₦airaland Forum

The Police Service Commission (PSC) says henceforth police officers will no longer be promoted to the next rank without the requisite training programmes and examinations.

A statement by the commission’s Head, Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, said the commission`s Chairman, Musiliu Smith, disclosed this at a meeting with the management of the Nigeria Police Force on Friday in Abuja.

“From now and henceforth, one of the conditions for promotion must be attendance and passing the senior Command Course for senior officers and other prescribed courses for others,” he said.

Mr Smith said the force before now had promoted officers severally without attending the requisite training programmes attached to the ranks.

“Henceforth, result of performance of officers from appropriate training courses must be attached to the recommendation to the commission for promotion,” he said.

Mr Smith, who frowned at irregular postings of officers, said officers should be allowed to stay at a new post for two to three years.

He expressed displeasure on the long stay of officers posted to the Police Mobile Force (PMF) and called that the practice be stopped.

The chairman advised that every police officer should be a licensed driver so that during operations, in case of the sudden incapacitation of the team’s driver, someone else would take over.

He warned against the indiscriminate conversion of police specialists to general duty without due consideration to their valuable role in the force.

“There is official procedure for conversion and henceforth, this should be strictly followed.

“Officers recruited to work in the workshop, signals and other professional departments/units should be left and encouraged to pursue their careers,” he said.

He urged the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to revisit recent carried conversions, and return them to their special departments.

The chairman called for a harmonised method of producing police uniforms that would be the same from a reputable source.

He called for the construction of a standard and modern barracks which would enhance effective community policing.

On physical fitness, he urged the management to arrest the growing population of pot-bellied police officers.

In his remark, the IGP said that the management was determine to transform the force to a more people-friendly organisation.

He said that discipline, which was the foundation upon which the force was built, would be sustained.

Mr Idris solicited the support of the commission to ensure that the highest level of discipline was elicited from officers.

The police boss reminded the chairman of the recommendation of some AIGs to be promoted to DIGs to replace the retired ones.

“This will help the force to continue to pilot the affairs of the force at the strategic level and also assist the police in preparing for the Osun governorship election and the 2019 general elections,” he said.

He urged the chairman to help the force get assistance from the federal government to enable it surmount some of its challenges.

(NAN)

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/283713-police-commission-laments-growing-number-of-bot-bellied-officers.html

August 31, 2018 Lois Ugbede
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the declaration to run for the presidency made by Senate President Bukola Saraki has ‘vindicated’ him.

The official said this on Friday in a statement by his chief press secretary, Simon Ebegbulem, after a meeting of leaders of the party in Kwara State led by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Muhammed.

Mr Saraki, who recently decamped from the APC, on Thursday declared to run for the presidency under the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

The chairman had said Mr Saraki’s plan was to destroy the APC because of his inordinate ambition.

Charging APC members in Kwara State to jettison their personal ambitions and work towards ”ending the reign of Saraki in Kwara politics as 2019 approaches”, Mr Oshiomhole said reclaiming Kwara is a task that must be accomplished.

“When I was saying that all these defections are not about APC but the personal ambition of these people, they took hired writers to say I was being too hard. But Saraki’s declaration has vindicated me.

”Thank God, he has moved on because his inordinate ambition was almost destroying our party but he has failed. These are not principled politicians but bread and butter politicians who can go extra miles to pursue their selfish ambition and never think about the well-being of Nigerians.

“As things stand today, APC remains the darling of the Nigerian people. Because PDP was the vomit of yesterday, our people will not ‘chew’ it back today, not under three and half years. People have not forgotten and people will never forget. In fact, what a senior palace chief in Nigeria said: this generation of Nigerians will not forgive the PDP in a hurry. Even to say you want to forgive you must do reparation.

“The damage they did to our economy, the damage they did to our electoral process, even the culture of rigging was institutionalised by them. They introduced do or die politics. They are the ones buying weapons for young people to go into thuggery while their own children are schooling abroad. They introduced all these vices,” he said.

The chairman also directed APC leaders to ensure they conclude the election of executives from the wards to the state level this weekend.

“The last time I spoke with the minister, he told me we have accomplished 80 or 85 per cent, that for me is not good enough because we don’t have more time. So this week, we must achieve 100 per cent by whatever means. If you can’t do it, we have to help you get it done.

“The two deputy national chairmen working with the national organising secretary and the North-central vice-chairman constituted a committee to complete whatever is left. It will not exceed Sunday this week. I also want to appeal very strongly, that at this hour, we don’t want a situation where because of what is happening in Kwara, people, who ordinarily will be quite happy to be a strong pillar of support, everybody wants to be a governor, everybody wants to be a Senator or in the House of Reps.

“Our party is a party of change and we want to discourage people from putting their personal interest over and above the interest of the people of Kwara state. I am able to say under the leadership of the Minister, he has repeatedly said it that his interest is not for him to contest for the governorship of Kwara state or any elective office. I don’t think it can be more selfless than that,” he said.

He said the task of taking over Kwara had begun.

“Let them know and carry the message of change and use the broom to sweep away the past, including the thorn umbrella. The task of sweeping away the past and rebuilding a new Kwara is a task that must be done.

”That should give you the energy, the incentive and the appropriate spirit to work together so that victory will be ours, not for our own good but for the good of the great people of Kwara State who have been oppressed for such a long long time. Like they say, they can be many days for the thief, one day for the owner.”

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/north-central/282063-oshiomhole-speaks-on-sarakis-presidential-declaration.html

Posted By: Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has hailed the recent court order restraining the leadership of Kwara State House of Assembly from suspending its only member in the assembly.

Speaker of the Assembly Dr Ali Ahmad had about two weeks ago set a probe panel into allegation of certificate forgery and issuance of dud cheque against Prince Saheed Popoola, member representing Ojomu/Balogun State Constituency of Offa Local Government Area of the State.

The state caretaker committee chair Bashir Bolarinwa commended the court for saving our democracy from the hands of hawks.

He said that the culture of impunity that pervades Kwara state political space is traceable to the reign of Dr. Bukola Saraki as the governor of Kwara state.

The statement reads: “The cork and bull story alleging that Prince Saheed Popoola filed a fake result while making entries into his nomination forms is as good as calling a dog, a bad name so that he can be fit for stoning and eventual death.

“This is the same way; the lord of the manor, Dr. Bukola Saraki had ruled the state with fiefdom to stifle dissenting voices while he held sway as Chief Executive of the State. The story of alleged forgery against our member, Hon. Saheed Popoola was borne out of the hatred Saraki and cohorts harbour against. Hon. Popoola for refusing to defect to the PDP when Saraki directed his lackeys in the assembly to do so.

“Saraki couldn’t have stood the slightest of any opposition since his days as a totalitarian Governor of Kwara State – the same style he deployed to take away everything away from the State through fiat.

“You will recall that Senator Ali Ndume was unconstitutionally suspended because he dared look at Saraki in the face and asked him to clear himself and the Senate in a controversial import of armoured cars without due custom certification. Those cars have eventually been put up for sales by the Customs Service. That was the end of the shady deal.

“The same way Senator Ovie Omo-Agege was illegally suspended from participating in the legislative activities for which his people elected him to do. It is clear the genetic make-up of the embattled Senate President is averred to criticism, robust engagement and plurality of ideas. This makes him a bad politician.

“We are relieved that the judiciary in Kwara State will save our democracy from reeking into anarchy as it is currently precipitated by Dr. Saraki and cohorts in the Kwara State House of Assembly.

http://thenationonlineng.net/apc-hails-court-for-restraining-suspension-of-member/

Published August 14, 2018

A high court in Ilorin, Kwara State, presided over by Justice T.S. Umar on Tuesday restrained the Kwara State House of Assembly from suspending a member representing Balogun/Ojomu constituency of Offa in Offa Local Government Area of the State, Mr. Saheed Popoola.

Popoola is the only state lawmaker of the All Progressives Congress who did not defect with the Speaker, Dr. Ali Ahmad, and 22 other members of the House.

The lawmakers had left APC for Peoples Democratic Party after Senate President Bukola Saraki, other members of the National Assembly from the state, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and their loyalists did the same.

It was learnt that the Assembly had commenced a process to investigate allegations of certificate and forgery allegations preferred against Popoola. It was alleged that some members had threatened to suspend him.

Popoola consequently sued the Assembly, the Speaker and other members of the House.

https://punchng.com/you-cant-suspend-lone-apc-lawmaker-court-tells-kwara-assembly/

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK JUN 20, 2018

President Muhammadu Buhari may be on collision course with the National Assembly over major alterations to the budget that he has described as "not properly conceptualized, designed and costed" and "therefore difficult to execute".

Although the President signed the 2018 appropriation bill into law on Wednesday, he revealed that the only reason he did it was that he did not want “to further slow down the pace of recovery of our economy, which has doubtlessly been affected by the delay in passing the budget".

The President made this known via his offcial Twitter handle after he signed the 2018 budget into law at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday.

In November 2017, Buhari passed a proposed budget of N8.612 trillion to the National Assembly for deliberation. However, six months later, he received the appropriation bill from the lawmakers, featuring the addition of 6,403 projects of their own, which apparently hasn't gone down well with the President.

Expressing concerns about the changes made in the proposed budget he submitted to the National Assembly, Buhari said: “The logic behind the constitutional direction that budgets should be proposed by the Executive is that it is the Executive that knows & defines its policies & projects.

"Unfortunately, that has not been given much regard in what has been sent to me. The National Assembly made cuts amounting to N347 billion in the allocations to 4,700 projects submitted to them for consideration and introduced 6,403 projects of their own amounting to N578 billion.

“Many of the projects cut are critical and may be difficult, if not impossible, to implement with the reduced allocation. Some of the new projects inserted by National Assembly have not been properly conceptualized, designed and costed and will therefore be difficult to execute.

“As it is, some of these projects relate to matters that are the responsibility of the states and local governments, and for which the Federal Government should therefore not be unduly burdened.

Such examples of projects from which cuts were made are as follows: Provisions for some nationally/regionally strategic infrastructure projects such as Counterpart funding for Mambilla Power Plant, 2nd Niger Bridge/ancillary roads, East-West Road, Bonny-Bodo Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway & Itakpe-Ajaokuta Rail were cut by an aggregate of N11.5bn.

"At a time when we are working with Labour to address compensation-related issues, a total of 5 billion Naira was cut from the provisions for Pension Redemption Fund and Public Service Wage Adjustment. The provisions for Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and Special Economic Zones/Industrial Parks, which are key industrialization initiatives of this Administration, were cut by a total of 14.5 billion Naira."

"The provision for Construction of the Terminal Building at Enugu Airport was cut from 2 billion Naira to 500 million Naira, which will further delay the completion of this critical project. The Take-off Grant for the Maritime University in Delta State, a key strategic initiative of the Federal Government, was cut from 5 billion Naira to 3.4 billion Naira."

"About seventy (70) new road projects have been inserted into the budget of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. In doing so, the National Assembly applied some of the additional funds expected from the upward review of the oil price benchmark to the Ministry’s vote. Regrettably, however, in order to make provision for some of the new roads, the amounts allocated to some strategic major roads have been cut by the National Assembly."

"Another area of concern is the increase by the National Assembly of the provisions for Statutory Transfers by an aggregate of 73.96 billion Naira. Most of these increases are for recurrent expenditure at a time we are trying to keep down the cost of governance. An example of this increase is the budget of the National Assembly itself which has increased by 14.5 billion Naira, from 125 billion Naira to 139.5 billion Naira without any discussion with the Executive."

President Buhari added that "notwithstanding the above-stated observations," he had "decided to sign the 2018 Budget in order not to further slow down the pace of recovery of our economy, which has doubtlessly been affected by the delay in passing the budget".

Although the budget has now been signed, it is not clear if the Executive will implement it to the letter, especially in light of the President's misgivings with the alterations.

http://saharareporters.com/2018/06/20/buhari-collision-course-nassembly-over-improperly-conceptualised-alterations-2018-budget

Posted By: Blessing Olaifa, Abuja On: June 8, 2018
A coalition of some Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in the country on Friday demanded immediate resignation of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki from office over his alleged link with robbers who were involved in the bank robbery in Offa, Kwara state.

The CSO said Saraki should also face the music for the non-declaration of his assets and alleged killings of over 33 people in Kwara State by his political thugs.

The group under the umbrella of Coalition of Civil Society for Good Governance and Democracy, recalled that Saraki’s corruption trial with the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, on alleged non-assets declaration was still on-going, insisting that the path of honour for the Senate President is for him to step down to clear his name.

Addressing Journalists in Abuja, Convener of the group, Alhaji Adamu Kabiru, who led other groups comprising labour unions, trade unions and Joint Action Committee, JAC, to the event, tasked members of the 8th Senate to do the needful by immediately impeaching Saraki as Senate President should he fail to resign.

According to the group it is about time the National Assembly members bring sanity and restoration of the lost glory to the upper chamber in particular.

The coalition lamented that Nigeria has become a laughing stock in the international community in view of the many corruption cases involving its number three citizen in government. It accused the Senate President of seeking revenge against President Muhammadu Buhari and some appointees in the crime and anti-corruption agencies.

It described as unfortunate the fact that Saraki’s National Assembly was threatening President Buhari with impeachment following his latest problem with the Nigeria Police.

“For Dr Saraki to threaten President Buhari with impeachment only because the police rightly invited him is the height of arrogance, and abuse of office and disrespect for the rule of law.

“It is therefore, our considered view that the President of the Senate be impeached immediately and until this done, he will continue to hold to ransom the entire country and her development, “Kabiru said.

Kabiru further said: “We are gathered here to affirm that for good governance and democracy to thrive, Saraki must excuse the Senate as their president and face his multiple criminal cases ranging from, financial crimes, to abuse of office, robbery, non-declaration of assets and sponsorship of militia in Kwara State.

“I am constrained to bring to your notice that the police have invited the Senate President to offer clarifications on the level of his involvement with the Offa robbery and allegations of arms purchase to militia.

“To this end, how then will Dr Saraki continue to stay in office as President of the Senate? It has never been this bad for our country, ”

Kabiru who led Mrs. Sharon N Opara from Trade Unions, Bisong Jonathan from Labour Unions and Femi Abbas from Joint Action Committee to the event, said: “To worsen the situation and to the greatest dismay and disappointment of Nigerians, the Senate President a few days ago masterminded a joint sitting of the National Assembly to muster and nurture the impeachment of President Buhari.

“He led the joint sitting to reel out a number of conditions for the president to avert imminent impeachment; this is the height of folly, immaturity, mischief, treason, callous and gross abuse of office by Dr Saraki.

“Interestingly, all this shenanigans are made possible by virtue of his influence as President of the Senate.

“I am inclined to have it on good authority that the Dr Saraki has plans to use the instrumentality of the National Assembly to become the president of the country. This ambition has been made public and needs no further microscopic lens for confirmation.'”

http://thenationonlineng.net/offa-robbery-civil-society-coalition-demands-sarakis-resignation/

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK JUN 07, 2018

Human rights lawyer Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) says the investigation and prosecution of anyone found to be connected to the Offa bank robbers should be separated from politics.

Falana made this known in Lagos on Wednesday at a civil society round-table discussion organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA).

The discussion was on the difficulties being faced in the administration of criminal Justice Act and the termination of stay of proceeding in criminal trials.

In his address, Falana recalled how a Brazilian bank was duped of the sum of $240million by a Nigerian fraudster. He said the bank reached out to him and 11 others for legal aid.

“They came to me, among the 11 lawyers. How do we collect this money? How do we go about it? It was very difficult because the police here then were part of the criminality. The main fellow that was to be arrested, the EFCC arrested him in the guest house of the IG.

“We were looking for a criminal and he was being sheltered by the IG — just like you are looking for the vehicle with which a bank was robbed and you find it in the state house. That is the level of impunity in our country. And some people are shouting ‘this is political victimisation’. Nonsensical!

“Please, I beg all of us, let us separate criminality from politics. Wherever a criminal is identified, the law must have its way; the full weight of the law must be brought on the person. Otherwise, you may be a victim tomorrow if we don’t eliminate criminality in this society.

“They reported in Ekiti last week during a rally — and this is a common thing in Nigeria — and I do hope we are going to use the Offa case to disarm all thugs in Nigeria. All of them are known by the DSS and the police.”

Falana was not the only notable figure at the meeting. Also in attendance were Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), Monday Ubani and Jiti Ogunye. Dr. Biola Akiode-Afolabi chaired the discussion, while the welcome address was delivered by Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju, Chairman of HEDA.

http://saharareporters.com/2018/06/07/falana-saraki-being-politically-victimised-%E2%80%99s-nonsensical#disqus_thread

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK MAR 31, 2018
The escape of six suspected criminals linked to Dino Melaye, a Senator representing Kogi West was allegedly planned and coordinated with the aid of some Nigeria Police officers at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Lokoja, police sources told Saharareporters.

The six suspects; Kabiru Seidu a.k.a Osama, Nuhu Salisu a.k.a Small, Aliyu Isa, Adams Suleiman, Emmanuel Audu and Musa Mohammed escaped from ‘A’ Division of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) detention in Lokoja, Kogi State’s Capital, where they were being held pending their court appearance with Mr. Melaye who was also been declared wanted by the police.

Kabiru and Salisu had earlier confessed to working for Melaye.

The Police said the two suspects linked to the Senator were arrested on January 19 at Ogojueje in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, after a shootout.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, said; “According to the gang leader, Osama, he had been working as a political thug for Alhaji Mohammed Audu.

“He said Alhaji Mohammed Audu invited him to Abuja and introduced him to Senator Dino Melaye and they met on Airport road, Abuja inside Senator Melaye’s car in the month of December 2017."

“The suspect further confessed that Sen. Dino Melaye told him that they should start working for him as his political thugs and they should recruit and train other thugs to work for him in preparation for the 2019 general elections to enable him ( Sen. Dino Melaye ) challenge his political opponents and disorganize Kogi State.”

The Senator also allegedly gave them guns and money to recruit more thugs against 2019 elections.

SaharaReporters reported the rearrest of five of the escapees on Friday, leaving out the leader of the gang, Osama, who is yet to be recaptured.

However, Police sources have told Saharareporters that the suspects were able to escape with the help of police officers who assisted them to smuggle in mobile phones used to plan and reach their allies who arranged their subsequent escape from police custody.

One of the sources told Saharareporters that the rearrested escapees were captured through a food vendor linked to the police station, she reportedly concealed mobile phone devices inside "fufu" and passed them through police guards manning the cells of the high profile criminals.

Our sources also revealed to us that Osama might likely be swooped in today as policemen on trial would make a strike tonight.

Following the escape, Melaye gave the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, a 48-hour ultimatum to recapture the suspects or risk facing court action, however, Mr. Melaye has remained eerily quiet since the jail-breaking criminals were re-arrested by the police.

Mr. Melaye was recently arraigned before an Abuja court on a two-count charge for giving false information to the police with the intent to mislead over declarations he made that some persons linked to Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello planned to assassinate him last year. The Independent National Electoral Commission is also embarking on a recall of the Senator from the Nigerian Senate.

Mr. Melaye is not new to involvement in assassinations and violence, in 2008, a United States report linked Mr. Melaye to the death of One Mr. Victor Obafaiye who was a principal witness in a petition of election malpractice filed against the Senator.

Our sources also revealed to us that Osama might likely be swooped in today as policemen on trial would make a strike tonight.

http://saharareporters.com/2018/03/31/how-suspected-assassins-linked-dino-melaye-escaped-police-custody

Unknown to many, the failed attempt to foist a Caretaker Committee on the All Progressives Congress (APC) was actually aimed at creating legal crisis for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 and edge him out of the presidential election.

Those behind the plot were said to have set a booby trap on account of which Buhari’s nomination for re-election would be declared invalid in line with 1999 Constitution and the constitution of the party.

It was learnt yesterday that 10 more governors had shelved support for the extension of the tenure of the National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and members of his National Working Committee (NWC), based on Buhari’s opposition to the elongation of their tenure.

There were strong indications yesterday that a former Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, was on top of the pecking order in the search for the national chairman of APC.

But three APC governors and some members of the National Assembly who have constituted themselves into opposition elements within the party are said to be weighing the option of defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or any coalition party.

Investigation conducted by our correspondent revealed that three traps were set for Buhari by those who were opposed to his second term ambition in APC.

The three hurdles are:

Foist a caretaker committee on APC to make Buhari’s nomination invalid and subject him to legal crisis
Conspire and defeat Buhari at the APC presidential primaries
Create division in APC to prompt the defection of some governors, party leaders and National Assembly members to either PDP or any of the coalition parties.
It was gathered that the plot was long hatched by some leading figures in APC in cahoots with some forces and a few leaders of some opposition parties.

Findings confirmed that at the caucus meeting of the APC in Abuja on Monday, the anti-Buhari elements in APC were happy that their script was playing according to plan.

The outcome of the caucus meeting was said to have buoyed the confidence of Oyegun, NWC members and some leaders of the party.

Those plotting against Buhari were happy that some governors loyal to the President had been innocently coopted into their plot.

But the affected elements were shocked by Buhari’s “joker” bordering on a clear-cut opposition to tenure elongation for Oyegun and others.

A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The whole idea of raising a Caretaker Committee or converting the Oyegun-led NWC into a Caretaker Committee is a plot to set up legal hurdles for Buhari and other nominees of the party for the 2019 general election.

“Those behind it actually claimed that they do not want the party divided by the fallout of state congresses and the National Convention, but the truth is that they want to box Buhari into a legal corner. That is the larger picture.

“The agenda fits into the design of some elements within APC who believe that Buhari can be stopped internally.

“Some of them, especially some governors, also wanted the status quo to remain in order to hijack the structure of APC in their states and determine 2019 poll nominations in their states.

“They sold a dummy to Buhari without paying attention to constitutional implications. But by being his own man, the President has survived the first plot against him.”

10 more governors back out of tenure elongation agenda

At press time, about 10 governors, who were pro-Oyegun NWC, had allegedly backed out of the plot.

A top party leader said: “Even from the NEC session, some of governors have been saying that they won’t move against the wish of the President.

“At least about eight to 10 of these governors are no longer keen on Oyegun and his team as far as tenure elongation is concerned.

“What some of them are now saying is that we can retain the status quo by bringing Oyegun and his team back at the National Convention since the President has favoured a democratically elected NWC.”

Although some of the governors behind the extension of tenure for Oyegun and others met shortly after the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Tuesday, their rank has depleted.

The Tuesday night session was coordinated by a North-Central governor.

A Northern governor, who was invited for the meeting simply said: “I am a Buharist. Since the President has spoken his mind, I will no longer be part of any plot to oppose him on tenure elongation.”

The affected governor shunned the meeting and left for his base without asking for the outcome of the session.

Others weigh options

Notwithstanding, the few governors and some National Assembly members supporting tenure elongation have opted to (a) continue with the pursuit of matters in court and (b)launch a counter-plot to bring back Oyegun and (c) use the National Convention to split APC for an opportunity to defect to either PDP or a coalition party.

Investigation showed that the next plans of the anti-Buhari elements are how to use the matters in court to scuttle the proposed congresses and National Convention or how to split the party through the congresses and the convention.

“There are elements who want to cause crisis in APC before defecting to either PDP or a coalition party.

“These elements had initially collaborated with some forces to form parallel APC executives in eight states, beginning with Kaduna State. But the resistance of Governor Nasir el-Rufai made them to retreat.

“Their next plan is to use the APC National Convention, but we won’t allow them to succeed.

“Rather than causing crisis in APC, we want these elements to work harder for Oyegun-led NWC to return at the convention in line with Article 17 of our party,” a member of the NEC said.

Article 17 says: “(I): Except as otherwise provided in this constitution, all officers of the party elected or appointed into the party’s organs shall serve in such organs for a period of four years and shall be eligible for reelection or reappointment for another period of four years only provided that an officer elected or appointed to fill a vacancy shall notwithstanding be eligible for election to the same office for two terms.

“(ii) No member shall serve in the same office for more than eight years continuously except a member of the Board of Trustees or a person who first came to the office by filling a vacancy.

“(iii) No member can be an officer at the national abs state levels or national organ of the party concurrently other than being an ex-officio member of that organ

Article 20 deals with elections and appointment.

It says: “All party posts prescribed or implied by this constitution shall be filled by democratically conducted elections at the respective national convention or congress subject, where possible to consensus, provided that where a candidate has emerged by consensus for an elective position, a vote of yes or no by ballot or voice shall be called to ensure that it was not an imposition which could breed discontent and crisis.”

It was however learnt that the pro-Oyegun-led NWC elements were unsure of the team, especially the National Chairman, coming back through elective process.

Oshiomhole tops pecking order

It was learnt that ex-Governor Adams Oshiomhole was topping the search list of potential candidates for the office of APC National Chairman.

“Many party leaders are making a strong case for Oshiomhole. In fact, Edo APC does not support tenure elongation.

“If you begin to have problem from home, then the game might be up,” a party leader said.

http://thenationonlineng.net/buhari-survives-plot-scuttle-re-election-bid/

Published March 30, 2018

The Kogi state police command has confirmed the re-arrest of three out of the six suspects involved in the arms case against Senator Dino Melaye who escaped from custody on Wednesday.

The outgoing state commissioner of police, Ali Janga, who confirmed this, however, did not disclose the names of the arrested suspects.

“Yes, it is confirmed, but note that I am no longer the CP, I have been removed, so next time talk to the new CP, ” he said.

Our correspondent in Lokoja learnt that the suspects were re-arrested earlier today at an undisclosed location.

It was gathered that two of the suspects sustained gun shot wounds when they attempted to flee from the police.

They were said to be receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, as of the time of filling this report.

Details later

http://punchng.com/melaye-police-confirm-rearrest-of-three-suspects/

Advocates of tenure elongation for All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun and National Working Committee (NWC) members suffered a major setback yesterday.

President Muhammadu Buhari said the party’s constitution and the Nigerian constitution must be respected.

It was also a day of legal arguments among Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and National Legal Adviser Muiz Banire, all of them Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

At the end of it all, many pro-tenure elongation governors were speechless at the Conference Hall of the APC National Secretariat, it was learnt.

After the fireworks, the National Executive Committee (NEC) raised a Technical Committee to work out modalities for the party’s congresses and the National Convention .

The President said holding congresses and an elective National Convention was the lawful thing to do. Oyegun and all NWC members could be re-elected, he was quoted as saying.

According to sources at the meeting, the NWC put only two items on the agenda, namely: the report of the APC Restructuring Committee headed by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and amendments to the APC’s Constitution.

Unknown to Oyegun, the President had another matter, which he did not discuss with his aides.

Shortly after the opening prayer by Lagos State APC Chairman Henry Ajomale, Oyegun gave a summary of expected amendments to the party’s Constitution to accommodate provision for a caretaker management by the NWC for one year.

He said the proposal might be ratified at the National Convention in June if approved by the NEC.

But Buhari dropped the bombshell by opposing tenure elongation for the APC National Chairman and the NWC.

There was pin-drop silence as Buhari spoke, saying tenure extension under any guise was a violation of both the 1999 Constitution and the APC’s Constitution.

The President diplomatically added that members of the National Working Committee were free to “discuss and debate” his proposal.

That sparked the debate opened by Akeredolu who argued for allowing tenure extension for Oyegun and the others.

A source at the meeting said: “Akeredolu told the meeting that the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and other parties could not take APC to court over tenure elongation because whatever is done by NEC is an internal affairs of the party.

“The governor said the PDP and others would be mere busybodies to dabble in the internal affairs of APC. He was confident that no court would allow the PDP or any other party to have its way.”

Banire joined Akeredolu, stressing that NEC could make provision for a Caretaker Committee to manage the affairs of the party.

The source quoted Banire as saying: “It is true that Article 13 of APC Constitution says that we should have new executives every four years, but NEC can propose a National Caretaker Committee for the next one year.

“I know some people took us to court in Lagos and Abuja. The matter in Lagos came up on Tuesday (March 27) and the case in Abuja will be on March 28.”

Banire said the applications before the court could not stand as long as the NEC took a legal decision to set up a Caretaker Committee.”

Prof. Osinbajo warned the party against taking unnecessary risks on the Caretaker Committee because it could invalidate all nominations by the APC for the 2019 general elections at all levels.

Another source quoted Osinbajo as saying: “I agree with all your observations that raising a Caretaker Committee is an internal affair of the APC but none of us is a judge here. The judges have final say on matters before them, not we who are the lawyers.

“I am a SAN, you are a SAN but as far the matters in court are concerned, they can go either way. These cases before the primaries may linger beyond our primaries.

“Once a case is in a court, it is no longer an internal affair of the party. The outcome of the cases in court could affect all our candidates for 2019 poll including the presidential candidate.

“We should abide by Article 13 of the APC Constitution by holding congresses and the National Convention of the party. Any introduction of extraneous clause to our constitution can affect our electoral fortunes.”

The source quoted the Vice-President as saying: “We should not forget that there are many court levels. A case can run from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. We cannot say if we win at a High Court, it will be the same at the appellate courts.”

Osinbajo cited a case of a member of the APC in the Kano State House of Assembly who was nominated by a Caretaker Committee.

He said: “The APC laboured and won the election but when the case got to the Supreme Court, the election was nullified because he was nominated by a Caretaker Committee, which was illegal.

“There is a Supreme Court judgment of 2015 which precisely says parties should obey their constitutions.”

Overwhelmed by Osinbajo’s “brilliant” submission, governors and members of NEC clapped thunderously, such that Oyegun had to call the session back to order, the source said.

A governor, who preferred not to be named, said: “Many governors and leaders, who wanted tenure elongation, dropped their position instantly.

“We did not pay attention to the implications of violating the APC Constitution. Our intention was just to avoid going into intra-party elections which can divide us,” a source said.

Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje was quoted to have said: “The case in Kano surprised everybody. That is why I must support this Prof. (refering to Osinbajo)

House of Representatives Chief Whip Alhassan Ado Doguwa faulted Akeredolu for challenging the cautionary opinion of the President.

Doguwa was quoted as saying: “I have been in politics for 25 years; I have not seen where the President will talk and there will be a contrary opinion.

“It is unfortunate that the leader of the party and a sitting President based his opinion on constitutionality and you are dragging it on the basis of rationality. You people have exposed yourselves.”

Akeredolu reportedly hit back at Doguwa, saying: “The President did not ask you to shield him but he said we should debate his suggestion/ opinion.

“What of the 2018 budget with you people? Up till now, you have not passed the budget. Yet, you are talking of having respect for the President.”

Some of the NEC members jeered at Doguwa for his defence of the President.

After the tirades, Senate Deputy Leader Bala Ibn Na’Allah moved a motion asking NEC to mandate the NWC to “set up a technical committee to work out the modalities for congresses and the National Convention between Tuesday and Wednesday”.

The party may hold another NEC meeting to ratify the modalities for congresses and the National Convention.

To douse the tension which accompanied his address, the President offered some words of encouragement to Oyegun and the NWC members.

He said: “We still have time between now and June 13 when your tenure expires. You can win again because the APC Constitution has provided room for another term in office for you.

“Nobody says you should not re-contest. Instead of adding illegal one year, you can go for a fresh term of four years in office. To me a four-year term is better than one year.”

There was visible disappointment as some of the governors were said to have been disappointed by the outcome of the meeting.

A North-West governor was just gazing at the Vice President as he marshaled his legal argument, another source said. A Southern governor left before the end of session.

A pro-tenure extension governor who was billed to inaugurate the APC Press Centre, was rattled; he abandoned the assignment.

https://thenationonlineng.net/buhari-killed-plot-extend-oyeguns-tenure/

March 9, 2018 Queen Esther Iroanusi

Senator Ben Murray-Bruce reacts to AMCON takeover of companies, assets
Some Nigerians have verbally attacked a senator, Ben Murray-Bruce (PDP, Bayelsa), who appeared so impressed by Canadian doctors rejecting a pay raise, that he compared them to their Nigerian counterparts.

Mr. Murray-Bruce had taken to his official Twitter page to call on the Nigerian government to pay attention to Nigerian doctors who protest for not being paid enough.

A few days ago, more than 500 doctors and residents in Canada, as well as over 150 medical students, signed a public letter protesting their own pay raises, CNBC reported.

“We, Quebec doctors who believe in a strong public system, oppose the recent salary increases negotiated by our medical federations,” the letter said.

The group also said they are offended that they would receive raises when nurses and patients ”are struggling”.

In his tweet, Mr. Murray-Bruce said, “At a time Canadian doctors are protesting that they are being paid too much (your eyes don’t deceive you), doctors in Nigeria are on strike for not being paid enough.

“We can’t pay our doctors well, but we can budget ₦1.1 billion to clean a government office. Which way Nigeria?”

Nigerians, obviously still upset after the recent revelation that senators are receiving N13.5 million monthly as “running cost”, urged Mr. Murray-Bruce to emulate the Canadian doctors.

The revelation of the pay package, which was made by Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central), has stirred up mixed reaction among the Nigerians in the country.

In an interview with TheNews, Mr. Sani said that the ”running cost does not include a N700,000 monthly consolidated salary and allowances which they also receive”.

He explained that though there is no specification on what the funds was meant for, each lawmaker is mandated to provide receipts to back up their expenses.

Below are the reactions of some Nigerians to Mr. Murray-Bruce’s tweet:

8 Mar

Ben Murray-Bruce
✔
@benmurraybruce
At a time Canadian doctors are protesting that they are being paid too much (your eyes don't deceive you), doctors in Nigeria are on strike for not being paid enough. We can't pay our doctors well, but we can budget ₦1.1 billion to clean a government office. Which way Nigeria?


Izuchukwu
@Izzo_Hova
Sir,you and your colleagues in the senate and House of assembly can also protest that your allowances are too much...what do you think?


Dantsoho ®♡
@Dants_xie
The only common sense i will oblige to is when you protest in support of reduction of N13million per month running cost for each senator in NA.


adeniye ayokunle
@ayoadeniye
Why can't Nigerian senators emulate the Canadian Doctors?.... then we will know you are fighting people's cause... You can lead by example too..not just to attack presidency all the time ... National Assembly is part of the system and problem sir.


Olubiyi Bibi Falemara-Williams
@bibi2williams
You seem to be oblivious of the fact that you're a part of the all these inefficiencies & insensitivities! Why have you not refused & stopped your colleagues from amassing N13.5million as extra running cost as revealed recently by Senator Shehu Sani? Tell us your part in it.


Sekere
@sekere_111
Sounds nice, let it start from the Senate. You people should cut down your Maxi bumper wages. Charity begins at home, don’t throw stone when you live in glass house. 13.5m monthly and 220million constituency allowance. Ole ni yin


Sultan Abdulazeez
@sultanabdumalik
Let's stop your running cost of 13 million to help the doctors


Quiet Spirit
@Jubalkayne
The self-righteousness of a politician never ceases.He has jumped on the doctors...and left the ones who have pegged back everyone's salaries, except http://theirs.You can't keep tweeting about govt's shortcomings when you're part of it.#ComeOutFromAmongThem


sunday gabriel
@koko_bellow
Tell your fellow thieves in the parliament that you are the reason for the poverty in the land. How much is your take home monthly for doing nothing other than tweeting


Adekunle Samuel Akorede
@Hardeks001
....and you receive #13.5million every month aside salary.... Who is deceiving who? Which way, Nigeria?�


Mr Ayenigba
@ibroayo
Only if you had paid your N11Bn debt. Only if you changed the story when you had the opportunity to lead NTA. And only if you are not collecting undisclosed salaries and allowances as a Senator. Ride on for RTs. I know your target audience


Omo Ure ��
@Iam__temmy
I love reading your post sir because of your structural and tactical approach but your hypocrisy glows brighter than the Sun in the day and the moon at night!


Ololade S
@ojogiwaso
Sir, No one has never protest when you collecting N13m monthly as running cost and N200m annually for constituency allowance.
This is indeed common sense..


Sam O'Dare Asolo
@AsoloSam
Nigerians, Shey unah see hypocrisy from Sen Bruce? Can you see what Canadian doctors did honourably without tweeting, but our own "common sense" senator is looking the other way because he is benefitting. He won't protest his pay. THE PROGRESS OF NIGERIA IS HIS LEAST CONCERN.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/261258-nigerians-attack-senator-canadian-doctors-salary-tweet.html

Posted By: Agency Reporter On: March 2, 2018
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh says Thailand has accused Nigeria of being responsible for the collapse of its seven rice mills following the drastic fall in rice importation from the country.

The minister made this known at a meeting of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative ( PFI ) and leadership of the Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers of Nigeria ( FEPSAN ) held at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.

The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ogbeh said Thailand’s Ambassador to Nigeria made the “accusation’’ when he visited him in February.

According to the minister, the ambassador lamented that the collapse of the rice mills has increased the unemployment rate in his country from 1.2 per cent to 4 per cent.

“Just like two weeks ago, the Ambassador of Thailand came to my office and said to me that we have really dealt with them.

“But I asked what did we do wrong and he said unemployment in Thailand was one of the lowest in the world, 1.2 per cent, it has gone up to four per cent because seven giant rice mills have shut down because Nigeria’s import has fallen by 95 per cent on rice alone.

“So, Mr President we thank you for the support and we thank all the agencies and those of you in the private sector for your resilience,’’ he said.

The minister, however, alerted the nation on what he described as alarming smuggling of fake fertilizer and rice along the western borders of the country.

He, therefore, called on the Federal Government to take drastic measures to check the trend as all previous diplomatic measures had failed to address the menace.

“But one last request Mr President, we have to take one strong measure against our neighbour to the West. The smuggling is really compromising our capacity on our result.

“Too much rice, too much fake fertilizer is still coming across the borders into this country in spite of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) we have with them they are not listening.

“Maybe if the Federal Government take one tough action, they will come and renegotiate the terms because good neighbourliness means reciprocity.

“We can’t be allowing them to survive at our own expense and I believe that we will do something about it,’’ he said.

Ogbeh appealed to FEPSAN to adjust their blending formula using little more micro nutrients for some crops like cocoa, cashew, plantain, banana and others that would soon be revived by his ministry.

The minister noted that the agricultural sector had created millions of jobs for Nigerians in the last two years.

He said: “People may say what they like about jobs. Recently I heard that we lost four million jobs. Nobody has calculated the millions and millions of jobs created on the farms.

“So, this programme as it grows can only make us stronger.

“As soon as more dams and lakes are put in place, you begin to sell fertilizer all year round and not wait for the rainy season alone.”

NAN

http://thenationonlineng.net/nigeria-responsible-for-collapse-of-our-rice-mills-thailand/

February 14, 2018 Josiah Oluwole

Stakeholders in Ekiti State on Tuesday made inputs in a bill seeking to establish the Ekiti State Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and called for its speedy passage.

The bill which is titled, Ekiti State Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(Establishment) Bill 2018, seeks to provide for the creation of a commission that will serve as a watch dog to financial administration in the state, investigate and prosecute corrupt financial crimes.

The bill is obviously inspired by a judgment of the Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti, which declared that the EFCC lacked the powers to investigate the finances of states except a query first emanated from the Houses of Assembly of the states regarding such infractions.

The court also held that banks holding the financial records of states have no powers to make such records available to the EFCC or the police for the same reason.

At the public hearing, the Speaker of the House, Kola Oluwawole, said the essence of the public hearing was to ensure that every sector made inputs in the bill so that it could rightly be a law emanating from the people.

“The essence is to see the bill as one that touches every aspect of our lives as private or public entities, groups or individuals,” he said.

“Why Ekiti State Economic and Financial Crimes Commission? Overseeing of the financial status and how it is managed is the job of the House of Assembly, not only in Ekiti State, but also in all the 36 states of the federation.

“The federal EFCC has been harassing the states. That is why Ekiti went to court and thank God, we won. We want to set the pace in probity and accountability.”

The Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Ayodele Fajemilehin, in his remarks, said the law when enacted, would see the commission investigate all economic and financial crimes, including advance fee fraud, diversion of contract fees, abandonment of projects, among others.

Speakers at the hearing include the state chairman of council of traditional rulers, Oloye of Oyè Ekiti, Olú Ademolaju; the state Head of Service, Olugbenga Faseluka; the state Auditor General, Kayode Daniel; Auditor General For Local Government, Bayo Adeojo; Chief Registrar of the state Judiciary, Obafemi Fasanmi; private legal practitioners, representatives of security agencies and NGOs.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-west/258575-ekiti-moves-establish-efcc.html

Posted By: Onyedi Ojiabor, Abuja On: January 29, 2018
The feud between the Senate and Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (retd), resurfaced on Monday in Abuja.

Trouble started when the Senate Ad- hoc Committee on Economic Waste in Nigeria visited the Customs Headquarters in Abuja as part of its oversight functions.

The drama was triggered by remarks made by Chairman of the Committee, Senator Dino Melaye, over the way the Senate delegation was received by the Customs high command.

Melaye said by protocol, the Customs chief was expected to come down from his office to welcome the committee members into the Custom premises.

The Kogi West lawmaker said it was a breach of protocol for the Customs CG to casually meet the delegation at the conference room.

Melaye said the practice of ushering in the Senate delegation has been the practice with statutory bodies like Customs, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) and others over the years.

He wondered why such established etiquette which was the norm under previous Customs chiefs was not accorded the committee by Ali.

Melaye said: “Before reading the prepared speech of the committee, let me make this small remark on what we have just observed here in form of breach of protocols.

“Mr. CG, rather than meeting us here at the conference room by way of courtesy, you supposed to have met us at the ground floor on arrival into the premises.

“That has been the practice of statutory bodies headed by Chief Executive Officers like you. Relevant Senate committees have over the years been accorded this by bosses of Immigration Service, Prison Service and others, making us to wonder why it was not so here today under your leadership.

“Therefore before proceeding further, on account of this observation, we want the Customs management to know that the presence of this committee before it implies that the Senate itself is before it to put things in order as regards the economic waste taking place in the Customs Service requiring the seriousness it deserves from you and the entire management.”

The Customs CG told the Senate delegation that the agency has its own protocol that is different from other public establishments.

Ali said: “We have our own protocol as regards receiving visitors like you. I don’t need to come downstairs to receive you just as nobody in the Senate or House of Representatives has ever come out to receive us anytime we visit the National Assembly.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/senate-customs-chief-fresh-feud-protocol/

January 25, 2018Kemi Busari
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has lamented that the National Assembly is grappling with funding constraints in carrying out its statutory functions.

Mr. Saraki noted that contrary to public perception that the National Assembly is being overfunded, increase in legislative activities especially that of the 8th senate has created funding constraint for the legislative arm of government

According to a statement by his special assistant on print media, Chuks Okocha, the senate president said this when he paid a visit to the chairman and members of the National Assembly Service Commission at its temporary office located in Utako, Abuja, on Wednesday.

In response to a request by the chairman of NASC, Adamu Fika, to have a permanent office of the commission inside the National Assembly complex, Mr. Saraki pledged his support towards the project, while noting that adequate funding remains the major challenge of the National Assembly.

The statement quoted him as saying, “One of the things that I see here today is the issue of budgetary constraints. However, the impression around the country is often that the National Assembly has too much money. But we have seen the challenges of the last few years.”

He added that the bulk of work of the lawmakers, which have increased in recent years, account for the rise in funding requirement.

The statement further quoted him as saying, “As we work through the number of bills passed, the public hearings held, and the number of ad-hoc committees that have been established — we know the challenges of not being able to fund some of our activities.

“So far, I am happy to report that despite these constraints, the 8th Senate has been able to surpass all previous Senates in the number of Bills that we have passed in 2-years — despite the funding gaps.

“We know that as we continue over time, people will begin to have more confidence in the National Assembly. However, right now, the challenges that we have are the issue of perception, and the issue of funding. We need to work hard to change this,” he said.

Mr. Saraki who is also the chairman of the National Assembly, sought the commission’s cooperation in redeeming the image of the legislative arm of government.

“Therefore, we all have a lot of work in trying to make the people appreciate the role of the legislature in our democracy,” Mr. Saraki said. “This has not been easy, this is why I am sure that working with the Commission, we can work towards this together so that we can improve the image of the National Assembly.”

Earlier, the Chairman of the NASC, DrAdamu Fika, lamented that the commission still operates from a rented apartment with the attendant cost.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/256697-national-assembly-needs-money-saraki.html

November 25, 2017 Nasir Ayitogo
A House of Representatives member, Adamu Chika, has given up the opportunity of seeking re-election, citing lack of public trust in Nigerian lawmakers.
The member, who represents Shiroro/Rafi/Munya federal constituency of Niger State, communicated the unprecedented decision in a letter to the Niger State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Mr. Shiroro confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES he wrote the letter, and said he stood by it.
In his memo, the first timer said given the low level of public trust in federal lawmakers, he would only be seeking National Assembly office again for “personal interest”.
“In line with the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad (SAW), that any person seeking to be appointed or elected into public office should be rejected, now that there is eroding public trust in legislators of the National Assembly, it is not worth the trouble to seek such office unless it is for my selfish and personal interest,” Mr. Chika wrote.
National Assembly members faces constant criticisms by Nigerians for their poor work ethics, unending corruption scandals and for the huge perks they receive.
Nigerians criticise the lawmakers for paying themselves millions of naira in quarterly allowances, and failing for years to disclose details of the National Assembly budgets.
Members are also accused of contributing very little to governance, with constant investigations and reports that are hardly implemented.
Mr. Chika serves out his four-year term in June 2019, and is constitutionally entitled to seek re-election. But the lawmaker says he will give up that opportunity.
He also drew the attention of the APC to the lack of cordiality between the government of Niger and federal legislators from the state.
House of Representatives member, Adamu Chika
“Though I have quite a number of reasons not to contest the upcoming election, I want to draw the attention of our great party APC in Niger state to the disconnect between the governance (sic) in the state and the membership of the National Assembly, the state assembly and other key stakeholders because there is an absence of synergy,” he wrote.
He said key APC leaders in Niger state were in pursuit of individual agenda and were at loggerheads with the ideals of the party.
He thanked the party for giving him the platform to serve.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/250603-rep-offers-quit-lack-public-trust-federal-legislators.html

November 24, 2017 Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday surprised many when he outpaced younger people during a health walk held in Abeokuta,Ogun State capital.
Mr. Obasanjo who is 80 years old, led about a hundred residents on a two kilometre trek on Moshood Abiola Way, to commemorate World Diabetics Day.
But he shocked many participants when he introduced brisk walking that left some panting and racing to catch up with the retired general.
The participants included the traditional ruler of Iwo, Adewale Akanbi who later had to fold his regalia and hand over his staff of office to his aide, to enable him reach the energetic former president.
Many of the older participants later withdrew midway into the trek, realising that they could not match Mr. Obasanjo’s pace.
Speaking at the end of the exercise, the former president said he was medically fit because he, ”religiously kept to his medication and was mindful of what he consumed.”
”I am fit because I religiously follow my medications and watch what I eat and drink. This must be a caution for all of us,” he said.
”I don’t know when I would die but I am above 80 and many of you can’t even beat me to the exercise this morning. Many of you were running after me.”

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/250469-drama-as-obasanjo-outpaces-participants-at-health-walk.html

Up to $21.3m of Federal Government’s funds held for the Nigerian Port Authority by Heritage Bank has been trapped in its vault since 2016, the NPA told the House of Representatives in Abuja on Wednesday.

The Managing Director of the NPA, Hadiza Usman, who made the disclosure, said efforts to get the bank to remit the money into the Treasury Single Account had met a brick wall so far.

She appeared before the an hoc committee of the House investigating compliance with the TSA policy by government agencies.

The committee is chaired by a member of the All Progressives Congress from Kano State, Mr. Danburam Abubakar-Nuhu.

She stated that a series of intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria to retrieve the money had failed.

According to Usman, Heritage Bank’s reason for not remitting the money is that “if such a huge withdrawal is allowed, it will have stress on the bank.”

She spoke further, “We wrote the CBN a number of letters and they promised to provide a guarantee.

“Up till date, they have not given us the guarantee.”

The MD further informed the committee that another sum of 6million euros kept by First City Monument Bank for NPA was “suddenly” seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Usman said the bank operated the account for the NPA on its Cargo Tracking Services operations before the seizure by the EFCC.

“The EFCC suddenly moved the 6m euros from FCMB to their own account; they just unilaterally swept the money”, she added.

When the committee asked why the anti-graft agency seized the money, the MD replied that no clear reasons were given.

However, she said it might be connected to investigations being conducted by the EFCC, but which the NPA did not have the details.

The committee immediately summoned the Ag. Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, to appear before it to explain why the money was confiscated.

Usman, who also answered questions on the relationship between NPA and Intels, said the parties resolved their differences after Intels agreed to comply with the TSA policy.

The MD disclosed that effective from November 1 this year, Intels started remitting all revenues it collected on behalf of the NPA into the TSA.

However, she disclosed that Intels had not remitted an outstanding revenue of over $130m, which it collected for 10 months prior to November 1.

http://punchng.com/tsa-21-3m-trapped-in-heritage-bank-npa-tells-reps/

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

Posted By: Yusuf Alli On: November 1, 2017
A former President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Isa Ayo Salami has faulted the terms of reference of the Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee (COTRIMCO), which is due for inauguration today.

He also said the committee’s exercise may amount to time wasting and a huge theatrical show.

Justice Salami said he rejected his appointment as the chairman of COTRIMCO because of the inclusion of certain lawyers in the committee based on their antecedents, divided interest and personal relationship.

Justice Salami bared his mind in a letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and National Judicial Council, Justice Walter Onnoghen (GCON).

In the letter, he said although the CJN agreed to remove the affected legal practitioners from the committee, he was not ready to accept it as it would “amount to buying a pig in a poke”.

The letter said: “Please refer to Your Lordship’s letter Ref. No. NJC/6/4/76/1/1 of 9th October, 2017 and our (Onnoghen/Salami) discussion of Thursday, 12th October, 2017 in Your Lordship’s chambers on the above mentioned committee.

“At the meeting, I raised serious objection to the inclusion of certain legal practitioners in the committee based on their antecedents, divided interest and personal relationship with one of them whom I strongly believe I cannot work with.

“Your Lordship apparently agreed with me that their inclusion was inauspicious based on petitions or protests you had received against their membership of the committee but Your Lordship was of the view that their removal at this stage would be premature and should be deferred till after the inauguration of the committee.

“I do not agree with Your Lordship’s approach to the problem and I am respectfully not prepared to accept it as it would amount to buying a pig in a poke. It is easier to remove them before inauguration than after inauguration.”

Justice Salami also faulted the committee’s terms of reference and the relevance of some state Chief Judges on the panel.

The letter added: “On my return to Ilorin on that 12th October, 2017, I met the letter under reference, which was forwarded to me by courier, waiting for me.

“The letter contained the terms of reference of the committee which is mainly to be watching the proceedings of courts designated by the chief judges across the country for trial of corruption cases.

“With the greatest respect, I do not know what we stand to gain by merely watching the proceedings of these courts. A judge who is quiet or friendly to counsel may not necessarily be honest neither is the one who is boisterous dishonest.

“Even then the most reckless amongst them would not be foolhardy to misconduct himself in the presence of the committee. He would clearly conduct himself respectfully for so long as it takes.

“I wish to remind My Lord that the devil itself does not know the darkest part of a man’s mind. Our sitting in court watching the proceedings would not disclose the intention of the presiding judge.

“The whole exercise would tantamount to time wasting and a huge theatrical show as we would not be there when he is writing his judgment.”

The ex-President of the Court of Appeal asked the CJN to be more forthcoming on what the NJC would gain by setting up the committee.

He said: “I, therefore, most respectfully stand to be persuaded on what the National Judicial Council stands to gain by setting up this committee.

“If, however, it feels very strongly about it, council could make one of its members chairman of the body. There are five retired Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, including a former President of the Court of Appeal, in the National Judicial Council.

“After all the committee is that of the National Judicial Council as suggested above and I am not a member of the council. My own duty would just have been to submit a report to the council for its consideration and conclusion, a role that would be better performed by a member of the council.

“My Lord, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, another dilemma the committee might face is the inclusion of the five chief judges of some states in it. What happens to their primary function – the administration of their various courts? Would they abdicate their responsibility to their courts or be taking time off to see to the running in order to ensure their stability? What would the committee do during their absence; wait for them or proceed without them?

“Either view is not salutary to the function of the committee. If we wait for them, the work of the committee would be delayed and if we proceed without them, they would not be seized of all the facts to enable them participate fully in the deliberations of the committee and to defend its report in council.”

Justice Salami thanked the CJN for honouring him with the appointment because it will facilitate the healing process in the nation’s Judicial system.

A statement by the Director of Information, National Judicial Council (NJC), Mr. Soji Oye, said the CJN “picked a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Hon. Justice Mr. Suleiman Galadima, CFR, as the new chairman of the committee.

The statement said: “Justice Galadima is to replace Hon. Justice Mr. Ayo Salami (retired) who excused himself from the committee as the chairman, after initially accepting to serve.

The committee will be inaugurated tomorrow, Wednesday, November 1st, 2017 by Hon. Justice Mr. Onnoghen, at the Council’s Conference Hall by 2pm.

Hon. Justice Mr. Galadima, CFR, was born October 1946 in Nasarawa State. He attended Government College, Keffi where he obtained the West Africa School Certificate in 1965 before he proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Law in 1977 and was called to the Bar after he graduated from the Nigerian Law School in 1978.

He later received a master’s degree in Law from the University of Jos in 1985.

“He joined the Anambra State Judiciary as Magistrate on July 1988 and in 1990, he was appointed as the Attorney-General and the Commissioner for Justice, Plateau State.

“On May 1991, he became the High Court Judge of Plateau State. At the creation of Nasarawa State in 1996, he was appointed as its pioneer Chief Judge of the State.

“On December 9, 1998, he was appointed to the Court of Appeal and on August 2010, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

“He retired on October 10, 2016, at the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.

“Hon. Justice Mr. Galadima is famous for his leading judgement in Shina Oketaolegun Vs. State, SC. 334A/2012, wherein he held that the Court of Appeal correctly reviewed the evidence led by both the prosecution and the defence in which he agreed that the evidence of one credible witness can justify conviction.”

Other members of the committee are the Chief Judge, Borno State, Justice Kashim Zannah; the Chief Judge of Imo State, Justice P.O. Nnadi; Chief Judge Delta State, Justice Marsahal Umukoro, Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice M. L. Abimbola. Others are the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. A.B Mahmoud (SAN); former NBA Presidents, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN); Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN); Mr. J.B Daudu (SAN); and Mr. Augustine Alegeh (SAN); Dr. Garba Tetengi (SAN); Mrs. R.I Inga, Representative of Non-Governmental Organisations, Representative from the Ministry of Justice, Representative from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, as well as the Secretary of the NJC, Mr. Gambo Saleh.

http://thenationonlineng.net/panels-duties-may-time-wasting-says-salami/

BY FREDRICK NWABUFO OCT 30, 2017
The Nigeria senate is impotent. So impotent that it engages in theatrical probes to conceal the absence of a legislative manhood.

I have followed the senate closely. In fact, I covered that arm of the National Assembly years ago. So, I can say with a verisimilitude of certainty that I have copious knowledge of the institution.

The senate has become a reactionary cry-baby. Its only approach to issues of volcanic magnitude is conducting ineffectual probes. Probe this, probe that. I have become weary of the countless insipid probes.

The nucleic problem is that the probes are not usually followed with pristine actions. Perhaps, the senate uses them as a spectre of distraction or as a means of “toasting” Nigerians - “we are on top of the situation” - while its members gormandize the coveted national cake. I am sure every Nigerian knows the meaning of this abused and trite clause – “we are on top of the situation”.

On Tuesday, the upper legislative chamber embarked on a futile exercise of braggadocio - to probe the circumstances of how Abdulrasheed Maina, alleged pension thief, who was on exile in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), breezed into the country; how he was reinstated into the civil service, and how he was promoted to director at the ministry of interior.

Despite, the wise counsel of Senator Tayo Alasodura that "we (senate) should not always duplicate the executive; if the executive has ordered an investigation we should not order another one", the chest-thumping senate still resolved to ask its committees on interior and anti-corruption, public service and establishment to investigate the matter.

And I ask, to what end?

It is clear that the senate’s answer to every problem is probe – often without result. The upper legislative chamber also appears to savour duplicating the executive. Let me explain.

A few days ago when Ibe Kachiwku’s jarring missive of allegations against Maikanti Baru, NNPC GMD, ticked off a public outcry, the presidency ordered an immediate investigation of the claims. The senate, perhaps, not to be outdone, also asked its committee on petroleum to investigate the allegations. And I ask again, to what end? What has come out of all previous probes on education and power?

Why is the senate in a frantic chase of a will-o-the-wisp? I remember in March when the upper legislative chamber took its battle with the executive to Hameed Ali, comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service, the institution huffed and puffed like a wounded dragon, but to date there is no splinter of result from its investigation of the customs chief.

For the senate to be taken seriously, it must make resolutions from its investigations actionable. It must put gravitas to its functions. If it must probe, it should be ready to tell Nigerians the result and effect of the action.

It makes no sense the time and money spent investigating an issue, only for the findings to be tucked away in a webby shelf. Maybe, the senate is using “probes” to play to the gallery and to cloak its lazy schedule.

The upper legislative chamber must put oomph and gravitas to its probes.


You can follow Fredrick on Twitter @FredrickNwabufo.

http://saharareporters.com/2017/10/30/nigeria%E2%80%99s-senate-and-its-basket-empty-probes-fredrick-nwabufo

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK OCT 13, 2017
Justice Cecelia Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court, in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered that the total sum of N1.4billion, which is part of the refunded Paris and London Club Loans domiciled at Access Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), be temporary forfeited to the Federal government of Nigeria.

The funds were traced to Senate President Bukola Saraki and his aides who took the funds from the Nigeria Governor's Forum and laundered most of it through jewelry sellers in Dubai

Justice Olatoregun made the order on Friday in accordance to an exparte application filed and argued by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) through its lawyer, E. E. Iheanacho.

Apart from the order of temporary forfeiture of the above-stated amount, the court also ordered the EFCC to notify whoever is interested in the said money to appear before the court and show cause why the money should not be finally forfeited.

The judge directed the EFCC to publish the temporary forfeiture order in a National newspaper for the respondents or anyone who is interested in the money to appear before the court and show cause within 14 days why final forfeiture order will not be made.

Listed as respondents in the suit are: Melrose General Services Limited, WASP Networks Limited, and Thebe Wellness Services.

The EFCC in an affidavit deposed to by one of its investigators, Usman Zakari, stated that on May 26, 2016, the 36 states governors through the Nigerian Governor Forum (NGF) engaged the services of consortium of consultants made up of GSCL consulting and Bizplus Consulting Services Limited tagged 'GSCL Bizplus Consortium' for the purpose of verification, reconciliation, and recovery of over-deductions on Paris and London Club Loans on the account of states and local government between 1995 to 2002.

The deponent stated that the Consortium carried out the said assignment of verification, reconciliation, and recovery of the said Paris and London Club loans on the states and local government between 1995 and 2002 and came up with a total sum of $6.5billion USD as due for refund to the states.

Zakari said that the report of the Consortium dated August 31, 2016, showing a break down of the debt profile state by state and over-deductions was addressed to the Honorable Minister of Finance. And that the report was submitted to the NGF.

The EFCC operative further averred that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria approved an initial payment of the sum of $1.7billion for the benefit of the various states.

He also stated that in line with the request of the state governors, the Ministry of Finance through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), paid the sum of $86.5million and N19billion, (representing five percent of the approved initial Paris and London Club refund) respectfully into the GTBank Plc and Access Bank Pic accounts of NGF purportedly to defray consultancy and incidental expenses.

Adding that the said sum of N19 billion was paid into the Access Bank Plc account of NGF on December 8, 2016. And on December 14, 2016, the NGF paid the sum of N4billion to the Consortium as part of agreed consultancy fee.

Furthermore, Zakari the first respondent, Melrose General Services Limited, whose alter ego is one Robert Mbonu a former MD of Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria, was never engaged by the NGF to carry out any consultancy services in relation to the said Paris and London Club refund. Adding that in order to obtain public fund, the first respondent recopied and misinterpreted the work of Consortium to the NGF for payment as if it was first respondent's work.

He stated that based on the act of Mbonu, the first respondent was paid the sum of N3.5 billion by the NGF on December 14, 2016, while no consultancy job was executed by the first respondent on behalf of the NGF.

He affirmed that the first respondent account with Access Bank Plc, which was negative when the sum of N3.5 billion was credited with it. But between December 15, 2016, and January 20, 2017, the first respondent moved out about N2.2billion in order to launder the money leaving a balance of N1.2billion before the intervention of the EFCC.

Also, the sum of N220 million was voluntarily returned by the first and second respondents, whose representatives also made statements.

The commission, therefore, argued that interim order of the court is necessary to forfeit to the Federal government of Nigeria the sum of N1.2billion in Access Bank Plc account of the first respondent and the sum of N220 million recovered from both second and third respondents.

The court adjourned till October 30 for parties to show why the said sum should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

Below is the original Report that detailed how Saraki connived with the NGF to steal N3.5billion from the Paris club refund.
http://saharareporters.com/2017/10/13/court-orders-temporary-forfeiture-n14bn-paris-club-funds-laundered-senate-president#disqus_thread

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

September 26, 2017 Premium Times

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on September 25 filed an appeal at the Sokoto Division of the Court of Appeal, challenging the ruling of the Sokoto State High Court in respect of pardon granted by the Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, to five persons who were charged for fraud alongside a former governor of the state, Attahiru Bafarawa.
Mr. Tambuwal, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, is a member of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress, whose major mantra is the fight against corruption.
The Sokoto State High Court presided by Justice Bello Abbas had on June 29 discharged Tukur Alkali, Bello Isah, Isah Sadiq, Habibu Halilu Modachi and Muhammadu Dingyadi from further criminal proceedings based on a pardon granted to them by Mr. Tambuwal.
Mr. Tambuwal granted the pardon while the officials were still being tried for the alleged fraud.
However, being dissatisfied with the ruling, the EFCC took the matter to the court of appeal seeking an order setting aside the judgment of the trial court on four grounds.
The appellant argued that section 36 (10) of the Constitution which provides that “ no person who shows that he has been pardoned for a criminal offence shall again be tried of that offence” is talking about pardon after conviction and in this case, the respondents were undergoing trial when the pardon was granted.
The appellant further argued that, pardon is a grace by the appropriate authority, which mitigates or obliterates the punishment the law demands for the offence and restores the rights and privileges forfeited on account of the offence which the accused was convicted of.
The appellant further argued that the trial judge erred in law by relying on section 212 (1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Government of Nigeria (as amended) in discharging the accused person, adding that section 212 (1)(a) of 1999 Constitution is inapplicable in the circumstances of this case.
According to the appellant, a governor of a state can only exercise his prerogative of mercy to a person who had been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction.
It contended that the trial judge erred in law by allowing the Governor of Sokoto State to not only interfere or discontinue with criminal proceedings but one undertaken by the agent of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The EFCC is a creation of the National Assembly, with powers to investigate and prosecute persons suspected to have committed an economic or financial crime. As a agency of the federal government, the commission is not under the regulation or direction of a state governor in the discharge of its duties and a state governor is not entitled to interfere with the functions of the EFCC.
“Nolle Prosequi” by the appropriate Attorney General is the only permissible procedure to terminate or discontinue criminal proceeding against any person.
“A state governor is not empowered to discontinue a criminal proceedings under the guise of prerogative of mercy”, the EFCC said.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/244206-efcc-challenges-pardon-granted-apc-governor-state-officials-allegedly-stole-millions.html

What do you make of the declaration of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist organisation?

Whilst I’m not sure of the legal parameters of that declaration, in practice, yes. If you look at it, we’re very lucky that this thing did not get out of hand. They (IPOB) were coming in their thousands, establishing road blocks, and all that. If that is allowed, then the country is finished. Then they burned down a police station, killed a policeman. For Christ’s sake, even if you want Biafra, you don’t have to be violent. If you look at the words that Kanu uses on the social media, how he has described our President and the rest of us as living in a zoo abusive, violent, intemperate words all those in my view constitute in totality acts of terrorism in which they can push undiscerning youths into rage and violence which can be destructive. I just thank God that the North is showing some maturity and some sense of restraint while this thing is being curbed. But we really need to curb IPOB otherwise they will turn this country into a tinderbox.

The Senate has asked the President to call you to order. The All Progressives Congress (APC) also cautioned you against comments capable of creating tension between the executive and the legislature. So, if the President asks you to stop speaking, will you comply?

Yes, he is my employer. If he tells me to stop talking, I’ll stop talking. But I have certain rights too that I can exercise in addition to that, because I’m not going to be in a position where I am impotent. So, I must obey him, but I can go beyond that and obey myself too. That’s it. As for the leadership of the APC, I think they are the most unprincipled group of people. They are lily-livered, weak, and cannot run any organisation. The whole party is collapsing under them. They cannot control anybody. Because they cannot control anybody, they’re now in fact encouraging and accepting ‘rogues’. When I say rogues, I don’t mean stealing. In literature, when you say someone is a rogue elephant, it means people who are running riot and destroying the party. They’re pampering them, saying: ‘Let’s not annoy them too much’, but they’re destroying the APC house. So, I think the APC leadership is weak, is too compromising and is certainly a failure as far as I’m concerned.

http://saharareporters.com/2017/09/24/senators-reps-are-sucking-us-dry-their-jumbo-salaries-sagay#disqus_thread

BY THE NATION NEWSPAPER SEP 24, 2017
Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) chairman, is as tough as they come. An activist to the core, he is frank and down-to-earth and for this, he has incurred the Senate’s wrath. But he is not perturbed. He tells Joseph Jibueze, in this interview, that he is always ready for the Senate. Sagay also speaks on corruption in the judiciary, restructuring, former Petroleum Resource Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke and sundry issues.

THE Senators accused you of making hate speeches and using abusive language against them. Have you apologised to them? On the contrary, they should apologise to me, because if you saw their statement, if I had not become thick-skinned because of my two-year chairmanship of this committee, I’d have been very upset. I’m a bit thick-skinned now. I’ve been insulted left, right and centre. Even those that I’m hoping would benefit from our work young ones whose patrimony is being wasted away some of them are rented to insult us. So, there was nothing they (Senators) didn’t say about me that I was ranting, I was over-excited, I talk anyhow, there’s no name they didn’t call me. I said two things. One, that they’re not committed to Nigeria, that they’re there for themselves alone and simply consuming all the national assets and leaving poor Nigerians to waste away and the country under-developed. And I provided the figures. I know that worse exists, which has not been detected. I didn’t say what the minority leader, majority leader, deputy Senate president and Senate president get as extras. They run into hundreds of millions. What I said at that lecture is a tip of the iceberg. We’re going to do further thorough research on this matter, and we’re still going to come out with figures. What we’re aiming for is for the National Assembly to admit that they’re frittering away our national assets and funds and therefore preventing them from being used for the other vital sectors, to create more employment, to fix our infrastructure. If you recall, the former Governor of Central Bank said they were consuming virtually one quarter, 25 per cent of our budget. They didn’t deny it.

Why are you against their allowances?

There’s one more thing I need to stress. If you look at the allowances, Nigerians need to ask themselves questions. Should we be the ones clothing Senators? Should my tax be used in hanging Agbada on a Senator? The press has not taken it up, but this is serious. How many times have government provided clothes for you, and yet you’re clothed? But these men who are overpaid, who are absorbing the largest share of our resources are still asking us to clothe them, as if they arrived in Abuja naked. It’s not acceptable. These same people are collecting huge sums, claiming that they’re suffering hardship by doing their job. If you go to the Senate chambers, you will see the luxurious furnishing, fully air-conditioned; you’ll see staff running around, attending to every little thing they need, serving them, hand and foot that is hardship. What about the man who is earning N18,000 a month, who’s carrying machinery, working in a factory, cutting grass on the road, cleaning the roads, sweating with hard labour. Nobody is paying them hardship allowance. But the people are paid hardship allowance for living in tremendous luxury. They’re claiming utility allowance. In other words, if we don’t give them money, they don’t have cutlery, tablecloth, plates and saucepans. We have to provide those for them. The list goes on. It is criminal. It is unconscionable. It is wicked for people who are so highly privileged, who are the wealthiest people in the country to still be sucking our blood dry by collecting these things which they don’t need and depriving others of them.

Do you agree with suggestions that we should do away with the bi-cameral legislature to save cost?

In fact I was just coming to that. If we’re going to keep the bi-cameral type of National Assembly, we must do something. And that is: We must make it part time, as we had in the First Republic. They would legislate for two months, and then everybody would go back. To save this country from this tremendous cost that is bending our back, we need to turn the National Assembly into part time operation, so that any member who is there is someone comfortably having a profession somewhere else. In those days, teachers, professors, local government chairmen, emirs and so forth, they all came. They were only paid sitting allowance and were housed. They had their professions. They were not looters who had come to make a fortune in the National Assembly. We must go back to that, make it part time and pay them only sitting allowances.

The Senate said you did not get your facts right in claiming they have not passed any bill to aid the anti-corruption war. Is that so?

There’s passing and there’s passing. Let’s take the Financial Intelligence Agency Bill as an example. The bill they passed is just pure vendetta. There are other financial intelligence unit that are located within other anti-corruption agencies all over the world. What is important is the level of their independence within where they’re located. But these people want to take it out of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) because they want to smack the Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu in the eye. That’s all. So I don’t count that as an achievement. When you do something based on hatred, it’s not an achievement.

What about the Whistleb-blower Bill which they passed?

We were already operating the Whistle-blower policy before it went to them. And I’m not aware that the Bill has been signed into law. But, the policy was already in operation.

They also said they passed the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, contrary to your claim…

I am even surprised government took that bill to the National Assembly. If we have stolen property abroad, mutual legal assistance enables that government to cooperate with us for the return of our assets. It gives us access to properties located within foreign territories. You don’t need legislation for that. It’s just something between two heads of state.

So, which laws were you referring to?

The Special Criminal Court Bill, which will create a court specifically for cases on corruption, narcotics, kidnapping, with main emphasis on corruption cases. They are sitting on that.

Is that all?

There is the Proceeds of Crime Bill, which automatically will put anybody whose assets is seized on the defence, to prove ownership. The burden of proof will be reversed. He has to establish that he’s the owner. There are little clauses under various laws but we want to put them under one head where a prosecutor can zero in and use it. They have not passed that.

Let’s move to the issue of loss of high profile cases. What is being done to reverse this trend?

A lot is being done. There is a manual for prosecution. We noticed the weaknesses in the existing system. It guides the anti-corruption agencies in prosecuting cases to be effective, successful and fast. It proposes that it is not an investigator alone who should be involved in investigation. It must involve a potential prosecutor, because it is the lawyer who knows the ingredients that constitute the offence. So, if the policeman is veering off into irrelevant things, he can stop him and say no. Second, there is a committee made up of top members of the anti-corruption agency, before whom a progress report is brought, who would then look at what has been brought, the evidence that has been found and look at the offence. So there’s a vetting committee. By the time an investigation report passes through the prosecutor who is working with the investigator, and then passes through a committee made up of about five or six people who are professionals in various areas including law, then there is likelihood that what will come before the court will be something substantive.

Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution Mr Okoi Obono-Obla recently said some cases he filed at the Supreme Court were yet to be heard nearly 10 years after. Have you had a similar experience?

He’s very right. The cases before the Supreme Court are a cause of major frustration. I have a private case which has been sitting there. The registrar told us: ‘For the next five years you won’t hear anything’. So it’s a very major problem. I don’t blame the Supreme Court too much because under our present procedural system, anything goes to the Supreme Court, anything interlocutory matters that will still come back to the High Court, which should have been disposed of finally. So they’re overloaded. We need to come together, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and others, first to amend the Constitution, so that we totally eliminate interlocutory matters. Second, there is no need for commercial cases to go to the Supreme Court. They can be resolved at the Court of Appeal level where you have three justices. Leave constitutional cases, criminal cases, things concerning administration of government, human rights just about five things for the Supreme Court.

Do you support the idea of regional Supreme Courts?

We had that before. The Western region and the western state had a Western Court of Appeal, but when they gave their judgment, they still went to the Supreme Court. If you’re going to have that, then it has to be made in such a way that appeals end there. So it’s true (that cases last up to 10 years), but it’s not the fault of the Supreme Court.

Some have called for the reform of the National Judicial Council (NJC), saying the CJN should not be NJC chairman to prevent conflict of interest. What is your take?

I think that retired justices should be introduced into the system. I feel that the head of the NJC should be a retired judge. Why? Because they will not have an axe to grind. There are dangers of self-interest and lack of objectivity in some of the activities of the NJC. If you see some of the judges being prosecuted now, their cases went before the NJC, and they said they didn’t find them liable, they should go back. So there’s a lot of esprit de corps, lack of objectivity, protection of wrong self interests. Again, Nigeria is a very difficult country. Not all retired judges are good. I know of some retired judges whose job is to carry bribe, because the people who are there now are their junior colleagues, so they go and influence them with money from Senior Advocates. In Nigeria, we have not yet established a system of checking the background and records of people before appointing them. We’re not sufficiently ruthless in saying: ‘No, you’re unfit. Period.’ It doesn’t matter that you’ve not been found guilty. The fact that there is suspicion against you is sufficient. A judge, like Caesar’s wife, must be above suspicion. He absolutely has to be above suspicion. There must not be a breath of misconduct about him. If that happens, certainly he’s not fit to hold an important position.

The Senate has refused to confirm Acting EFCC chairman. For how long can Magu remain in acting capacity?

Indefinitely. The Senate, in my view, doesn’t even have jurisdiction in this matter. It is the President who has jurisdiction because of Section 171 of the Constitution where he is empowered to appoint him directly as chairman. This government is being a bit too careful, gentle, not wanting to ruffle feathers. It’s okay. Maybe that’s why they’re politicians and in government. If people like me who are not politicians were there, these people (Senators) would have heard a different message. I’d have rammed things through and damned them to go and do whatever they like, and let’s see who would come on top, because I believe that ultimately, righteousness, a good cause, a belief in principle will prevail. We’re dealing with people who are undergoing all sorts of investigations; they cannot face a righteous man. So, it’s a kind, gentle government, and I think they’re lucky that people like me are not there.

Some people have wondered: What exactly does PACAC do?

We have done a lot workshops, not only for prosecutors, but for judges in all the zones. We’ve taken them through the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, how to tackle corruption cases. For Justices of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, we even brought people from abroad, so they would not say it’s infradig for locals to be taking them through a workshop. We brought people from England, from Canada, the Chief Judge of Ghana, those who are experienced in handling corruption cases. It was a very hot, intensive session. We have prepared several manuals. PACAC is an advisory body, a sort of think-tank. We do our workshops, our symposia; we do research and make them available to government with recommendations of what they should do. We’re still going to continue to do that even though it’s not everything that we recommended that has been carried out. We’re sometimes disappointed. They have not really rejected anything out of hand. It’s like: ‘Well, this is not the time.’ That sort of thing.

Courts are resuming for the new legal year. What are your expectations?

We are concerned about the judiciary. Without the judiciary, let us kiss the anti-corruption war goodbye. We must have a committed judiciary; otherwise they will keep messing up any case that comes. It’s so easy to give a reason, which will appear to be reasonable, and the public will say oh, the anti-corruption agencies have not done their homework. It’s not so. Quite a number of the judges are deliberately taking decisions which I’d say indicate their hostility to the anti-corruption war. There are judges who are hostile. There are judges who in fact interfere when such cases are going on; using their position to ensure that government loses. Government is aware of all this. They’re aware of so many things. It’s just as well that some of us are not in a position to take decisions. People who should be stopped are slipping through and still being relevant when in fact they should be pushed aside into retirement where they will not interfere in the anti-corruption struggle. I want particularly the CJN who is the leader of the judiciary to study his men very carefully. There are reports on these judges, some by the Department of State Services (DSS) and from other sources. He knows a lot of what is happening. I feel that judges who are showing they are not committed to the eradication of corruption should be eased out of the system.

Why is PACAC pushing for special courts?

If we could only get the National Assembly to pass the Criminal Court Bill to become an Act, the court will be set up in such a way that only selected judges with established reputation, integrity, honour and honesty established, not guess work, from record only they would be appointed judges of the court. We know them. There are some of them, well known, and they will be the only ones to man the court. Those are the only ones you cannot approach. These are people with the spirit of Eso, Aniagolu, Oputa. There are still young judges who have that spirit. We know them. We’ll select them. They’ll be put there. You dare not carry money to their chambers. You will come out in chains if you do it. We have people like that. We want that bill to be passed so they can operate on that basis. Those are some of the changes we want.

There have been so many recoveries from former Petroleum Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke. What is being done towards extraditing her?

So many recoveries have been made half of our budget. What is recovered is just a tip of the iceberg. She’ll come back eventually, but already the British are investigating her for alleged money laundering. She allegedly has many buildings in Britain. She has bank accounts. She’s being investigated. I don’t think they’re going to release her, because they’ll have the first go. After she has been tried, then we can look at what we have against her. If it’s not the same thing for which she is tried there, we can still try her here on her return. I don’t see the need for a hurry to rush her down here. The British are compiling evidence. I know that some evidence from here have been sent there to support what the British are doing, because basically it is a case of money laundering transferring money to Britain to launder by building houses, buying furniture, putting them in bank accounts and so on. If you know the British, you will know that any attempt to bring her before they’ve done their own will not be possible.

What is your view on calls for restructuring?

I am a strong supporter of restructuring. Nigeria is a very difficult country, that’s why there are different views on restructuring. Left to me, I’ll say we should go back to the 1963 Constitution and then modify it to suit the present circumstances. What we want to create are viable federating units. The only viable one in Nigeria now is Lagos. All the others are not viable.

Should states be collapsed?

It’s not very realistic to say states should be collapsed, because people who have established interests, whose whole life is oriented towards state activity, will object. Some people are even saying we should have 18 more states, which is a very laughable idea. So, I won’t insist that you should collapse states completely, but I think we can reduce what they’re doing, transfer more to the regional government, reduce public service, cut down on cost, and let them do some basic things which will give some emotional satisfaction to those in favour of states.

Are you calling for some kind of regional authority?

O yes. There will be election and a leader will emerge. Think of how it used to be when we had four regions. I’m not saying it must be four now. It was the regions that supported the Federal Government. Every region contributed 20 per cent of its earnings to the Federal Government. It kept 50 per cent for itself. The remaining 30 per cent went into a distributable pool meant for most disadvantaged regions. So the North was the most disadvantaged because of the size and the resources could not cope, so they were getting 41 per cent of that 30 per cent contributed by all regions. Eastern region got almost 30 per cent. Then West got about 18 per cent because it was well endowed. And then Midwest got six per cent. That’s why when the Northerners are so frightened of restructuring, I say No. There’s nothing to be afraid of. There’s still going to be a pool that will support you against difficulties. But it’ll not be enough to make you do nothing as you’re doing now, just going cap in hand to collect money every month from Abuja, spend it, go back the next month. That will end. There’ll be support, but you also have to be productive. And there’ll be competition, because there will be larger entities. There was a lot of competition in those days. The Western region introduced free education, everyone introduced it. It introduced television, everyone introduced it. It built a stadium, everybody built stadia. Then they all competed and had universities. And we were growing fast, faster than Singapore and all these other places at that time. So, we could have regions and still leave some limited power to the states to take of those who have some interests in those states. Otherwise, I’m being realistic, the debate will be very hard if we say ‘abolish all states’.

http://saharareporters.com/2017/09/24/senators-reps-are-sucking-us-dry-their-jumbo-salaries-sagay#disqus_thread

Published September 11, 2017

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, has lamented the constant harassment of the Senate by Nigerians, adding that the upper legislative chamber cannot disclose its salaries and allowances.

Abdullahi said this during a live programme on Channels Television titled, ‘Politics Today.’

The Senate spokesman also refused to state how much the lawmakers earned in salary and allowances.

When asked to say how much he earned, Abdullahi said it was rude of the presenter to ask him how much each senator earned.

Abdulahi said, “You don’t expect me to come out on national television to say this is what I earn. It is not done. I cannot ask you as a journalist how much you earn. It is not done.

“If anybody is interested in how much we are getting paid, you know where to get the information. The documents are available. If Nigerians won’t believe that, is it what I will say that they will believe?”

The Senate spokesman said the figures released by the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), were false, adding that the Senate’s budget was not even as high as what Sagay released.

He said Sagay was only trying to cause unnecessary tension between the National Assembly and the Presidency.

When confronted with the figures exclusively obtained by Channels Television which put the salary and allowances of each senator at N14m per month and House of Representatives members as N8m per month, Abdullahi said he could not confirm or deny the figures.

Abdullahi said the cost of democracy was not as high as the cost of not having democracy and Nigerians should look on the bright side.

He added, “This issue has become a recurring decimal. In the last two years people have been discussing this matter and I always ask myself, what do people really want to believe? I think if this subject matter has been discussed for two years and we are still looking at issues wrongly, then I think there is something wrong with us.

“The institutions that are responsible for providing this information are there. A law was promulgated on Top Salary Scale also known as TOPSA and it is based on this scale that everyone who holds one political office or the other gets paid.

“I want to also submit that I presume Prof. Sagay would have been paid based on the provision of this scale. For us in the National Assembly, the question needs to be asked ‘what is the cost of having democracy and what is the cost of not having democracy?’”

Sagay (SAN), had said last week that a Nigerian senator earns N29m per month.

“From the information I have gathered, a Nigerian senator earns about N29m a month and over N3bn a year,” the professor said.

He added, “Basic salary N2,484,245.50; hardship allowance, 1,242, 122.70; constituency allowance N4, 968, 509.00; furniture allowance N7, 452, 736.50; newspaper allowance N1, 242, 122.70.

“Wardrobe allowance N621,061.37; recess allowance N248, 424.55; accommodation 4,968,509.00; utilities N828,081.83; domestic staff N1,863,184.12; entertainment N828,081.83; personal assistant N621,061.37; vehicle maintenance allowance N1,863,184.12; leave allowance N248,424.55; severance gratuity N7, 425,736.50; and motor vehicle allowance N9, 936,982.00.”

http://punchng.com/we-cant-disclose-our-allowances-senate/

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK AUG 31, 2017

There are two problems bordering on abomination in my title. First problem: the names, Saraki and Sowore, are appearing in the same sentence. Second problem: Saraki’s name even comes first in the list. If you feel disgusted, even violated, you are right. The names, Saraki and Sowore, should have no business in the same sentence, the same environment. What is the business of darkness with light? And why is Saraki’s name first?

These questions have only one answer: Nigeria. Nigeria is the agent that has created a situation in which darkness and light are not only appearing in the same sentence and environment but darkness even enjoys the added perk of coming first. I think that Nigeria is enabling this travesty, this abomination, because Nigerians have not had a serious sober reflection on the issues attendant upon Saraki’s long-drawn battle to silence Omoyele Sowore and put Sahara Reporters out of business. We have not thought of the deeper ethical and moral implications of the fact that we are in a nation space in which a Saraki versus Sowore match is even possible in the first place. In saner societies, Saraki would be in jail and there would be no conditions of possibility for the current scenario.

I have put Saraki’s name first in this equation to drive home the choice that Nigeria is making. I have put his name first so that nobody will turn around and claim that they did not know when, where, and how we made that choice as a people. I have put Saraki’s name first so that nobody will claim innocently down the road that they had merely imagined that Saraki versus Sowore was merely the usual roforofo between two famous and politically exposed Nigerians; that they did not know that what is unfolding before our eyes today is significantly bigger, much bigger than Saraki and Sowore and goes into the core of who we are and where we are headed as a people.

I have put Saraki’s name first because I don’t want anybody – especially members of Nigeria’s vast community of conscience such as progressives, activists, civil society leaders, intellectuals, who have been largely silent - to be able to claim that they did not know that Saraki and Sowore, especially in the context of the current face-off, are signs, symbols, and metaphors of our condition, choices and future direction. But these are different signs, different symbols, diametrically opposed metaphors representing totally different, totally irreconcilable visions and versions of Nigeria. That is why we are currently in a situation of national choice and direction.

I’d say that we do not need to revisit the curriculum vitae of both men but ours is a society that can barely remember what happened this morning. Sowore has spent roughly the last thirty years in the trenches fighting for what Wole Soyinka calls the first condition of humanity: justice. He has spent his entire adult life fighting that Nigeria may be just and fair. He has spent his entire adult life fighting that Nigeria may overcome the demon of corruption. Above all, he has spent his entire adult life fighting to hold generations of corrupt orangutans responsible for the Nigerian tragedy accountable.

The least we say of Bukola Saraki, the better. However, we must say something about him for there are millennials and younger generations who only know him as a Senate President involved in the usual shenanigans of Nigerian politicians. Because of our national affliction of incuriosity, not too many will be able to make a direct link between Saraki and the current condition of Nigeria as the open sore of a continent (apologies to Soyinka). The three decades that Sowore has spent fighting for Nigeria correspond roughly to the time Saraki has spent consolidating an illustrious career in looting and corruption.

Today, Bukola Saraki is one of the most corrupt characters ever to bestride our national space in the 21st century. From Societe Generale Bank to the Senate via eight years as Governor of Kwara State via Panama Papers to his current complete ownership of the treasury of Kwara state as an extension of his personal estate, there is really no shortage of dossiers you could look into if you are sufficiently curious about the guy. If you are a millennial, an undergraduate, and you are at home because of ASUU Strike, see if you can research and write an essay exploring the link between Saraki’s looting and why you are home.

Our friend is, of course, Nigeria’s current Senate President, within a heartbeat of the Presidency. Inordinately ambitious and devious, he is not even beyond engineering the occasional Senate kerfuffle to test the waters. He is even now in Mecca to pray for President Buhari we are told. Nothing you hear about members of Nigeria’s political elite is implausible or improbable. Suffice it to say that Saraki represents a sick version of Nigeria. He represents a putrid vision of Nigeria.

It is this sort of character that our system has enabled, empowered, enhanced to compromise institutions, undermine society, buy judges and judgements in his private estate of Kwara, impoverish people in order to be able to buy them as supporters and thugs to be unleashed on civilized spaces of agency. Were Saraki to be domiciled in his second country of nationality, the United Kingdom, he’d probably be spending the second decade of his life by now in jail.

Anybody with half Saraki’s hefty dossier of corruption would be in jail for a very long time in civilized societies. In Nigeria, he is a lord of the manor, free to aspire to the highest office in the land, buy judgements to intimidate light and spread darkness. I hinted earlier that what is going on between the two men have implications that are much bigger than both of them. Nearly twenty years after our return to democracy, a paradigm is being entrenched in which dark and corrupt forces in the political class are able to deploy bastardized instruments and apparatuses of state to shrink the space of civil agency and curtail the freedoms associated with democracy.

The forces of darkness and corruption have so personalized the state that they can use her instruments - the security agencies, the judiciary – to severely constrain and constrict the space of agency, free will, and expression. This is what has created a situation in which one of Nigeria’s most corrupt citizens, Saraki, can corral the judiciary in a state he owns and enlist her on assignments of intimidation and silencing. Hence the moral and ethical conundrum: what to make of a society where the thief gets to make rules to silence the anti-corruption activist and icon.

Saraki as sign.

Sowore as sign.

In both men, we are offered two opposed visions, two opposed possibilities for our country. Both men represent a symbolic struggle. That struggle is bigger than them. Where we stand, what we say or do not say, represents a position we are taking in that struggle. Our stance represents a choice we are making. Sowore will continue to confront this great evil in the courts. The legal process is taking its course as it should but we would be sorely mistaken not to understand that, beyond all the legalese, there is an ongoing struggle for which version and vision of Nigeria will prevail.

It is even possible that Saraki will win more pyrrhic legal battles given the fact that the entire process is going on in a court system he has bought and he has access to limitless looted funds to bankroll the charade. However, beyond the battle lies a symbolic war, a struggle for meaning that he must not be allowed to win. And the voices of progress must be steadfast and united in sending a clear message to Saraki that we do not intend to concede Nigeria as a space to him and his ilk in the political confederacy of looting and corruption. They will always have us to contend with and they cannot and will not win the struggle for meaning that is Nigeria.

Some two thousand years ago, another place, another time, some people faced this same choice between Saraki and Sowore and the visions each represent. They faced two individuals who were iconic of radically opposed versions of their society. They thought they were choosing between two individuals. They did not know that each individual was a metonym.

They screamed: give us Barabbas

http://saharareporters.com/2017/08/31/saraki-sowore-nigeria%E2%80%99s-barabbas-moment-pius-adesanmi

Posted By: Yusuf Alli On: August 6, 2017

•Traces origin of Senate/Customs boss’ recent face off
•Asks Saraki to rein in members
•’Nigerians must rise to save Customs CG, Magu, Hadiza’

A former military governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar yesterday gave a new perspective on the recent face-off between the Senate and Customs Comptroller General Hamid Ali.

He said it was all about the Customs seizure of a huge consignment of rice imported by a company owned by an influential member of the Senate, but which the company declared as yeast in a bid to avoid paying the appropriate import duty on the rice.

Umar said the same senator is the brain behind a company involved in the controversial $34million Calabar port dredging contract.

The outspoken former governor, in a statement in Kaduna, said the conduct of the Senate on these and similar matters seem to suggest that Senators “might be on a mission to crash the federal governments’ war against corruption using the power of ‘oversight’ as cover.”

He, therefore, wants Senate President Bukola Saraki to rein in Senators who are stepping out of line especially those in the Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs.

He cited the Committee’s handling of matters concerning the Nigeria Ports Authority and the Customs which, in his view, leaves room for suspicion.

Umar asked Nigerians to actively support the Comptroller-General of Customs, Hamid Ali, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hajiya Hadiza Bala Usman, and a former BPP DG, Emeka Nzeh.

“Incidents such as these are the reason the Nigerian public feels let down by our Parliament. They are the reason why a whole lot of Nigerians take a dim view of members of the National Assembly,” Umar said.

“Some even believe the conduct of our legislators is a major factor holding Nigeria down; why it is a laughing stock among the nations of the world.

“It is the duty of all Nigerians to demand correct conduct from all public officials, including from members of the National Assembly; especially the Senate.

“Senator Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, must enforce discipline among his colleagues. No member of a committee, much less a chairman, should remain in his duty post once credible information about possible crime is received on the person.

“We need not remind our political leaders, most of all our legislators, that punishment always follow excess.”

He asked Nigerians to take interest in the activities of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs, especially its relationship with the Nigeria Ports Authority.

His words: “There are good reasons why Nigerians should take more than a passing interest in the controversy generated by the actions of members of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs and that of the Nigeria Ports Authority.

“If the reports in the media are true, the matter goes beyond the victimization of one organ of government by another.”

On the recent humiliation of Col. Hamid Ali (rtd) by the Senate he said it all started with the October/November, 2016, importation of 1,200 metric tons of rice in thirty, 40-foot containers by a rice trading company owned by an influential senator.

According to Umar, the company in its attempt to evade paying the correct custom duties declared the ‘rice’ consignment as ‘yeast’.

“The goods were later intercepted and seized on the orders of the Comptroller-General of Customs. Unfortunately, this seemingly patriotic action by a public officer was seen as an affront to one senior member of the National Assembly.

“A Senator, the leader of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise & Tariff, wrote the CGC demanding that the consignment be released forthwith, on the dubious claim that he had investigated the matter and had found the importer blameless. His findings? That it was the clearing Agent not the importer that called the goods ‘yeast’ instead of ‘rice’!

“The CGC brushed aside this incredible story; as any right thinking person would do. But to the shock of all Nigerians, all hell broke loose. The Senate Committee then summoned him to appear before them in uniform- seeing that as a retired army colonel, the CGC had refrained from wearing the Customs uniform.

“He was also directed to answer a long list of queries by this same angry panel. In the end, he was dragged before the Senate at plenary, put through a cruel inquisition, publicly humiliated and dismissed as ‘not fit to hold public office’.

“Fast-forward to last week.

“This time, a dubious scheme was uncovered in which a subsidiary company of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), went into a joint venture with a private company to manage the Calabar Port.

“Both the NPA subsidiary, called Calabar Channel Management (CCM) and the private company, Niger Global Engineering & Technical Co. Ltd, were incorporated together in 2014, just for this deal. The purported JV partner was then awarded a contract to dredge the Calabar Channel; a contract the Bureau of Public Procurement was to condemn as violating all due processes.

“This did not discourage them from demanding and getting a whopping $12.5million upfront payment from the NPA or asking for a purported balance of $22million.

“In the meantime, a rash of petitions and reports had inundated the NPA against this contract, with many alleging it to be a bogus scam to siphon public funds.

“The Bureau of Public Procurement was the first to cry out, saying both the award of the dredging contract and the initial payment of over N4billion to Messrs Niger Global Engineering & Technical Co. Ltd, were done in violation of the law. “Even worse, all efforts of the new management of the NPA under Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman, to find evidence of the dredging work purported to have been done in the Calabar Channel at the time the company claimed to have done so, was unsuccessful.

“That is not all. There was also the report by a consultant that advised against a joint venture partnership for the purpose of managing the Calabar port. Their reason was simply that maritime activities in the Calabar port was too low, that a joint venture scheme as obtained in Lagos and Bony was unsustainable.

“Faced with these negative outcomes, the NPA management under Ms. Bala Usman decided that national interest would be better served if the JV scheme as well as the so-called dredging project are terminated.

“On their part, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have moved in, with a mission to “recover public funds collected for job not done”.

“Now, the name of the person driving this scheme is quite instructive going by the very loud and sustained counter attacks being mounted against the public officers; officers that insist that right things are done.”

Umar said the person is an influential Senator who owns the rice company that brought in the confiscated consignment, and also Niger Global & Engineering Co. Technical Ltd.

Umar added: “Nigerians must not leave the likes of Hamid Ali, Ibrahim Magu, Hadiza Bala Usman,(former BPP DG) Emeka Nzeh et al at the mercy of these strange lawmakers; politicians that have demonstrated time and again that they are in politics to serve themselves and themselves alone.

“The experience of Hadiza Bala Usman, the new M.D of the NPA, is particularly sad. The more she tries to fight, to reduce graft and perfidy, the more determined they seem to mobilise against her, to neutralise her and see her back.

“They want her out because, they now claim, she is ‘too young’ to manage a complex organisation such as NPA – even though she is past 40 years of age. Unashamed, they question the wisdom of appointing a woman to such a post – her training and experience counting for nothing; apparently.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/senators-mission-sabotage-anti-graft-war-says-ex-kaduna-gov-umar/

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION