
The Bond varies based on length of service, age and salary level before retirement.
For those who migrated from the old scheme to CPS before retirement, there is a demarcation between the two. The exact valuation of DBS will be lodged in the Central Bank of Nigeria while the CPS funds is with the PFAs. Both will be collected upon retirement.
Grouse
The spokesperson for the Forum of Contributory Pensioners in Osun State, Gbenga Adeosun, said the state government refused to pay them despite the series of measures taken by the unions.
Mr Adesoun, in a statement obtained by this reporter, said, “The contributory pensioners comprising civil, secondary and primary schools’ services of July 2016 for civil and secondary schools and July 2015 for primary schools are yet to be paid by the government.”
He stated that the statements received by the majority of the forum’s members from the PFAs showed the ”government funded the account till July 2015, in respect of the primary schools, and July 2016 in respect of civil and secondary services.”
Vulnerable teachers
Alabi Atanda retired as a head-teacher in Demonstration Elementary School in Osogbo in 2016.
“(Out of the four categories of state workers), we primary school teachers are the most suffered by the Osun State government,” Mr Atanda decried one sunny Friday.
While speaking with this reporter, he mentioned some of the primary school teachers across different local government areas who had died because they could not afford medical treatment.
“Many of us have died. Seventy out of 400 primary school teachers who retired in 2016. We are walking corpse(s). To get three square meals, they have to beg. We can only beg to eat, are we going to beg to sponsor our children to school?”
Mr Atanda, however, said his survival at the moment depends on his siblings who send financial aid.
Also, Sobaloju Imago who retired as a school principal in Ile-Ife explained his helpless state as he is yet to get the five-month and four-month salary arrears the (ex) government owed before he left service ”not to mention any of the retirement packages.”
“I retired in march 2016. I hope God will intervene in our case because the pain is killing and we are dying. Currently, about 15 principals have died. I still have two children in the university. In fact, I fell sick in 2017-2018. All my savings were consumed in the process,” Mr Imago, who retired under the CPS, said.
Another, who begged that his name should not appear in print for fear of victimisation, could barely stand because he suffered a backbone injury in 2016.
“I retired on July 31st 2011. I have been paid monthly pension but I have not been paid a kobo of my gratuity up till date. There was a time when the government under the administration of Aregbesola embarked on payment of half-salaries. I am being owed 37 half salaries,” he said.
Seeking redress
Tired of peaceful rallies and unfruitful negotiations, some of the retirees have approached the Industrial Court in Akure to seek redress.
According to section 210 of the Nigerian Constitution, any benefit to which a person is entitled shall not be withheld or altered to his disadvantage.
Ganiyu Salawu and Dele Aina, the state leaders of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), said that the union has embarked on various strategies aimed at addressing some of the issues including a recent court action at National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Akure.
Gbadebo Adegboye, the state coordinator of retired civil servants under CPS, disclosed that a recent transfer of the judge handling the case delayed the hearing, which was earlier slated for the last week of October 2019.
“As I am talking to you, we are supposed to be in Akure but the chairman of the forum just informed me that the judge handling the case has been transferred,” he told this reporter during an interview.
Meanwhile, a lawyer and activist, Yemi Abiona, applauded the move of the deprived retirees.
The Osun-based lawyer condemned the delay in the payment of the senior citizens’ entitlements and described the act of owing entitlements and salaries’ arrears as being criminal.
Questionable accountability
Checks revealed that Osun State, under Mr Aregbesola, received several bailout funds from the federal government, still, he defaulted in payment of salaries and arrears.
As a relief for payment of salaries and owed arrears, President Muhammadu Buhari disbursed N338 billion to states owing workers and pensioners in 2015. Osun State got N34.9 billion.
Also, in November 2016, the Osun government received N11.74 billion as refunds from the Paris Club.
Mr Buhari again approved the release of more funds from the London-Paris Club refund to state governors across the country in 2017 out of which Osun State receivedN6.3 billion as the second tranche of Paris Club refund in July.
The president had insisted that in spending the money, priority should be placed on offsetting unpaid salary arrears as well as pension and gratuity liabilities.
Meanwhile, in 2016, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, alleged that the Aregbesola-led administration only disbursed N16.3 billion out of the N34.9 billion bailout released in 2015.
The report added that the commission was investigating allegations that the state had not paid salaries since July 2015.
According to Punch newspaper, the ex- governor’s aide countered the allegations of diversion but did not contest the fact that only N16.3 billion was disbursed.
Also, in reaction to the ICPC report, former Senate President Bukola Saraki ordered the Senate Committee on State and Local Government Administration to investigate how the Aregbesola administration spent the cash.
Although a senator, Abdullahi Gumel, the chairman of the committee, promised to visit the state in December 2016 for further investigation, nothing was heard of the probe.
However, a few days to the 2018 gubernatorial election, Mr Aregbesola paid four out of the 34 half- salaries owed, a move the opposition termed as buying off the electorate.
Infrastructure above workers’ entitlements
When Mr Aregbesola was contacted for comments on the modulated pensions and salaries’ arrears, this reporter was sent avideo of the ministerial screening in the Senate in which he said ”he gave huge investment in the infrastructure” as perhaps an excuse for the poor treatment of Osun workers.
Responding to a question from Bashir Gasau (PDP-Zamfara) on why he paid modulated salaries during his tenure, Mr Aregbesola said in the video “This was because we invested heavily in infrastructure.”
In the video, the new interior minister added that Osun ”under his leadership fell victim of economic recession in 2014, but was able to manage the situation with initial payment of half salaries depending on grade levels”.
When further clarifications were sought, Head of Strategic Communications to the former Governor, Kikiowo Ileowo, directed this reporter to the incumbent Oyetola-led administration.
Oyetola’s intervention
While Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has begun to look into the plight of these deprived retirees, his efforts appear inadequate.
Mr Oyetola, in July 2019 presented bond certificates worth over N1.01 billion to retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme. According to the report, the affected pensioners were drawn from local government and primary school retirees.
Mr Oyetola said that the beneficiaries were the 8th batch of pensioners that would be presented with bond certificates.
Giving the breakdown of the beneficiaries, the governor explained that 84 of them were retired primary school teachers, while 105 others were former local government workers.
He added that the bond certificates distributed to the pensioners were worth N1.01 billion and promised ”to always give priority to the welfare of the senior citizens in the state.”
The bond certificates allows the retirees to collect money from designated banks.
The governor also complained of how the gratuity of some of the pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) is being ‘balkanised’ with the payment of irregular meagre sums.
“(At a point) they started N50,000. When the N50,000 went around, they started paying them N100,000. As at last Monday, another list has been paid N200,000. That is how the amount is being balkanised,” he lamented.
When contacted, Governor Oyetola’s Chief Press Secretary, Ismail Omipidan, explained the efforts of the state government to salvage the plight of the old citizens.
He acknowledged that there are backlogs from the Aregbesola-led administration and that Mr Oyetola will ensure that everyone is paid.
“If you know Osun very well, you will know that we have a peculiar situation,” he said.
“It is not as if we are not paying at all and we can not clear everything at once.”
“Anybody, who has not gotten (his/her entitlements), certainly, (such person) will get,” he said.
How CPS has fared in Osun
Meanwhile, in its second-quarter 2019 report, the National Pension Commission published states that were not remitting pension under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
In an analysis by this reporter, 24 states including Cross River, Enugu, Abia, Ebonyi, Taraba, Bauchi, Borno, Adamawa, Ogun, Niger, Imo, Sokoto, Kogi, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Oyo, Katsina, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Kwara, Plateau and Taraba have not been remitting Pension contributions to the PFAs.
According to PenCom, only four out of the remaining 12 states that are remitting pension contributions, had been remitting the pension of their workers ‘regularly’.
Only Lagos, Edo, Kaduna and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had an up-to-date remittance in the report released in August.
Osun State, according to the report, remitted pension contributions ”but in an inconsistent manner resulting in a backlog of pension contributions.”
It described the state government’s funding of accrued pension rights as ‘inadequate’, noting that this had resulted in huge arrears of accrued rights. Osun State, it added, had no group life insurance policy.
Meanwhile, in an interview with this newspaper, the PFA manager for Fidelity Pensions in Osogbo, Ayodeji Emmanuel, attested to the fact that the remittances were irregular at a time.
“The only thing is that the contribution was not coming the way it should because of some financial challenges, which I think they (Osun State) are already getting out of it.”
What is 16m S-Power beneficiaries' allowance doing in the office of the SSG? Is he the cashier?
Oh well it wont too hard to crack the case if one of them snitches. He didn't do it alone and there's no honor amongst theives. The prisoners dilemma works. The most important thing is for them to stop their foolishness. Pay your employees via direct deposit or checks.
Lol why is 16 million naira in the office instead of bank? These guys enable corruption because they dont want write checks or direct deposit. Money in the bank gains interest at least. This incident is clearly an inside job because nobody else would know the combo to safe.
Unknown persons have allegedly broken into the office of the Secretary to the Government of Katsina State (SGS), Mustapha Inuwa, and made away with huge amounts of money.
The office which is located at the state secretariat was said to have been broken into on Sunday night.
Sources familiar with what happened said the amount stolen was in the millions of Naira.
One of the sources said the amount stolen was up to N16 million.
He also said some people arrested on Monday in connection with the incident. Those arrested included a security guard, and two government officials working at the SSG’s office.
The incident comes same time the office of the Secretary to the State Government is handling disbursement of allowance arrears to hundreds of S-Power beneficiaries teaching at various state-owned secondary and primary schools.
S-Power is the Katsina State government programme patterned after the federal government’s N-Power scheme, with hundreds of graduates and NCE holders recruited to teach in public schools.
It was gathered that huge amounts of money had been kept at the office of the SSG, ostensibly for payment of allowance to the S-Power beneficiaries.
The spokesman for the police command in the state, SP Gambo Isah, and that of the SGS, Abdullahi YarAdua, were yet to respond to inquiries made on the matter as at the time of this report.
The navy should be better funded to deal with the rampant piracy and sea robbery going on. You read about a kidnapping every month. The security vote money should be used for armed forces. Another major issue is illegal fishing.
Simplyleo: I'm not saying they are related. I'm talking about how our military guys are being killed like chickens on daily basis as if they are no longer military men.
Who knows major general Buhari should get it sorted out. Nigeria shouldn't be helpless in face of pirates and sea robbers.
Four Naval ratings, who were part of a six-man Naval rescue squad, were killed in a gun duel between them and suspected sea pirates, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
The firefight occurred at about 11 p.m. on Thursday, January 2, a top Naval source said. The source asked not to be named as he was not permitted to talk to journalists.
The attack occurred in the jurisdiction of the NNS Delta, an operations base in Warri, Delta State, one of the seven units under the jurisdiction of the Central Naval Command.
The sea robbers were said to have attacked one of Nigeria’s dredgers, MV AMBIKA, a Sterling Oil dredger close to Ramos River entrance, before the six-man troop of the Nigerian Navy were sent to neutralise their threat.
Before the team arrived, the source said, the suspected sea robbers had “boarded the vessel and abducted three crew members (two Russians and one Indian), leaving behind five other crew members.”
Upon the arrival of the rescue team at the scene of the incident, a gun duel ensued between the armed ratings onboard the vessel and the sea robbers.
Four of the six Naval ratings deployed onboard the vessel were killed. The vessel was also reportedly stolen by the pirates.
PREMIUM TIMES has withheld the identities of the victims to allow the military enough time to notify their relatives.
But the ranks of the four deceased are Petty Officer, Able Seaman, Seaman and an Ordinary Seaman. The other two personnel survived unhurt, the source explained.
The corpses of the deceased are believed to have been moved to the navy hospital in Warri.
“Efforts are ongoing to rescue the kidnapped victims,” our source said.
A spokesperson for the Nigerian Navy, Suleman Dahun, said he is not aware of the attack.
“I’ll confirm and get back to you tomorrow,” he said on Sunday.
The anti-graft agency, in November, said it was set to prosecute medical doctors who issue fake medical reports to those undergoing trial for financial crimes.
Lol goodluck with proving they're lying. They'll just say he was faking during test. They wont tell outrageous lies like gaving broken bones.
Peter the pebblebrain is something else. I blame the court for granting all these frivolous adornments. Lol these chief executives always run abroad for any little cough since there's no doctors in the bush they govern.
The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has reacted to a video of Ayodele Fayose, dancing on a cruise ship while on a “medical trip” abroad.
The special assistant on media and publicity to Mr Magu, Tony Amokeodo, on Thursday in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES, said the commission is only prosecuting the former governor, not persecuting him.
He added that since Mr Fayose’s trial is still on, the EFCC can only wait till he returns on the next adjourned date for the continuation of his trail.
”We are not going to react to that video (on) the grounds that the EFCC is prosecuting him, not persecuting him,” Mr Amokeodo said.
”Besides, the court granted him permission to travel abroad for medical attention. We are of the opinion that the former governor would have to be in court and that his trial is on course. And we will definitely meet him on the next adjourned date.
Mr Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti State, is currently being prosecuted for a N2.2 billion fraud by the EFCC.
He was seen in a recent viral video dancing Salsa outside Nigeria. The video was said to have been shot on the Caribbean Islands.
Earlier, photos of him having a swell time on a beach had circulated on social media as Nigerians accused him of deceiving the court to travel abroad for fun rather than medical treatment.
In reaction, Mr Fayose through is Twitter handle @GovAyoFayose accused those commenting on his photos and video to mind their business.
He admitted that the video and photos were recent and said that celebrating the New Year is part of his fundamental human rights.
He said he travelled for medical check-up and was not on admission at the hospital.
”These “hailers”, when I was on their case, they were crying. Now I’m on my own lane enjoying my life, they are still crying & sucking. Expect more so you can cry more. I’m on medical checkup, not admission. Celebrating New Year is my right, haters can hug transformer,” he said.
Mr Fayose was in October, alongside his company, Spotless Ltd, charged with an 11-count charge of receiving cash payment of $5 million from Musiliu Obanikoro, then minister of state for defence, without going through any financial institution.
He is being prosecuted at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The ex-governor was granted permission to travel to South Africa to attend to his health and is expected to appear in courton January 16, 2020, for the continuation of his trial.
A norm?
Many corruption cases in recent years have been stalled over alleged ailments suffered by the suspects, many of whom the judges allowed to travel abroad for treatment.
The judges usually act on medical reports presented in court by the defence counsel on behalf of their clients.
The anti-graft agency, in November, said it was set to prosecute medical doctors who issue fake medical reports to those undergoing trial for financial crimes.
A former governor of Abia State, Uzor Kalu, on December 14, had his bail application, which he filed on health grounds, rejected.
Mr Kalu, the senator representing Abia North, was convicted on December 5 and sentenced to 12 years in prison for N7.6 billion fraud.
Another task before Dr Ismail Adebayo Adewusi-led NIPOST is to also focus the agency's energy towards helping government realize its National Security Strategy.
How does NIPOST play into national security strategy?
Lol it would be too funny to see Buhari win a Nobel prize. Nairaland would go crazy. The thread will be 20 pages long first day. The author ideas are nice hopefully someone in the administration reads.
Before the start these lofty goals. Buhari shoukd give an executive order directing agencies to deliver documents to customers. They should start delivering passports, drivers licenses, voters cards IDs etc.
This writer had previously urged the federal government to leverage on NIPOST spread to drive its Social Intervention Programmes(SIPs), in my article. Although, the extent to which government adhered to my suggestion cannot be determined here but suffice to say that the progress made by NIPOST in the area of collaboration with other agencies of government in deepening economic activities, has been encouraging. It is expected that Dr Adewusi will take this to even higher level. Now that NIRSAL Microfinance Bank is operational in NIPOST offices across Nigeria, driving the social investment programmes of the government should be very easy.
All that is needed now is for Dr Adewusi-led NIPOST and Sadiya Umar Farouq-led Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to work out modalities on how the SIP programmes can be dispensed to achieve even further spread in the country; taking advantage of NIPOST offices throughout the seven hundred and seventy four (774) local government areas in Nigeria. Deploying NIPOST to drive the government SIPs, is one sure way of effectively activating and lubricating digital economy which government places high premium on. It is a well known fact that the real driver of a given economy is micro-economic activity. Fortunately, Dr Adewusi, is an accomplished economist who has been tested and trusted; he knows the importance of sustaing economic activities at the rural areas. There is no doubt that NIPOST under his leadership will live up to expectation if government buys the idea of leveraging on the agency to drive its SIPs.
To this writer, the best befitting farewell President Muhammadu Buhari can get is to win the Nobel Prize on peace before 2023. How government manages its SIPs will go a very long way in paving the way for the President to win the coveted prize. The noble prize committee had established long ago that there is nexus between lifting people out of poverty and peace; when it awarded the 2006 peace prize to Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus and Grameen bank. It will be recalled that Muhammad Yunus the Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below". The reason given by Norwegian Nobel Committee for the award was that; "lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty" and that "across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development".
Since NIRSAL Microfiance bank, operational in NIPOST offices across Nigeria which is equivalent to Grameen bank in Bangladesh, is already in place, what government should do is to summon the will to reposition NIPOST across Nigeria to be able to effectively drive the SIPs so that no part of the country is left untouched, in terms of benefitting from the programmes. By this, the digital economy drive of federal government would have become a living reality; as a result of expected booming of micro economic activities at the rural areas of the country.
Good enough, the recently commissioned 2019 National Security Strategy by President Muhammadu Buhari which main objective is the "achievement of a safer and more secure nation", tallies with the reason given by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in awarding the peace prize to Muhammad Yunus. Another task before Dr Ismail Adebayo Adewusi-led NIPOST is to also focus the agency's energy towards helping government realize its National Security Strategy. Government should, in the same token, reposition the agency to play its expected role effectively and efficiently.
Mr Nwonye, however, noted that the lease on the property expired recently and the “high commission has been exploring the possibility of renewing the lease agreement with the host authorities.”
Why did you guys just renew before it expired if you guys didn't plan on moving? Lol the row isnt with ghana it with your landlords. Next time avoid the headache dont procrastinate.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied reports of a diplomatic row between Nigeria and Ghana.
This was revealed in a press release issued by the spokesperson of the ministry, Ferdinand Nwonye, on Friday.
The alleged diplomatic row, which was circulated on Thursday on social media, suggested that the Nigeria High Commission is being forcefully evicted from its diplomatic property in Accra.
According to the spokesperson, the property on No. 10 Barnes Road, Accra, Ghana was “in use by the Federal Ministry of Finance, since 1957, on leasehold and was later bequeathed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Mr Nwonye, however, noted that the lease on the property expired recently and the “high commission has been exploring the possibility of renewing the lease agreement with the host authorities.”
He highlighted the fact that the “property in question is not housing either the Residence of the High Commissioner or the Chancery or staff quarters.”
Mr Nwonye said conversations are still being held between the mission and appropriate host authorities.
“There is therefore no imminent diplomatic row with Ghana as being speculated by a section of the media,” he reiterated.
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