₦airaland Forum

FG to unveil new allowance for corps members— Minister


The minister of youths and sports, Sunday Dare has disclosed that members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) will enjoy the new minimum wage.

Dare disclosed this in a tweet on Wednesday evening.

“New Minimum Wage: NYSC members to enjoy new minimum wage/ allowee
Next week the DG NYSC will provide details of the new allowee for the Youth Corp members after full briefing from the Ministries of Finance And MYSD,” he posted on Twitter.

Sunday Dare
@SundayDareSD
Next week the DG NYSC will provide details of the new allowee for the Youth Corp members after full briefing from the Ministries of Finance And MYSD

By Ismail Mudashir




Wife of an All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Kogi, Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu, has said that she would mobilise mothers of political thugs in the 21 local government area of the state to ensure a hitch free election, come November 16.

Speaking on the heels of the alarm raised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of possible violence in Kogi during the governorship poll, she said mothers of political thugs will be mobilised to secure polling units during the election.

In an interview in Abuja, she disclosed her plans to lead a delegation of women to man all polling units in the state, saying there must be free and fair election in Kogi state.

“There are problems in Kogi state even though it is my wish and desire for the APC to continue to govern Kogi state. It is my wish for our incumbent governor, who is our candidate, to continue and finish his tenure but not at the cost of lives and property of the people of Kogi state.

“I will stand at my polling unit to make sure every vote cast count. I will personally sponsor women across the 21 local government and wards in the state to man their polling units.

“We have gotten volunteers who have indicated interest to support this anti-violence campaigns. Unless they are going to gun all of us down, starting with me, we will be there to man and protect the polling units. The thugs have mothers, I’m going to mobilise their mothers to man polling units. So, come and kill your mothers, please.

“All the candidates, who are running for the Kogi governorship election, are acting more like they are preparing for war than campaigning for the poll.

“If you are campaigning to govern the state, you will be going out to woo the voters, pacify them and what have you but they (candidates) are buying bulletproof cars and all sorts of arms and ammunition.

“I don’t understand, what are we doing? Are we campaigning or preparing for war. This is why I’m calling on the national leadership and President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene.

“We don’t want to be saying sorry, we don’t want to be burying our people and we don’t want to read headlines of how many people are killed during the governorship election. We want nothing but peace before, during and after the election,” she said.

The daughter in-law of late Abubakar Audu, urged the state governor, Yahaya Bello to step up his campaign in the 21 local government area of the state, saying it would be unwise to do anything that would negate the chances of the party in the state.

Late Jonathan Nkpumeh is among 23 aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress, APC that dragged the party to court to stop the planned Ward Local government and state congresses from holding in Rivers State.

This is according to the Counsel to Nkpumeh’s family, D.U Ekesu.

Ekesu made this known in an affidavit tendered before Justice G.O Ollor who presided over the suit filed by Ibrahim Umar and others against the National Working Committee of the APC.

He wondered how a dead man gave his consent to be added in the suit, stressing that Jonathan Nkpumeh died over a year ago before the suit filed in August.

Ekesu, therefore, asked the court to strike out the matter seeking to stop the Ward, Local government and state congresses of the APC in Rivers state.

According to him, “We are perplexed as representatives of the family to learn that a dead man gave consent for a suit to be filed on his behalf.

“So we have filed an affidavit of fact deposing those veracities that the Late Jonathan Nkpume could not have from his grave given consent to those who filed the suit.

“As a matter of fact, his death had occurred about a year ago before they came to file the suit.”

Reacting to the development, Counsel to Ibrahim Umar and others, Henry Bello told newsmen that the court will determine if the documents meets the requirement of the Evidence Act.

“The affidavit of death was sworn on the 17th of September but Umar’s suit was filed on the 12th of September so it appears that the affidavit was filed contrary to Section 83 of the Evidence Act because it was made in contemplation of the suit,” he said.

DAILY POST reports that the development and the decision of another set of 19 aggrieved members of the APC stalled hearing on the suit instituted by Umar.

Justice G. O Ollor ordered parties to exchange their responses and adjourned to the 30th of November for mention.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a United States diplomat, has likened Nigeria’s political circle to an old men’s club.

Thomas-Greenfield, who was the assistant secretary of State for African Affairs between 2013 and 2017, made this known on Tuesday while speaking at ’20 Years of Democracy: a Retrospect’, a programme organised by National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in partnership with Ford Foundation and YIAGA Africa.

The diplomat predicted that the 2023 election will be challenging because of a gentleman’s agreement that has to be honoured.

“Nigeria’s politics is an old men’s club. There is also a gentleman’s agreement to rotate power between the north and the south,” she said.
“The next election will be a challenging one because of a gentleman’s agreement to rotate power”.

Speaking on the challenges of Nigeria’s democracy in the past 20 years, the diplomat said Nigerian elections have a huge potential for violence.

“Nigeria made a huge step backwards to violence in 2019,” she said.

“I read that 30 people lost their lives to electoral violence but I think it would be higher than that.”

According to Thomas-Greenfield, elections are expensive in Nigeria because there is no framework for candidates to receive donations from electorates.

Although Nigeria was given credit for having the financial ability and institutional infrastructure to hold elections, Thomas-Greenfield said the government occasionally “uses its ability to pay to influence how the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) performs”.

Uche Usim, Abuja




Merger and acquisition talks are quietly going on in the banking industry, especially among the seven deposit money banks (DMBs) that failed the mandatory stress test on funding adequacy.

Sources told Daily Sun that two new generation banks started the talks long before the stress test results were out.

“It’s a smart move actually. Mergers and acquisitions will naturally come up soon because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is working out modalities for the banks to recapitalise. Mergers and acquisitions are inevitable because the apex bank is determined to produce fewer but more resilient banks that can undertake more audacious projects and become more globally competitive.

“So seven banks failing stress test simply deepens the merger talks.

“Obviously, there is economic crisis in the country and this is affecting the banks. It may lead to the merger of at least seven commercial banks because they really are flying against the wind,” an industry source said.

The CBN had mandated commercial banks to conduct stress tests to ascertain their risk mitigation and control systems and where necessary the adequacy of their internal capital and provisions for expected credit losses, to enhance the assessment of their vulnerability to different risk types and external shocks.

Since the news broke, anxious depositors have begun using unprofessional parameters to determine the seven out of the 22 licensed banks that are involved.

Many of them who encountered glitches while using some electronic banking platforms like ATMs, POS and online transfers in recent times amplified those challenges to mean early signs of distress.

Magdalene Ibeh, a budding entrepreneur, lamented, “Which one is seven banks failing stress test again? This is scary. It is almost impossible to make a transfer in the morning via the phone. It’s better at night when network is less busy. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should do something quickly. If I know the banks, I’ll immediately tell my relatives and loved ones to withdraw their money from them. This is what many of us in Wuse market have agreed to do once we know the banks involved.”

However, the CBN has kept the identity of the seven banks secret to forestall a national catastrophe that could be triggered by nationwide panic withdrawal by ignorant depositors.

Spokesman for the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, told Daily Sun that there was no cause for alarm over seven banks failing the stress test.

“Movements in prudential benchmarks are normal in a bank, depending on the timing of the checks and the tests. If a bank fails a test, it does not mean that such a bank is in distress. A bank that fails any test this quarter may pass it in the next quarter. Normally, the CBN advises any bank that fails any of the tests on ways to correct such and usually things get better during the next period. The story is not a serious thing but people without sufficient knowledge make it look serious,” he said.

On June 24, the CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, while unveiling his second tenure agenda, said the apex bank would work with stakeholders to recapitalise commercial banks in the country, make them stronger to undertake greater tasks.

Emefiele said: “In the next five years, we intend to pursue a programme of recapitalising the banking industry so as to position Nigerian banks among the top 500 in the world. Banks will, therefore, be required to maintain higher level of capital, as well as liquid assets, in order to reduce the impact of an economic crisis on the financial system.

“Soludo did it last recapitalisation exercise in 2004 and increased the capital base of banks from N2 billion to N25 billion. It helped the banks and the economy become stronger. We could now take up large ticket transactions.

“But relate the value of N25 billion in 2004 when the exchange rate was about N100/dollar to now when the rate is N360/dollar. That is about $75 million. So, we need to recapitalise.”

Eze Onyekpere, an economic expert and lead director, Centre for Social Justice, said the CBN should have kept quiet rather than revealing the information about seven banks failing the stress test because some banks and their depositors may soon begin to de-market each other out of ignorance.

“As a regulator, (CBN) should look at the areas where the affected banks are deficient and help meet standards quietly. No need to let it out. Merger may be an option for the banks but it should be a last resort,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said it was unaware of seven banks failing a stress test as revealed by the apex bank.

Director, communications and public affairs, NDIC, Mr. Sunday Oluyemi, who spoke at the corporation’s 30th anniversary media briefing in Abuja, said the CBN and NDIC were partners in the task of ensuring financial system stability in Nigeria.

“It’s not usual for CBN and NDIC to make such statements because it can hurt the economy. We didn’t issue any warning that banks are on danger list,” he said.

He added that the NDIC would protect depositors by providing an orderly means of resolution and compensation in the event of failure of their insured financial institutions.

The CBN in its financial stability report published on its website revealed that in less than 30-day period analysis, seven Nigerian banks were not adequately funded, while in the 31-90 day bucket, nine banks had funding gaps.

Overall, the cumulative position for the industry showed an excess of N4.8 trillion assets over liabilities.

The United Kingdom (UK) receives about £90 billion illicit funds from Nigeria, Africa and countries in third world every year, according to report by Christian Erikson and Lionel Faull, anti-corruption advocates.

The advocates disclosed this in a joint paper tagged, ‘Obtaining Property Information Overseas’ presented at the anti-corruption training organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (Heda Resource Centre) in collaboration with The Corner House; MacArthur Foundation and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).
They said most of the stolen funds are from the third world, including Nigeria.

According to them, 87,000 illicit assets in the UK are owned by anonymous companies in tax havens, while the values of secretly owned properties in the UK are between 56 to 100 billion pounds, with 40 percent of these properties in the city of London.

“Getting your money back is easier said than done. It takes a long time. If you do not support corruption, there is no need doing banking with Nigeria,” Faull was quoted to have said.

“The fight against corruption will not succeed without a very active citizenry. It requires international solidarity, teaming up with a civil society in order to work with international organisations and make authorities accountable.”

Also, Nick Hildyard, an anti-corruption investigator, said though the UK has one of the most effective anti-corruption laws, in reality, the country does not appear to be fully prepared to stall the wave of corruption, with its financial institutions providing the logistics for corrupt officials from Nigeria.

“The UK is a legally corrupt country”, Hildyard said, adding that “if Western countries genuinely wish to fight corruption, they should stop the warehouse of stolen funds from Nigeria”.

Speaking, Maryam Uwais, special adviser to the president on social investment, said corruption cannot be eradicated overnight.

She said at the moment, 6 million Nigerians are on the database of the NSIP adding that 167,000 out of the figure are physically challenged people.

She said communication remains a challenge since many of the beneficiaries live in rural areas.
“It has been a dilemma for me generally. It’s been a choice that has been hard,” she said.
“We call on journalists to please go out of their duties to help reach out to them.”

She, however, commended the federal government’s efforts at fighting poverty by ploughing recovered stolen wealth into meeting the essentials of poor individuals across the 36 states of the federation.

The Tolaram Group, maker of Indomie Noodles, is building the biggest port in West Africa on the east side of Lagos with $1bn facility from China, according to the Financial Times.

A report in Financial Times on Tuesday said the Singapore-based company was set to close financing this week for what could be the busiest port in West Africa sub region, which would help transform Africa’s largest economy.

The port, the biggest development ever undertaken by Tolaram, the report said, “is being built on the back of a $450m annual business that has turned Indomie noodles into one of Nigeria’s national dishes and Tolaram into the largest food company in Africa’s biggest market, surpassing the likes of Unilever and Nestlé.”

According to Financial Times, the new port will be financed with $630m from the China Development Bank, and $470m in equity from the state-owned China Harbour Engineering Company, which has a 52.5 per cent stake and will build it.

Tolaram owns 22.5 per cent, the Nigerian Ports Authority has 5 per cent and Lagos state 20 per cent, the report stated.

“This is a real game changer for us, doing project financing of this scale . . . It’s easy to raise money for a factory — you need $30m, $50m. But you want to raise $800m? That’s a whole different ballgame,” Financial Times quoted Haresh Vaswani, Tolaram’s managing director for Africa and grandson of its founder.

Noting that the project is a new chapter for Tolaram, the report said “The company has in recent years entered a series of joint ventures: a milk business with Denmark’s Arla Foods, cereal and snacks with Kellogg’s and, starting next year, dental care products with Colgate-Palmolive.

Now it is moving into infrastructure in a big way.
“The Lekki port is the anchor of an 800-hectare free economic zone the company plans to build.

Tolaram said the project would allow Lagos to reclaim its place as the region’s top port from nearby Togo, a much smaller country that has focused on making its port state of the art and its regulations business friendly.”

Quoting Daniel Clemenson, an analyst at IHS Markit, FT said the Lekki port’s modernity will not matter if the government did not improve the surrounding infrastructure.

Citing Apapa, Lagos’s main port, where roads are so shabby and processes so cumbersome that trucks can often wait a week before being allowed in to pick up goods, Clemenson said, “Unless considerable development is undertaken in the surrounding areas I can only see this adding to the problem.”

Mr Vaswani, according to FT, also agreed that “roads are the main priority”, particularly the access road the project will share with its next door neighbour, a massive new oil refinery being built by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote.

Mr Vaswani’s father turned the company into an international conglomerate with textile factories in India, property interests in eastern Europe (including a luxury apartment complex in the former KGB headquarters in Tallinn), carpet manufacturing in China and a polymers plant in the UK.

It was however Tolaram’s decision to begin importing Indomie to Nigeria in 1988, the same year Mr Vaswani moved there, that transformed the company, the FT report noted.

“Over the next two decades, it shed its other business, with the exception of the Tallinn real estate, to focus almost exclusively on Indomie. In 1995, the company entered a joint venture with Salim Group, the Indonesian company behind Indomie, and began manufacturing in Nigeria the next year. Growth came slowly — it took 13 years for revenues to reach $10m in Nigeria — before sales began doubling annually by the mid-2000s. Indomie is now in every corner market stall across Nigeria, and in most kitchen cupboards — a cheap, stomach-filling staple that is so ubiquitous it features in rap lyrics.

“However, Nigeria can be a fickle market. Government policies change quickly and can cripple businesses. In 2015, Abuja curbed raw palm oil imports, just after Tolaram had spent tens of millions on a new palm oil factory. After the oil price crash sent Nigeria’s crude-dependent economy into recession in 2016 and the naira was devalued by roughly half, revenues slumped to “next to nothing”, which Tolaram weathered in part because its financing was in naira rather than dollars,” FT added.

Isa Pantami, minister of communications, has directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to work with the telecommunications service providers to reduce the price of data.

According to Yusuf Abubakar, an aide of the minister, Pantami gave the directive to the regulator when he received a report on the implementation of the ministry’s short-term performance targets.

Abubakar said Pantami expressed dismay that despite the high cost of data, Nigerians do not enjoy good internet services.

“According to the report from a UK-based price comparison website – Cable, Nigeria is not among the top 10 African countries with low average price of data, a position the Minister of Communications, Dr Isa Pantami, finds worrisome considering the fact that the country has over 174 million internet users made public by the Nigerian Communications Commission,” Abubakar said in a statement.

“The minister also finds it unacceptable that with the prevailing high cost of data in Nigeria, the citizens still do not enjoy value for money as subscribers battle daily with illegal deduction of data, poor quality of service, among others.

“It is against this backdrop that the minister directed the NCC, the telecom regulators, to immediately work hand in hand with the telecom operators and ensure a downward review of the price of data in Nigeria, improved quality of service provided and check the illegal deduction of subscribers’ data.”

Johnchuks Onuanyim, Abuja




Ahead of next month’s governorship election in Kogi State not less than seven governors, one Senator, four House of Representatives members, six ministers and other leaders and chieftains of the party are billed to relocate to the state for the contest.

This was announced at the inauguration of the National Campaign Council for Kogi and Bayelsa states governorship election by the Chairman of the Campaign Council for Kogi State and the governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

The Kaduna State governor in his remarks after the inauguration said: “After the flag-off, I will like to ask most of the committee members to relocate to Lokoja and remain there in preparation for the final burial and nailing of the coffin of the PDP.”

El-Rufai also said that it was pertinent for the All Progressives Congress (APC) members to work for the victory of the Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello in the forthcoming election because he is ardent supporter and believer of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking further, El-Rufai said: “Looking at the 56 members of the campaign council some of them are my elder brothers. I want to thank the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for having this dose of confidence on this campaign council. I promise on behalf of the Council that we will not let the party down
“Mr. Chairman, Kogi is different from Bayelsa in two respects. The first is that it is an APC controlled state, which makes it easier but reelection are far more difficult to prosecute than when you are running for the first time. In your second term, you must run on your record and you must have offended many people. So, you spend more time going round for reconciliation than if you are contesting for the first time without any record or any enemy.

“I am convinced that the good work done by His Excellency, Yahaya Bello in the last four years, the combined efforts of all of us focused and unity of purpose, we will deliver Kogi State with even a wider margin than in the past election.”

Barely five days after the complete closure of Nigerian borders, there are palpable fears that the increasing volume of cargo to the seaports may worsen the congestion phenomenon.

Already, port operators have confirmed increased patronage, but there are rising concerns that the prevailing challenges at the seaports may hamper swift cargo clearance and evacuation.

The Guardian investigations revealed that many of the terminals in Lagos ports are currently experiencing congestion, with about 80 percent of the freight belonging to government agencies. The situation may worsen, as more ships are expected to berth in the coming weeks.

President, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Increase Uche, told to The Guardian, yesterday, that with the border closure, adequate plans must be made for an efficient port system to avoid the looming congestion.

He said: “The unfortunate aspect of the closure is that importers that earlier planned for their goods to arrive neighbouring ports will now have to re-route them to Nigerian ports, prompting the question of our capability to cope with the increased volume, considering the congestion already witnessed in the ports.

“There are strong indications that the massive routing of cargoes will compound the congestion in the ports. So, in the next one month or thereabouts, the congestion in the ports will increase and that is a very bad omen,” he said.

Uche said the government needs to do something fast, stressing that, “now that borders are closed, the seaports, which are also entry points, should be made efficient. They should ensure that businesses in the ports are not hindered in any way.

“We need to know that there were reasons why people diverted their cargoes to ports in neighbouring countries, which simply has to do with the unfriendliness of our ports and the high-handedness of government officials, terminal operators, and shipping companies,” he said.

Uche added that the high local shipping charges and inefficiency at the ports compounded issues that made the nation witness low patronage over time.

“As it is now, the government should look into those problems and find a lasting solution,” he said.

He, however, confirmed that the policy on motor vehicle import has revived the ailing RoRo terminals in the ports. “One thing that the government has done that is worth commendation is the restriction of cars from passing through land borders. Now, we have more cars coming through the seaports. That policy has helped us to revive our RoRo ports, which were about dying.

They have started witnessing increased patronage,” he said. General Manager of PTML Terminal, Tunde Keshinro, recently confirmed that vehicular imports at the port have gone up by an average of 25 percent since August when the borders were partially closed.

He said, “Import statistics have recorded steady growth since the beginning of the year, and it has been a positive trend until date at PTML Terminal. This has also reflected in the Customs Command’s revenue profile.”

President, Shippers’ Association, Lagos State, Jonathan Nichol, said although the NPA has denied that the ports were congested, the rising cargo volume would surely trigger congestion if urgent measures were not taken.

Nichol, who told The Guardian that more vehicles were coming in through Apapa and Tin Can port, emphasised the need to improve ports’ infrastructure, particularly access roads and the cargo scanners.

He said: “The performance of 100 per cent physical examination in our ports is old fashioned. In most countries, those goods are scanned before they leave their port of origin. So, why can’t they bring the documents to Customs for verification? Besides, why can’t we fix our own scanners here to fast-track the process?

“Another key issue is the poor access roads to evacuate these cargoes. Unfortunately, even with the bad roads, some Customs’ officials still waylay those transporting these goods about 15 kilometres away from the ports complex and claim that what was done inside the ports was wrong. They will then begin to cross-check the cargoes afresh, and thereafter conclude that duties were not duly paid. How many times are we supposed to pay duty on one consignment? This is very discouraging and must stop because it is not done anywhere else. We are working for the economy to grow, so the Customs should stop treating us as enemies,” he said.


Nichol continued: “It’s not too good for us to shut our borders against our neighbouring countries. Borders points should only be shut over major security issues, not because of the importation of rice, or other food items. The rice that is being imported is being consumed by Nigerians because some are of the opinion that most locally produced rice is of low quality,” he said.

LAGOS – Mrs. Aisha Buhari, Nigeria’s First Lady, was in the news last week over a leaked video that went viral on social media, where she was seen ventilating her anger over an issue between her and the daughter of Mamman Daura, a nephew and close ally of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Throughout President Buhari’s first term, the First Lady remained a critic of her husband, especially as it concerned the handling of affairs at Aso Rock Villa, Nigeria’s seat of power.

In October 2016, Aisha in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa’s journalist, Naziru Mikailu, broke the internet while affirming the long-standing allegation of “incompetence and nepotism” leveled against her husband.

The president has been accused of not being in charge of his own government and the government was allegedly being run by the likes of Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff, Daura and a host of few others who are alleged to be the de facto rulers in the Villa.

During the said BBC interview, the First Lady was quoted to have said, “The president does not know 45 out of the 50 of the people he appointed, and I don’t know them either, despite being his wife for 27 years. Some people are sitting down in their homes folding their arms only for them to be called to come and head an agency or a ministerial position.”

In his response to his wife’s allegation, President Buhari who was then on a visit to Germany, “I don’t know which party my wife belongs to but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and other room.”

The issue got to the peak at a point when the First Lady threatened not to support the re-election of her husband due to what she termed as a ‘sense of justice.’ She alleged that her criticism was because she was seeing the mandate given to her husband being abused by those beside him.

However, in the recent incident, in which one of Daura’s daughter, Fatima, released a video of Mrs. Buhari, which she captured in 2017, accused the wife of the president of attacking her inside the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Those who circulated the video claimed that Mrs. Buhari was being locked in a room at the Aso Villa and prevented from seeing her husband, who was recently rumoured to have concluded plans to walk down the aisle with another woman as a second wife.

But, Mrs. Buhari, who confirmed the authenticity of the video, said she was blocked from accessing an apartment in the Villa, despite being the only known wife of the president.

While speaking with BBC, she maintained that the video was not a recent incident as claimed by those who circulated it.

After being away for some months, she returned to the country last Sunday, two days after the date of the rumoured wedding between her husband and Sadiya Umaru Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

“I was the one in that video and this person you see standing at my back are my security personnel. It was Fatima, the daughter of Mamman Daura, that shot the video in front of my security and everybody there. She was actually recording the whole thing right in front of me and was laughing and mocking me.

“They did that because my husband sacked them from the house. He told them to get all their belongings and leave the house for my son (Yusuf) to occupy.

“I left them and wanted to get to one of the rooms, but they prevented me from getting through, I left them and took another way; yet, I met the store locked,” she said.

But, Fatima on her part, said she least expected the First Lady to act in a violent manner. Also in an interview with the BBC, Daura’s daughter claimed that she recorded the video as a proof that Buhari’s wife confronted her violently.

She said in the interview, “My name is Fatima. I am a daughter to Malam Mamman Daura. If one reasons well, he or she will understand that it is not possible to say that the wife of the president is denied access to her apartment; but let me give a context.

“The apartment in question is called the Glass House. You know that there are several houses and apartments in the Villa. When the President got into office, he gave the Glass House to our father, Mamman Daura.

“You all know that they are friends and are related, more so, they grew up together like twins. When he became President, he gave the Glass House to our dad and said he should stay there. Our dad stayed there for three years now until when the president’s son, Yusuf, had an accident and went to Germany for treatment.

“When he returned, the President told our dad to move out of that apartment to an even bigger one in the Villa, that Yusuf is going to stay and be treated in the Glass House. The Glass House is closer to the main Presidential apartment and that will make easier access to him by his mother. It is not in her apartment, which is in the main apartment.”

Fatima narrated what led to the incident that was captured in the video, saying she recorded it to use as evidence against the First Lady.

“On that day, my parents were not around. So, my dad instructed me and my elder sister (both of us are working and we go to work every morning) that we should come on a Saturday and move our belongings to the new apartment the President instructed.

“We planned to pack out then and have even concluded moving all the things. All of a sudden, in the afternoon as we were busy on that errand of packing our belongings when we heard noise from outside. I was in an inner room in the house while my sister was in an outer one close to the main gate of the apartment. So, my sister went out before I could come out.

“On getting there, it was the wife of the President. When she came, the door was locked and she picked a metal chair and broke the door. I have sent the picture to you. My sister that went out was almost hit by the chair. She threw the chair which broke through the door and almost hit my sister.

“I was so shocked and afraid of getting there because she was shouting and raining abusive words and saying we should move out of that apartment. That she has never seen this kind of thing before. I then went back and picked my phone because if one is to say that she acted that way, no one would believe it without a proof. She has already been saying a lot of things depicting that she is being suppressed.

“So, I recorded it to show our parents and the security, so that they will know the truth should anything happen. Because the way she was raging and shouting, I was thinking that she would pick something and hit us with it, or something like that. That was why we recorded it. Had it been we wanted to release the video, we would have done it earlier. But, you know, if a video clip enters one or two hands, you can’t control where it will get to.

“There are even other clips that have not been released, I will send them to you to see how she was insulting the security and how she drove them away saying who are they protecting and calling them bloody idiots. It’s all on the video clip. That was what happened.”

But, in a swift reaction, a Presidency source on Monday faulted the release of the video by Fatima, saying that it was shot over a year ago, when the President’s son, Yusuf, had power bike accident in Abuja.

The source, whose name was not revealed, explained that the accommodation was needed for the then recuperating Yusuf, adding that the order for the Dauras to vacate the Villa accommodation, was approved by the President.

According to the source, “By now, the airwaves are awash with Fatima Mamman Daura’s daughter consenting to the fact that she indeed shot and leaked the now infamous video clip, which showed the wife of the President in a very angry mood.

“The incident happened over a year ago when the wife of the President on the instructions of the President asked the Dauras to vacate their living quarters inside the Villa for a sick Yussuf Buhari, who was recuperating after an accident.

“For this reason, the quarters were needed and the Dauras were asked to move to another part of the Villa. Long before the accident, Yusuf’s mother had requested in writing for the Dauras to vacate the place because the building is officially designated for the biological children of any serving President.

“The IG of Police, DG DSS, NSA and the Vice President who was the Acting President, were all notified of this request. Despite this, the Dauras deliberately refused to comply with the instructions of the security agencies. Mamman Dauras daughter, Fatima, did not say this in her interview.

“What really was the intent for the video being released now if not for mischief? Fatima didn’t showcase her part in the drama where the door was locked against the First Lady to deny her access to some areas of the Villa, neither did she acknowledge the abuse she first vented before the First Lady reacted under the instruction of DG Lawal Daura, who was brought into government by Mamman Daura,” the source stated.

Though the First Lady has apologised over the viral video, but the incident has continued to generate reactions from Nigerians, with many condemning the President for bringing the Dauras to live in the Villa and others slamming Fatima for releasing a video of an incident that occurred about two years ago.

Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation condemned those who leaked the video to the public.

In a series of tweets, Fani-Kayode wrote: “I never make comments about the wives and children of my political adversaries because I do not think that it is right or proper. However, I must say the following: those who recorded and leaked the video of @aishambuhari losing her cool in the Villa are shameless and despicable.

“What happens in the home of @MBuhari is a private matter and it is not anyone else’s business. There ought to be a certain level of decency and decorum even in politics. What happens between Buhari, his wife and children is entirely their problem. We should leave his family alone.”

While advising President Buhari to wade into the conflict, Fani-Kayode equally told Buhari to protect his wife from her attackers, noting that he (Fani-Kayode) would not allow anybody to insult nor attack his wife.

His words: “No matter what she does or what she subjects me to I will never allow anyone to disrespect my wife in the way that Fatima disrespected Aisha Muhammadu Buhari. It is a matter of honor. As long as she is under my roof, she has my protection even when she errs. Buhari please protect your wife.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the feud as a “dirty public fight”, which had turned Nigeria’s seat of power into a house of comedy.

In a statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP stated that incident has “exposed the leadership failure of the president” and Buhari’s “failure to manage his family until they fought over rooms in the presidential villa, is disgraceful.

“The chaos in the Villa further exposes the Buhari Presidency’s poor management of issues and highlights why it has failed monumentally in delivering on any of its responsibilities in governance, thus leaving our dear nation in a shambolic situation in the last five years.

“The feud further uncovers the impunity, disorderliness and vanity that pervade the Buhari Presidency and how the once serious and productive seat of power has been turned into a house of comedy and an overcrowded quarter for illegal occupants.”

Ologbondiyan also claimed that nothing progressive should be expected from the current administration, asking President Buhari to apologise to Nigerians.

“Our party notes that our dear nation has suffered enough disgrace from the Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC). The PDP therefore charges President Buhari to immediately apologise to Nigerians for his failures and be ready to vacate office for more competent hands, since it has become obvious that he is leading our country to nowhere.”

The PDP also called on the National Assembly to investigate the alleged allocation of rooms to unofficial persons, in the Presidential Villa, adding that the National Assembly should not hesitate to implement appropriate sanctions when needed.

“Furthermore, the PDP urges the National Assembly to investigate the alleged abuse of office by President Buhari following revelation that he assigns official facilities in the Presidential Villa to unauthorised persons that have no official roles in governance, and apply appropriate sanctions.

“The PDP also urges the National Assembly to sanitise the Presidential villa by probing allegations of illegal allotment of offices and apartments to unauthorised persons, including scammers and corruption fronts in Aso Rock,” the statement added.

In his reaction, Reno Omokri, an aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, described the crisis as an evidence of the president’s inability to solve the problems of the nation.

Omokri on his Twitter handle @renoomokri said, “If a man can’t achieve peace in his own home, how can he achieve peace for a nation, talk less of providing leadership? No wonder Nigeria is the way it is. Our society is a reflection of the General @MBuhari’s turbulent home.”

Omokri, a staunch critic of President Buhari’s administration berated the President for bringing his extended family to the Aso-Rock. He described the interview granted to the BBC as a disgrace to Nigeria.

“Just imagine that it was @GEJonathan that packed his extended family and stashed them in Aso Rock and they started fighting and releasing videos and interviews disgracing Nigeria to the @BBC, would you have been quiet?,” the tweets added.


Also, some Nigerians took to twitter to share their views on the matter.

According to Emmanuel Ukeme, “So, these illegal occupants of Aso Rock are being fed, accommodated at the expense of the Nigerian state, using taxpayers’ money? So, does anyone still have a doubt about the Aso Rock cabals now? @aishambuhari, a mother of the nation, Nigerians are solidly behind you.”

@movtOfDPeople said, “In what capacity are you residing in the Presidential Villa, Miss Fatima Mamman Daura? You’re neither elected nor have any official appointment, yet you are waging war against the only known wife of the President. Your guts in going to town with this expose hidden truth.”

However, @orenjur, stated, “Why blame Mamman Daura for bringing his family to the Villa? Was it not Buhari that gave him the Glass House in the Villa? We should be blaming Buhari for not putting his house in order.”

@Gimbason_E also said, “The Buhari presidency is already in a shambles. How come Mamman Daura has so much power to the extent that his daughter can say that about the President’s wife?”

Nigerians are still waiting to hear from the President who has kept mum over the matter since it happened over a week ago.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the sustained closure of the Nigerian land borders is hurting economies of Benin Republic and Niger Republic. Abebe Aemro Selassie, Director, African Department (IMF) stated this at a press briefing during the launch of Economic outlook for sub-Saharan Africa at the ongoing World Bank/IMF annual meetings in Washington DC.

“On the border closure in Nigeria which has been impacting Benin and Niger, our understanding is that the border has been closed, reflecting concerns about smuggling that’s been taking place, illegal trade, not the legal trade that you want to facilitate” he sisd.

IMF is also optimistic the borders would soon open. “So we’re very hopeful that, you know, discussions will resolve the challenges that this illegal trade is fostering” he said.

The IMF also said sub-Saharan Africa will experience modest growth. “Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to pick up, though at a slower rate than previously envisioned. For this year we are projecting growth at around the 3.2 percent mark, rising to 3.6 percent in 2020′ he said.

“Relative to April, we have seen growth revised down for about two-thirds of countries this year, albeit by a modest’ he noted. On fighting poverty in Nigeria, the IMF director said “you have in part of the country very elevated levels of poverty; very elevated levels of, you know, infant mortality, maternal mortality — really important indicators of wellbeing — really are very high in some parts of the country; and in other parts of the country are, you know, comparatively very low. So, there’s this big variation in poverty outcomes, economic outcomes, as you know in your country” he said.

“So, I think a really important focus, of course, is, you know, to try and identify those areas where these outcomes are really weak and, perhaps, region specific, intervention are going to be needed — that’s one thought. And the other one, of course, is just getting — I agree that’s growth, you know, overall growth in the country as a whole to be much higher than it is at the moment,” he explained.

Following the appointments of six aides for the office of the first lady, the Peoples Democratic Party has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to explain how it will be funded.

In a statement released on Thursday, the party also asked Buhari to clarify the rationale behind the office despite his promise to scrap it.

The party also reacted to new directives issued to senior government officials by the president including slashing of their estacodes.

Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP spokesman, said while Buhari claims to reduce cost of governance, the presidency drains Nigeria’s valuable resources.

Ologbondiyan said: “While the PDP is still monitoring the implementation of directive to government functionaries on cost cut, the party tasks President Buhari to take the first step by immediately fulfilling his promise to reduce the Presidential fleet, as well as cut his over-bloated entourages and curtail the opulent lifestyle in the Presidency, which is daily flaunted before suffering and impoverished Nigerians.

“We invite Nigerians to note that the Buhari Presidency has proven to be extremely expensive and a major draining pipe for valuable resources, while millions of compatriots, who look up to government for solutions, wallow in hunger and acute poverty.

“The profligacy that permeates the Buhari Presidency had further manifested in the public fight between the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, and President Buhari’s nephews over issues of opulent accommodation in our presidential villa.”

The main opposition party also accused the president of failing to disclose the details of the presidency’s budget “despite demands by our party and other well-meaning groups in Nigeria.”

“The failure to make the details of the Presidency budget public places a huge burden on the Buhari Presidency, particularly in the face of allegations of budgetary corruption and financial sleaze,” it said.

“Unless the Presidency budget is made public for Nigerians to see, any directive on cost cut remains cosmetic.”

Rice sellers in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital have expressed worry over the reluctance of consumers to buy locally produced rice.

Some rice sellers who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday said consumers preferred to pay more for foreign imported rice than the cheaper locally produced one.

A rice seller, Mallam Mahmud Ismail said only few customers requested for local rice as they always preferred the foreign version.

“Hardly will you see one out of 10 customers requesting for local rice in my shop. They always want the foreign rice,” Ismail said.

Another seller, Mrs Bimpe Ekundayo said customers complained about the poor quality of the local rice.

“Many customers complain of stone particles and the low quality of local rice. I make sales of 10 bags of foreign rice to 4 bags of Nigerian rice due to the quality,” Ekundayo said.

Another seller popularly called Iya Ibeji at Ipata market, said sales of local rice were not fast as customers looked down on it.

“Local rice is always second choice in their budget. They feel reluctant and sad when I suggest for them to buy local rice. They are even ready to pay more for the foreign rice,” she said.

Mrs. Iyabo Aina called on the Federal Government to lift ban on the importation of rice and allow free flow of the product in the country.
“We are not making sales anymore. Nobody is ready to buy local rice and it is affecting our business. Government should do something on time,” Aina said.

However, Mr Stephen Ikechukwu, another seller, lamented that the closure of the borders against importation of foreign rice had caused sharp increase in the general prices of rice in the market.

“Now, we sell local rice for N20,800 while the foreign rice is N26,000. It was never like this before the closure of the border when we used to sell a bag of local rice for N9,500 and the foreign N13,000,” he said.

Also, a rice seller, Alhaja Rukayat Usman urged the Federal Government to encourage the public to patronise local rice and stop discriminating against it.

“We need to change our attitude towards locally made products and appreciate Nigerian made. We are fond of prioritizing anything foreign ahead of our locally made products which are bad,” she said.

Fatima, daughter of Mamman Daura, has refuted social media claims that her father is arranging a second marriage for President Muhammadu Buhari.

Daura, who is Buhari’s older nephew, is often described as the head of the so-called cabal that takes most decisions under the current administration.

The cabal is said to have asked the president to marry Sadiya Umar Farouq, the minister of humanitarian affairs, to spite Aisha, his wife of 30 years, over constant criticism of the clique.

The rumour was so strong last week with the purveyors picking Friday, October 4, for the wedding ceremony that never was.

In an interview with BBC Hausa Service monitored by TheCable, Fatima said her father and Buhari are monogamists.

“Wallahi, it is a lie. It is all part of what I am saying about the false allegations against our father. He is not even aware of the rumours about the marriage issue because he doesn’t use the social media. They are both monogamous.

Both my dad and the president practice monogamy. They are all lies aimed at blackmailing him. They keep falsely accusing him. It does not tally with reason,” she said.

Buhari’s wife has taken pot shots at the cabal in the past, saying those who did not campaign for her husband during the 2015 elections were the ones calling the shots in his government.

Fatima specifically denied the insinuation that her father was teleguiding the president, describing him as a shy person who only minds his business.

Asked if her father was indeed controlling the president, she replied: “I think the question should be directed to her (Aisha). If one would be objective, one would understand that they (Buhari and Daura) grew up together, shared the same friends and did a lot of things together, so if any one is appointed that is close to our dad, that person is also close to the president. They have been together and they do things together.

Everyone has his own confidant that he listens to. I think that is the reason for the allegations. They are very close friends. They are also related by blood so there is no way you can separate them.”

She swore that her father is not the one controlling the president.

“Wallahi, it is not like that. You guys are journalists, you can investigate and see how our father is. He is a shy fellow, doesn’t talk a lot and hardly cares about other people’s businesses. Even we as his children, he doesn’t impose things on us,” she told the BBC.

“You know the president can seek his advice but he is not the kind of fellow that will impose or insist on something. He can simply advise and stay away at home minding his business. He hardly speaks, he is 80 years old. When you talk to him about the allegations, he says you should not bother yourselves, that God is clearing his sins by such false accusations. If you are reasonable, you will see that the powers being allotted to our father by his accusers are wrong. It is only God that has such powers. It doesn’t make sense.”

She said she feels sad that her father is being blamed for the goings-on in government.
“Definitely, it is sad to hear your father being wrongly accused. But for the fact that our father is solely dependent on God and we are also like that, it doesn’t bother us much. We see it as the price we have to pay for being loyal to the president, for being there for him and for supporting him. One day, the truth will come out,” she said.

The Minister for Finance , Budget and National Planning , Mrs . Zainab Ahmed , says under - recovery of Premium Motor Spirit , popularly referred to as fuel subsidy, will gulp N 450bn in 2020 .

She said this on Monday in Abuja , at the public presentation of the 2020 budget proposals.
Ahmed said it was called ‘under -recovery ’ because it was the cost of operation of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation.

“ We have a provision for under -recovery of PMS in the sum of N 450 bn . If you look at the Budget office ’s website , it is in the fiscal framework , which is an annexure to the budget.”

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that President Muhammadu Buhari had , on Tuesday , presented a budget proposal of N 10 .33 trn to a joint session of the National Assembly .

He put the Federal Government ’s estimated revenue in 2020 at N 8. 155 trn, comprising oil revenue of N 2. 64 trn, non- oil tax revenues of N 1. 81 trn and other revenue of N 3. 7 trn.

Other estimates are N 556 .7 bn for statutory transfers , N 2 . 45 trn for debt servicing and provision of N 296bn as sinking fund .

The 2020 budget is based on an oil production estimate of 2 .18 million barrels per day , oil price benchmark of 57 dollars per barrel and an exchange rate of N 305 to a dollar .

Ahmed said that recurrent ( non- debt ) spending was expected to rise by 11 .28 per cent , from N 4 . 39 trillion in 2019 to N 4. 88 trillion in 2020 .
This, she said, would reflect in salaries and pensions , including provisions for implementation of the new minimum wage .

Ahmed said that the overall budget deficit of N 2 .17 trillion represents 1 .52 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ) and N 1 .64 trillion of it would be funded by both domestic and external borrowing .

According to her, the external sources will provide N 850 billion, while domestic sources will provide N 744 .99 billion.

Citing the top 12 Ministries , Departments and Agencies ( MDAs ) capital allocations , she said the Ministry of Works and Housing was allocated N 259 . 2 billion , Ministry of Power N 127 . 67 billion, Ministry of Transportation N 123 . 07 billion , Ministry of Education ( including Universal Basic Education Commission ) N 162. 74 billion.

Others are Ministry of Defence N 99 .87 billion, Ministry of Health N 90 .98 billion, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development N 79 . 79 billion and Ministry of Water Resources N 78 .34 billion.

Some others are: Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development N 45 . 45 billion , Ministry of Aviation N 53 . 85 billion , Ministry of Industry , Trade and Investment N 41 .34 billion and Ministry of Science and Technology N 37 .55 billion .

She , however, said that there were key expenditures captured in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework ( MTEF ) , but were not in the 2020 budget.

“ They are N 61 billion for the Presidential Power Initiative, N 1 .22 trillion for federally funded projects in the oil and gas sector to be undertaken by NNPC on behalf of the federation .

“ Others are : N 272 billion as transfers to Tertiary Education Trust Fund ( TETFUND ) for infrastructure projects in tertiary institutions and N 82 .35 billion as transfer to Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Investment ( NSIA) for Public Private Partnership/ Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund ( PIDF ) , ” she said.

For revenue , Ahmed said there were Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives ( SRGI ) aimed at boosting revenue generation to meet targeted revenue to GDP ratio of 15 per cent .

She said further that the SRGI would be implemented with increased vigour to improve revenue collection and expenditure management .

She said that Nigeria must mobilise significant resources to invest in human capital development and critical infrastructure .
“ Some reforms will be tough but they must be done to look at the facts and be frank to ourselves.

“ However, we will engage the public sector in whatever we do , including any changes in taxes , with regards to rates or administration methods . ”

A beggar and a labourer had a chance meeting with a man from “dreamland” and their stories changed dramatically. JOHN OFIKEHNUA reports

IT LOOKS like a fairy tale from a fiction book, or a folklore, told by a talented storyteller. It is the story of an Abuja beggar, Fatima Adamu, and an itinerant labourer, Usher Titus. Ordinarily, it sounds too good to be true, but it is real! It began on a cloudy afternoon at Wuse 2 area some three weeks ago. For five years, Fatima has been eking out a living as a street beggar, choosing a particular location in the highbrow district as her “duty post”.

The 41-year-old widow and mother of seven had set out as usual, with her little daughter for the day’s schedule of a typical mendicant. Since she started begging after her husband’s death, collections usually come in trickles of N10, N20, N50, N100 and N200 on very rare occasions. She usually raked in an average of N400 as daily take-home or N500-N600 on a good day. Then suddenly, this unusual alms giver appeared from nowhere. Fatima reeled out her practised chants, focusing on the well dressed prospective giver with expectation.

But instead of giving out his alms and walking away as others do, the strange man started asking Fatima questions. There was, however, a language barrier as the man could only communicate with her in English Language. Fatima, who had never stepped her feet in any classroom all her life, could not understand what the stranger was saying. Ba n’da jin turenchi ( I don’t understand English) was her response.

An itinerant labourer, Usher Titus, was sitting a few metres away, watching the unfolding drama. He couldn’t get anyone to engage his services all day, so he had plenty of time to play with. The man beckoned to Titus to help interpret what the beggar was saying. And Titus joined the two who could not understand each other. That was how Titus, a 34-year-old native of insurgency ravaged Gwoza, Borno State, became an interpreter. He attended secondary school and speaks Hausa fluently so he could understand what the two were saying in their different languages. And with the help of Titus, the man got to know the pathetic story of Fatima and how she came about begging.

After listening to her story, the man decided immediately to change Fatima’s life for good. Speaking through the interpreter (Titus), the man promised to give Fatima N1million to start a business. Then he looked at Titus and said, “I will give you N1million also.”

Although Titus, unlike Fatima, knew exactly what a million naira is, he considered the strange offer a ruse. Then the man gave out his complimentary card and asked Fatima and Titus to come and collect the N1million each he promised them. It took them three weeks to respond to the invitation, apparently in doubt of the man’s sincerity. With nothing to lose, Titus linked up with Fatima and they proceeded to the address indicated in the man’s complimentary card.

So, on September 8, 2019, in the afternoon, the two arrived at the Abuja office of Belema Oil Producing Limited where they met with the “strange man”, Mr. Jack-Rich Tien Jnr, Founder/President of the company. Tien, an Engineer, received his visitors with open arms and was delighted that they honoured the invitation. And like play, like play, as it is said in street parlance, the oil magnate summoned his staffers and ordered them to arrange the cash in two parcels of N1 million each.

On sighting the raw cash, the beggar and the labourer started to quiver in disbelief. They became nervous. Their dream became a reality when the oil magnate handed them the money. There was, however, a mild drama as Fatima had no bank account to deposit the cash. As she was informed of the risk of handling a huge amount of cash by herself, she became momentarily disillusioned, thinking that the oil magnate had changed his mind. She suggested that the money be placed in the bank account of her 25-year-old son, Bashiru. But Tien initially expressed misgivings over the trustworthiness of today’s young men, fearing Bahiru might end up squandering the money.

But Fatima vouched for her son’s integrity and was able to convince the oil chief to get the money deposited in Bahiru’s account. With goose pimples stringing all over him, Titus could not believe his luck as he narrated his story and how he stumbled on Tien. “I finished from Government Secondary School, Gwoza in 2004. I wrote and passed the Senior Secondaey School Certificate, but since all my siblings are in school and my father is not capable of sponsoring all of us. I had to do menial jobs for sustenance. On that fateful day, I was on a site in Wuse 2, where Senator Philip Aduda had just bought a house that we were refurbishing. I was taken as a labourer there when we met. I had worked with construction companies before now”
Asked whether he knew Jack-Tien before the encounter, he said: “No, he didn’t know me. It was just God’s doing”.

Titus said the gesture has taught him some lessons about giving. According to him, when the CEO asked him how much he required to start his own business, he requested for N600,000. Now he has got N1million from a man he just met by chance. On what he intends doing with the money, Titus said he was going to rent a shop where he would be selling bags of cement.

Fatima said Tien has made her realise that differences in religion and ethnic groups are no barriers to philanthropy. She promised to manage the fund prudently to avoid returning to the streets for begging. “Allah, I thank you, Tien, I thank you. I will continue to pray for Tien for the rest of my life,” she said.

Titus thanked the Belemaoil chief profusely, saying he will ever remain grateful to the man who has touched his life and changed his story.

Tien’s company also has a Foundation that runs a charity. Its Programme Adviser, Mr. Obinna Nwaneri, said the Foundation stands for charity and service to humanity.

Nwaneri said Tien has always demonstrated a strong passion for business support and fighting poverty.

Tien, who is the Foundation’s President, said in addition to the cash gift, the Foundation will organise an entrepreneurship training for two beneficiaries in the Hausa Language.

ABUJA – Members of the ninth House of Representatives will accept locally manufactured Innoson Motors as official cars if offered to them, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, has said.

Hon. Kalu who stated this while briefing journalists on Thursday in Abuja on legislative activities in the House for the week, also said that issues regarding the need to diversify the nation’s economy using science and technology featured prominently in the debate on the 2020 Appropriation Bill.

He said comparative analysis of knowledge based economies such as the U.S. and China that churn out hundreds of thousands of patents on innovations yearly was done, with members stressing the need to encourage more research and development.

Kalu noted that the executive arm of government was roundly commended for encouraging patronage of made-in-Nigeria goods by getting the military and some heads of department and agencies to patronise Innoson motors, a locally manufactured brand in Anambra State, South East Nigeria.

Asked if members of the 9th House would take a cue from the executive by asking for Innoson motors as their official vehicles, Kali said, “why not?”

“Members will accept Innoson motors if they are offered to us. If the military is using it and other government agencies and departments have opted for it, why not us? But you should also know that we don’t control these things but if they are offered to us, anything that can take us about to do our jobs, why not?

“These cars are not small vehicles; they are luxury vehicles and can match any brand elsewhere in terms of comfort and standard. I doubt if Nigeria can even afford them,” he said.

The Reps’ spokesman also applauded the media on its coverage of the budget presentation on Tuesday by the House, saying, “How you covered the event on Tuesday, even the old woman and man in the village knew that yes, the President has come to lay the budget estimates. And that could have only been possible through your reportage.

“Today, we ended debate on the general principles of the Appropriation Bill. And the public must have by now seen that this 9th Assembly is not going to be a rubber stamp to the executive. So you saw the level of debate and argument around the budget from members.

“If they were criticism, they were not meant to slight the executive but to point out pending areas of improvement. And you also know that we cannot effectively speak to the budget estimates without adequately taking critical appraisals of the 2019 budget as far as implementation is concerned.”

Omololu Ogunmade, Kingsley Nwezeh and Alex Enumah in Abuja



The Police Service Commission (PSC) is to meet over the reported extension of the service of Mr. Abdulkadir Dauda, a police commissioner, and a security aide of President Muhammadu Buhari, whose retirement was said to have been deferred by the president, THISDAY learnt yesterday.

A leaked signal reportedly from Force Secretary, Mr. Usman Alkali, an Assistant Inspector General of Police, to police Department of Information Technology, had conveyed the president’s decision with a directive to the section to amend its records accordingly.

With the presidential approval, Dauda would now retire in 2023 when he would have been 60 years old.

But the PSC through its spokesman, Mr. Ikechukwu Ani, said the presidential directive breached civil service rules that guide the tenure and retirement of public officers, explaining that an officer was required to leave the service upon attainment of 35 years in service or 60 years of age, whichever one comes first.

A former chairman of the PSC and retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Mr. Parry Osayande, has also urged the president to adhere to the rules on the matter.

Dauda, the chief personal security officer to the president, hails from Daura and is billed to retire on January 1, 2020 when he would have served for the mandatory 35 years in service. He enlisted in the Nigerian Police Force as a cadet on January 1, 1985.

However, Ani, while responding to THISDAY inquiry on the reported extension of Dauda’s tenure, said although the commission had not been formally informed on the extension, public service rules were clear on the period or tenure of service of every civil servant.

He said the commission would soon convene a meeting where it is expected to take a position on the issue.

Ani, who did not state the date of the meeting, told THISDAY: “The public service rule is very clear. It is either you attain 35 years in service and you retire, or you do so at the age of 60. That is what the public service rule says for a civil servant. The commission has not met to take a decision on this. We just saw it yesterday.

“We noticed that yesterday and he has not formally come before the commission. The commission will meet and consider what is supposed to be done. The commission has not as a body met to consider the development.

When they meet, they will take a decision on it.”
However, another source within the commission told THISDAY that Buhari’s action was an affront to the law setting up the PSC, which gives the commission sole responsibility for the appointments, promotion, and discipline of all policemen below the Inspector General of Police (IG).

The source also faulted the claim that nothing was wrong with the president’s decision since his predecessors such as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, now deceased, extended the tenures of former Inspectors General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero and Mr. Mike Okiro, respectively.

Ehindero’s tenure was extended by one year on March 20, 2006 to May 29, 2007, while Okiro’s own was extended to 2010.
Buhari has also extended the tenure of the present service chiefs severally.

But the source said the case of Daura was different as he is still a Commissioner of Police, who is under the commission, unlike the IG who is under the president.

He cited Section 215, sub 1, paragraph (a) of the 1999 Constitution, which states that: “An Inspector-General of Police… subject to Section 216 (2) of this Constitution, shall be appointed by the president on the advice of the Nigeria Police Council from among serving members of the Nigeria Police Force.”

In his reaction, Osayande urged the president to adhere to the rule of law.

He said: “Nobody is indispensable. When you make a law you follow the law. They make a mockery of the whole thing. It is wrong. This can only happen in Africa, in Nigeria. Let them do the right thing.”

Speaking in an interview with THISDAY, Executive Director, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Center, Mr. Okechukwu Nwangwuma, said the extension of Daura’s tenure was a clear case of nepotism on the part of the president, the police officer in question being from his town.
He described it as illegal and an act of corruption.

He said: “This one is a clear case of nepotism by the president because one, this man is from the president’s village. I also heard that this man benefited from multiple promotions. Now, the civil service rule says 35 years or the attainment of 60 years, whichever one comes first.

“Now the one that came first is 35 years so there is no basis to extend his service except for nepotism and this is a government that has the fight against corruption as one of its signature commitments, so it is clear by this singular act that this government is promoting corruption. It is subverting basic civil service rules.”

Nwangwuma said the president lacked the powers to extend the service of any police officer, except the IGP.

Head of the Human Rights Writers Association, Mr. Emmanuel Onwubiko, said there was no reason for the extension as Dauda was not indispensable.

“That is an illegality. Is he better than other 200,000 policemen in the country? The government should not engage in nepotism. The right decisions should be taken at all times. There are other police officers, who can do this job,” he said.

When contacted, presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, said he would have to reach Daura first before he could react.

However, he said he couldn’t get through to the presidential aide and promised to reach him again. But as at press time, he had not got back to THISDAY.

Also, speaking on the issue and those of the service chiefs who are still in service long after the expiration of their tenure, some lawyers, in separate interviews with THISDAY, described the action of the president as a breach of the law regulating the employment of civil servants.

Mr. Akinlolu Kehinde SAN, said since a civil servant was not appointed by the president, the president lacked power to determine his or her duration in office.

He held that the provision of the law as regarding employment into government offices are sacrosanct and as such must be strictly obeyed by all.

“Those are statutory regulated appointments; they don’t stay in that office at the pleasure of the president. They are not appointees of the president, so, why should the president extend their tenure. It is either you are 60 years old or 35 years on the job and after that you go,” he said.

The senior advocate, who described the action of the president as illegal, however, noted that if the president found the service of any civil servant, who is due for retirement expedient, the only option available to him is to engage such a person on a contract basis.

“If he is retaining them because nobody can replace them, or there is no other trained hand, or no other competent person that can carry out such responsibility or duties on behalf of the government, then he can retain them on contract basis.

He explained: “Appointment of civil servants enjoy statutory flavour, there is a set down procedure of engagement, of discipline and disengagement, which must be strictly followed.

That is why you cannot just wake up and say that you are retiring somebody if the person has not reached retirement age or disengage him if they have not gone through the disciplinary process or any infraction.”

While declining to speak on the consequences of the president’s action, the senior lawyer, however, stated that it is left to those who have interest in public litigation to challenge it.

Another lawyer, Steve Eke, also said by extending Dauda’s tenure, the president contravened the law as he lacked the legal power to do so.

Citing the case of the service chiefs who have over stayed in office, Eke said Buhari has been using his office as president to retain whomever he wants in office.

According to him, “Tenure of offices has been created by status or the law setting up the organisation and ordinarily you cannot go beyond what the law stated.

“So to that extent he doesn’t have the power, but if you look at what has happened to service chiefs, it is the same thing.

“The man is using his office as president to do this extension but the constitution says this people are due for retirement and you retain them or extend their tenure without amending that particular law that states the limit of their offices is clearly unlawful, illegal, it is not supposed to be so.”

However, he added that if Buhari wants to retain the services of Daura, he could offer him a political appointment after his retirement.

“But as for his tenure as a police officer if he has attained 35 years or the mandatory retirement age he must go, you cannot stretch his tenure created by law,” he said.

According to him, the retention of the boss of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, is currently a subject of litigation, which if judgment is entered against him, he can be forced to pay all salaries and emoluments received during the period outside his tenure.

Similarly, another legal practitioner, Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Obasi-Nweze, aligned with the others on their submissions that the president does not have the power to extend the tenure of his chief personal security officer for the singular fact that Dauda is not a political appointee but a civil servant.

He said: “The president does not have the power to extend his tenure because he is not a political appointee.

“When you are in the civil service there is a time you get to and you must retire, but if it is an appointment it does not follow that process.

“Once you get to 60 years of age or 35 years of service you must retire and the president does not have the power to extend it because the law says at that stage you must leave office.”

Olaleye Aluko


The Board of Inquiry set up by the Defence Headquarters , Abuja , put together at the instance of President Muhammadu Buhari has recommended sanctions for five personnel of the Nigerian Army and the police over the killing of three policemen and one civilian in Ibi , Taraba State , on August 6 .

The board , in a statement by the DHQ on Tuesday , identified the officers to face disciplinary sanctions to include ; Captain Tijani Balarabe, Sergeant Ibrahim Mohammed , Corporal Bartholomew Obanye of the Ibi Police Division , Assistant Superintendent of Police , Aondoona Iorbee, and Inspector Aliyu Dadje.
The panel said the officers must be taken through “ necessary disciplinary measures .”

It was also recommended that further investigation be conducted on Hamisu Bala, the Taraba kidnap kingpin , for gunrunning.

Margaret Amoakohene, chairperson of the anti-sexual harassment committee of the University of Ghana (UG), says there is no evidence that two of its lecturers seen in the sex-for-grades video documentary slept with their alleged victims.

Yaw Gyampo, a professor of political science, and Paul Butakor, a lecturer at the college of education, were seen soliciting sex from students in a 13-minute video documentary released by the BBC Africa Eye on Monday.

Boniface Igbeneghu, a lecturer and former sub-dean of the faculty of arts at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), was also caught on camera sexually harassing an undercover reporter who posed as a 17-year-old admission seeker in the institution.

Amoakohene was quoted as saying though she agrees that the lecturers’ behaviour was unacceptable and should be investigated, there is no evidence that they slept with any student.

According to Citi News, she said the allegations could only be justified in a case where the lecturers were caught having illicit affairs with their students and awarding them marks that they do not deserve or marking them down because they refused their advances.

“If you look at the transcript that they added, there is no evidence of sex for grade. I agree that the lecturers misbehaved and so you will discuss these as unacceptable behaviours that should be investigated but there was no indication of sex for grades,” Amoakohene was quoted to have said.

“In one case, it was about the national service placement. Who needs grades at national service? She completed and she was looking for placement.

“In the other case according to the transcript, the lady approached him and said she wanted him to be a mentor. She actually confirmed she wasn’t his student but asked that he mentors her. So where is the grade involved in this?
“You are able to discuss grades and sex when you find a lecturer who is dating his own students, and either unnecessarily giving them grades that they don’t deserve or marking them down because they have refused your advances. But in the two cases that are cited, I don’t see sex for grades.”

Isaac Agyemang, president of UG student representative council (SRC), was said to have advised students who are victims of sexual harassment to cooperate with ongoing investigations.

“As it stands now, these are allegations that have come up. Until they are proven guilty our remarks will be speculative,” Agyemang was quoted to have said.

“But all these people captured in the video will duly be investigated within the remits of the University of Ghana. Our fingers are crossed as an SRC so any student who has been a victim shouldn’t shy away from the SRC.”

Gyampo said he would sue the BBC over the sex-for-grades documentary. He also said the documentary could not establish anything against him.

Ife Ogunfuwa



THE proposed tax on voice calls , short messaging service , data services , and pay tv subscription is facing some resistance from experts, especially stakeholders in the telecom industry .

The Senate last week proposed the CST bill as a way for the Federal Government to plug the gap in revenue .

The telecommunications industry is crucial to the economy but faced with myriads of challenges from the ecosystem one of which is the multiple taxes operators have to pay .

Reports show that the three tiers of government – federal , state and local government – collectively impose over 40 levies and taxes on telecom operators .

While exploring opportunities for improving government revenue , the 9 th National Assembly revisited a Communication Service Tax Bill that had been shelved two years ago .

The proposed bill sponsored by Senator Ndume Ali seeks to impose and collect communication services tax or levy on charges payable by consumers of electronic communication services such as voice calls , SMS , data usage and Pay per View TV stations at the rate of nine per cent .

The tax , which will be collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service and remitted to the Federation Account , is to be paid together with the electronic communication service charge payable to the service provider by the user of the service .

The President , Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria , Olusola Teniola, said the proposed nine per cent Communications Service Tax would amount to double taxation on voice , SMS and data service if the bill was allowed to scale through.

This, according to him , is because five per cent Value Added Tax have been paid on those services .

He said, “ This represents an additional burden when applied to a subscriber base of 173 million . If the passage of this bill goes through, it would negatively impact Nigerians and foreigners that use these services . The implementation of this CST bill would take the affordability of data services out of the reach of the citizenry . ”

Therefore , Teniola advised the government to reconsider the passing of the bill , as it would add to the burden of the already suffering Nigerians .
He expressed the fear that an additional tax would lead to loss of revenue to the industry and loss of jobs in the sector .

According to the bill , all service providers are expected to file monthly returns not later than the last working day of the month immediately after the month to which the tax returns and payment relate .

Penalty stipulated by the CST bill for failure to file returns on or before the due date is N 50 ,000 and an additional N 10 , 000 for each day the returns are not submitted.

It stated that a service provider who refuses to provide access to its relevant network for government or its appointed agent commits an offence and is liable to a penalty of five per cent of annual gross revenue of the last audited financial statements.

If the situation persists after 90 days , the bill said Nigerian Communications Commission might be asked to revoke the operating licence of the service provider.

The Chairman of Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria , Gbenga Adebayo , said the terms of the bill was likely to breach data privacy of Nigerians .

According to him , the bill was offensive to the industry because it would make communication expensive and inaccessible to Nigerians.

“ The bill is badly intended for an industry at a time when we are talking about the availability and accessibility of telecom services . If that bill is allowed to go through, it will deny people access to these services and reduce the value of their recharge ,” Adebayo added.

He said, “ The terms of the bill , which we haven ’t seen , may lead to significant compromise in people ’s privacy because the way by which the collection of the money will be made may require the government to have access to the servers of the operators . ”

He called on the senate to reconsider the proposed tax as it was contrary to the purpose for which they were elected into office.

Stating their perspectives, tax and regulatory analysts at Deloitte, Oluseye Arowolo and Yomi Olugbenro , shared Teniola’ s sentiments saying the CST was a consumption tax , which would be in addition to value added tax that consumers of telecommunication services were already subjected to.

According to them , the proposed tax will reduce the purchasing power of consumers in the midst of rising prices and negatively impact investment climate in the economy.

Yusuf Akinpelu




The Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Mohammed Isah, has explained why the outfit will not release the asset details of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, despite public requests.

He said this is because “the National Assembly has not set the guidelines for the Bureau to do so.”

Speaking at a News Agency of Nigeria forum in Abuja, Mr Isah cited the stipulations of the constitution as well as the FOI Act as the Bureau’s guiding principle.

Paragraph 3 of the third schedule of the constitution empowers the Bureau to retain in its custody details of assets declared by a public office holder and make them available for inspection upon request by any citizen of Nigeria, on the terms and conditions prescribed by the National Assembly.

“So, if anybody as a private person or private organisation wants to access asset declaration or information contained in asset declaration of any public officer, those conditions laid down by FOI Act must be fulfilled,” Mr Isah said.

The official did not say why the CCB has not asked the National Assembly to prescribe the conditions. He also did not state if the CCB plans to ask the National Assembly to do so.

The FOI Act  establishes the right of anyone to request information in the custody of any public official, agency or institution, with the exception of security files which are not of public concern.


Requests

In 2015, a coalition of groups requested the Bureau to make public the asset declaration forms filed by Messrs Buhari and Osinbajo.

However, the CCB declined their requests, citing “personal privacy” as its reason.

Many questioned the lack of consistency by the Bureau, especially when the details of assets filed by the former chief justice of the federation, Walter Onnoghen, was accessed by Dennis Aghanya, a former aide to the president.

On the heel of the suspension of Mr Onnoghen, after he was accused of withholding the full declaration of his assets, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) again requested “details of asset declarations by successive presidents and state governors between 1999 and 2019, including details of declarations made immediately after taking offices and thereafter”.

The Bureau again turned down the request.

It said it “would offend the right to privacy of presidents and state governors”.

The group has since sued the CCB.


Unwilling president

Before his first election as president, Mr Buhari had promised to make public a comprehensive list of his declaration at the CCB. Although he denied ever making such promise, PREMIUM TIMES found his denial to be untrue.

He did submit his declaration particulars to the CCB, and the Bureau followed this with its verification but the president reneged on his promise to make public the content of his declaration.

After a public backlash, the president, through a statement from his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, in September 2015, reeled out only sketchy details of assets and liabilities filed by President Buhari.

Mr Buhari, according to the statement, was said to have N30 million in his bank account before taking office on May 29, 2015.

This is alongside five houses in Kaduna, Daura, Kano and Abuja; two undeveloped plots of land, one in Kano and the other in Port Harcourt.

Also, Mr Buhari was said to have farms, an orchard, ranch, livestock including 270 cattle, 25 sheep, five horses, a variety of birds and a number of economic trees, and a “number of cars”.


Osinbajo

Vice President Osinbajo in his declaration said he had N94 million and $900,000 in his bank account.

He also owned a 4-bedroom residence at Victoria Garden City, Lagos; a 3-bedroom flat at 2 Mosley Road, Ikoyi; a 2-bedroom flat along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway; and a 2-bedroom mortgaged property in Bedford, England.

Also, together with his law firm, known as SimmonsCooper, Mr Osinbajo was said to be a shareholder in six Lagos-based firms: Octogenerium Ltd., Windsor Grant Ltd., Tarapolsa, Vistorion Ltd., Aviva Ltd. and MTN Nigeria.

Other details like the addresses and value of the listed houses and assets and their liabilities were withheld in the release.

Also, the assets of their spouses and unmarried children under 18, as the law demands, were not contained therein.

Again in 2019, after Mr Buhari’s reelection, the presidential spokesperson, Mr Shehu, said: “the (declaration) forms, as signed by the President and sworn to before a Judge of Abuja High Court, showed no significant changes in assets as declared in 2015 by him.”

“There are no new houses, no new bank accounts at home and abroad and there are no new shares acquired,” Mr Shehu added, without further details.


Many public officers not complying

Ironically, the Chairman of the CCB also berated the level of compliance by public officers.

“Our main predicament is the issue of enlightenment. People have little or no knowledge about their obligations or relations to compliance with the Code of Conduct for public officers. So, the level of compliance is not encouraging at all,” Mr Isah said.

Part 2, Schedule 5 of the constitution highlights public officers as: the President, vice-president, all members and staff of the national and state legislative houses, governors and deputy governors, all judicial officers and staff of courts of law, all state and federal political appointees, ambassadors, high commissioners and other officers of Nigeria missions abroad, and DGs and chairmen of all parastatals and agencies of federal and state governments, military, police, immigration, customs, prisons, political office holders and all federal, state and local government civil servants.

These public officers are mandated by the provisions of Paragraph 11 of Part 1 to the Fifth Schedule of the constitution to declare their asset and those of their unmarried children under 18 years to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), before and after their tenures.

Meanwhile, the official admitted that the agency has been “a bit toothless in biting corrupt officials” in the public sector.

He said the agency will “up its game”.

“The bureau was neglected because of its non-performance, and we are not here to fail. We are here to achieve and make the bureau better than we met it. So, in the next few days, the turnout in terms of the success of our cases in court will be very impressive,’’ Mr Isah said.

The CCB, established in 1979, has the core mandate to check corrupt practices in the Nigerian public service by ensuring public officers declare their assets to the Bureau.

Yusuf Alli, Abuja



THE Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Chairman Dr Kayode Fayemi on Sunday said governors were not divided on the new minimum wage implementation.

According to him, they do not see the national minimum wage increase as a general wage review.

Fayemi, who spoke with our correspondent on the phone, said: “We are not divided. We have agreed to the national minimum wage and we are paying. Even if we do not agree, the National Minimum Wage is already a law which is binding.

“Our proposal during the negotiation was N24, 500 minimum wage but at the end of the negotiation, N30, 000 was the agreed figure and we abide by that because it is now a law.

“However, governors are very clear that a national minimum wage increase is not tantamount to a general wage review.

“Whilst we know that there may be a need for a minimal consequential adjustment, we (governors) are together with the Federal Government that this should not exceed nine per cent.

“We think nine per cent is too much for those who are already earning above the minimum wage.

“It is a minimum wage increase; it is not a national wage review in the sense that it affects those who are earning below N30, 000.”

Another governor from Northcentral, who spoke in confidence, said: “Some states have not paid the N30, 000 minimum wage because there is no general agreement yet on the consequential increase. Negotiation is still on and the NGF is fully represented.

“The government has offered nine per cent consequential increase across the board for those who are earning above the minimum wage threshold but the Nigeria Labour Congress is asking for a 45 per cent increase.

“The Federal Government has said 45 per cent consequential increase is unrealistic. The government has already made provision for the N30, 000 minimum wage in 2020 Budget. Where do they expect the government to get the funds?
“Some consequential increase may be sensible but this demand for 45 per cent is unrealistic.”

Adetutu Folasade-Koyi, Abuja

Forces against Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, are reportedly considering giving him the ‘Onnoghen’ treatment.

In addition to pushing for Osinbajo’s investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commssion (EFCC), the forces are reportedly insisting that the vice president should account for Social Investment Programme (SIP) funds which were under his supervision before the general election.

In January, a non-governmental organisation, Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative (ARDI) forwarded a petition to the Code of Conduct Bureaun(CCB), wherein it detailed fraud allegations against then Chief Justice of the Federation, Walter Onnoghen.

ARDI Executive Secretary, Dennis Aghanya, explained then that his petition against Onnoghen was to save Nigeria from collapse and that his organisation commenced investigation against him in 2018.

That was the plank upon which Onnoghen was arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
On October 3, the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) charted a similar path when it called on the EFCC to probe Osinbajo in an alleged N90 billion released to him by the Federal Inland Revenue Service for the elections.

In the petition, CHRICED said the allegations were quite weighty and worrisome.

The petition signed by Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi reads: “On the basis of this express declaration from the president, to the effect that public funds will not be deployed to fund electioneering purpose of the ruling party, the Nigerian people believed and trusted the president’s pledge.

“However, the claims by Timi Frank imply that the ruling party did not adhere to the directives of the president on his proclaimed non-use of public funds to prosecute the election in favour of the ruling party.

“If these allegations are proven to be true, it would also mean that the campaign finance legislation governing the electoral process, as enshrined in the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, had been flagrantly violated.

“As a former Deputy Publicity Secretary of the ruling party with the benefit of wide contacts in the seat of power, Timi Frank could as well be privy to information, which the rest of us may not know.

“As such, only a meticulous investigation of these claims will bring the truth to life.
“In the light of these developments and their implications for the legitimacy of the government, and by extension the anti-corruption crusade, CHRICED calls for a robust, painstaking and thorough investigation of these claims with a view to verifying whether they are true or false.

This step from your honourable Commission is critical, and will help clear the air, and douse the suspicion, which the allegations have precipitated since they began circulating.

“If the vice president is culpable as these allegations claim, then he should be made to face the consequences of such culpability.
“However, if the claimant making the allegations is found to be deceiving the public, appropriate steps should be taken to hold him to account; in line with the rule of law.”

It was gathered that although the vice president has “no problem with his boss,” the forces against Osinbajo are insisting that his role in the Federal Governments backed SIP must be investigated.

A source privy to the plot added: “At an interactive session with women in the Presidential Villa, early this year, it was the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, who raised the alarm that the federal government SIP was a failure in the North. The first lady even said that the SIP failed in the state of the SSA to the president, in charge of the programme. These and other allegations about SIP funds are being bandied about, against the VP.

“There is a formal petition before the EFCC. They must act on it.”

Daily Sun’s efforts, yesterday, to ascertain what EFCC is doing about the petition yielded no result.

Telephone calls and text messages to EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, went unanswered.
Regardless, two weeks ago, the vice president met with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CN), where he dismissed the fraud allegations as “politics of 2023.”

Daily Sun gathered that at the meeting held at Akinola Agudu House, inside the Presidential Villa, Osinbajo insisted there was “no N90 billion anywhere,” and that he is ready to defend his integrity anywhere.

A 42-year old married man, Abiodun Adeoye, has been arrested by the Police at Ejigbo Division, Lagos, led by CSP Olabisi Okuwobi, for battering a 30-year old sex worker, Precious Sunday, over penetration during a short time romp in a hotel.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the incident happened at Channel 59 Hotel located at Lafenwa Street, Ejigbo area of Lagos, where Precious plies her sex trade.

The suspect, Adeoye, reportedly assaulted the sex worker, Precious, and injured her after he had paid N2,000 for romance but during the act, he became seriously aroused and decided to penetrate Precious private part but she refused; she told him that the money he paid her did not cover penetration.

The angered Adeoye then demanded for refund of his money but Precious refused claiming that she had already performed what he paid for.

This resulted in argument and later degenerated into fighting in her room and in the process Adeoye reportedly assaulted, injured her mouth and she was said to have bled profusely.

The matter was reported to the Police; he was arrested and detained at the station over the alleged assault.

According to Precious, the suspect, Adeoye, met her in the hotel and solicited for romance without penetration and she charged him N2,000 and N5,000 if he wanted both romance and penetration and he chose romance and paid her.

She narrated that after going ahead with the romance as agreed, Adeoye later said that he wanted penetration but she refused and asked him for additional N3,000 to make it N5,000 which she charges for full time sex romp but he refused insisting that what he paid for included penetration.

The sex worker said that it was in the course of the disagreement between them that he attacked and injured her before the assault was reported to the Police and he was arrested.

On the side of Adeoye, he claimed that the money he paid her included penetration but after Precious had romanced him, he was aroused and asked her to open her leg for penetration but she refused and asked for more money. He then asked her to refund his money but she refused and started making trouble. He said he did not deliberately injure her mouth but it was while trying to free himself from her room that she got injured.

However, the whole thing have now turned against Adeoye as he was charged for assault and detained at the Station by the Police over the alleged offence.

When P.M.EXPRESS correspondent visited Ejigbo Police Division, Adeoye was seen detained at the Station as the hotel management confirmed what happened to our reporter.

When the DPO, CSP Olabisi Okuwobi, was contacted, she confirmed the incident and referred our reporter to the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, for further details on the matter.

However, Police source said that Adeoye will be charged to Court for assault because of the injury he inflicted on Precious.

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja



Over two months after the Rear Admiral Ibikunle Olaiya-led probe panel was set up to unravel the circumstances surrounding the killing of police detectives by troops of 93 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Takum, in Taraba State, the contents of the report submitted by the panel have not been made public. The citizens are also confused about the likely sanctions to be meted out to the culprits. And this is heightening worry among Nigerians.

The report was submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari after it was reviewed by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Abayomi Olonisakin, whom, THISDAY gathered, made further recommendations. The committee submitted the report to the Chief of Defence Staff a month ago after sitting in Jalingo and Abuja where it took oral submissions, video evidences, and witness accounts of the fatal shooting that took place August 6.

A source close to the panel had told THISDAY that the Defence Headquarters had submitted the report to Buhari.

“The report has been submitted to the President and Commander-in-Chief, who ordered the probe in the first place. We are done with the report so we await further directives from the Presidency,” the source had said.

Many are worried that the report of such an incident with serious security implications for the country is being delayed, and this is raising suspicions about a cover up. The revelations during the sitting of the panel in Taraba and Abuja showed that the kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Bala Wadume, who was earlier arrested by police detectives, was freed after soldiers opened fire on policemen conveying him to the Taraba State Police Command in Jalingo for interrogation, killing them, despite the fact that they were subjected to identification processes. The shooting presents a clear threat to inter-agency collaboration that government has trumpeted for a long time, with larger implications for the mounting security challenges facing the country.

The killing had provoked national outrage, especially with the manner in which the policemen and a civilian on national assignment were brutally gunned down even after identifying themselves to the soldiers manning the checkpoints at Ibi-Jalingo Road in Taraba State.

It had also triggered a rift between the Nigeria Police and the Nigerian Army. The recriminations were such that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, issued a circular warning officers and men to be cautious in their interaction with police personnel. Buratai advised soldiers to travel on mufti in view of attacks launched against the army by the police on social media.

The rift had, indeed, run through the panel deliberations, as both the army and the police stuck to their different positions on the incident and insisted on appropriate sanctions.

Intelligence agencies, in the course of the work of the panel, established 190 phone exchanges between the kidnap suspect, Wadume, and Captain Tijani Balarabe, the officer in charge of the army team at the Ibi-Wukari Road checkpoint and who actually ordered the shooting of the policemen and the civilian involved.

The release of Wadume by Captain Balarabe before his re-arrest by the police and the telephone conversations between them and a Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) in Jalingo substantially established a strong connection between the duo and the culpability of the army officer and other soldiers involved.

Wadume had before the panel admitted involvement in gunrunning, especially high calibre automatic weapons, notably AK 47 rifles. This raises another poser with regard to the interaction between security agencies and criminal gangs in Nigeria and the challenge it poses to national security.

Families of the slain policemen have also raised concerns over the delay in the release of the report. They want to be assured that the patriotic service rendered by the fallen members of their families was not in vain through the government ensuring that justice is served.

Addressing a press conference recently, an elder brother to the one of the slain officers, Andrew Philip Ediare, said justice must be served to the fullest.

Ediare lamented, “If the law fails to take its course, it means it is a conspiracy and anything short of this is unacceptable. Inspector Mark Ediare, my late younger brother, and others were on active duty and they swore to protect this country.

“His wife is now a widow, his daughter fatherless, and the family is grieving, shattered by this inglorious act. This is an outrage.”

Ediare further stated, “We therefore demand that the culprits be brought to justice and that international bodies should get involved. Nothing will be swept under the carpet. We demand justice, whoever the perpetrators may be, we want them to go to the full extent of the laws of the land.

“If the law fails to do the needful, we will resolve that it is an act of conspiracy. That must not happen”.

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had in several fora maintained that appropriate sanctions would be applied in the case of soldiers found culpable. Nigerian Army Headquarters had also restated its resolve to deal decisively with personnel involved in the deadly drama.

It was gathered that members of the panel drawn from the police had unofficially expressed fears that the panel’s report might be swept under the carpet in view of the fact that even the defence chief himself is an army officer and may not be fair in his recommendations.

Making the contents of the report public, following through with the implementation in terms of imposing appropriate sanctions on culpable persons, especially the kidnap and gunrunning ring, would address the hydra-headed issue of extra-judicial killings, and strengthen inter-agency cooperation as the country battles security challenges on all fronts.

Many believe the report should also address adequately the issue of compensation to families of the slain policemen.

More than anything else, there is a groundswell of public opinion that the Presidency should urgently make the panel’s report public and ensure that appropriate sanctions are applied where necessary. Many say the institution of the Presidency should not be seen as covering up such a trigger for insecurity.

Armstrong Bakam, Bauchi



The Bauchi State Government Funds and Assets Recovery Committee has alleged that the immediate past governor, Mohammed Abubakar, sold to himself seven luxury government vehicles for N19,877,275 shortly before leaving the office.

The state governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, had inaugurated the committee on July 12, 2019, with the mandate to recover all government funds and assets carted away by officials of the former administration.

Speaking at a press conference at the VIP 9 in Bauchi, the Public Relations Officer 1 of the committee, Alhaji Umar Ningi, flanked by other members, said the committee operated within the ambit of the laws of the federation and other enabling laws enacted by the state House of Assembly in the discharge of its duties.

Ningi alleged that of the seven luxury cars the governor sold to himself, one of them, a Landcruiser Armoured Jeep worth N150m, with chassis number JTMHX09J9F4089580, was auctioned at the cost of N7.8m.

“This is a car you can get for about N150m, but the former governor, Mohammed Abubakar, sold it to himself for just N7.8m,” he said.

He said it was in violation of the provisions of the Bauchi State Budget Monitoring, Price Intelligence and Public Procurement Law (2008).

He said, “Other vehicles are: Landcruiser V8, with chassis number JTMHX09J8D4050814, sold at N2.8m; Toyota Hilux, with chassis number MROFX22G2F1436641, sold at the cost of N1.05m; and a Toyota Hilux, with chassis number MROFX22G701415100, sold at N1.05m.

“Others are a Range Rover SUV, with chassis number SALWA2VF3EA366819, sold at the cost of N2.9m; Range Rover SUV, with chassis number SALLSAAD4DA800170, sold at the cost of N2.1m; and Range Rover SUV, with chassis number SALLSAAD4DA81373, sold at the cost of N2.1m.”

Ningi added that officials of the last administration carted away 30 exotic cars when they left office, adding that the committee recovered 15 of the vehicles while the remaining were being traced.

According to Ningi, the committee also discovered that the former governor initiated a transaction and sold to himself a house with a Certificate of Occupancy No. BA/40245, located adjacent to Wikki Hotel, belonging to Bauchi State Government, at a highly subsidised rate.

In a media statement to journalists via WhatsApp on Friday, the former Special Adviser to Abubakar, Ali M. Ali, however justified the actions of his boss.

He said it was lawful for any government official to purchase any vehicle that had been used for more than three years.

Ali said, “Our attention has been drawn to the rehash of the several ‘sins’ of former Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar while in office and presented as ‘fresh’ evidence of his corruption and abuse of office.”

He continued: “These are gross distortions. The law provides that users of government vehicles that have been in use for upwards of three years are at liberty to purchase them.

“The vehicles in question have been in use for more than four years. The law provides that they can be sold at 10 per cent of the book value. It is, therefore, perplexing that the committee is alleging foul play here.

“As a matter of fact, the Hilux vehicles that constituted the former governor’s convoy had engine change due to wear and tear associated with convoy duties.”

Many projects have been completed with several still ongoing. Some are still being planned as sites have been allocated for them. Some of the projects include rehabilitation or expansion of existing ones, re-activation and completion of those abandoned as well as new ones.

Heavy-duty machines and construction sites can be seen at different locations executing different projects, including road construction, drainages, schools, water projects, etc, depicting an apparent testimony of benefiting from the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

During a visit to the town, our correspondent discovered that there is hardly any federal ministry that is not executing a project in the town. Power, Housing, Works, Transport, Health, Education and other ministries have projects that are classified as Special Projects Unit (SPU) as displayed in various locations in the town.

Aside the federal projects massively being carried out across the town and neighbouring villages, friends and associates of the president have undertaken some projects that are adding value to the people’s lives.


Some key projects

There is an ongoing massive construction of township roads and drainages totaling about 40km across the city. Four contractors are executing the projects. A ring road of 80-90km is about to commence. During the first tenure of the Buhari administration, 21km of drainages and waterways were constructed.

The building of schools for people with special needs has begun at the cost of N500m. The Federal Polytechnic, Daura is expected to take off in January 2020 at its temporary site. 100 hectares of land has been provided for the permanent site.

The proposed Federal University of Transportation has been alloted 6,000 hectares and the project is to commence any moment from now.

Already completed and being put to use is the multi-million naira Nigerian Air Force referral hospital equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. The Air Force has set up a response air wing just as the Nigerian Army has established a base in the town.

Others are the upgrade and expansion of the town’s mini stadium at the cost of N259m and the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) N84m centre that just graduated its first set of 100 students trained in various trades and skills.
There is also a skills acquisition centre that has been completed but is yet to be commissioned under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) programme along Zango road.

The first lady, Aisha Buhari, is also supporting her husband’s town to develop. She has built a 50-bed maternity center at the town’s general hospital, besides setting up empowerment programs for women and the less privileged.

A helipad was constructed in the town, just as the 27-year-old once abandoned Sabke Dam has been completed and is presently supplying 1m litres of water to Daura and neighbouring communities. Many SDG 2018 school projects have been completed and already put to use.

A 73km 132 KVA line was constructed from Katsina to Daura, in addition to the commissioning of two 30 and 40 MVA transformers to boost power supply in the town.
Projects in the pipeline include the railway line and the dualisation of the 72km Daura-Katsina road.

The state government is also supporting the town’s infrastructure transformation. To boost tourism and support the massive influx of guests to the town, the state government-owned Daura Motel was upgraded and expanded at the cost of about N450m. Roads already constructed include the 92km Fago-Katsayal-Kwarasawa-Jirdere-Koza to Kawanar Sabke road, and the Sandamu-Baure road.

Private interventions in the town include the e-library built by Chief Emeka Offor, while the Jack-Rich Tein Foundation in a joint venture with the NNPC and Belema Oil constructed a 400,000 litres capacity solar-powered water system in the town. Aliko Dangote is also spending N100m on the town’s mosque.


We want more – residents

Even with the massive transformation, Daura still has challenges such as the large number of unemployed youths and inadequate power supply. The recent closure of land borders has compounded its woes as hundreds of youths who were ferrying smuggled items across the border are now idle and posing security threats to the community.

Power supply has always been a source of concern to residents, though several power projects are currently going on with some already completed.

Only recently, the residents complained to the president during his sallah visit that they get 24-hour electricity only when he is around, which they said was crippling economic activities.

A cross-section of residents spoken to believe that in as much as they appreciate the ongoing developments in the town, there are still areas that when addressed Daura could be better off, especially the establishment of industries and companies that can engage the teeming unemployed youths.

Bashar Hassan said: “If you look at the whole town, hardly can you see any industry or a large company operating, we have vast agricultural lands that such companies can use to further boost our strength.”

The chairman of Daura Emirate Development Association, Aliyu Daura, said: “As far as we are concerned, we are grateful with all these developments coming our way, but people’s belief that they must get cash is uncalled for, it’s development we want and we want these things to spread to Katsina as well, it’s an opportunity we have.”

On the town’s needs, Aliyu said: “We want a dual carriage way from Daura to Kongolom, it’s a chance before us, if Buhari leaves, no one will do it for us, we should do away with our personal interests and seek development.

“The border closure is of two things, people that are smugglers within us will not be happy with it, but in a situation that some of us that have travelled wide observed that no country allows food into it. Let’s bear the consequences which is just for a while, there is wisdom in the closure.”

On power, Aliyu said: “I was among those that went to TCN in Abuja, where we met Dr. Guru and expressed our grievances and concerns, he told us that they were having issues in Kano. This problem of power is not only in Daura, even Katsina, Sokoto, it’s a national issue.”

Another resident, Buhari Mohammed said: “The poverty level among residents is alarming and must be looked at holistically. Yes, we have got hospitals and other things coming up like schools but people should understand that it is not meant only for Daura people, especially appointments into them.

“We may get an upper hand when lower cadre jobs are open for grabs but the few that will get the jobs cannot remove the town from the depth of poverty.”

Another resident, Abdullahi Abdulkadir, said, “My worst fear is the rate of crime that may engulf our town after the youths are out of the smuggling business. They will end up attacking us with crimes, my take is for government to please as a matter of urgency get them something else to engage them before they fall on us.”

Tunji Bosun, Abeokuta



Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has advised Nigerians who were evacuated from South Africa to be ready to go back to the country if a bilateral commission meeting scheduled between President Muhammadu Buhari and South African President , Cyril Ramaphosa yielded a positive outcome .

The former President also enjoined the leadership of South Africa and Nigeria to be ready to compromise and make the right statements that would encourage evacuated Nigerians to go back to South Africa.

Obasanjo said this on Saturday , at his residence within the Olusegun Obasanjo President Library , Abeokuta while speaking with journalists on the outcome of his visit to the South African President .

Nigeria has recently evacuated hundreds of Nigerians from South Africa following xenophobic attacks in the country .

Obasanjo said “ I took the opportunity of being in South Africa about three or four days ago to actually pay a courtesy call on President Cyril Ramaphosa and he quickly granted me the opportunity . One of the major things we discussed was this issue of xenophobia or ‘afrophobia .’

“ One good thing I discovered among many is what the president said to me that ‘There is so much at stake and whatever mistake we have made, we have to correct it .’ And I think that was a very good statement and I know that he meant it because , he immediately said ‘Look , what can we do or should we do ?’”

While advising the South African government , Obasanjo said, “ The idea of thinking or saying that foreigners are taking your jobs should be killed because most of these foreigners paid ( sic ) something into the country .

“ I met more than two Nigerians who are doing legitimate businesses and the turnover runs into millions of dollar and they employed 50 to 60 South Africans .

“ All these must be expressed and must be shown that Nigerians in South Africa are not drug peddlers and criminals . There are many of them that are genuine businessmen and professionals and who are making meaningful contributions to the economy and the social life of that country .

“ I think that is all we must be doing and be saying and I said my joy is that President Cyril Ramaphosa is ready to do what needs to be done to stop these incidents and to put the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa on the right track. ”