₦airaland Forum

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The Deputy National Leader of the Northern Elders Forum, Dr. Paul Unongo, has said that former President Goodluck Jonathan should be probed over the $2.1bn arms deal.

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Unongo, who was power and steel minister in the Second Republic, said the former President should be jailed if found to have corruptly enriched himself in the $2.1bn arms deal and refuses to refund his share of the loot.

Unongo, however, said the former President deserved consideration for conceding defeat in the last general elections and by helping the country to avert an impending national crisis.

These two facts, according to him, should make his punishments mild if found guilty of stolen funds.

Unongo, who spoke with our correspondent in a telephone interview on Monday, said, “There are three points to make on the arms probe. The first is that Jonathan deserves a special consideration for his contribution to democratic culture in Nigeria and for enabling us to avert a national crisis by conceding defeat during the general elections. He also mobilised support for the present government. Jonathan was great in defeat. He is a hero for doing this.

“Secondly, if the anti-graft agency can prove beyond reasonable doubt that he diverted public funds and if Jonathan agrees to return the stolen funds, he should not be humiliated but he should be given due consideration.

“Thirdly, if it is proved by a transparent process that he stole the country’s money and he refuses to return it, then the law should take its course, whether he is a former President or not. He should be prosecuted and jailed. This is important in order to serve as a deterrent to others.”

Unongo slammed Jonathan’s advisers who have been justifying their roles in the alleged diversion of the arms funds based on the excuse that they acted under instructions from the Presidency.

He said Jonathan’s advisers should be held liable for their actions because they had the opportunity to advise the President against any form of illegality.

According to him, Jonathan’s advisers and ministers who were uncomfortable with his style of governance should have resigned their appointments if the President did not follow their advice.

“I was a minister in this country and that did not stop me from speaking the truth to the President. Jonathan’s advisers who are claiming they acted under instructions to justify their alleged theft are lying.

“Jonathan paid them to advise him so they are liable for their actions. If you advised Jonathan rightly and he said no, you should have resigned your appointment,” he stressed.

The former minister also added that the Federal Government had not ordered the arrest of Jonathan because the government ‘was trying to be careful and abide by the dictates of the law in order not to be seen as dictatorial’.

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He said, “I think President Buhari is trying to be careful in not summoning Jonathan so far. I don’t believe there was an agreement President Buhari had not to probe Jonathan as being reported.”

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the allegation of diversion of the $2.1bn arms funds by a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), and some military and public officials.

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Falana also called on the ICC to bring to justice those who diverted the funds meant for the empowerment of the country’s security forces.

In a petition dated January 19, 2016, and sent to the Prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, Falana asked the ICC to invite the Federal Government to provide written or oral testimonies at the seat of the court on the stolen funds.

He alleged that the sum of $322m and £5.5m from the money stolen and stashed abroad by the late Gen. Sani Abacha, allegedly transferred to Dasuki by a former Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to prosecute the war on terror, had been illegally diverted.

He said it was unfortunate that part of the stolen funds was used to fund the re-election campaign of former President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections.

Falana maintained that those who engaged in the criminal diversion of the security funds should be held liable for the death of about 25,000 people, who were killed by the Boko Haram sect and the over 2,000,000 people, who were displaced by the terrorists.

According to him, the Federal Government needs to fulfil its obligations by cooperating with the ICC to arrest suspected perpetrators of the stolen funds and provide other support to the ICC.

The human rights activist stressed that sufficient evidences gathered so far were sufficient to hold Dasuki and others that were being prosecuted for the scandal responsible for crimes against humanity.

The petition partly reads, “On account of the deliberate refusal of the former military authorities to equip and motivate the members of the armed forces involved in combat operations, the insurgents have killed about 25,000 soldiers and civilians including children and displaced over 2,000,000 people.

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“The ICC needs to urgently commence an investigation proprio motu on the allegations of the criminal diversion of the security funds of $2.1bn and N643bn earmarked by suspected perpetrators, with a view to determining whether these amount to crimes against humanity within the Court’s jurisdiction.”

A crisis is brewing in the All Progressives Congress over appointments into boards of federal agencies and parastatals.

The PUNCH gathered in Abuja on Sunday that the dispute over the appointments was partly responsible for the delay in the reconstitution of the boards.

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At the core of the dispute is a disagreement over names forwarded for consideration for appointments.

It was learnt that a committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to reconstitute the boards had been unable to conclude its assignment due in part to this dispute.

It was gathered that the war of attrition had also pitted some party leaders at the state level and some newly-inaugurated members of President Buhari’s cabinet.

Buhari had on July 16, 2015 approved the dissolution of the governing boards of federal parastatals and agencies and institutions.

To fill vacancies created by the dissolution, the President inaugurated the Presidential Committee on the Reconstitution of Federal Government Boards of Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions, on October 27, 2015.

The committee, which has party leaders drawn from the six geo-political zones, is chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.

It was further learnt that the Presidential Committee had agreed with the party leadership that each of the 36 state chapters should submit the names of 50 persons to be appointed.

PUNCH findings further revealed that in response some states had two separate lists as party leaders jostled to outdo one another to position their acolytes for favourable consideration.

This led to accusations and counter-accusations of nepotism and favouritism against state party chairmen, governors as well as some leaders of the party.

A leading member of the party who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution said, “The situation almost got out of hand.

“In the South-East for instance, apart from Ebonyi State, most of the other states are in crisis over this matter.

“We also had a situation where states like Lagos had two separate lists. There were also allegations that some of the state chairmen nominated their wives and cronies to the exclusion of people who really laboured for the party.

“As a party of change, we want things done differently some of those who were aggrieved used the back channels to make their feelings known and reach out to the President.”

President Buhari was said to have intervened into the matter by asking the party leadership to liaise with the SGF to look into the issues raised with a view to finding an amicable solution to the problem.

Prominent among states where such disputes exist include Enugu, Imo, Abia and Kaduna.

It will be recalled that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had in response to public criticism of the first set of appointments made by Buhari, told Nigerians that the President had over 6,000 appointments to make.

It was equally learnt that more appointments into vacant positions by the President is expected to further deplete the membership of the party’s National Working Committee.

This, among other things; is said to be one of the several reasons responsible for the delay in constituting the party’s Board of Trustees.

So far, two members of the NWC namely: the National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Babachir David Lawal, Vice Chairman (North East), had taken up appointments with the Federal government.

More of the party’s national leaders are expected to be appointed into positions of authority at the federal level.

This is expected to create openings for the appointment/election of other party members to fill such vacancies.

Filling of National Working Committee positions in substantive capacity can only be done during a national convention.

For now, no date has been fixed for the party’s national convention.

When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the issue of a delay did not arise since the Presidential committee was not given a deadline within which to submit its report.

He said, “You cannot talk of a delay when the committee was not given a deadline. Work is ongoing.”

Attempts to get either the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, or the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, were futile.

Repeated calls to their mobile telephones were neither picked nor returned.

Responses to text messages sent to them on the issues raised were still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.

However, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Timi Frank, said although he knew when the committee was set up, he was not privy to its activities.

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He however expressed optimism that the committee, which he said, was made up of people of impeccable character, “is working hard to give Nigerians the best.”

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Manchester United training was cancelled on Sunday and Ryan Giggs is taking the reins on Monday after Louis van Gaal flew home to Holland.

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The manager’s future at the club became extremely bleak after the defeat by Southampton at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Van Gaal sounded like a beaten man on Saturday before jetting off, telling players and staff not to travel to Carrington for their standard running drills the day after a game.

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The 64-year-old is in Holland for his daughter’s birthday and, while it cannot be helped, the timing is inauspicious.

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