₦airaland Forum

Godswill Akpabio, former minority leader of the senate, says he is sure his colleagues in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are missing him.

Speaking during the valedictory session of the 8th senate, the senator who defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in August, described his stay at the senate as “happy and sad”.

Akpabio said the experience was mixed because some of his colleagues died before the end of their tenure.

He congratulated the 8th assembly for “remaining focused” despite turbulent times, saying he would join the 9th senate as soon as “I reclaim my mandate”.

“I want to start by apologising to my colleague in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). I know they are missing me but I want to apologise to them for the way and manner I moved to join Mr president to stabilise Nigeria,” Akpabio said.

“I thank the entire 8th senate for giving me the opportunity to be the minority leader, and to make history as the first senator since 1999 to be given the role of a leader in this hallowed chamber.

“My President, you and I know that I have forgiven you if you wronged me, even as we are departing from here, if there is still need, you can see me outside after. In the entirety of the senate, I want to thank all of you for indulging me, for particularly tolerating me. Where I went wrong, please forgive me.

“Let me say this, the 8th senate achieved a lot, despite turbulent periods, we remained focused. We made sure that the interest of Nigeria came first.

“But I must say I enjoyed my stay here. It’s a different thing to be a senator and it’s a different thing to be a governor. It is good to taste the legislature first before you become a governor but should you become a governor first, it is also good to bring the experience into the legislature.



“My President, my constituency is very delighted because through this senate, with the constituency projects, we were able to carry out over 80 projects across my senatorial district and I can tell you I went beyond my senatorial district to also touch others.

He also enjoined the next senate president to create a level playing field for all the senators and urged the 9th senate to reform the electoral act.

“My president, you indulge some of us too much. I want the next senate president to “give a level playing field to all because the senate is a leveler. Once you come here, you are all distinguished colleagues,” Akpabio said.

“I want the next senate president to ensure that there is a level playing field; if you give two minutes to me, give two to Dino (Melaye), let Dino not take 10 minutes and when it is my time, you tell me it is time up as though …I’ll raise my hand for a long time and Dino will walk in and be recognised. This disparity should be checked.

“In the 9th senate, it is time to reform the electoral act, we must make sure that every vote counts in Nigeria. A situation where the electoral umpire becomes so terribly biased that people, even in the face of carry go, the political party won’t matter, they will not take that into cognisance.”

By Musa Abdullahi Krishi

The Chief Whip of the outgoing 8th Senate, Sen Sola Adeyeye has revealed that the act of extorting government agencies by senators became common in the last four years. Adeyeye, who was speaking during the valedictory session of the 8th Senate yesterday, said the 8th Senate was also bedeviled by other anomalies that should not be repeated in the 9th and subsequent Senates.

“If I leave without saying some of the things we’ve done wrong, I won’t be doing good to the Senate. For example, our rules say we should sit at 10.am, but today we sat at minutes past 11.am.

That’s not the fault of the Senate President or some of us. But if we start at 10.am, we won’t be forming quorum. I hope the 9th Senate will be punctual. “Oversight shouldn’t be used for extortion, but unfortunately that has been the case. Since the inception of this democracy in 1999, the Senate has been battling with extortion of MDAs by senators, and didn’t change during the 8th Senate.

“The Nigerian Senate is the first where a first term lawmaker emerged as Minority Leader. It doesn’t happen anywhere in the world. We must make sure that it doesn’t happen again. I pray that in subsequent Senate, we don’t have a first termer becoming minority leader. “Again, I don’t believe we did justice to the confirmation process. About 37 nominees came to this Senate, and two didn’t do well. I feel we should have rejected them.

I believe if we did that, the president too would have respected us. “I came to you Mr President but you were cautious not to be termed as somebody trying to be hard because of the circumstances that saw your emergence. On constitution amendment, it is the responsibility of the legislature to do that. But we must avoid a situation where debates are done as if we’re doing North vs South.” Other senators, including Senate President Bukola Saraki, who spoke at the session, which lasted for six hours, bemoaned the “ugly incident” of mace theft in April last year.

Saraki said despite the challenges faced by the 8th Senate, it has achieved a lot both in terms of bills passage and engagements with Nigerians, among others. Saraki said: “In these four years, we were fully engaged on the state of insecurity in the country, and spearheaded many initiatives to bring sustainable peace, and secure and protect the lives and properties of citizens.

“The 8th Senate organised a National Security Summit which made recommendations for bringing an end to the problems. Moreover, the Senate engaged with security chiefs for proper understanding of the issues; and urged them to make presentations to us on their requirements, so we could facilitate the needed special appropriations.

“We constantly engaged with the international community on the need for them to not only support the war against insurgency but to also lift the ban on sale of arms to Nigeria. “The Senate had to cut short one vacation in order to receive a U.S. Congressional delegation and persuade them on the need to canvass for the lifting of the arms sales ban, for more effective counter-insurgency strategies. “We assured them that human rights complaints had been addressed, and that we would ensure that any related issues would be thoroughly probed and appropriate actions taken.

The U.S. delegation was able to leave with Senate’s guarantee, and the arms embargo was reversed.” On his part, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu said the 8th Senate would go down in Nigeria’s history as one of the best, which stood its ground in defending democracy. Speaking, Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan said he believed the 8th Senate did well but that going forward, the 9th Senate should pay adequate attention to oversight, saying “No matter how good a legislation is, you must look at how it is implemented.”

By Musa Pam


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Police in Plateau State have arrested a 33-yearold construction worker and graduate of Geology and Mining from the University of Jos (UNIJOS), Oladipo Oyefemi, for allegedly killing a 24-year-old woman, Patience Musa.

Oyefemi, a resident of Millionaires Quarters, Jos, was said to have picked Patience at the West of Mines area of Jos, around midnight on May 31, allegedly for a night of fun. Investigation revealed that Oyefemi and Patience agreed on a fee of N3,000 for the night. Oyefemi, however, allegedly killed the woman while she was in his apartment and tried to dump her body. He was, however, sighted by local vigilantes and arrested.

Patience’s father, Musa, said that he received a call from someone. The caller used his daughter’s phone to call him. The caller asked him to go to Nasarawa Gwom Police Station.

He said: “I was at home in the morning of June 1, when I received a call from my daughter’s phone; the caller was a guy. He asked me to proceed to the Nasarawa Gwom Police Station. I thought she was involved in a fight or some kind of trouble. When I arrived at the station, the policemen told me that my daughter was killed and her body dumped somewhere.

They asked me to follow them to the hospital to identify her.” Musa followed the policemen to the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) mortuary, where he identified Patience’s body. He noticed that she has stabbed wounds all her body and her tongue was sticking out. He said: “I want the authorities to investigate this matter to its logical conclusion.


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They should find my daughter’s killer. This is too painful for us to bear. She was killed in cold blood.” The family lawyer of the deceased, Mr. Ralph Monye, disclosed that the body showed Patience was stabbed on her breasts, heart and neck regions and other parts.

He opined that the marks on her neck suggested she was strangled. “The police informed the family that after Oyefemi committed the crime, he called his security guard, Nasir, to help him dispose of the body. But the two men were arrested by a vigilance group.

While inspecting her body at the mortuary, we found that she was killed in a very brutal manner. She was stabbed several times and then strangled,” the lawyer said. Monye added that the police informed the family that Oyefemi and his security guard went to dump Patience’s body in a nearby bush, but were sighted and arrested. He said: “The police also informed us that after Oyefemi killed Patience, he cleaned his room thoroughly and dressed his bed so perfectly that no one could ever imagine that a gruesome murder took place there.”

The lawyer said that it took the police hours before they could retrieve the deceased’s phone and handbag from Oyefemi as he had hidden them, and refused to hand the items over. Oyefemi, who spoke at the State Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department (SCIID), where he is being held, said that he was arrested alongside his security guard, Nasir, but declined to comment further.

Findings revealed that the suspect works with Moulds Nigeria Limited, a Jos-based construction company. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Tyopev Terna, confirmed the incident. He said: “The case of culpable homicide involving Patience Musa was on June 3, transferred from Nasarawa Gwom Police Station, to the SCIID for discreet investigation. That is all I can tell you for now.

Ritual killings are fast becoming the fad in Nigeria. This, many have attributed to the erosion of the country’s value system, which incidentally seem to have given rise to money becoming the god worshiped by youths. In this report, ISIOMA MADIKE, looks at why young people do everything fetish, including human sacrifice to get rich quick nowadays

Nigeria, many believe, is in great danger as ritual killings are gradually but steadily overshadowing all other crimes in the country. The evil has actually assumed a frightening dimension with many of the country’s youths jumping into it without thinking of the consequences of their actions. To a lot of people, the Nigerian society is fast losing its value system.

Those with this line of thought have also argued that money has unwittingly become the god worshiped by the youth. For this reason, young people, they said would do everything fetish, including human sacrifice, to get rich quick nowadays. This obsessive lust for money, others concurred, makes many of them to resort to doing the absurd as a way to realising their devilish desires. Today, an average youth on the street does not seem to value hard work or follow the process of growth any longer. They seem to have also jettisoned the law of sowing and reaping as they wish to turn billionaires overnight.

This might be the reason why they recently invented stealing female underwear to do money rituals. In the last few years, the number of people who have been butchered or raped to death remains countless even as the incident appears to have risen in the last few weeks. Just recently, emesis caught up with two young men, Hyginus Mbachi and Gambo Bulus, who reportedly killed a young man for alleged ritual.

One of the suspects had tricked the boy away from his father on the pretext that he was going to help him gain admission in the Republic of Cameroon. But, Mbachi and Bulus, who confessed to the crime, said the victim whom they alleged was a member of the Young Vikings confraternity was actually not the target for their ritual purpose but was stabbed in error.

Before the killing, Mbachi, according to the Benue State Police Commissioner, Omololu Bishi, had defrauded the father of the boy of N208,150 being the alleged fee for the admission into a university in Cameroon. On May 6, the Niger State Police Command also apprehended three brothers for ritual killing in the Borgu Local Government Area of the state.

The suspects, Saminu Usman,25; Yusuf Usman, 22; and Muhammadu Usman, 35, all of Janruwa village in the Borgu LGA were reportedly arrested by a team of policemen attached to the New Bussa division after a complaint by the father of their victim, Yakubu Garba. It was learnt that the suspects abducted one Shehu Garba and whisked him away to an unknown location where they killed him for rituals. Northern City News reported that the men took their victim to a bush where they cut off one of his hands.

One of the suspects, Saminu, according to the report, alleged that his eldest brother, Mohammadu, instructed them to cut off their victim’s hand for ritual to enable them to be rich. He was quoted to have said: “It was actually not our intention to kill our victim for rituals. But after killing him, we cut off his hand, which we planned to use for ritual, before we were arrested by the police.

I don’t know what to say; but we have disappointed our parents and other family members. Imagine three brothers going to jail at the same time; we have ruined our lives.” In Edo State, a young man of 18 years of age, was also arrested by the police for allegedly killing his mother and slept with the corps for money ritual purposes.

That incident brought to the front burner the incessant cases of ritual killings in recent times and the need to address the immediate and remote causes of the scourge. In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, a woman reportedly jumped from a twostorey building in a desperate move to escape from the now notorious ‘Yahoo Boys’ who allegedly wanted to use her for ritual. The state’s special security outfit, Operation Burst, arrested the two suspected internet fraudsters to the Ibadan zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), after the woman escaped and reported her nightmare.

The suspects, Sanusi Azeez Toba and Osho Olalekun, were arrested on April 3, at Kolapo Ishola, Akobo area of Ibadan after the woman escaped by jumping down the two-storey building where she and others were taken hostage. According to her, “We met at the club and we all went back to their apartment to sleep over. At some point, I noticed some funny movement and I saw them with a calabash (a native pot).

“That was when I knew they were ritualists with the intention to use me for rituals. So, I jumped off the two-storey building, and off the fence. I then reported the case to the ‘Operation Burst’. Police later found incriminating documents stored in the Laptops and phones recovered from the suspects. An herbalist, Owolabi Mesioye and his friend, identified only as Oloruntoyin, were equally caught in the act after they allegedly killed an unknown man for rituals in Ogun State. According to Naija News which reported the incident, Oloruntoyin purportedly lured the victim to his home near Mesioye’s residence at night.

He was said to have called the herbalist and allegedly hit his victim with a charm that made him unconscious. An eyewitness reportedly said: “The herbalist had been warned several times to desist from placing sacrifices at junctions in the community. He was summoned to a meeting by the community leaders but he did not honour the invitation, same with Oloruntoyin.”

A 62-year-old herbalist, Ganiyu Idowu, alleged that an Islamic cleric, Bamigbola Edun, aka Alfa, asked him to get a human heart and two hands, with which he would prepare a ritual that had a potency to produce N11 million. Idowu was one of the 19 suspects paraded by the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, at the command’s headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta. Paraded alongside Idowu and Edun was another 62-year-old motorcyclist, Mathew Odunewu, who was alleged to be an accomplice. The three of them, according to Iliyasu, conspired, kidnapped and attempted to kill one Ganiu, an apprentice to Idowu, for alleged money ritual, in the Oriyanrin area of Abeokuta.

He said: “On getting to the river bank, the three men grabbed the fourth person, who is the youngest among them, laid him on the ground and were about to slaughter him like a lamb when policemen swooped on them.” Iliyasu added that when the suspects were arrested, they had polythene bags with them.

“They confessed that they would have put Ganiu’s body parts inside the bags if they had succeeded in killing him.” In Asaba, Delta State, the activities of suspected ritualists and internet fraudsters (Yahoo plus boys) is also giving the residents of the capital city sleepless nights. The bad boys are said to be abducting and killing people, especially women before making away with their vital organs and panties for alleged money- making rituals. Just like in Asaba, these bad boys have also been terrorising the other cities across the state. Cases of attacks and disappearances of persons at Jesse, Sapele, Abraka, Oghara, Ughelli and Warri in recent weeks have become rampant.

Apart from the killing and harvesting of breasts and tongue of a First Class undergraduate of Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, which sparked anger in the sleepy university town, suspected ritualists equally beheaded a widow at Oghara, the country home of former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, in a similar manner.

Though the rate of ritual murders in Nigeria in the last few years had been a source of concern, in recent times, the increasing cases of female university and polytechnic undergraduates falling victim of ritual murderers have been frightening. This may be the reason why many now describe students’ lives in public higher institutions in the country as brutish and challenging. Outside the school campuses, the young undergraduates are also being preyed upon by opportunistic kidnappers looking for candidates to be killed for rituals. Punch had reported the headless body of a young lady which it said was found along the Amanwaozuzu-Ogwa Road in Imo State.

The victim was believed to be an undergraduate of a university in the South- East. The report said that other body parts were removed from the corpse, fuelling suspicion that she might have been killed for ritual purposes. Before the Imo incident, another student of Mass Communication at the Cross River State University of Technology had died in circumstances believed by her parents to be for rituals.

She was said to have gone to the home of an Alhaji to seek financial help with the knowledge of her mother. Also, an unidentified woman, who left her abode in Sango Otta, Ogun State, in search of spiritual cleansing, ended up being a victim of ritual killing in the hands of those who pretended to be clerics, according to reports. Aside that, the body of one-year-old boy was also discovered in a church with her heart ripped out from her body in Calabar. As if in competition, a suspected ritualist reportedly confessed that he connived with a Muslim cleric, to use his student for money rituals.

With the spate of killings for ritual purposes gradually assuming an alarming rate in Nigeria, many would have expected security agencies to checkmate the trend. But that has not been the case. Recall that in March 2014, a horrible ritual forest was discovered in Soka, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, where human body parts, including skulls and skeletons dotted the whole forest. In a similar manner, another forest was also discovered around the same period in Ogun State where an underground cell suspected to be a ritualists’ den was uncovered at Iyana Egbado village in Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state.

More discoveries were made in different parts of the country in recent years. On a daily basis, there have been screaming media headlines and stories of people either being arrested with human parts for ritual purposes, or of missing persons. Not too long ago, deadly and notorious cult group, known as Badoo, which was responsible for a lot of killings for ritual, held swear at the Ikorodu area of Lagos State until the police was able to dislodge and degrade the group. For sure, the rising scourge of ritual killings in Nigeria is not a phenomenon in a vacuum. In fact, there are several reasons why the problem of ritual killings has persisted.

Greed and poverty, according to those who should know, are some of the fundamental causes. However, it is sad that some Nigerians are never satisfied with wealth. As such, they have unyielding desire to be extremely rich. This, some others said, is a driving force that leads to ritual killings. Apart from that, desperation for quick riches has also been fingered as a motivating factor in such inordinate act.

There is the factor of the high level of unemployment also. Many have said that the growing unemployment could motivate the youth who are anxious to begin to consider illicit and irrational ways of succeeding including money rituals. Joblessness, others said, could equally be a recipe for other crimes including armed robbery, thuggery and fraud. Yet, cultism cannot be overlooked as many believe it contributes to the moral decadence in the country. It is disheartening that cultism is now widespread not just in institutions of higher learning but also in the larger society.

These cult groups go to the extent of killing innocent people and sacrificing them for wealth, power and sometime protection from death. However, the founder and head of Evangelical Ministries (Wisdom Chapel), Lagos, Bishop Stephen Ogedengbe, has stressed the need for the three tiers of government to create more jobs for the teeming youths to dissuade them from indulging in ritual killings. According to the cleric, the difficulties in securing jobs have made some youths, who did not have the right values, to go into ritual killings, mass migration and other vices. He is equally of the opinion that the vices could be curbed if the leaders think more of the youth than self.

He said: “We can only continue to tell people that in the end, crime does not pay; engaging in ritual activities or other vices makes a person sell his or her soul to the devil. So, we must constantly tell youths that values of faith in God, values of integrity and honesty, hard work and labour supersede the short term gains of rituals and scamming.’’ Professor of Islamic Eschatology, Muslim Activist, and Advocate of Dialogue, Ishaq Akintola, appears to support the thinking of Ogedengbe when he said that “our leaders should provide good infrastructure and create jobs for the youth to take them away from negative acts such as ritual killings for money.

They are the future of this country; they should be equipped with employment or empowered. “Nigerians are faced with multiple of challenges, what is paramount is how to ensure that there is infrastructure in place that works for people. Power is very important, training is also important, especially functional education, which teaches people what to do and how to do it; what is important for people is to earn a living.

“Somehow, there is an indirect relationship between corruption and money rituals. Nigeria is a country where people steal public money and call it free money. Since the thieves did not work for it, they spend it anyhow such that, their neighbours or those who look up to them are moved to envy. And in the process of trying to emulate them by all means the youth take desperate steps including doing money rituals. “Add to this is the manner with which public servants who stole money are venerated in society which makes the young ones desperate to emulate them.” Meanwhile, the Police have said that stealing of pants by “Yahoo Boys” for money rituals cannot be investigated because there is no evidence.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, who was responding to questions on ritual practices and ‘get rich quick’ schemes, said this on a live television programme on NTA, ‘Good Morning Nigeria’. He said: “Stealing of underwear for whatsoever reason is a recent phenomenon. Before now, we had cases of ritual killings but we can’t investigate things that are not empirically verifiable except when there is convergence of the act like cases of murder or an attempt or related crimes.” The police spokesperson went on to advice youths against drug abuse, adding that substance abuse fuels crime.

“Drug and substance abuses are strong conscience suppressors that influence our youths into these wicked acts of fetish and ritual killings for get-rich-quick. While we’ll continue to fight the menace of drug abuse head-on, we want our youths to desist or be ready to bear the consequences “We don’t investigate divinations or morality except related acts that constitute a criminal offence. Apart from factors like unemployment, what we have on home videos, TV programmes and messages being sent out help in spreading these evils.” In his reaction, a Lagos-based lawyer, Emmanuel Nwaghodoh, said that most people who should know better unfortunately are the ones helping to fuel the menace by believing in arcane things and fetish practices.

While also blaming the malaise on the worsening economic condition across the country, Nwaghodoh urged security agencies to step up and live up to their responsibility of protecting lives and property. “From time, our politicians believe ritual killings or severed human parts and organs would help them win elections.

For me, they are vampires thirsty for human blood,” he added. Speaking on how to curb the malady, a security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, stressed the need for people to always be vigilant and take cognizance of their environment. He advocated value reorientation and called for more jobs creation to help steer desperate youths away from turning into body part merchants, kidnappers and murderers. Ekhomu lamented the inability to prosecute those caught in the act, which he said, had continued to encourage others to remain in the business. He therefore called for stiffer penalty for anyone caught in the act of ritual killings, as, according to him, that will serve as a deterrent to others, especially the youth.

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A man in India was rushed into surgery after doctors discovered practically a whole utensil drawer’s worth of items in his stomach — and a knife, which was beginning to puncture his insides.

Karan Sen, 35, had swallowed everything from two screwdrivers and two toothbrushes to eight spoons and a kitchen knife, the Hindustan Times reports.

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Sen is believed to have a psychiatric disorder which compels a person to eat non-edible items, according to the Daily Mail. The disorder, Pica, more commonly involves ingesting things like hair, dirt, and paint chips, though doctors didn’t say whether the man had been officially diagnosed.

“It took nearly four hours for the team of surgeons to operate upon Karan,“ says Dr. Rajneesh Pathania, of Lal Bhadur Shastri Medical College. “He is out of danger now.”

Sen arrived to the hospital in serious pain, but appeared to be unaware of the items in his stomach. X-rays showed the spoons and the knife, which they said was “protruding from inside his stomach.”

Surgeons immediately began the operation “without wasting any time but discovered more objects inside,” including a metal bar and a door latch. Sen is in recovery now and in the care of his family.

The gruesome discovery wasn’t the first time dangerous objects had to be surgically removed. In 2017, doctors removed 100 pieces of metal from a man’s stomach, including knives, nails and screws.

The 52-year-old man had a form of chronic psychosis, which resulted in a tendency to swallow metal objects.

Culled from nypost.com

by RAYMOND MORDI


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When the ninth National Assembly is inaugurated this month, some of its longest-serving members are expected to return to the hallowed chambers and play crucial roles in the next legislative session. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI looks at some of the antecedents of affected lawmakers and the parts they would play in the assembly.

ALL over the world, lawmaking is regarded as one of democracy’s worthiest pursuits. Like old wine, legislators mature the longer they serve. While new legislators bring fresh ideas, experience matters when it comes to crafting legislative proposals. Frequent kicking out of popular and competent lawmakers ultimately results in a bad return on the investment of time spent learning and mastering the ins and outs of policymaking at that level.

But, in Nigeria, an opportunity to serve at the National Assembly is often regarded as a way of rewarding committed party stalwarts or political protégées. As a result, politicians often frown at the idea of lawmakers serving multiple terms, because a chance to serve is widely seen as a form of empowerment. So, frequent change of candidates by ruling parties would make the largesse go round.

Nevertheless, Nigeria has a crop of long-serving legislators that have been at the National Assembly since the country returned to civil rule in 1999. One of such, Senator David Mark, has just retired from active politics to become a peace ambassador for Benue State and the country. With his retirement, the ninth National Assembly has been robbed one of the longest serving legislators.

The retirement of the former Senate President was perhaps facilitated by the loss of power of the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) four years ago. Indeed, Mark who represented Benue South senatorial district from 1999 to 2019 did not contribute much to debates on the floor of the Red Chamber in his last tenure from 2015 to 2019 and he was not a member of any standing committee.

Others in Mark’s category that would play key roles in the ninth National Assembly include Senator Ahmed Lawan (Yobe North), Senator Ike Ekweremadu (Enugu West), Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South), Senator James Manager (Delta South), Senator John Owan Enoh (Cross River Central) and Senator Philip Tanimu Aduda (FCT). The list also includes the following members of the House of Representatives: Nicholas Ebomo Mutu (Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency, Delta State), Femi Gbajabiamila (Surulere Federal Constituency 1, Lagos State), Leo Ogor (Isoko Federal Constituency, Delta State), Yakubu Barde (Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency, Kaduna State), Kabiru Marafa Achida (Wurno/Rabbah Federal Constituency, Sokoto State) and Adams Jagaba (Kachia/Kagarko, Federal Constituency, Kaduna State).


Lawan

Lawan, who represents Yobe North in the Senate, is one of the most experienced lawmakers in the National Assembly on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He came to the National Assembly in 1999, as a member of the House of Representatives, on the platform of All Peoples Party (APP), which transformed into the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and later merged with two other parties to form the ruling APC in 2014.

Thus, Lawan, 60, is one of the few lawmakers that have been part of the National Assembly since the return to civil rule in 1999. Today, he is the Majority Leader of the outgoing eighth Assembly and is poised to become the Senate President, after the inauguration of the ninth Assembly next month. He appears to have the backing of the APC national leadership, including President Muhammadu Buhari.

The teacher-turned politician has a doctorate degree in Remote Sensing. His knowledge of the workings of the legislature is superb.


Ekweremadu

Ekweremadu, who represents Enugu West senatorial zone, is the longest-serving presiding officer in the National Assembly. He served for eight years as Deputy Senate President (2007 to 2015) under Mark and in the last four years under outgoing Senate President Bukola Saraki.

By 2023, he would have completed a fifth term in office, making 20 years. The lawyer-turned politician has been a member of the National Assembly since 2003. He entered politics as chairman of Aninri Local Government Area in 1997. He is very familiar with letters of the constitution and rules of the Senate.

Ekweremadu who was born in born in 1962 at Amachara Mpu, in Aninri Local Government, declared recently that he would not re-contest the Senate seat for Enugu West senatorial zone in 2023. He made the declaration during his 57th birthday celebrations. The lawmaker elected on the platform of the PDP said he was grateful that God for using him to solve certain infrastructural challenges in his constituency.

He has perhaps sensed that returning to the Senate in 2023 would be difficult. This is going by the level of disenchantment and political battle he had weathered to be where he is today, especially from the people of his constituency. A segment of his constituency, especially in Udi, believes they have been stagnated, while one person, who is not even more experienced and knowledgeable than others, had usurped their opportunities to his advantage for 20 years.

He holds both Bachelors and master’s degree in Law from the University of Nigeria, Nigeria and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1987. He also holds Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Law from the University of Abuja, Nigeria.


Ndume

Ndume, who represents Borno South in the upper legislative chamber, was first sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives in 2003, to represent Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza Federal Constituency. He contested on the platform of the defunct ANPP. On the inauguration of the sixth (6th) Assembly in 2007, he emerged as the Minority Leader of the Senate.

Ndume is a serial defector. In December 2010, he defected from the ANPP to the PDP, citing the injustices going on in the party as his reason for leaving. He contested the Borno South senatorial election in 2011 on the ticket of the PDP and won.

He was one of those who left the PDP on the eve of the 2015 general election, to join the APC. He was re-elected in the 2015 made the Senate Leader at the inauguration of the 8th Senate; a position he occupied until January 10, this year when he was removed.

The lawmaker is one of those that have indicated his interest to contest the presidency of the ninth Senate. Although the party has already thrown its weight behind Lawan for the position, Ndume is insisting on running. After a meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo recently, the senator told reporters that he would still contest for the number one position in the Senate.

Ndume was born on November 20, 1959, in Gwoza, Borno State. He has a 1982 Higher National Diploma (HND) in Marketing from Kaduna Polytechnic. He also acquired a B.Ed and M.Ed in Business and Computer Education from the University of Toledo Ohio, United States of America in 1990 and was awarded Magna Cum Laude academic honour.


Manager

Senator Manager, 56, is also one of the longest-serving legislators in the country. He was sworn in as a senator in 2003 to represent Delta South senatorial district and since then he has been at the Senate, chairing various committees.

By the time the time the eighth Senate winds up, he would have completed his fourth term of 16 years at the apex lawmaking chamber.

He would begin a fresh term next month. He secured a fresh term, when he defeated former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of the APC during the recent general elections. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Manager the winner, after polling a total of 258, 812 votes, while Uduaghan got 125,776 votes.

A graduate of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he studied law, he currently chairs the Senate committee on solid minerals. He is respected by his colleagues for his grasp of the workings of the Senate.


Aduda

Aduda, who represents the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is the bona fide ‘landlord’ of the National Assembly. Aduda, 47, was first sworn in at the House of Representatives in 2003 and he was there until 2011 when he stepped up to the upper legislative chamber, the Senate. At the inauguration of the 8th Senate, he was made the Minority Whip.


Mutu

Mutu, the incumbent House of Representatives member representing Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency also secured his sixth term mandate during the just-concluded general elections.

With this record, Mutu has become the longest and highest serving federal lawmaker in the Green Chamber of the National Assembly.

The 57-year-old lawmaker came to the House at the inception of the current democratic dispensation in 1999. He won election to represent Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency of Delta State at the age of 39. He has been winning elections since then. Mutu has been operating underground, so to speak, and has been heading the house committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from 2009 to date.

The soft-spoken Delta lawmaker rarely contributes to debate on the floor of the House and hardly grants interviews, but he appears to be in firm grip of his committee.


Gbajabiamila

Gbajabiamila came to the House in 2003 to represent Surulere 1 Federal Constituency of Lagos State at the age of 40, on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (AC), one of the legacy parties that metamorphosed into the APC in 2014.

Gbaja, as he is popularly known, served as Minority Whip from 2007 and later became Minority Leader, a position he held up to 2015. He is one lawmaker that commands a lot of respect from his colleagues, largely due to the way he articulates his ideas and thoughts each time he speaks on the floor of the House.

Upon his re-election into the House in 2015, Gbajabiamila presented himself to his colleagues as an aspirant for the Speakership seat. He narrowly lost to the outgoing Speaker Yakubu Dogara. Due to his wide acceptance within the party and his members, he was overwhelmingly elected Leader of the 8th House of Representatives on July 28, 2015.

Indications are that Gbajabiamila would eventually emerge as the Speaker of the 9th National Assembly. The ruling APC announced mid-April that it has adopted him as its candidate for Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 9th assembly. The party affirmed that the decision was reached after an ”intensive” deliberation with its House of Reps members-elect during a dinner with President Buhari.

Born June 25, 1962, he has become an authority of sorts, as far as lawmaking is concerned. A lawyer by profession, he graduated from the University of Lagos with honors in 1983 and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School and was called to the Nigerian bar in 1984. He has greatly improved on his innate leadership skills by attending various leadership courses at Stanford University, Oxford University, Cambridge University, and the world respected Said Business School.


Ogor

Like Gbajabiamila, Leonard Okuweh Ogor, popularly known as Leo Ogor, is one of the most outspoken members of the House. The lawmaker has been representing Isoko North/Isoko South Federal Constituency of Delta State since 2003.

Ogor is the Minority Leader of the House. He had served as Deputy House Leader in the seventh assembly.

Born in 1959, Ogor is one lawmaker that easily convinces his colleagues by arguing a matter logically. Not only does he command respect among his colleagues, he wields a lot of influence in the House and attracts lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties to his office at all times.


Barde

Barde has been representing Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency of Kaduna State since 2003. The lawmaker, who is a member of the PDP, is the current Minority Whip. Vocal and outspoken, Barde has been a frequent face on the floor of the House as he hardly misses plenary sittings, except on few occasions. By virtue of his long stay in the House and the role he played during the last leadership contest in the chamber, Barde is considered one of the power brokers in the lower chamber.


Achida

Achida has been representing Wurno/Rabbah Federal Constituency, Sokoto State, since 2003. He is one lawmaker that does not play to the gallery. He has been a constant election winner since then. He has been a member of committees such as appropriations, civil society and donor agencies, information and national orientation, interior, NDDC, public petitions, among others. Always sitting at the front row alongside other ranking members of the House, Achida does not attract much attention to himself, but he is certainly one of the silent power brokers in the House owing to his long stay in the Green Chambers.


Jagaba

Jagaba was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1999. After serving his four-year term, he re-contested election in 2003 but lost. However, he staged a comeback in 2011 and has been in the house since then. A close ally of Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Jagaba is considered one of the strong men of the current house. He is equally outspoken and a no-nonsense person in nature.

ABUJA – The Kastsina State Government and a financial consulting firm, Mauritz Walton Nigeria Ltd, are currently before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja over the state’s alleged failure to honour its contractual agreement to pay the firm 20 per-cent of the $217.3m (N66.3b) due to it from the Paris Club refund by the Federal Government.

The Katsina State Government had admitted, in its statement of defence, that it engaged the plaintiff in relation to the recovery of Paris Club refund but argued that the firm was not entitled to the 20 per-cent it claimed, because it failed to meet the conditions contained in its engagement letter.

Following the refusal of Katsina State government to pay, Mauritz Walton was forced to file a suit in order to get paid for services it rendered.

At a resumed sitting yesterday, the plaintiff ’s sole witness, Dr. Ibe, was cross-examined by lawyers to the defendants except that of Katsina State, who said he required about an hour to question the witness.

The plaintiff ’s legal team is led by Wole Olanipekun (SAN).

Ibe, while being cross-examined, insisted that his firm was entitled to be paid the 20 per cent fees for the services it rendered to Katsina State and that the other defendants were indirectly involved because they were in custody of Katsina’s funds.

Justice Ekwo, while adjourning further hearing to October 14, 15 and 16 this year, warned parties against dissipating the res (subject of dispute) in the case.

In the suit, the firm claimed that it was appointed by Katsina State government vide a letter dated August 18, 2014, with reference No: MOF/STAFF/409/1/31.

By the said letter, the firm said it was mandated to ascertain and recover the excess deductions by the Federal Government from its account to service its external debt between July 1995 and March 2002.

In its statement of claim, the plaintiff claimed, “It was agreed between it and the Katsina State Government that it would be paid 20 per-cent of what was due to the state from the excess deduction, which is commonly referred to as the Paris Club refund.

A 26-year-old teacher, Akorede Quadri, was on Thursday discharged and acquitted of a rape charge by an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in her judgement, Justice Abiola Soladoye discredited the claim by a female teacher, Damilola Odekunle, that she was raped by Quadri, her collegaue.

Soladoye upheld the claim of Quadri that they were “friends with benefits”.

The judge said,“ In instances where there were controversies as to whether consent was willingly given, medical evidence should be provided.”

She held that the prosecution did not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, adding that it failed to provide to the court, medical evidence that the complainant was raped.

“The evidence of the defendant (Quadri) was given in a respectful and precise manner.

“He was coherent and quite articulate. His evidence established that there was a relationship between him and the complainant,” the judge said.

She said that the defendant established that there was regular sex intercourse between him and the complainant, even after she reported the controversial sex of September 2017 to the police.

“This is a case of a friendship that went sour as far as this court is concerned.

“With all due respect, after watching and observing the defendant and the complainant, I’m inclined to believe the version, as presented by the defendant.

“The complainant was very unbelievable,” she added.

The judge held that the complainant was like someone out to take a revenge on a lover.

“In the light of my findings in this case, I find you, Akorede Quadri, not guilty of the one-count charge, of the offence contained on the information dated July 23, 2018.

“I thereby discharge and acquit you accordingly. This is the judgment of this court,” Soladoye held.

Following the judgment, Mrs Fehinti Ogbemudia, Lagos State counsel, and Mr Kelechi Obi, Quadri’s counsel, thanked the court as Quadri, who appeared relieved, raised his hands, thanking God.

NAN reports that two witnesses – the complainant and Sgt. Yemi Amao, a policewoman – testified on behalf of the prosecution, while Quadri solely took the stand in his defence.

Amao, in her evidence, said that the complainant reported the rape allegedly committed in September 2017 to the police in November 2017.

She told the court that Quadri raped the complainant after he went to her apartment in Ikotun, Lagos, to pick up a bag he kept in her possession.

In her evidence, the complainant testified that Quadri and she were both working in a school in Lagos, adding that she had worked in the school for only two weeks when the alleged rape occurred.

The complainant, now 30-year-old, said she was 27 years old at the time of the alleged rape.

She said that Quadri who was 24 then, raped her when he came to collect a bag he kept in her possession.

“When he came to my house, he grabbed me and raped me. I said to him, “What if I get pregnant?” He asked if I had potash at home and I said, “Yes”, and he gave me potash, water and salt to drink.

“Quadri left my house, I was not happy. After some hours, I heard a knock on my door; it was him and his sister, who he brought to come to my house to charge her phone.

“I used the opportunity to ask questions about him from his sister. I didn’t get any cogent answers.

“When his sister’s phone was fully charged, they left. I want this court to grant me justice,” she said.

Quadri, who was arraigned on Jan. 10, on a count charge of rape, disputed the claims in his evidence.

“She told me she was a divorcee, she said she married her ex-husband as a virgin and he made her unhappy.

“I told her to forget him and move on with her life. We became friends with benefits.

“The sexual intercourse we had was not forced, it was consensual. She nagged after the intercourse that I ejaculated inside her.

“I asked if she had salt and potash in her house and she said, “Yes”. She added the salt and potash inside the water and drank it.

“This was in September 2017; I have had several rounds of sexual intercourse with her after that occasion. I can’t count the number of times we had sex,” he said.

According to Quadri, the relationship between them became sour due to the complainant’s jealousy resulting from his perceived relationships with other women.

Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday said his administration would go back to the people of the state on whether to return the monthly sanitation exercise.

Sanwo-Olu said this during a visit to the Olusosun dumpsite in Ojota area of the state, in company with his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat.

The State Government had in November 2016 cancelled the monthly environmental sanitation exercise held every last Saturday of the month.

The government had said it was no longer appropriate to restrict movement of people for three hours in a mega city like Lagos, at a time they should be pursuing commercial and entrepreneurial activities.

Sanwo-Olu, however, said there was the need to seek the opinion of Lagosians again on the issue.

“We are going to ask Lagosians if they want us to return the three- hour monthly sanitation to ensure we have cleaner city.

“Though I know what my own views are, but we will still need to ask Lagosians,” he said.

Lagos has in the recent past faced challenges of environmental sanitation, forcing the governor to sign an executive order on Thursday, a day after he was sworn in, to tackle the problem, among others.

According to Sanwo-Olu, 70 per cent of refuse generated in Lagos is accommodated at the Olusosun dumpsite, and to create more jobs, the government will soon begin recycling the waste.

“Today, we came here to validate the executive order we signed. This is where we receive 70 per cent of the waste in Lagos.

“The facility is 28 years old, so we want to ensure it can receive waste for the next 23 years.

“We want to see how we can improve the road condition, just so that the compactor trucks can have a quicker turn around time.

“The building we are constructing at the entrance of the site will be used to train and retrain the staff and create jobs for more people.

“Half of the waste that comes here need not to be here, as they would have been recycled. Recycling is the way to go,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu said the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) would be collecting recyclable materials in order to create jobs.

“We came here to show people we are not armchair politicians. We are going to create jobs here for people who have nothing doing.

“There is money in waste if properly harnessed. We are going to take back the pride of Lagos,” he said. (NAN)

Eromosele Abiodun


Despite the order by President Muhammadu Buhari for trucks to vacate Apapa roads, there was no respite yesterday for commuters and residents of the area despite the public holiday declared by the federal government as trucks occupied all section of port access roads

THISDAY’s investigation revealed that trucks completely blocked port access roads and overwhelmed the security operatives managing the traffic.

But at the Lagos Port Complex and Creek road section of the port access road, trailers and other heavy-duty vehicles were parked in orderly manner.

Commuters who spoke to THISDAY wondered why the truckers refused to hid the federal government’s directive to vacate the ports access roads.

A commuter, Mrs. Ojerinde Esther, told THISDAY that, “this situation is terrible; how can we continue like this? You, the pressmen, if you have the president’s number please give it to me let me talk to him. How can he give an order last week and we are still facing this problem?”

In the same vein, the Ojuelegba-CMS section of the road, which was cleared by the task force set up by the federal government last week was also blocked yesterday, forcing commercial buses and motorcycles to drive against the traffic

It is a different story from Mile 2 to Liverpool Road section of Apapa-Oshodi Express way as articulated vehicles blocked the road despite efforts by the Presidential Task Force on Apapa gridlock to remove them from the ports access roads.

The dilapidated state of the Coconut and Tin-Can axis of the Apapa-Oshodi highway had prevented the task force from clearing that stretch off articulated vehicles on Sunday, thereby leaving pockets of articulated vehicles on the Mile 2 axis.

National President of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Remi Ogungbemi, had told THISDAY yesterday that his members are complying stressing that trucks are still on the road because the government order was restricted to containerised trucks.

Speaking on the matter recently, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, had blamed the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing for failing to complete the trailer part at the Tincan Island Port gate for over 10 years.

She therefore called on the ministry to conclude the Tincan Island Port trailer park to help address the problem

“I call on the Lagos State Government to use overriding public interest and withdraw some of the land allocations they have for trailer parks so that they can be developed into standardised parks for use of the state. The traffic situation will not reduce in Apapa unless there is a concerted effort in providing trailer parks. I will also use this opportunity to call on the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to conclude the trailer park inside the Tincan Island Port, the ministry has been constructing the park around Tincan Island Port access for the past 10 years.

“I have held discussions with the ministry over two years ago when I assumed duty and requested that the trailer park be handed over to the NPA so that we can conclude the shore protection and have it ready. Fixing that trailer park along with what we have currently at Lilypond will go a long way in decongesting the traffic. The gridlock in Apapa has been lingering for long; the NPA in the last three weeks withdrew the lease for the Lilypond Terminal and converted it into a Trailer Transit Park (TTP). We have also called on the Lagos State Government to provide land for TTP for overriding public interest; we need trailer parks and holding bays to enable us to manage the traffic. We cannot have a situation where all the trailers do not have designated parking. We must have as state or local government a place for trucks to park, “she said.

A Bill, which will clip the wings of anti-graft agencies by establishing a new agency, is in the works, The Nation has learnt.

The bill is seeking to establish the Proceeds of Crimes Recovery and Management Agency (POCA), which will strip the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and six other agencies of powers to seize assets or invoke the forfeiture clause. It has been sent to the President.

If signed into law, the bill will stop the EFCC and six other anti-corruption agencies from securing freezing orders on suspicious bank accounts under investigation.

The bill also empowers a court to give an order to allow a suspect to be paid “reasonable” living expenses from his or her restrained property.


The new bill says POCA’s powers supersede those of the EFCC and the six other agencies.

The other agencies, which are affected by the Proceeds of Crimes Bill, include Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU); and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP); Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the police.

All the agencies have lost the powers of recovery of foreign assets.

But President Muhammadu Buhari has stayed action on assent to the bill and demanded input from the anti-graft agencies.

The President is said to have been concerned after learning that the United Kingdom and South Africa have abrogated a similar agency in their jurisdictions.

A source said: “We are disturbed that the new bill seeks to oust the powers of EFCC and six other agencies. It negates the anti-corruption agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.

”The provisions of the bill appear to be part of a systematic and organised scheme to frustrate the operations of the EFCC and six other agencies and, thereby, derail the anti-corruption fight of this Administration.”

Critics of the bill believe that it is a clear attempt to derail the anti-corruption war because:


• Section 32 of the bill is a clear departure from the existing non-conviction based forfeiture as it creates a window for the suspect or any interested party to reclaim already forfeited assets;

• Sections 25, 64, & 69 of the bill allow the suspect to take benefit from the proceeds of his own crime by providing for the reasonable expenses for himself, dependants and legal team to be settled from the said proceeds; and

• by virtue of the provisions of Parts I, II and III of the Bill, the exercise of powers relating to civil forfeiture is restricted to the proposed Proceeds of Crime Management Agency. This is unreasonable and unjustifiable”. “Presently, the relevant anti-corruption agencies exercise the power of civil forfeiture or non-conviction based confiscation.


“For instance, the massive recovery and forfeiture of assets to the Federal Government of Nigeria by the EFCC has been on the strength of the effective use of the provisions of Section 17 of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006, which is simple to understand and its constitutionality affirmed by various decisions of the Supreme Court,” the source said, pleading not to be named because he is not authorised to talk to the media on the bill.

The source regretted that most of the clauses in the bill are not strengthening the existing laws, contrary to the impression given to the public.

The source said: “In the event that there is need for the enactment of this Bill, it should be aimed at strengthening relevant existing legislations and creating institutional framework for the efficient management and disposal of finally forfeited assets only.

”In a bid to give legislative backing to the various attempts at whittling down the powers of the EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies, Section 157 of the Bill sadly renders null and void any provisions of the enabling statutes of those agencies which are inconsistent with its provisions.

”Thus, elevating itself above all other relevant laws, including EFCC Act, ICPC Act, Police Act, Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, NAPTIP Act, NDLEA Act, Evidence Act, Administration of Criminal Justice Act, Terrorism (Prevention) Act, Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, Customs and Excise Management Act, etc.

”It is significant to note that Section 162 of the bill also seeks to delete several critical provisions of the enabling legislations of anti-corruption agencies. These provisions sought to be deleted are the tools used in achieving the giant strides in assets tracing, recovery and successful prosecutions by the EFCC and others.

“Hence, assent to this Bill will not only cripple the operations and the efficiency of the EFCC, but will also jeopardise the anti-corruption drive of Mr. President and reverse the gains already recorded by this Administration.”

Contrary to the existing legislations, the Bill gives so much protection to suspects and increases the burden of proof on the anti-corruption agencies in assets recovery proceedings.

“By the provisions of the bill, it will be difficult to seek and obtain information from financial institutions and also restrain transactions on suspicious accounts under investigation,” the source said.


Another source gave more insights into the bill.

He noted: The bill also makes it more cumbersome and financially burdensome on anti-corruption agencies to initiate and execute the processes leading to assets recovery.

”The bill seeks to remove the investigative powers of the anti-corruption agencies having primary responsibilities of investigation and recovery of the proceeds of crime, contrary to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines.

“The said Section 162(3) of the Bill, which seeks to delete Sections 6(d), 13(2)(c), 20, 21, 22, 24, 25(a),(c)& (d), 26(1)(b), 29, 33 and 34 of the EFCC Act relating to its powers to investigate, prosecute and confiscate assets, contrary to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines which state that a team responsible for assets recovery should be domiciled in an anti-corruption agency that has the authority to investigate and/or prosecute.

” Furthermore, the bill seeks to derogate the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 1267, 1373 and other successive resolutions on Targeted Financial Sanctions against Designated Terrorist Persons and Entities.

”The implication of the deletion of Section 6(d) of the EFCC Act which gives the EFCC powers to investigate and enforce Terrorism (Prevention) Act as it relates to terrorism financing, is that the commission will be unable to implement the said UNSCR.”

President Buhari is believed to have has demanded briefs from all the agencies affected by the bill.

“The President has stayed action in assenting to the bill. Instead, he has asked all the agencies affected by the provisions in the bill to submit brief on their observations,” a Presidency source said.

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday urged the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to preserve his assets declaration form in a very safe custody, saying a lot of the people who have tested the bitter pill of his anti-corruption war will want to get back at him by 2023 after his second term in office.

Buhari made the plea after himself and his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, were presented their assets declaration forms by officials of the CCB at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The President, who said he was going to quickly fill his form and dispatch it back to CCB, said: “I am very pleased that you are here, I assure you I will quickly fill this form and dispatch it back to you so that at the end of 2023, I believe there are a lot of people that will like to get back at me.

“So, please, make sure you keep it safely because there are people who believed they shouldn’t be questioned and they are being questioned and some of them are already in trouble. I expect them to fight back and this is one of the instruments. So, I hope you will keep it when I finish. Thank you very much indeed.”

Commending the CCB members for accepting to serve, Buhari said: “I am very pleased, I think I am meeting you for the first time since your appointment. I have never met you before. I thank you for accepting to be in this very important institution and I thank you very much for serving me my forms, which I must fill constitutionally before my second term of office.

“I think we cannot over-emphasise the importance of your office because Nigerians are notorious for cutting short and not giving account of their public responsibilities and we are trying to impress it on our nation and the world that this administration is based on accountability.

“It is only institutions like yours that will bail us out from the efforts that we have been making to make sure that people in public offices do not abuse that public office and that those who come in and those that are leaving in certain positions make sure that they hold the integrity of the office and of the country generally in high esteem.”

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari officially begins his second and final term on Wednesday following his re-election in February.

Despite his large winning margin, the next four years won’t be easy for the 76-year-old former general. Here are some of the key issues he’ll face while at the helm of Africa’s biggest oil producer and most populous nation.


Growth and Inflation

Nigeria’s economic growth has slumped since the 2014 crash in crude prices and Buhari is struggling to revive it. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that gross domestic product will expand 2.1% this year, which would make Nigeria one of Africa’s slowest-growing economies and mean that growth is negative in per capita terms. Inflation is at 11.4% and has been above the central bank’s target of 6% to 9% for almost four years.


Revenue and Debt

Since so few Nigerians and companies pay tax, the nation has one of the lowest revenue-to-GDP ratios in the world at about 7%. That leaves the government with little money to spend on schools, hospitals and infrastructure. Officials are also concerned about how much of the budget is soaked up by interest payments. In March, the Debt Management Office told Bloomberg it will avoid Eurobonds and instead prioritize concessional loans from the likes of the World Bank to lower its finance costs.


The Naira

Foreign investors’ biggest gripe over the past four years was how Nigeria handled the naira in the wake of the oil crisis. Central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele, who Buhari just re-appointed for a second term, ramped up capital controls in a bid to stop the currency depreciating. There’s a system of multiple exchange rates in place that critics, including the IMF, say is opaque and deters investment. Many also say that central bank meddling has left the naira overvalued: Renaissance Capital estimates it should be about 20% weaker against the dollar.


Foreign Investment

A slump in foreign direct investment since the early part of the decade has accelerated under Buhari, whose administration has come into conflict with companies including MTN Group Ltd. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Last year, FDI flows into Nigeria totalled just $2.2 billion, less than a third of the amounts South Africa and Egypt attracted.


Fuel Prices

Buhari is an advocate of low gasoline prices, believing they’re one of the few benefits that Nigerians get from the state. They’re capped at 145 naira a liter ($0.40, or $1.51 a gallon), which makes Nigeria the sixth cheapest country in which to fill up your tank, according to GlobalPetrolPrices.com. That cost almost $2 billion in subsidies last year, according to the IMF, which has urged the government to raise prices.


Oil and NNPC

One reason for optimism about the economy is rising crude production. It climbed to 1.9 million barrels a day in April, the highest level in more than three years, as Total SA’s massive Egina offshore field came on-stream. Investors will hope that Buhari encourages more deepwater developments while also cleaning up Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., the state-owned energy company that opposition politicians say is blighted by graft and mismanagement.


Blackouts and Gridlocked Ports

Nigeria has long suffered from dire infrastructure, not least its power network and ports. Buhari has struggled to fulfill his pledge to end constant electricity outages and chaos at the country’s main ports, both of which weigh on economic growth.


Islamic State and Boko Haram

While Buhari managed to win back territory in the northeast held by Boko Haram when he first came to power, a breakaway faction allied to Islamic State is gaining strength and regularly attacks army bases and convoys. That’s one of a string of security problems that have escalated in recent years. In other parts of the country, clashes between farmers and herders over grazing land led to around 2,000 deaths in 2018, according to Amnesty International.


Corruption

Buhari’s popularity with voters is largely because of his promises to fight corruption. While he says his administration has done much to cut graft in the public sector, critics complain that he lacks a clear strategy and that he’s used his anti-corruption campaign to go after political opponents.


Booming Population

One of the biggest long-term issues facing Nigeria is its rapidly-growing population — the United Nations expects it to double to 410 million by 2050, overtaking every country bar India and China. While some investors see that as a reason to move into Nigeria, others say it threatens social and political stability in a country whose government already struggles to provide basic services and which has more extremely poor people than any other.

By Femi Adekoya and Kingsley Jeremiah


As President Muhammadu Buhari, who doubles as the petroleum minister, completes his first term in office, stakeholders in the oil and gas sector have insisted that his performance in the sector is far below expectations.

The stakeholders, who spoke to The Guardian yesterday, stated that Buhari did not deserve pass mark considering that critical issues, including industry reforms, transparency and accountability, overhaul of dilapidated refineries and payment of subsidy are yet to be addressed.

They lamented that investments worth over $200 billion have been stranded due to failure to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), just as they noted that promises to address the various demands of the people of the oil-producing region, including addressing a 16-point request by the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and re-awarding oil blocks whose licences have expired, remained unkept.

Although the Senate at the weekend passed the reworked Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), to which President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier declined assent due to ambiguities and improper legislative drafting, if signed this time, it will take time for more positive changes to occur in the sector.

To them, the administration was not transparent enough about the management of subsidy payments for petroleum products’ imports as it allowed the NNPC to monopolise the process.

Former president of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) and one-time chairman of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) national stakeholders working group, Ledum Mitee said the administration’s performance in the sector was more in terms of politics than keeping promises.

Mitee, who said the promises on the cleanup of Ogoni had remained elusive, urged the new cabinet to usher in reforms that would drive investment, economic growth, and job creation while meeting the demand of the Niger Delta region.

“As the administration sets to begin its new phase, my expectation would be that it sincerely rights the wrongs of the past and be guided by justice, especially as it relates to its rush to resume oil exploitation in Ogoni without any meaningful engagement with the people and compliance with extant laws and regulations,” he stated.

The Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf, said the pace of reforms in the oil and gas sector remained painfully slow over the past four years.

According to him, the stalling of the PIB has impeded the progress of the sector.

“In the upstream segment, contracting processes under the joint venture partnership took between 12 and 36 months. This was a major problem for investors in the sector. This is one reason there are no new investors coming into the sector.

“The downstream was equally plagued by the excessive regulation which made it difficult to unlock the huge potential of the oil and gas sector. It is desirable to fully liberalise the sector so that investors can inject the desired private capital. The price cap on the petroleum products and the dominance of the state-owned oil company [NNPC] had practically shut out the private sector in the downstream oil sector. There is a huge potential for investment, jobs, capital and revenue to be unlocked in the sector through appropriate reforms.”

The Director, Sub-Saharan Africa Research at Wood Mackenzie, Gail Anderson, had said Buhari’s second term could bring stability within key state bodies, such as NNPC and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, but warned that the desired results may remain elusive.

On the delay in the passage of the PIB, Anderson said: “With major final investment decisions (FIDs) highly unlikely until the issue is resolved, these negotiations will go a long way to determine whether Nigeria’s world-class deep water has an attractive long-term future. There is a lot at stake in the next four years.”

A former Director General of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), and professor of economics and public policy, University of Uyo, Akpan Ekpo also said that the administration performed poorly, especially by failing on key reforms and leaving out the demand for a diversified economy.

Ekpo said: “In my view, the oil sector only had marginal performance. A country that exports oil should not have business importing refined products. It drains our reserves. We need to commercial NNPC. We need to stop the monopoly of NNPC, revamp the refineries and stop subsidy.”

A principal consultant at DeltR Energy Ltd. Ronke Onadeko, who also scored the administration low in performance, said the new cabinet must deregulate the downstream section, reform the NNPC and create clear plans for the sector.

With the plan to end gas flaring next year, Onadeko advised that the new administration must prioritise the decision by investing in gas infrastructure.

However, the president, Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Ajibola Oyebamiji, said that the oil and gas industry witnessed a lot of improvement in the past four years as against the era of dwindling global oil prices.

Meanwhile, a report has revealed that NNPC, between February 2018 and February 2019, exported crude oil and gas worth of $5.94billion.

The February 2019 edition of the corporation’s Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) released yesterday showed that the group posted a total export sale of crude oil and gas of $490.03 million in February, which is 32.45 per cent higher than the previous month’s sale.

The report noted that crude oil export sales contributed $350.29million (71.48 per cent) of the dollar transactions compared with $240.23million contribution in the previous month.

The report equally explained that the export gas sales amounted to $139.74 million in the month under review.

While attacks on pipelines have remained high in the last few months, the development declined in February by 40 per cent when compared with the reported incidents of January 2019.

According to the report, a total of 137 pipeline points were vandalised, which translates to 40 per cent drop from the 230 points vandalized in January 2019.

In the report, Mosimi-Ibadan petroleum products pipeline accounted for 72 per cent of the breaks while Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Warri and Gombe lines made up the remaining 28 per cent.

The report attributed the drop in the line break to efforts by NNPC, the local communities and other stakeholders to reduce and eventually eliminate pipeline vandalism.

To ensure continuous increase in petrol supply and effective distribution across the country, 1.27billion litres translating to 45.53million liters/day were supplied for the month.

In terms of natural gas offtake, commercialisation and utilisation, the records indicated that within the period, daily average natural gas supply to gas power plants increased by 8.23 per cent to 819.85million standard cubic feet (mmscf), equivalent to power generation of 3,336MW. The figure is an improvement from the January 2019 record where an average of 757mmscfd was supplied to generate 3,124MW.

Also, out of the 223.23billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas supplied in February 2019, a total of 127.62bcf of gas was commercialized, consisting of 37.77bcf and 89.85bcf for the domestic and export market respectively. This translates to a total supply of 1,349.03mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 3,780.24mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month.

This implies that 57.17 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialised while the balance of 42.83 per cent was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared.

By Iyobosa Uwugiaren, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Seriki Adinoyi in Jos


President Muhammadu Buhari will today meet with governors of the 19 northern states in Abuja over the worsening security situation in the region.

The region has been enveloped by violence arising from Boko Haram insurgency, herdsmen killing of farmers, armed banditry and kidnapping.

Only yesterday, many were killed and houses torched in Dutse Uku, Rikkos and Cele Bridge areas of Jos, the capital of Plateau State, in a renewed orgy of violence that the police said had been brought under control.

Reacting to the situation yesterday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) blamed the president and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the growing despondency in the country, saying their policies were responsible.

The former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, also expressed his disappointment with the state of the nation yesterday, warning that the country was dancing on the brink of chaos.

But Vice President Yemi Osinbajo thought differently, saying the future of the nation is bright and contended that the prevailing situation is a temporary challenge that would be overcome.

The Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum and Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Simon Lalong, disclosed the proposed meeting of the governors and Buhari yesterday during a special church service to mark the inauguration of his second tenure.

He said his colleagues in the north were deeply worried by the insecurity and under-development in the region and had decided to meet with the president before the commencement of his second tenure in order to articulate ways of addressing the challenges.

Lalong said: “During our meeting under Northern Governors’ Forum, they said let us go and meet with Mr. President.

“As the new Chairman of the forum, I said I have not resumed. But they said we must go and meet with him before his inauguration on May 29 so that we will tell him the problems of the north and how we can address the challenges of insecurity, under-development and other matters affecting the people. That is why we have agreed to meet with him tomorrow in Abuja.”

Lalong urged the people to pray for the success of the meeting to enable the northern region move forward.


PDP blames APC, Buhari for Escalated Despondency

Meanwhile, the PDP in a statement yesterday decried what it described as the escalated despondency, depression and misery in the country since the 2019 presidential election.

The main opposition party described as a national tragedy, the rising spate of suicides, slavery mission abroad, child abandonment and other social degeneration occasioned by the worsening economic hardship, poverty, hunger and rising insecurity under the APC administration.

The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, lamented that such social ills, which it said was a direct response to bad governance, occur when citizens are overwhelmed by gloom, with no hope in sight.

The party stressed that most Nigerians have become downhearted in the face of an administration that wrecked the country’s once robust economy and divided the people.

It stated: “Banditry, insurgency, marauding, bloodletting and kidnapping with unmentionable ransoms, have almost become daily occurrences. Our citizens are now battling with the worst kind of siege mentality.

“Constitutional violations, human rights abuses, arbitrary arrests, extra-judicial killings, assault on perceived dissenting voices and attempt at annexation of our institutions of democracy, particularly the judiciary, signpost a nation in dire strait.”

The PDP, however, called on Nigerians not to despair but stand firm in their collective determination to retrieve, what it called its presidential mandate, at the tribunal.


Again Violence Erupts in Jos, Many Killed, Houses Torched

In the meantime, security agencies said yesterday that they had brought under control the violence that erupted in Dutse Uku, Rikkos, Cele Bridge areas of Jos.

Confirming the incident, Police Public Relation Officer in Plateau State, Mr. Mathias Tyopev, assured the people that security men have been drafted to arrest the situation.

He said: “We have received reports of tension around Dutse Uku, Rikkos, Cele Bridge and we have mobilised our personnel to the area.

“As we speak, the Area Commander, Jos Metropolis is there on the ground.”

A resident of the area, who identified himself as Mr. Paul Musa, said there had been tension in the area since last week when a boy from Angwan Miango was found dead at the boundary between the community and neighboring Rikkos, a community of Hausa extractions in the metropolis.

The tension emanating from the killing was, however, doused by the security agents.

Again, on Sunday morning, another boy from the same Angwan Miango was allegedly killed when he went to wash at Cele River, a stream that runs between the Angwan Miango and Rikkos community.

Angered by the spate of killing, the natives from Angwan Miango took the fight to their Hausa neighbours in Rikkos. This degenerated into full-blown mayhem with gunshots rending the air and houses set ablaze.

Some churches, on getting wind of the crisis, hurriedly wind up their services in order to dismiss worshippers.

Meanwhile, the security agents are currently making efforts to control the affected communities and avoid further escalation of the crisis.


Nigeria Dancing on the Brink of Chaos, Says Onaiyekan

In a related development, the John Cardinal Onaiyekan yesterday warned that Nigeria is indulging in the risky game of dancing on the brink of chaos, saying that the signs are obvious for all who care to see.

He challenged the president to change his leadership habit as he starts a new term, if Nigeria is to recover from its present socio-political and economic crises.

But, on his part, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo urged Christians to take the lead of giving hope to Nigerians, expressing confidence that the country’s future is bright.

He said the federal government was committed to resolving all the challenges confronting the nation.

On his part, former military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd), urged Nigerian politicians to promote governance in the interest of the people and pray for Buhari to succeed.

They stated these at the 2019 Presidential Inauguration Inter-Denominational Church Service with the theme: ‘Setting the Nation on Higher Levels of Peace and Development in the Fear of God’ in Abuja yesterday.

Onaiyekan said the ranks between the poor and the rich are swelling by the day, while the poor watch in frustration at the affluence of the very few cruising in a different world.

He noted that such wide socio-economic disparity has led to anger, tension, violence and outright criminality in the land, adding that all is not well.

In his sermon, titled “Let Us Choose Life Not Death,” the Cardinal said: “This is no time for celebration of victory or for lamentation over defeat. Rather, it is time to pull efforts together, with the grace of God, to tackle the serious challenges before us.

“At this moment, we would do well to acknowledge our failure to do things in the right way. Here the words of the psalmist should challenge each of us: ‘If you Oh Lord should mark our guilt, who would survive?’ The blame game of pointing accusing fingers at others will not carry us far.

“For a positive change to take place, we must all be ready for a sincere change of heart, from the lowest to the highest, but especially at the highest levels. Empty boasts and bare-face denial of the realities around us cannot build a nation.

“We are in the house of God, and before God we must tell the truth. The Lord Jesus has told us that The Truth will make us free. The truth is that our nation is not in a state for us to rejoice.

“The ranks of the poor are swelling by the day, hopeless and helpless, as they watch in frustration the affluence of the very few cruising in a different world. Such wide socio-economic disparity has led to anger, tension, violence and outright criminality in the land. All is not well.

“But all is not lost either. As we embrace a new term of government, it should be for us a new opportunity to change ways and review habits of governance, for a better Nigeria.

“We can and we should do this. God has endowed us with adequate resources to achieve this, resources that we unfortunately turn into crises and problems. Ethnicity and religion are two cases in point.”

The cleric described ethnic diversity as God’s will and gift that the nation ought to appreciate and celebrate, advising Nigerians to beware of those who seek to manipulate this in a game of divide and rule, for selfish interests.

He added, “In our emerging global world, we should be building on our long experience of living together across ethnic lines, if we are not to allow ourselves to be left behind in our fast developing modern world.”

Onaiyekan advised that it is important for the leaders to note that many have already lost hope.

Government officials, including, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha; Head of Service, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita; Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele; Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh; as well representatives of the military and police chiefs; diplomats; senior government officials and delegations of various churches and Christian denominations across Abuja and the country attended the event.

Rochas Okorocha, the governor of Imo State, has vowed that he will become the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come what may.

Okorocha made his conviction public on Sunday during his valedictory thanksgiving service held at the Government House Chapel in Owerri.

He said that his current political travails, particularly the seizure of his Certificate of Return as the Imo West senator-elect, were only strengthening him for the exalted presidential seat in Aso Rock.

The outgoing governor said the wishes of his political adversaries concerning him would not come to pass, saying “those who want me to go to prison will go to prison before me.”

According to him, the elite hated him because he decided to approach the affairs of the state differently.

Describing himself as “the most criticised politician” in the country, Okorocha said that all the ploy to stop him from going to the Senate will fail.

Okorocha said, “I tell you, I am the most criticised person in Nigeria today. I don’t know why the entire elite hate me with cruelty.

“My Senate ambition is still a battle. More than 30 people have joined the suit to fight me. All these, I will overcome.

“They are only preparing me for the glory ahead.”

“Mark it, I will be president of Nigeria. I said this on this altar so that the kingdom of God will rise against those fighting to stop me.

“Also, those who think they will put me in prison will go to prison before me.

“They don’t want me to be at the National Assembly, but I will be there. I know I am the last man standing, but I will not give up.”

He said that 95 percent of Imo indigenes did not understand him and his style of governance.

“Only a few of them later realised that I meant well for the state. I governed the state with passion. I broke protocols and bent the laws, but I never broke laws.

“When I took over the office eight years ago, I wasn’t unmindful that a lot of people will misunderstand me and try to distract me.

“But today, I have left the state better than I met it. I am the architect of the new Imo. I am a satisfied governor.”

Olaleye Aluko



The Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Army , which are two active forces in the counter- insurgency war in the North -East, have lost over N 4. 8 bn in weaponry in the region between January and May , 2019 .

This sum is obtained from estimates of the crashed NAF Mi - 35 M helicopter , gun trucks , machine guns and other weapons stolen from army bases , according to military sources .

On January 2 , the air force’ s Mi -35 M attack helicopter crashed in the North -East while on a Boko Haram interdiction mission , killing five crew members comprising two pilots and three NAF personnel in Damasak , Borno State .
According to a document, Mi -35 M orders and deliveries , the crashed helicopter is estimated at over $ 12 million or N 4 .6 bn .

The records noted that Nigeria placed a contract for six Mi -35 M combat helicopters in August 2014 and received the first batch of two helicopters in December 2016 .

The second batch of two helicopters was delivered in April 2018 . But one of them crashed in Damasak on January 2 .

The records noted, “ The Brazilian Air Force signed a $ 150 m contract with Rosoboron export for 12 Mi -35 M helicopters in November 2008 . The first three helicopters were delivered in December 2009 .

“ Nigeria placed a contract for six Mi -35 M combat helicopters in August 2014 . The Nigerian Air Force received the first batch of two helicopters in December 2016 , while the second batch of two helicopters was delivered in April 2018 . ”

The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information , Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, had yet to pick call or respond to a message on estimates of the loss as of press time .

In January 2018 , a NAF Mi - 17 attack helicopter had also crashed in a counter- insurgency operation in Borno State , with claims from the Boko Haram factional leader, Abubakar Shekau , that his fighters shot down the military aircraft .
The Defence Headquarters , Abuja , however, refuted Shekau ’s claims.

Since January 2019 , at least five army bases in the North -East have been attacked by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West African Province fighters , leading not only to loss of soldiers , but also costly weapons .

Some weapons were also destroyed by the sect ’s Improvised Explosive Devices’ explosions .
SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that Boko Haram attacked army bases in Geidam , Yobe State ; Banki and a Forward Operating Base in Mararrabar Kimba , both in Borno State .

The fighters also attacked bases in the Gubio and the Magumeri Local Government Areas of Borno, carting away undisclosed ammunition .
Although the army didn’t confirm the loss of its weapons , evidence reinforced the developments .

On May 13 , the army confirmed that its 154 Task Force Battalion Commander , Lt Col Yusuf Aminu, and two soldiers were killed by IEDs planted by the Boko Haram on the Mauli -Borgozo Road . During the incident , two gun trucks and a Tata truck were damaged by the explosion , according to sources .

Estimates showed that the army had lost over N 200 m worth of weapons to insurgency since January, although some of them were currently being recovered from the terrorists .

The acting Director , Army Public Relations , Col Sagir Musa , did not returned our correspondent’ s call or respond to a text message sent to his phone as of press time .

The Chief of the Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai , had , on Wednesday , assured troops of plans to induct more weapons into the Operation Lafiya Dole to enhance the counter- terrorism war .

The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) says it has arrested two teenagers in Maiduguri, Borno over illicit intercourse in public.

The Commandant of the Corps, Mr Abdullahi Ibrahim, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday that the suspects were arrested on May 21 at Abbaganaram area of Maiduguri.


Abdullahi disclosed that the suspects were 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl.

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He said the suspects were apprehended by men of the command sequel to formal complaint by a member of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), who spotted them having intercourse in public glare.

The commandant added that the prime suspect admitted that he opted for sex in public as he could not afford exorbitant hotel bills.

He gave assurance that the suspects would be arraigned in court as soon as investigation into the case was completed

The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, says it has arrested two teenagers in Maiduguri, Borno State over illicit sexual intercourse in public during the month of Ramadan.

The Commandant of the Corps, Abdullahi Ibrahim, told newsmen on Friday that the suspects were arrested on May 21 at Abbaganaram area of Maiduguri.



Mr Abdullahi disclosed that the suspects were a 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl.

He said the suspects were apprehended by men of the command sequel to a formal complaint by a member of Civilian Joint Task Force, CJTF, who spotted them having intercourse in public glare.

The commandant added that the prime suspect admitted that he opted for sex in public as he could not afford exorbitant hotel bills.

He gave assurance that the suspects would be arraigned in court as soon as investigation into the case was completed.

NAN

All roads will lead to the popular Eagle Square, located in the heart of the nation’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. On that day, which is barely three days away, a new page will be added to history as General Muhammadu Buhari mounts the saddle to begin his second tenure as Nigeria’s president. Daily Trust on Sunday reports that after May 29, Buhari might face his toughest tenure as president.

The Federal Government has declared that President Buhari’s second term inauguration would be low keyed this time round, a decision the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed justified, saying ‘the country can ill-afford two major celebrations within a two-week interval

Buhari’s electoral victory for a second term was made possible after over 15 million Nigerians voted for him during the 2019 general elections. Earlier in 2015, when he trounced former President Goodluck Jonathan to become the first opposition candidate to have defeated an incumbent.

Buhari, who rode to power on the mantra of ‘change’, promised a radical departure from the past, having made three unsuccessful attempts.

Upon assumption of office for his first tenure on May 29, 2015, the 76-year- old Buhari had vowed to stamp out corruption, revive the economy and defeat the Boko Haram insurgency.

Although his teeming supporters have argued that his tenure was renewed because he had fulfilled previous campaign pledges, his critics have continued to question his record in government and his ability to deliver on fresh promises of taking Nigeria to ‘the next level.’ His supporters are quick to point to Buhari’s successes in the three cardinal areas that formed his campaign thrust in 2015. For instance, they are quick to cite improvement in security in the North-East.

Reference is also made to the effect that under Buhari’s watch, the Nigerian military retook territories from Boko Haram militants that had been fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. Similarly, scores of schoolgirls that were part of a group of nearly 300 abducted by the militants were also reunited with their families, even though many of the Chibok girls remain missing, including Leah Sharibu, who recently turned 16 years from Boko Haram captivity.

On the economy, the president is believed to have diversified the economy by boosting investment in agriculture and infrastructure projects. This is in addition to overseeing a rise in oil production in the South. He is also given some credit for eventually bringing the economy out of recession. But as he assumes the mantle of leadership for his second and last tenure as president, expectations are high, even as analysts believe that Buhari has the last opportunity of writing his name in gold as civilian president.

Not a few Nigerians believe there is a carryover of challenges from his first tenure, which he needs to redouble his efforts in addressing. One of them is security challenge, which finds expression in the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, kidnapping, armed banditry, as well as the farmer/herder crisis. Even though the Boko Haram insurgency seems to have been significantly degraded and now confined to the North-East, the attacks have not completely ended.

The humanitarian crisis arising from the insurgency has also given rise to rising cases of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North-East region. Analysts believe the president has a duty to provide an environment that is conducive for the teeming IDPs to return to their homes. Another security challenge Buhari would confront in his second term is the rising spate of kidnappings, as well as armed banditry.

The Inspector- General of Police Mohammad Adamu recently said about 1,071 persons had died in crime-related incidents across the country in just four months (January to April this year). The IGP, who spoke at the quarterly Northern Traditional Ruler’s Council meeting in Kaduna, said crime statistics indicated that no fewer than 685 persons were kidnapped across the country with the North-West recording 436 cases of death, the highest in the country.

He said the North-Central recorded 250 deaths while the South-South had130 cases. He said the data showed that Zamfara State recorded 203 murder incidents, topping the national prevalence scale, followed by Kaduna State with 112 reported cases; while Benue State recorded 90 cases.

On incidents of kidnapping, IGP said 546 or 79.8 per cent of the national total were recorded in the three northern geopolitical zones, with the highest zonal prevalence occurring in the North-West, where 365 persons were reportedly kidnapped within the period. “This is followed by the North-Central geo-political zone, where 145 persons were kidnapped.

“It is pertinent to mention that Zamfara State has the highest national kidnap rate of 281 victims in what has been directly linked to activities of armed bandits in the state. This is followed by Kogi State with 65, while in Niger State, 51 persons were kidnapped within the period,” he said. One of the victims of kidnapping was the chairman of the Governing Council of the Universal Basic Education Commission, Dr. Muhammad Abubakar, who was abducted along with his daughter on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway by gunmen on April 29.

His driver was shot dead in the process. He was subsequently released after a huge ransom was allegedly paid. Another high profile case of kidnapping that left Nigerians bewildered was that of President Buhari’s son in-law, Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, a senior traditional title holder in Daura Emirate Council in Katsina State.

He is still held captive, thereby posing a big challenge to President Buhari in addressing this and other security challenges in his second tenure. On the anti-corruption war, the Buhari government has secured some convictions, prominent among which are those of two ex-governors: Jolly Nyame (Taraba) and Joshua Dariye (Plateau). The convictions of the two ex-governors, according to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), were among a total of 139 convictions it secured between January and June 2018.

However, the credibility of Buhari’s anti-corruption war during his first tenure has been called to question by the perception that it was lopsided, targeting mainly non-APC members. Critics said that for his fight against corruption war to bear the toga of credibility, it must be less selective during his second tenure. On the economic front, the contentious issue of fuel subsidy had been on over a period of time.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently advised Nigeria and other countries still subsidizing fuel for domestic consumption to stop doing so, saying subsidy removal would help boost revenue and improve on local infrastructure development. With Buhari holding forte as Minister of Petroleum Resources, experts believe he has a duty to come up with a clear cut policy on oil subsidy regime, which gulps over N1trillion annually.

There is also the challenge of unemployment in the country, as well as rising poverty. It was revealed in June 2018 that Nigeria had overtaken India as the nation with the highest number of people living in extreme poverty across the world, with an estimated 86.9 million people measured to be living on less than $1.25 (N381.25) a day.

This much was contained in findings by the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organisation based in Washington, DC, America. Although the Federal Government had dismissed the Brookings report, many analysts have linked rising cases of crime in Nigeria to unemployment and tasked President Buhari to prioritise job creation in his second term.

With these challenges, Nigerians are anxiously awaiting the formation of President Buhari’s new cabinet as he assumes office for his second term. Many analysts believe the quality of those on his cabinet would either make or mar his ‘Next Level’ pact with Nigerians.

It came as a shock coming across a sponsored post on Twitter from an account ‘Excellent Service Providers,’ advertising its services for students. The services included coursework, thesis, and dissertation writing, for pegged prices starting from N50,000.

A thesis, or as it is more commonly known, a final-year ‘project’, is a researched essay in the area of a students’ course of study for their degrees. For most higher institutions in the world, Nigeria included, one of the main criteria of a degree being awarded is by writing a dissertation or thesis.

But it has now become common for students to ‘outsource’ by paying individuals – sometimes referred to as ‘mercenaries’ – or even businesses specializing in writing these works. This has cast a long shadow of doubt on the credibility of the degrees, since the projects contribute a lot to the final Grade Point Average (GPA) of any potential graduate.

How it all began I saved the number on the profile of ‘Excellent Service Providers,’ sent a message on WhatsApp and introduced myself as Hassana Yahya, a Business Administration student of Nasawara State University.

Malam Ibrahim Yakasai, Director of Communications, NUC “I need help with my final year project. How do I go about?” I enquired. “Lucky, lucky you,” Ohireime Princeton Eboreime quickly replied. “My first degree and MBA are business-related,” he told me. “Send your course outline, and preferred area of concentration. We can get a topic.”

I explained to him my concerns of him running away with my money without getting the job done, to which he gave me the assurance that he wasn’t fraudulent. “I paid $400 for my sponsored post on Twitter. If I wanted to be shady, I wouldn’t use something so brain-tasking,” he said.

Eboreime was not new in the business, as he revealed to me that he had been writing theses and dissertations for the past eight years, starting when he was still at the university in the United Kingdom, for a price range of about 500 to 800 pounds sterling.

After asking me about his deadline, he told me the price for his service would cost N80,000 in two installments. 70 per cent now, and 30 per cent after the work had been completed. After bargaining for price of N50,000. We gradually settled at a price of N70,000.

“No word of this outside.

Anyone asks, you did it for 80k,” he warned me.

John Ogar, on the other hand, was very skeptical when I first introduced myself, dogging me with questions on how I got his number, and the exact person that put me in touch with him. I made up a name, and he let his guard down a little for a proper conversation, during which we discussed what I wanted, and decided seeing face-to-face would be better.

We agreed to meet in the city on a Friday, a week after our phone call. He directed me to the Area 3 junction, where he would lead me to our meeting point from there. The man who made his way towards me was well-dressed, of average height, and had an aura of overconfidence.

He also seemed cautious, almost suspicious. “John?” I asked. “Yes. Good afternoon,” he answered. “Just go straight. I’ll direct you,” giving no room for chitchat and sitting into the passenger’s seat of the car. “Where exactly are we going? I thought you would take us to your shop?” I asked cautiously, as he led us deeper into unfamiliar territory.

“It’s more of a stall where I run my business as a contractor. You don’t know Commerce Plaza? It’s inside,” he answered. When we got there, we both made our way to his “stall” in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the plaza, where printers were busy at work.

He motioned for me to take a seat, after which he also took to his, and we began to talk business. “I’ve been writing projects for over five years,” he revealed to me confidently. “It started with mine, and a friend’s own, back in school.

I’m doing really great off the money I make from my business. I’m quite comfortable,” he further revealed. “So how much am I going to pay?” I asked him. “Just give me N100,000,” he said matter-of-factly. “That’s too much,” I protested.

“The person that put me in touch with you said that you did his for N40,000.” John said times have changed, and what he was charging in 2015 is not comparable to now. “It’s not like I just write the project and that’s it. I effect all the corrections made by the supervisor myself,” he added, as he further tried to justify his price.

After drawing on about walking me through the defence and also, being available even after the project is done, John agreed to a reduced price, but with a condition: “I’ll give you a price of N70,000 if you refer your coursemates to me as well.” And with that settled, I handed him N35,000, and promised the other half of his payment after completion.

I got to meet Eboreime during our follow-up meeting. An albino, dressed in a simple orange shirt, jeans and sandals, he was on the heavier and taller side and looked quite daunting in size compared to myself. He spoke eloquently, which was attributed to his studies in the UK.

He settled in the chair beside me in the reception, looking quite at home as if we had met previously several times before. He revealed to me that over the past eight years of providing his services, he has lost count of the students he has written coursework, thesis and dissertations for.

“About 40% of my customers are Nigerian students studying for first degrees and masters degrees online, 35% are from federal and state universities, and the remaining 25% are from private universities all over Nigeria,” he boasted.

But two questions nagged: What about the institutions? Are they aware that their students engage in such acts, and still go ahead to award their degrees? I was given an answer by Amina (not real name), a student of one of the private universities in Abuja, gaining her confidence by asking her to confirm the rumours I had been hearing on the hiring of ‘mercenary’ project writers. Amina said: “I got someone who wrote my project for N60,000 for me.

But after tutoring me on how to answer the questions during defence, and also studying the project myself, two days before our projects were due for submission, when I passed my work through the plagiarism checker, it showed that the project he wrote for me was 99% plagiarized. The only thing changed was the name of the original writer, to mine.” She continued: “I ended up having to confess to my supervisor, as I only had two days before submission.

He (my supervisor) gave me three extra days to submit.

I ended up getting someone else to do the project for me. My supervisor also helped me out too, not knowing that I already had someone else helping me so that I could meet the deadline. Though I told him I didn’t do the first one myself, it didn’t affect the marks he gave me.” Asked how many students in her class also paid mercenaries, Amina answered: “Almost all of us. Very few, actually, wrote the projects themselves.”


An assessment of the projects

Dr. Theophilus Abbah, a forensic linguist, said the works are replete with outright plagiarism and careless stylistics flaws that cannot be ignored by any assessor or project supervisor worth his name. “A check on Google, not even with the use of a sophisticated plagiarism software, revealed the topic, ‘The Effect of Small Scale Businesses on the Growth of the Nigerian Economy’ was copied from a 2015 publication of the International Journal of Business and Management.” Also, the material from where the plagiarism was committed specifies the period covered in the research – 1975 to 2012.

However, the project done by the hired writer does not delimit by timeframe. Apparently, the lack of delineation is an evidence that the writer is inexperienced, as research into expected growth, or otherwise, from small and medium scale enterprises, should have a timeframe.

Incidentally, apart from the topic which was copied from the journal, there is a larger intellectual property offence committed by the hired project writer. He has copied verbatim – word for word – the contents of the journal article with all the references. He did not, in any way, make any original input. Dr. Abbah said: “It’s not only about stealing another person’s idea, or being engaged in direct or indirect textual allusion. Rather, it is a wholesale stealing of another person’s work.”

He added that a forensic stylistic examination of the work provides an instant insight into the fact that the work may never have been written by a typical undergraduate of a Nigerian university. The sentence length and the expertly control of syntax shows that the author of the original work is an expert economist.

The second research project, with the topic ‘The Effects of Small Scale Businesses/Industries in Growing the Nigerian Economy’ looks smartly produced, but replete with problems, Dr. observed.

“First, it is clear that the writer is not at home with the requirements of such projects. For instance, the font for a project is Times New Roman, and it should be 12 points. But this project has different fronts from one page to another. It gives the impression that the work was lifted from several other intellectual works produced by experts.”

“It’s like the author of the second work just lifted references from various works and slammed them onto the page, thinking no one would detect the shoddy job,” Dr. Abbah explained.


The implication on the educational system


In recent times, the quality of projects and its effects on the present generation of graduates has come under scrutiny. In a November 2018 report published by Daily Trust, a former executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Peter Okebukola, stated that over 60 per cent of projects done by Nigerian university students are plagiarized. Earlier in 2018, a specialist in Development Economics, Dr. Bongo Adi, also stated that 70% of Nigerian graduates were “unemployable,” despite the increase in the number of graduates who were awarded first class degrees in 2017.

Also, according to a report on the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities website, the umbrella organization of vice chancellors in Nigerian federal, state and private universities, the country’s academics and stakeholders have continued to point fingers at academic dishonesty in universities being one of the main causes of plagiarized research.

Dr. Abiodun Adeniyi, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at Baze University Abuja, described the actions of the students and the contracted individuals as intellectual corruption, defeating the very essence of learning. “A project is supposed to be an original work, a contribution to knowledge, and should fill a gap in knowledge.

It should be stretching an idea, breaking new grounds or providing further analysis to an existing work. But if aspects of it are contracted out, then it becomes self-deceit, falsehood and a fallacy of knowledge production,” he said. But there have also been cases in which lecturers and supervisors have been complicit in the racket, with instances of students paying them off to write the projects for them, or facilitating plagiarism.

“Some lecturers are aiding and abetting this practice as most of them give the students the option of having the project written for them by said lecturer,” according to Ebute Michael, a final-year student of Benue State University, Makurdi.

They’re given the option to accept whatever they are presented without questioning or crosschecking,” he added. Malam Ibrahim Yakasai, the Director of Communications of the NUC, reiterated the complicity of the lectures, citing the fact that it’s ludicrous that a lecturer can teach a student and then claim to be unable to identify the type of the work the said student can produce.


The way forward


Although Yakasai made it clear the NUC does not micromanage universities, and does not deny hearing of such happening in institutions across the country, he said that if such a case should see the light of day, with substantial evidence, then the Commission would take action accordingly.

“At the level of the commission, there’s not much we can do without someone being caught red-handed. In that case, if the university doesn’t take action, we will.” Yakasai said: “We will not let any university or individual go scot-free.

They will be sanctioned according to the level of their connivance. If we have proof that somebody had their thesis written for them and graduates, of course we will take action.

It is cheating and it is also fraud. First of all, the student will not be awarded that degree, and if they already have, it will be withdrawn, and they will be expelled.”

“Maybe some have been caught but I believe the universities will not make noise about it because it’s a stain on their institution. No university would want to cheapen their degree.

So, we have not found any of them guilty in this respect and as far as we’re concerned, all universities are doing their best to protect the integrity of their certificates,” Yakasai said.

Dr. Adeniyi suggested encouraging originality in all academic works, and putting more emphasis on the ills of passing off works of others as their own. “They are awarded certificates not just in learning, but also in character.

Stealing or borrowing ideas without giving due credit is surely the beginning of dishonesty, of deceit and amounts to intellectual fraud. It should be highly discouraged,” he said. This investigation was funded by the Tiger Eye Foundation with support from MacArthur Foundation.

Tunde Ajaja, Alexander Okere and John Charles



The move by the Federal Government to establish a radio station to reach Fulani herdsmen has elicited some strong reactions.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said on Wednesday that the Federal Government had acquired an Amplitude Modulation broadcast radio licence, frequency 720KHz, for herdsmen as part of efforts to end the perennial farmers-herders clashes.

“The radio service will serve as a vehicle for social mobilisation and education, in addition to interactive radio instruction methodology that will be adopted to reach the very hard-to-reach segment of our target population,” he noted.

Reacting to the development of the announcement, the Christian Association of Nigeria faulted the move, while the Jama’atu Nasril Islam, on the other hand, described the initiative as a welcome development.

But speaking to one of our correspondents on Friday, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, a Fulani socio-cultural association, described the initiative as a “positive” step in the right direction.

The Secretary-General of the group, Mr Saleh Alhassan, said information dissemination was crucial if the lingering crisis between farmers and herders was to be resolved.

He said, “This is a good development that we support, because if we stand any chance of transforming the livestock development sector, we should educate the major players in the sector – the herders.

“Anybody that is against it (radio) is either mischievous or is very ignorant of the purpose.

“Why must people talk anytime government says it wants to do anything for herders? In spite of the fact that we provide 90 per cent of the animal protein in this country, aside from milk and other animal products, what have we benefited from the government?

“Now that the government wants to pass across constructive information to improve our lives and sensitise our people, having identified that there is a problem in reaching them, should that now be a problem? You can neither reach them via television or newspapers, so what can you do? There is nothing sinister about it; it will be controlled by the government.”

Alhassan said the radio would “definitely” help to reduce the clashes, but that to end the clashes, “we must have effective land resource management in this country”.

In its reaction, the Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, described the proposed radio station as a plan to foist Fulani and Islamic agenda on all Nigerians.

In an interview with one of our correspondents on Friday, spokesman for the group, Prince Uche Achi-Okpaga, said, “You have the Voice of Nigeria; it transmits in Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. You have Radio Nigeria; there are programmes in Hausa, Fulani and many languages. You have other state-owned radio stations that have programmes in different languages. What do they mean by a Fulani radio station?

“You have Biafra Radio but you are clipping their wings and looking for them everywhere. You said IPOB wants to overthrow the President with flags but Fulani herdsmen are attacking villages, killing people and nobody is going after them.”

He added, “The water that is passing under the bridge depicts clearly that promoting an Islamic agenda is the intention; that is the proper Islamisation that they are saying.”

Also, the President General, Mdzough U Tiv, a socio-cultural group in Benue State, which comprises of Mdzough U Tiv, Idoma National Forum and OM’igede, Chief Edward Ujege, condemned the move.


He alleged that the Federal Government had shown disdain for minority groups in the country.

He said, “Does Nigeria need any radio station now when all the states own radio stations. If you insist on having a particular programme for a particular group of people, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria is there.

“It is criminal for the Federal Government to use public funds anyhow. For us in the minority groups we align with what former President Olusegun Obasanjo said.”

However, a former Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army, Brig Gen Idada Ikponmwen, said the proposed radio station was ill-advised and divisive since the government had said the herdsmen terrorising farmers were not Nigerians.

The retired general said, “The President must be told point-blank that it is a wrong measure to start a radio station for only Fulani. How can that measure be in consonance with promoting a cohesive, united and progressive Nigeria?”

On insecurity in the country, he said there had been a gradual deterioration of security right from the Olusegun Obasanjo government.

He said, “It’s not the making of this government alone, but nobody can deny that the government has failed to make the welfare and security of the people its primary purpose; Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder.”

Residents of Aga community in Ikorodu, near Lagos were on Friday greeted with shock when the corpses of a father, wife and their child were found in their apartment. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that the incident occurred at No 12, Obafemi Erija Borokini Road in Aga, Ikorodu at about 6:30 a.m.

A neighbour to the deceased, Mr Taiwo Salami, told NAN that the man, Mr Charles Omomo, popularly called Baba Efe, Mrs Faith Omomo and their three children were all inside the apartment when the incident occurred. “I left home very early as usual with my motorcycle. After some hours, my wife called me that Baba Efe, his wife and their last child, Glorious were found dead inside their apartment.

“On getting home I saw a crowd in our compound. I entered the apartment of Baba Efe only to discover he had committed suicide, the wife lay on the floor dead and the son on the three-seater chair also dead. “I was surprised because yesterday night I saw both the wife and the husband sitting together as usual without any rancour. In fact they were playing with their children around them.

“I don’t know what could have caused this sudden situation,” Salami said. He explained that the children were all inside with their parents at the time of the incident. “Efe, the eldest daughter went to one of their family members, living nearby to report the development.

On getting there she screamed for help. “The dead man used to be a motorcycle rider but a few months ago he stopped working because his motorcycle had developed a fault. “The children also stopped going to school but I saw them yesterday and there was no sign of any problem among them,” Salami stated. Another neighbor, who pleaded not to be identified, disclosed that Omomo and his wife had been having issues in recent times.

“There was a time the husband and wife were fighting and the husband was accusing his wife of infidelity– that the wife must tell him the real father of the son– if not that nobody will be alive among them. “As you can see, the children and their parents were together at the time of the incident and nothing happened to the two older girls.

“The mother and son whose matter are in contention were found dead and the father was also found to have committed suicide,” the source said. When NAN visited the scene, officers of the Rapid Response Squad from Ikeja and Ikorodu Police Division were seen evacuating the corpses from the apartment. The Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, DSP. Bala Elkana, did not respond to enquiries on the issue.

Okechukwu Nnodim



Many oil marketers are closing shop as they are not making a profit due to the high cost of Premium Motor Spirit being sold to them by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria has said.

According to DAPPMAN, a lot of jobs have been lost due to the shutdown of businesses by oil marketers, adding that this may trigger a widespread petrol crisis in the sector if not handled adequately.

The association’s Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, told our correspondent that the increase in the price of PMS by NNPC to DAPPMAN members from N111 per litre to N117 had put a severe strain on the operations of oil marketers.

“The increase from N111 per litre to N117 was done by the NNPC since over a year and marketers have been finding it tough, which is why most marketers are no longer in business. I have written letters several times that it should be reversed and that is why a lot of marketers are no longer importing,” he said.


Adewole stated that most marketers were not making a profit and when asked why they had remained in the business of PMS sale despite incurring losses, he replied, “There are margins for the dealer, retailer, etc, and it is from the addition of these margins that a depot owner works out his income.

“If those margins cannot cover my cost viz-a-viz landing cost of the product, that means it is not profitable. For instance, as of May 11, 2019, or around that time, the landing cost of PMS was over N200 per litre. Now you are telling me to bring in a product which sells above N200 and you want me to sell at N145.”


He added, “If that happens, who bears the cost of the difference between N200 and N145? These are the issues. Also, the foreign exchange concern is there, as the rate of the United States dollar is different when you check the official rate at the CBN and the unofficial rate out there.”

He stated that the government had refused to adjust the pump price of PMS despite increasing the prices which depot owners pay for the product.

Adewole said, “When we were buying it from them at N111 per litre, the pump price of PMS was N145 for a litre and when they increased it to N117, they still maintained that the pump price should be N145. Now, who bears that difference between N111 and N117?

“I want you to know that the number of marketers operating in the downstream sector has been decreasing annually since 2016. I’m not talking about people who just have offices, rather I mean petroleum product marketers who bring in or buy products and sell. This is why the sector should be deregulated.”


On whether marketers would vacate the petroleum product business should the government fail to deregulate the sector, the DAPPMAN executive said, “If I say 100 marketers were operating last year and now it is only 10 that are operating, where have the remaining 90 gone?”

Our correspondent further learnt from sources at the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria that many major oil dealers were also recording heavy losses. The major oil marketers in the sector include Forte Oil, Oando, Total, Conoil and MRS.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, said the corporation did not effect any recent increase on the ex-depot price of PMS and that there was no plan to increase the pump price of the product.

He, however, did not react to the claims by the marketers that they (marketers) were closing shop due to the high cost of the commodity to them.

Also when contacted, a senior official of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, told our correspondent that DAPPMAN members should confront the government with their demands in order to avoid a crisis in the sector.

He said, “The DAPPMAN people are not selling exactly the way it should be sold because the ex-depot price that they are meant to sell to us is supposed to be N133.28, but they are selling it at N133.4 and N133.5. What they pay for the product when buying from NNPC is not up to N120, although there are other things they do as well.

“However, if that cost from the NNPC is high for them, then they should meet the government about it, because as independent marketers, if we sell above N145, people will start complaining.

“So, if they know that they are not contented with the price, they should tell the government to give them the right price, not to pass it to us when we can’t sell above N145.”

By Chukwuma Muanya




Pakistan, Nigeria and Egypt top the list of nations with doctors and nurses working in the United Kingdom (U.K.) despite a ban on recruiting from those countries.
According to the British National Health Service (NHS) Code of Practice, Nigeria is among 97 nations that “should not be actively recruited from” because they receive aid or suffer from shortages of medical practioners.

However, figures revealed that one in four new NHS medics are from countries ‘banned’ from working for the health services sector.


A breakdown of the figures published by the Daily Mail UK showed Pakistan with the highest number of medics with 3,413, followed by Nigeria and Egypt with 1,995 and 1,775 medics.

Others are Sri Lanka with 826 medics, Sudan 797, Bangladesh 444, Iraq 326, Myanmar 312, South Africa 290, Nepal 166 and Jordan 160.

The figures showed the number of doctors joining the NHS from these countries have doubled in the past two years.

General Medical Council figures revealed that 4,161 doctors registered to work in Britain last year despite coming from countries that should not be recruited from.

This is a 1,955 increase from the 2,206 medics that migrated from the same countries in 2016 just as over 12,000 registrations took place from nationals of these regions in the past five years.

Also, 27 per cent of all new doctors working in the NHS are said to have emanated from ‘banned’ countries, compared to 13 per cent in 2014.


Chief Executive of the King’s Fund, Richard Murray, expressed concerns that the NHS was too desperate to check if recruitment agencies were ‘ethical’ in their recruitment processes.

However, some of the individuals may have applied to work in the UK off their own backs rather than being actively recruited.

Concerns that ‘banned countries’ are being exploited emerged as NHS officials prepare to launch a global recruitment drive to fill vacancies.

He told The Telegraph UK: “The workforce shortages in the NHS mean it does need international recruitment but it needs to be done ethically. Increases in this scale from these countries are going to bring the UK into disrepute.

“I think organisations are so desperate to get professionals they just aren’t checking whether it is done ethically.”

According to the DailyMail UK, an ongoing recruitment crisis has struck all aspects of the NHS and reached unprecedented levels.

Experts, therefore, cautioned that frustrated medical practitioners are fleeing the health service in their droves due to funding issues, relentless pressure and even Brexit concerns.

themomentng:
More facts have emerged on the reasons why the defunct Diamond Bank surrendered itself for a business combination deal with Access Bank Plc.

The deal was consummated on April 1.

According to a report obtained by THISDAY, between December 2014 and June 2018, the immediate past management of Diamond Bank under the leadership of Mr. Uzoma Dozie as Chief Executive Officer, inherited a distressed oil and gas portfolio of $1.8 billion (N302.6 billion).

Of this amount, the sum under watch list and non-performing loans (NPLs) stood at $406 million (N68.9 billion) and $73 million (or N12.3 billion), respectively.

In addition, the bank had foreign currency balance sheet mismatch in excess of $883 million as at October 31, 2015, resulting from maturing trade obligations and customer transactional instructions.

Similarly, Diamond Bank had unpaid billions of naira to the federal government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA), resulting to regulatory sanctions and negative public perception and waning customer confidence.

The immediate past management of the defunct bank preserved Diamond Bank’s licence by paying down the inherited forex liquidity mismatch, it stated.

Furthermore, it showed that the inability of Diamond Bank to repay the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation/Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited’s funds to the TSA, “due to the application of those funds in the creation of long-term oil and gas and power loans was a major threat to the bank’s corporate existence.”

Without external management, the then management of the bank employed every legitimate means, including strong negotiation and relationship management skills to have the issue resolved.

According to the report, as at the end of September 2018, this obligation had been fully extinguished.

While resolving this, the Uzoma Dozie-led management built an enviable retail franchise that, stand-alone, can generate sustainable profitability and low-cost deposits.

However, the value of the retail deposit was hidden in bad corporate loans inherited by the then management.

In addition, the management then developed long-term sustainable relationship with global institutions, which has helped to build thrust in its brand.

These included Women’s World Banking, Bills and Melinda Gates Foundation, Afreximbank, International Finance Corporation, Ecowas International and Development Bank, among others.

Commenting on the merger with Diamond Bank, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, had said: “Together, we would have 27 million customers, which is the largest customer base of any bank on the continent. We would have 33,000 point of sale (PoS) terminals, 3,300 automated teller machines (ATMs) and all of that.

“Access Bank has grown over time and has built a very strong wholesale banking capability. We have also shown significant expertise as far as treasury is concerned, risk management as well as our capital management plan.

“We created and pushed a very strong value chain strategy which was our own way of building our retail business.

“This was because we realised that the creation of a large diversified bank is critical, not just for Nigeria, but in Africa and the world. If you go to any part of the world, what you tend to see is that the top three or top five banks technically control market share.”

Speaking further, Wigwe said the combination of Access Bank and Diamond Bank would ensure that “we are able to take and solve customers’ issues right from the wholesale end, down to the man in the village, just because of the use of technology.”

LAGOS – Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor-elect of Lagos State, will not probe the tenure of Akinwunmi Ambode, outgoing governor of Lagos State, a member of the State Working Committee (SWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos has revealed to Daily Independent.

Speaking with Daily Independent, the source who refused to be named said the probability of Sanwo-Olu instituting a probe against the Ambode administration was very remote, given the outgoing governor’s record for probity, transparency, and accountability, which Sanwo-Olu was aware of.

He said, as a chartered accountant, Ambode had a knack for high quality and excellent service delivery and always ensuring that every project in the state was subjected to heavy scrutiny before it was awarded.


The source said: “I don’t think Sanwo-Olu will want to probe Ambode’s administration, and it is not because of any political differences between them.

“We all know that the Ambode’s administration is one of the most frugal and prudent administrations in the history of Lagos. Every kobo spent in the administration is well accounted for and I am sure the records are there for anybody who requests for it.

“I think it has to do with the governor’s background as a chartered accountant. He doesn’t just believe in throwing money around. If any kobo must be spent, it must be accounted for and records are kept for future purpose.


“He has a track record of transparency, financial discipline, accountability, and fairness.

“If you also recall, the governor, during the period of recession, announced that the state will no longer sponsor pilgrimages to Mecca and Jerusalem in order to reduce spending.

“I think this is one of the reasons why he fell out with some APC elders who insisted that he must not be given a return ticket.

“One of the governor’s first moves was to reduce the cost of governance in the state by N3 billion monthly and this was made known to the public.

“All the projects executed by the administration are in public glare and I believe the government and even his successor will be willing to make it available to the public.

“If you remember, every amount spent on purchasing goods such as equipment for the health, education, and other sectors.

“If you recall, in 2015, Ambode donated equipment worth N4.765 billion to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) which include over 100 4-Door Salon Cars, 55 Ford Ranger Pick-Ups, 10 Toyota Land Cruiser Pick- Ups, 3 Helicopters, 15 BMW Power Bikes, 15 Armoured Personnel Carriers, 100 Power Bikes, Isuzu Trucks, two Gun Boats, Revolving Lights, Siren and Public Address System, Vehicular Radio Communicators, Security Gadgets, including Bullet Proof Vests, Helmets, Handcuffs, Police Uniforms, Kits and Improved Insurance and Death Benefit Schemes for officers.

“Also, last year, he donated a mobile cancer centre worth N365 million for the diagnosis and treatment of residents afflicted with cancer-related diseases.

“The prices of all these items and several others are always mentioned for the sake of accountability and nobody has ever come out to say maybe it is too high or the figures were inflated.

“Sanwo-Olu has been a part and parcel of the Lagos State government and as somebody who was an appointee of the governor at Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) before resigning to contest as governor, he knows Ambode and what he stands for.”


Also speaking with Daily Independent, an aide of Sanwo-Olu said his principal would hit the ground running upon assumption of office but would ensure there was probity and accountability in his government.

“If you follow Sanwo-Olu’s campaign, he has always been talking about probity, fairness, efficiency, accountability, and judicious use of the state’s resources in his government.

“Of course, if there is need for information on past governments in the state, it will be made available to those in need of it,” he said.

Asia El-rufai, one of the three wives of the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-rufai and her kid is currently facing deportation from Indonesia.

Asia is the sister of popular journalist and activist, Kadaria Ahmed.

A source who spoke to SaharaReporters said, "although she had a valid visa, she is currently having issues about and additional document".

"The Nigerian government has intervened to resolve the issue.

"At the moment, they are trying to resolve the issue with the Indonesian government" the source added.