₦airaland Forum

Every step of the way, Mr. Saraki made valiant efforts, abetted by the DG of the DSS, to prevent the money from being linked to him. Mr. Dantani Abubakar said the robbery took place at 5 Nana Close, off Mississippi Road in Maitama. He also claimed that the robbers dropped off his employees on the outskirts of Abuja.

His version of events, however, was disputed by Mr. Saraki's DSS aides, who told this online newspaper that there was no need to have treated the staff of the bureau de change roughly, as there was no resistance from Mr. Dantani Abubakar's “boys.” After taking the cash, the aides said, they left for Mr. Maigari's house in Keffi, Nasarawa State, where they shared the loot before returning to work at Mr. Saraki’s home.

During our earlier investigations, Mr. Dantani Abubakar confirmed to SaharaReporters that he is a nephew of General Abdulsalami Abubakar (ret.). Some of Mr. Saraki’s DSS aides disclosed that the senator frequently called on the ex-head of state at his Lake Chad Crescent mansion.

Six days after the theft, both Mr. Maigari and Mr. Ibbi were arrested around 8:30 pm, as they prepared to accompany Senator Saraki to see President Muhammadu Buhari. After their arrest, Mr. Saraki’s other aides detained in relation to the heist, requested to see the DSS Director-General, Mr. Daura, to explain why they conspired to steal the money. Mr. Daura declined the request, but sent a DSS officer to tell them that the matter would be resolved internally. He sent firm instructions through the officer that the arrested officers could make statements, but they must ensure that such statements did not link the stolen cash to Mr. Saraki in any way. Two of the detained officers said they wrote choreographed statements dictated to them by investigators as they’d hoped for a soft landing.

Mr. Daura’s friendship with Senator Saraki has dictated extraordinary efforts by the DSS to distance the senator from a scandal that has the Senate President’s fingerprints all over it. Some of Mr. Saraki's aides still on the run disclosed that, on at least four occasions, the DG of the DSS secretly met with the senator after the latter’s corruption trial had begun at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The first of the clandestine meetings took place at Barcelona Apartments in Abuja. On two other occasions, Mr. Daura and Senator Saraki met at night at the Senate President's official residence. SaharaReporters has constantly reported that the DSS boss, Mr. Daura, was providing strategic support to the Senate President to help him frustrate his trial.

A statement issued by the DSS on December 6, 2015, was carefully tweaked to give the public the misleading impression that the stolen cash belonged to Mr. Abubakar, owner of the bureau de change. The statement also failed to provide details of the purported robbery and avoided mentioning that the DSS officials involved were attached to the Senate President. Signed by a shadowy Tony Opuiyo, the DSS statement said: “The Department of State Services (DSS) wishes to inform the general public that the Service has arrested two (2) out of five (5) of its staff involved in the robbery and sharing, on November 20th, 2015, of the sum of three hundred and ten million naira (N310m) belonging to a Bureau De Change operator in Abuja. While three (3) of the DSS staff are now at large, the Military Authorities have commenced a detailed investigation of five (5) of its personnel involved in the crime.” It added that preliminary investigations revealed that Mr. Maigari conspired with four colleagues to steal the money.

Mr. Maigari and Mr. Ibbi were detained at Kuje Prison. Mr. Saraki's security aides who remain on the run told SaharaReporters that five soldiers are also in detention at Kuje Prison in connection with the theft. In April 2016, the police charged the soldiers to court for robbery. Curiously, the soldiers are being tried separately from the DSS officers because the DSS refused to hand over Mr. Maigari and Mr. Ibbi to the police for prosecution, claiming the DSS did not trust the police. However, the sources said the real motive was Mr. Daura’s determination to handle the prosecution internally to ensure that Mr. Saraki’s connection to the stolen funds is suppressed from the trial.

Representatives of the detained DSS operatives said the DSS first charged them to court in April 2016, after media reports revealed that the money stolen belonged to Mr. Saraki. They were charged to court after the DSS discovered they were planning to demand their freedom through the filing of a fundamental rights enforcement suit before an Abuja High Court.

Late last month, Justice Othman Musa of the Federal Capital Territory Court in Jabi, Abuja, granted bail to the two detained DSS operatives. A senior DSS sources claimed that the DSS was negotiating with Mr. Maigari and Mr. Ibbi to end their prosecution if they would cease any further disclosures on Mr. Saraki’s ownership of the stolen funds. “They [the suspects] have been engaged in a conversation. The DSS will pay up their salaries up to date and ease them out of the service and quietly withdraw the robbery charge against them if they can keep quiet and stop talking to SaharaReporters about the case,” said the source.

A relative of one of the DSS suspects told SaharaReporters that the judge, while granting them bail, warned the suspects “to be careful and to watch their backs.” However, a few weeks after they were granted bail, the police arrested Mr. Maigari regarding an alleged case of kidnapping. News of his arrest emerged in a press statement issued by a police spokesman, Moshood Jimoh. Curiously, Mr. Jimoh served as Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Mr. Saraki during the senator’s tenure as Kwara State governor. Mr. Maigari’s arrest came as he approached media outlets to tell the full story of the N310 heist. When the opportunity presented itself while in police custody, Maigari revealed to Vanguard newspaper that he was the DSS officer that led the robbery gang that took Saraki’s N310million.

Representatives of the DSS suspects said they recently discovered that Sunday Agaba, a man who took part in the stealing of Senator Saraki’s N310 million, and who was described as a bureau de change operator, is actually a retired Army officer. The police shot Mr. Agaba as they arrested him.

After SaharaReporters first reported the theft of N310 million, Mr. Maigari and Mr. Ibbi were removed from the underground cell at the DSS where they had been kept and allowed for the first time to meet with their respective families. It was during such interactions that the detained DSS operatives realized that they had been branded armed robbers. They vowed to give a full account of the heist if they were prosecuted along with the soldiers.

SaharaReporters learnt that Mr. Dantani Abubakar was listed as a witness in the case. However, during cross-examination, he claimed he was forced to come for the trial. When SaharaReporters contacted Mr. Abubakar shortly before this report was written, he claimed to have a hazy recollection of what went on with the bullion van on the day of the incident. However, he insisted that the stolen money belonged to him.

According to the accused DSS operatives, the stolen money was recovered from them in full. However, the DSS told the court that it recovered only N96 million.

Justice Abubakar Umar of Federal Capital Territory High Court 8, Abuja, withdrew from presiding over the trial of Captain Mshelia and others, citing undue pressure from unnamed persons. Captain Mshelia and his gang members remain in prison custody at Kuje.

As SaharaReporters reported in the past, the theft of Senator Saraki’s N310 million was not the only time the senator’s laundering of hordes of cash had tempted his aides to steal from him. A group of aides at his house in Ilorin last year stole cash worth N110 million from his bedroom in Kwara State.

Since Mr. Buhari came to office in 2015 and Mr. Daura became the DSS boss, the security agency has been involved in shielding Mr. Saraki and other politically powerful money launderers from exposure and investigation. Under Mr. Daura’s directive, the DSS wrote scathing reports to the Nigerian Senate in order to stop the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as the substantive chairman of the EFCC. In its reports to the Senate, the DSS claimed that one Stanley Lawson a former NNPC official, who assisted former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke to launder funds of $25 million used to purchase Port Harcourt-based Meridien Hotel, was helping the government.

Mr. Daura and President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, were reportedly key in facilitating the trouble-free return of former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, into Nigeria after the ex-governor served out a 13-year jail sentence in the UK for money laundering. In fact, Mr. Daura gleefully told the press that he met with Mr. Ibori to welcome him to his fatherland after UK authorities sent the disgraced Mr. Ibori back to Nigeria. A DSS source said Mr. Daura approved some security agents to serve former Governor Ibori as his official protection since the ex-governor’s return.

http://saharareporters.com/2017/04/03/revealed-why-dss-tries-hard-exonerate-saraki-over-n310m-robbed-his-security-aides-0

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK APR 03, 2017
In a development that points to the ways in which high-level personal relationships are undermining Nigeria’s anti-corruption agenda, the Department of State Services (DSS) has again rushed to the media, using unnamed officers, to deny that Senate President Bukola Saraki was the owner of N310 million stolen by the senator’s security aides from an operator of a bureau de change who was moving the cash. Mr. Saraki has close personal friendships with Director General of the DSS, Lawal Musa Daura, as well as other politically influential people, including a former military head of state.

A source at the DSS said he and other agents were surprised that Mr. Daura, who since taking office has refused to appoint an official spokesperson for the security outfit, would swiftly use unnamed officers to clear Mr. Saraki of ownership of the N310m stolen in November 2015.

One of the DSS agents involved in the robbery, and who used to be attached to Senator Saraki, had recently asserted that the stolen cash belonged to the senator. Mr. Saraki was apparently moving the funds for use in bribing judges shortly after his trial commenced at the Code of Conduct Tribunal in 2015.

An Abuja High Court recently granted bail to the accused DSS agent, named Abdulrasheed Maigari, after the accused agent agreed to drop his claim that the Director General of the DSS, Lawal Musa Daura, was aiding Saraki to subvert the cause of justice. Mr. Maigari recently contacted several media outlets seeking to tell the full story of the ownership of the money he was accused of robbing, claiming he participated in the heist out of “patriotism.”

Shortly after Mr. Maigari began speaking to the media, the Nigerian police arrested him on allegations that he was involved in kidnapping.

The DSS appears determined to erase the uncomfortable fact that Hassan Dantani Abubakar, the man ferrying the cash from the bureau de change to Mr. Saraki’s house, with police escort, has been Mr. Saraki’s “cash-moving” front for close to a decade, according to political and anti-corruption sources knowledgeable about their relationship.

Mr. Dantani Abubakar is also a cousin of former military Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar. The former military ruler, who ended military rule when he handed over to Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999, is also known to own several bureaus de change. Some of the DSS agents assigned to Mr. Saraki told our correspondent that the senator and the former head of state are close friends. One agent said they had driven the senator several times at night to visit the ex-military dictator.

The current DG of the DSS, Mr. Daura, is also chummy with Senator Saraki. Several DSS aides said Mr. Daura, who personally assigns the bulk of Senator Saraki’s security cover, met with the senator at an apartment in the Asokoro area of Abuja especially during the early days of Mr. Saraki’s trial. One source asserted that the purpose of the meetings was to assist Mr. Saraki in his covert operations to sabotage his trial.

Regarding Mr. Dantani Abubakar, from whom Mr. Maigari and other security agents snatched N310 million, a legal expert wondered why the DSS and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had never focused on the obvious money-laundering dimension of the case. “It is incontrovertible that the movement of such a huge amount of money from First Bank was in violation of Nigeria’s extant laws,” said the lawyer.

Curiously, Mr. Dantani Abubakar, who told SaharaReporters that he was out of the country when the robbery took place, was the same persona named by the EFCC in its latest report detailing how Mr. Saraki and his fronts arranged to hijack N3.5 billion out of the N554 billion Paris Club loan refund released by President Muhammadu Buhari. The EFCC exposed how Mr. Saraki, through the help of Robert Mbonu, a former Managing Director of Societe Generale Bank, laundered hundreds of millions of naira through Mr. Dantani Abubakar’s bureau de change in Abuja and elsewhere.

When SaharaReporters first revealed in an exclusive report that Mr. Saraki owned the cash stolen by members of his security detail, the senator denied ever knowing who Dantani Abubakar was. He accused this website of writing a false report.

However, Senator Saraki’s security aides involved in the drama asserted that they robbed the senator’s bureau de change money launderer on November 20, 2015 and stole N310 million that was being transported to the senator. They detailed how they snatched the cash from the bureau de change operator at 5 Nana Close, Maitama in Abuja.

Tracked down by SaharaReporters and speaking anonymously, some of Mr. Saraki’s aides, who are currently on the run, said the senator was in the habit of warehousing large volumes of cash, mainly for use to bribe judges, investigators, and prosecutors in order to scuttle his trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for false assets declaration.

The N310 million heist, first reported by SaharaReporters, featured five officers of the Department of State Security (DSS) led by Mr. Abdulrasheed Maigari, the most senior of the DSS officers attached to Senator Saraki. Mr. Maigari hails from Dungo local government area of Taraba State. The other DSS officers involved in the theft were Ibbi George from Adamawa State, Patrick Ishaya from Plateau State, Peter Okoye from Delta State, and Solomon Yunusa from Kogi State. Other participants included four other aides of Mr. Saraki and five serving military officers led by one Captain Hassan Mshelia.

The aides at large revealed to a correspondent of SaharaReporters that Senator Saraki often used a house, 18 Lake Chad Crescent, Abuja, as a warehouse for illegally acquired money. They said huge stashes of cash from First Bank Plc. branch located at Coomasie House in Abuja were often stored in the house. The aides added that the funds were then moved on behalf of the Senate President for use in a variety of special “political assignments” ordered by Mr. Saraki.

The sources said cash was regularly moved from the bank and the house on Lake Chad Crescent to Mr. Saraki’s mansion at 5 Nana Close in Maitama, from which lawyers, as well as judges and their designated representatives, are paid cash to obstruct justice.

According to our sources, Mr. Saraki often used five of his official security aides, supported by five soldiers usually chosen by Paul Ibok, his Chief Security Officer, to move the funds. The aides disclosed to SaharaReporters that, between October and November 2015, there were three cash movements to No. 5 Nana Close.

They said the cash was usually received by Mr. Saraki’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Peter Makanjuola, who also has the duty of distributing it to judicial officers with whom various deals had been struck regarding ways to scuttle the Senate President's trial. Last week, the EFCC questioned Mr. Makanjuola over his role in laundering some of Mr. Saraki’s alleged loot of the Paris Club refunds.

Senator Saraki’s former aides disclosed one instance in which the senator arranged to deliver N550 million to Justice Alfa Belgore, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). They added that the cash was to enable the former CJN to carry out an illicit assignment of obstructing justice on behalf of Mr. Saraki. On another occasion, DSS officers and soldiers attached to the senator transported N370 million to a venue.

Two of the security agents wanted for the snatching of N310 million told SaharaReporters that the Senate President had 23 DSS operatives attached to him. The senator’s DSS security team, they said, were split into teams A and B, with members of both teams taking turns to provide security for Senator Saraki who lives in an eight-bedroom official residence. The building, known as “White House,” shares a wall with the official residence of the Inspector-General of Police.

Our sources said that, having observed the unrestricted movement of large sums to Senator Saraki’s home, some of his DSS aides also developed an appetite for cash. On November 20, 2015, an aide to Mr. Saraki directed the leader of Team A, Ibrahim Shariff, to call Mr. Maigari, who had been off duty, to return to work for a “special assignment.” On his return, Mr. Maigari was told to join four colleagues and five soldiers to go meet one Ibrahim Kabir, a First Bank employee, to pick up money for the Senate President. They said Mr. Kabir happens to be the account officer for Hassan Dantani Abubakar, Mr. Saraki’s favorite bureau de change operator. One longtime associate stated that Mr. Saraki had been using Mr. Dandani Abubakar to launder funds since the senator’s days as the governor of Kwara State.

Our sources said that, with the increasing scrutiny on him, Senator Saraki had decided against using the DSS officers attached to him to escort cash movement. Instead, the senator asked the management of the bureau de change to make their own arrangement for security escorts to move the cash to Senator Saraki's home.

However, with their own growing hunger for money, members of Senator Saraki's security detail had hatched a plot to corner the cash. And they recruited other colleagues as well as Captain Mshelia. Dressed in military fatigue, the security agents positioned themselves near the senator’s home and ambushed the vehicle in which the bureau de change operator was conveying the cash. SaharaReporters learnt that the security officers told those moving the cash that they were under arrest for money laundering. The police officers hired as escorts by the bureau de change operator had to leave the scene when the DSS men showed their identification tags, which gave the impression that they were on legal duty.

Once the policemen left, the DSS officers, including those attached to Mr. Saraki, told the bureau de change operator that they knew of the destination of the cash and that moving huge sums of cash outside the banking system was illegal. The DSS officers then demanded N350 million in order to allow the vehicle to proceed. After a period of haggling, the officers settled for N310 million.

When Mr. Dantani Abubakar was informed of the heist, he reportedly phoned Senator Saraki, according to one security source. Devastated by the development, Mr. Saraki instructed him never to mention his name in connection with the cash. Unaware that those who carried out the theft included members of his security detail, Mr. Saraki thought he was safe from being exposed.

Shortly after SaharaReporters reported the heist, disclosing that the cash belonged to Mr. Saraki, the senator’s spokesman, Yusuf Olaniyonu, issued a statement denying the senator’s ownership of the stolen money. “We want to say categorically that Dr. Saraki is not the owner of the stolen money. He does not know the owner who is said to be a bureau de change operator. The police that investigated the robbery incident and the SSS, which issued a statement on it, can confirm that there is no link between the Senate President with the ownership of the money,” Mr. Olaniyonu claimed in a statement at the time.

However, Mr. Olaniyonu’s claim that Senator Saraki did not know the operator of the BDC has been debunked by the latest EFCC report sent to President Muhammad Buhari on Mr. Saraki’s theft of N3.5 billion from the Paris Club loan refund .

When the issue first broke, Mr. Olaniyonu also told SaharaReporters that the police had issued a statement on the matter. But when SaharaReporters demanded where to find the said police statement, he directed us to a report in ThisDay newspaper, claiming it contained the police statement.

However, the newspaper merely quoted Wilson Inalegwu, Federal Capital Territory Commissioner of Police, as saying: “In the course of the investigation, we were able to get the names and identities of some of them (the suspects). Unfortunately, two of the DSS operatives are attached to the Senate President.”

Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Femi Falana has again criticized members of the national assembly for exercising power beyond their constitutional limit.

He also described the senate headed by Senator Bukola Saraki of Kwara Central as morally bankrupt to screen the leadership of anti-graft agency such as Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC.

Falana spoke to Channel TV during the week against the backdrop of the Nigerian Senate’s rejection of the acting chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.

He described the rejection of Magu and subsequent calling for his replacement as “impunity”.

According to him, section 171 of the constitution has vested exclusive power in the president to appoint any person to hold certain office or act in that capacity.

For example, the constitution allows the president to appoint secretary to the government of the federation, permanent secretaries, heads of service, and heads of extra ministerial department such as EFCC without the confirmation of the Senate.

The exception is ambassadorial position or headship of foreign mission, he said.

Falana said the presidency was ill advised for sending name of the EFCC’s boss to the Senate for confirmation in the first place because there is no constitutional provision that compels such action.

He said the section 2(3) of the EFCC act that the executive tries to fulfill is superseded by section 171 of the constitution.

He advised the lawmakers to seek the amendment of the constitution if they must remove such constitutional power of the president because as the law currently stands “refusing to confirm the nomination of a public officer does not annul the acting capacity of such an officer.”

He also said that senators who are standing trial or being investigated by EFCC should not have been part of the screening exercise conducted for Magu because of their conflict of interests.

“This senate will not have approved the nomination of Magu because not less than 15 members are either standing trial or they are under investigation for corrupt practice.

The fact that you are standing a trial or under investigation means you cannot sit.”

Falana said the senate headed by Saraki could not have confirmed Magu.

“The senate President, Dr. Bukola Sataki ensured that Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was removed when he was to be charged over the collapse of Societe Generale Bank. Lamode was removed when he invited the wife of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki. Magu could not have been confirmed because EFCC is investigating the allegation that $3.5 billion from Paris-London loan refund has been traced to his account. How could the house headed by such a man confirm Magu,” he asked.

http://saharareporters.com/2017/04/01/senate-lacks-constitutional-power-reject-magu-says-falana-0

EXCLUSIVE: How EFCC linked Saraki, aides to N3.5 billion Paris Club refund
March 31, 2017Samuel Ogundipe
On Sunday, Nigerians learnt of an explosive report the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari about alleged corrupt practices by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
In the March 10 correspondence to the president, the anti-graft agency detailed how Mr. Saraki — in connivance with his aides and associates – allegedly laundered N3.5 billion traced to the Paris Club loan refund to states.
Investigators say Mr. Saraki enlisted the service of a consultant, Robert Mbonu of Melrose General Services Limited, and Kathleen Erhimu, a staff of Access Bank to liaise with his aides and associates to launder the fund.
The accused persons are Mr. Saraki’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Gbenga Makanjuola, Obiora Amobi, Kolawole Shittu and Oladapo Idowu.
When allegations of diversion of parts of the over half a trillion naira Paris Club refund money emerged in February, sparking nationwide controversy, state governors denied misusing the money, and slammed the EFCC reported probe as “unwarranted attack on the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, its officials and associated entities”.
Mr. Saraki swiftly dismissed reports linking him to the money as “concocted”, and accused the EFCC acting head, Ibrahim Magu, of being the source of its leak.
But the report to President Buhari, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, provides details of a complex web of questionable money transfers, which investigators say ended up in the pocket of the Senate president.
The report, as well as interviews with officials, also offers some response to the widely-asked question of how Mr. Saraki allegedly became linked to the funds, despite not being a governor. State governors were the direct recipients of the money on behalf of their states.

Paris Club Loan Refund
The Nigerian government reached a debt relief deal with Paris Club in 2005, and paid $6.2 billion to guarantee a debt relief of up to $18 billion, according to the to Debt Management Office.
But not long after the deal was reached, some states and local governments began raising questions about possible over-deductions of their share of the loan repayment. They argued that the deducted amount did not reflect their actual borrowings from Paris Club between 1995 and 2002.
Many states initially hired consultants to help pursue a refund, but later resolved to engage a consortium of consultants for coordination.
Reconciliation of accounts and negotiations established that over-deductions took place, but states were unsure of how much each state or local government was overcharged.
The complex account reconciliation reportedly made it difficult for the previous governments of Olusegun Obasanjo, Umar Yar’Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan, to settle the matter.
However, the current Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said records showed some states received some refund under previous administrations.
To help states pay workers and retirees, Mr. Buhari, who took office two years ago, continued the reconciliations.
As the reconciliation process was still ongoing, the government pegged initial payments at 50 percent of the estimated excess to the claimants, Mrs. Adeosun said.
The payments were not budgeted for by the federal government
meaning they did not receive the constitutionally-required authorization of the National Assembly.
State governors were the direct recipients of the money on behalf of their states.

saraki pcr scandal(1)
SHADY DEAL
Last December, the Ministry of Finance commenced transfers to states. All 36 states received between N4 billion and N15 billion.
Sources familiar with the deal told PREMIUM TIMES that shortly before the ministry commenced transfer after all paperwork had been completed, governors decided to warehouse some of the money —about N17 billion— in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
According to the sources, the governors hoped to use the money to settle consultants who worked for the refund.
The governors also anticipated a backlash from the National Assembly which might have complained because the refund was not captured in either the 2016 or 2017 budgets.

Our sources said the governors also made plans for the lawmakers.
After apportioning each state’s contribution based on the amount of refund the federal government was going to pay, the 36 governors signed an instruction that the Ministry of Finance remove their respective share of the N17 billion and credit it to the NGF account domiciled at Access Bank.
After the deduction, which is only a fraction of the total sum accrued to each state, the rest of the fund went to the treasury of the respective states.
Ms. Adeosun said the governors agreed to spend at least 50 per cent of the funds to their state to settle salary arrears and pensions.
“Disbursement was subject to an agreement by state governments that 50% of any amount received would be earmarked for the payment of salaries and pensions,” the minister said last week.
Our sources believe this questionable deductions partly explained why the finance ministry refused to make public full details of payments to states, contradicting the Buhari administration promise of transparency.
SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS

Following the deposit of N17 billion into its account, several consultants, lawyers and others began inundating the NGF with requests, officials said.
Although the NGF did not list the names of all those that qualified for settlements, the body confirmed that Melrose General Services Limited was amongst firms that provided services.
The NGF said in a statement that Melrose was paid N3.5 billion after the company “diligently delivered on its contractual obligations.”
But the EFCC, during investigation, uncovered how the director of Melrose, Robert Mbonu, allegedly initiated a series of bank transfers to individuals connected to Mr. Saraki.
A part of the EFCC’s report reads: “Mr. Robert Mbonu is alleged to have received the sum of N3.5billion into his company’s account (Melrose General Services Limited) from the NGF through Account 0005892453 domiciled in Access Bank.
“Investigation revealed that one Kathleen Erhimu is the Relationship Manager to Dr. Bukola Saraki’s account with Access Bank.
“That Saraki at a meeting introduced one Joseph Oladapo Idowu and Gbenga Peter Makanjuola to her and Hon. Makanjuola thereafter introduced Mr. Robert Mbonu to Ms Kathleen Erhimu.
“That Mbonu operates an account, Melrose General Services with Access Bank Plc 0005892453 and 0005653500 which was up till 13th December a business account.
“That Halima Kyari, the Head of Private Banking Group stated in a letter dated 13th December 2016, Mr. Robert Mbonu requested a transfer of Melrose General Services Company account from Business Account to a Private Banking Group Platform as he was expecting huge funds into the account.
“Subsequently, on the 14th December, the sum of N3.5 billion was lodged into Melrose General Services Company account number 0005892453 domiciled in Access Bank from the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).
“That thereafter Mr. Obiora Amobi and Hon. Gbenga Makanjuola were introduced to Access Bank as representatives of Melrose General Services Limited by Robert Mbonu to enable them cash withdrawals from the account.
“That Mr. Obiora Amobi and Gbenga Makanjuola made cash withdrawals of various tranches of N5million and N10million.
“That one Oluyemi Braithwaite, the MD/ CEO of Reinex Bureau de Change, Caddington Capital Limited and Westgate Limited also manages a BDC stated to have known Mbonu as a client and he requested for dollars in exchange for the Naira equivalent which were to be handed over to one Mr. Gbenga in Abuja.
“That Ms. Oluyemi Braithwaite contacted one Hassan Dantani Abubakar, the owner of Hamma Procurement Limited, Ashrab Nigeria Limited and Insoire Solar Application to make available the dollars based on the Naira equivalent as transferred from Robert Mbonu who she had introduced via phone to Hassan Dantani.
“That on 16th December 2016, Melrose General Services transferred the sum of N246million to Hamma Procurement First Bank account No. 2030756168 in exchange for the sum of $500,000 which was handed to one Mr. Gbenga in Abuja who acknowledged receipt of the same amount.
“That on the 21st Dec 2016, Ms Oluyemi Braithwaite contacted Hassan Dantani Abubakar requesting for another transaction of $370,000. Melrose General Services Company transferred the sum of N181m to Inspire Solar Application. The $370,000 was handed over to one Mr. Dapo in Abuja.
“That on the 4th of January 2017, Mbonu through Melrose General Services Company transferred the sum of N248, 500,000 to Caddington Capital Limited belonging to Ms Oluyemi Braithwaite who transferred same to Hassan Dantani Abubakar’s FCMB account, Ashrab Nigeria Limited for the sum of $500,000. The dollar equivalent was handed over to Mr. Kolawole Shittu in Abuja.”
Another part reads: “Investigations further revealed that prior to this transaction in xxii above, Xtract Energy Services Ltd. routinely made deposits into Dr. Bukola Saraki Access Bank United States dollar domiciliary account number: 0059429296 as follows: September 17, 2013, the sum of $80, 235.00, September 12, 2014, the sum of $96,930.00, November 18, 2014, the sum of $99,918.50 and December 19, 2014, the sum of $49,965, respectively.
“That Bosun Ottun further stated deposits into Dr. Bukola Saraki Access Bank United States Domiciliary Account Number: 0059429296 as follows: September 17, 2013, the sum of $80, 235.00, September 12, 2014, the sum of $96,930.00, November 18, 2014, the sum of $99,918.50 and December 19, 2014, the sum of $49,965 were brought to his company by Mr. Tunde Morakinyo who claimed that the funds were payments into Dr. Bukola Saraki’s card account.”
The EFCC further noted that: “Based on the foregoing findings, it is clear that Robert Mbonu, the Managing Director of Melrose General Services Company and his company were used to help divert proceeds of unlawful activities under the guise of payment for contractual obligations with the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).
“Suffice to apprise that all payments received by Melrose General Services Company from the NGF have hitherto been diverted directly via cash withdrawals and indirectly through transfers by Hon. Gbenga Peter Makanjuola, Kolawole Shittu and Oladapo Joseph Idowu who are principal aides of the Senate President.”
NGF denies wrongdoing
Although the NGF admitted it paid out the N3.5 billion to Mr. Mbonu’s firm, the organisation said it knew nothing about how the money was spent afterwards.
“It is not in the NGF’s purview to determine how Melrose or other consultants disburse or utilise the consultancy fee paid to them,” its spokesman, Abdulrazaque Barkindo, said in a statement to PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday.
Mr. Barkindo said the fact that President Buhari had approved a second tranche of the Paris Club loan refund to states was “indicative of his confidence in the NGF for the manner it handled the disbursement of the first tranche of the fund.”
Saraki, aides, associates and the coincidence
In its report, the EFCC highlighted a number of coincidences in the disbursement of the N3.5 billion and past activities of Mr. Saraki.
The EFCC report did not say Mr. Saraki personally moved some of the N3.5 billion.
But while tracking the money, anti-graft detectives found a consistent pattern in the individuals named in the alleged money laundering scheme.
For instance, Mr. Makanjuola, Mr. Saraki’s Deputy Chief of Staff, featured prominently in the alleged laundering of the N3.5 billion.
Mr. Makanjuola once served as a lawmaker from Kwara State.
Last week, he was named in an ongoing corruption case by a former research institute provost who said he gave Mr. Makanjuola and other federal lawmakers a gratification to the tune of N50 million.
Mr. Mbonu, whose firm received the N3.5 billion as “consultancy payment” from NGF, worked at the defunct Societe Generale Bank owned by Mr. Saraki’s family.
Similarly, Tunde Morakinyo, who was named in the report as having allegedly conveyed money for Mr. Saraki in 2014, was a longtime aide to the Senate President.
Past assignments Mr. Saraki was believed to have engineered for Mr. Morakinyo included recommending him as an aide to public officials from Kwara State so as to keep tab on their activities and report back to his principal.
PREMIUM TIMES identified Mr. Morakinyo as a front for Mr. Saraki in this newspaper’s Panama Papers series published last year.
Mr. Morakinyo helped Mr. Saraki conceal substantial amount of money in secret offshore tax havens.
Mr. Saraki also had a history with Dantani Abubakar, whom the EFCC identified as the bureau de change operators whose services were engaged in the deal.
In December 2015, the State Security Service announced the arrest of its personnel who allegedly robbed a bureau de change operator in Abuja of N310 million.
But the secret police was silent on the identity of the victim.
Sahara Reporters later identified Mr. Dantani as the owner of the fund and detailed how he allegedly served as a regular money changer for Mr. Saraki.
Asides the individuals named, the EFCC also said it established that parts of the N3.5 billion ended up in local and foreign bank accounts allegedly operated by Mr. Saraki.
Big question
Although detectives linked the principal actors to the Senate President, and showed how parts of the money were distributed, they did not say why the NGF would pay Mr. Saraki such an amount.
But they clearly told President Buhari that the NGF paid Mr. Mbonu’s Melrose Services N3.5 billion for onward disbursement to Mr. Saraki – not because the firm rendered any service that was commensurate with such a large payout.
Investigators now believe the money was intended as bribes to senators to stop any possible legislative enquiry into the Paris Club loan refund.
Law enforcement sources said the National Assembly has uncharacteristically kept quiet about the Paris Loan refund despite the fact that it was not budgeted for.
Some of the sources said Mr. Makanjuola was assigned to distribute the money to senators.
In its report about the bureau de change robber incident, Sahara Reporters said Mr. Makanjuola allegedly coordinates Mr. Saraki’s alleged bribe to lawmakers.
Mr. Makanjuola did not respond to repeated requests for comments. Messrs. Morakinyo, Dantani and Mbonu could not be reached for comments.
We didn’t receive any money
But lawmakers denied receiving any payments.
In separate interviews with two senators and four members of the House of Representatives, the lawmakers all described the bribe allegations as untrue.
Ali Wakili, senator representing Bauchi South, told PREMIUM TIMES linking senators to the N3.5 billion deal was “preposterous, wicked and very ungodly.”
Mr. Wakili said the controversy was part of a “syndrome” to sink the Senate President, adding that citizens should focus on “issues that will take Nigeria out of the doldrums.”
“Not these stereotypes, perception rigidity and smear campaigns against the Senate,” he said in an interview Tuesday night.
Another senator, Fatima Raji-Rasaki, said “there’s nothing like that” when asked if she had knowledge of such disbursement.
In the House, Razak Atunwa, from Kwara State, described the allegation as “a manifest falsehood.”
Mr. Atunwa said he would not only vouch for himself but also for some of his colleagues.
“Not only did I not partake in sharing of any money, I can tell you categorically that none of the lawmakers I know and interact with shared such money.”
But Mr. Atunwa said it could be problematic if it was discovered that the presidency had spent such a huge amount of money outside appropriations.
“There are several ways the executive could generate funds to meet up with its obligations, but all expenditure should normally be expected to be captured in the budget.”
Mr. Atunwa said the National Assembly did not interfere in the Paris Club refund because there was no petition in that respect.
“If Nigerians feel public funds are being spent in a manner that they found questionable, we expect them to forward petitions about such and we can then investigate,” Mr. Atunwa said. “So far, we didn’t receive such.”
Investigation continues…
In its report, the EFCC told President Buhari it found strong grounds to prosecute those named in the N3.5 billion, but said investigations were still ongoing.
Some of the beneficiary firms the EFCC investigated included: Mallam Alu Agro Allied Limited, Melrose General Services Co. Ltd, Bizplus Consulting Services Ltd., Bina Consults & Integrated Services, amongst other consultants and legal experts.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/227572-exclusive-how-efcc-linked-saraki-aides-to-n3-5-billion-paris-club-refund.html

Published March 29, 2017 Ogbonnaya Ikokwu, Umuahia

The headmistress of a primary school at Amaetiti Asaga Ohafia, in Ohafia Local Government Area, Abia State, Mrs. Maryleen Ezichi, has been reportedly demoted to a classroom teacher for allegedly embarrassing the wife of Abia State governor, Nkechi Ikpeazu.

It was gathered that Ezichi has been transferred to the Ukwa-East Local Government Area — about 140 kilometers from her former school — to serve as a deterrent for her ‘impunity and lack of respect for constituted authority’.

The headmistress, it was learnt had, during an interactive session with Ikpeazu’s wife after the inauguration of her free meal programme for primary school pupils in her school, complained that ‘teachers were being owed several months of salary arrears and allowances’.

Ezichi was quoted to have told the governor’s wife that teachers had been finding it difficult to meet their financial obligations like the payment of house rents, school fees for their wards, medical bills, transport fares and had pleaded with her to intercede on their behalf.

It was gathered that two days after, the embattled Ezichi was whisked away to Umuahia from the school, where she was handed a letter of deployment and instructed to proceed to the new station immediately.

While defending the headmistress, one of her colleagues, who spoke on condition of anonymity, queried the appropriateness of the government’s action, maintaining that if the government felt embarrassed by her appeal it should do the needful.

He said, “By the way, of what importance is the meal programme to the pupils in particular and the schools in general? What about other schools in the community? All we are saying is that the government should pay us our entitlements period.”

In January, the state’s wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers had embarked on an indefinite strike over their six-month salary arrears, non-payment of leave allowances and non-implementation of their promotions.

Reacting to the development, the Chairman of the state’s NUT, Chizobam Akparanta, stated that he was not aware of the incident, adding that if the teacher complained about it to the union, the NUT would look into it.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the state Ministry of Education, Chris Ogbuehi, denied any knowledge of the matter even as he insisted that he was not in the position to speak on such a sensitive matter without the permission of his boss.

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Enyinnaya Appolos, said the information made available to him by the Commissioner for Education, Prof Ikechi Mgbeoji, had it that there was no such incident in the state.

He added that the state would investigate the allegation to ascertain what truly happened.

http://punchng.com/abia-headmistress-demoted-for-embarrassing-ikpeazus-wife/

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

Nigerian lawmakers move against Saraki, Dogara over budget secrecy, constituency projects
March 4, 2017 Hassan Adebayo

The secrecy with which the National Assembly has handled its budgets, and the lopsided manner it distributes funds for zonal intervention projects, are unsettling the lawmaking body and putting members on a collision path against the leadership, PREMIUM TIMES can report today.
Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, had on January 10, challenged the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to make the budget open, disclosing that he and his colleagues, like most Nigerians, had no knowledge of details of the NASS budget.
Such calls have grown in the last week, and have become even more intense in the House of Representatives which for most of last year was at the centre of a devastating budget padding scandal triggered by former appropriation committee chairman, Abdulmumin Jibrin.
Mr. Jibrin accused his former ally and speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, of inserting fictitious projects worth billions of naira into the national budget, an allegation the speaker denied.
Now, members are agitating for the House budget to be made open, and for a more equitable allocation of funds for so-called intervention projects, several lawmakers told PREMIUM TIMES.
Legislators, many of them principal officers, and administrative offices of the National Assembly, said the budgets of the Senate and the House were known only to the Senate President, the Speaker and the Clerk to the National Assembly.
“It’s so secret that neither the Senate Leader nor the House Leader knows what is in the (budget),” said one source.
In multiple reports in the past, PREMIUM TIMES showed how Mr. Saraki repeatedly failed to honour his pledges to make details of the N115 billion 2016 National Assembly budget public.
With N23.347 billion in 2003, the National Assembly’s budget now stands at about N115 billion yearly, representing over 492 per cent rise in 13 years.
Until 2016, the budget had often gone as high as N150 billion a year.
In 2010, when the budget hit a shocking record sum of N154.2 billion, David Mark, Mr. Saraki’s predecessor, decided to block Nigerians from knowing details of how the National Assembly’s jumbo allocations were spent. The policy especially concealed how much members earned in allowances.
In one masterstroke of legislative brinkmanship, the National Assembly under Mr. Mark, made itself member of an exclusive club of agencies whose are deducted en-bloc (first-line charge) via statutory transfers, without disclosures.
Constituency projects
Apart from the money allocated for the National Assembly to fund its budget on first line charge, the body gets N100 billion for “zonal intervention projects”, commonly called “constituency projects”.
The Senate, with 109 members, takes 40 per cent of that amount, while 60 per cent goes to the 360-member House.
All the constituencies take share. But the sharing is so skewed that while a principal officer’s constituency gets projects that are worth over a billion naira, an ordinary member’s constituency may get a single project valued at N50 million.
“My constituency gets N38 million (for zonal project) in 2016,” said Aliyu Madaki, Kano lawmaker, who is amongst the members calling for reforms.
A previous investigation by PREMIUM TIMES showed that the constituency projects are at best a clever way of deceiving Nigerians, and at worst an outright theft of public funds.
While benefitting lawmakers are not paid directly, they and MDAs in which zonal projects for their constituencies are domiciled, are involved in an organized network whereby the legislators nominate through “letter of introduction” contractors who get contract awards from the MDAs.
In most cases, the contractors are predictably, fronts for members.
They pay “returns” to the lawmakers, and would therefore be at liberty to deliver a shabbily executed project.
The spokesperson for Mr. Saraki, Yusuph Olaniyonu, denied Senators were agitating for reforms of how zonal intervention fund is shared.

“There is nothing like that,” he said.
The spokesperson for the House, Abdularzaq Namdas, did not deny the agitation for reform but explained the rationale for the current sharing formula.
“The issue of zonal intervention projects has been like that for long,” said Mr. Namdas. “The money is shared among the zones; that’s why it is called zonal intervention. So, if you are from a large state with many constituencies, you are likely to get low allocation.”
The spokesperson meant that a lawmaker from Kano or Lagos for instance was going to get allocation far less than what will be due to one from Bayelsa State.
But a Senator, seeking anonymity, disagreed.
“That’s the explanation but it is just about convenience. Why? A principal officer irrespective of his state or zone get huge allocation for his constituency. I mean if that explanation is valid and consistent Gbajabiamila who is from Lagos, with many constituencies should get something like N50 million, but he got about a billion naira,” the Senator argued.
Similarly, even lawmakers in Mr. Dogara’s camp are not buying Mr. Namdas argument.
“Is it wrong,” asked Adekola Adekoya, Ogun State, rhetorically, when his comment on the agitation for reform was sought.
“It is not bad. We want equitable distribution. I have studied the Speaker closely. I am persuaded that the leadership of the National Assembly, especially the Speaker, is looking at the agitations.”
Compelled by the agitations, the Speaker, last week, set up a six-man committee to review the sharing of the zonal intervention funds, the votes and proceedings for Wednesday showed.
A lawmaker said the committee was set up by the Speaker to defeat the call for an executive session to discuss the agitations.
“No to zonal representation,” said Mohammed Soba, Niger State, stressing that all members should discuss the agitation.
Whichever way, Mr. Soba expressed expectation that outcome should be known “very soon”.
“That (outcome of the agitation) should be before the end of the budget process.”
Budget Disclosure
The leadership of the House asked members to disregard allegations made by Mr. Jibrin, a source said.
“But members believe they don’t have what to use to defend themselves before their constituents against Jibrin’s allegations because they don’t know details of their own budget,” said the source, providing basis for the call for disclosure to members.
Yet, it appears the lawmakers are not “very” concerned about the disclosure as much as the agitation for zonal intervention reform.
Several lawmakers told PREMIUM TIMES that the National Assembly leadership, particularly the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, use the budget to control lawmakers, tactically determining who gets what and when.
“Because most of us benefit from these allowances, it is really difficult to speak publicly against the leadership,” a member of the House of Representatives said.
Mr. Adekoya said he didn’t “totally” agree the budget was not known to the lawmakers.
He suggested there is possibility for the lawmakers to understand what the details of the budget are, using what they earn and use.
“If I am given N2, 000, I should be able to multiply that by 365 days. I know I use AC in my office. We have staff. There are directors and staff who are civil servants,” he said.
But the Reps’ spokesperson, Mr. Namdas, did not gloss over the secrecy around the budget. He said the leadership of the House had promised to disclose the details of the budget “not only to members but also to the public.”
A source close to Mr. Saraki said it was not as if the Senate President was not ready to disclose the NASS budget.
“But a lot of the lawmakers are not well disposed to it because they feel it will expose them to the public,” the source said.
Some insiders said many lawmakers do not care about knowing what is in their own budget, and are prepared to also stop the public from knowing, so long as their earnings keep coming.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/225189-nigerian-lawmakers-move-saraki-dogara-budget-secrecy-constituency-projects.html

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

March 2, 2017 Agency Report
The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) Itse Sagay, on Thursday in Abuja accused the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) of being reckless with funds meant for development.
Mr. Sagay said the commission recently bought 70 cars, including eight Super Lexus Jeeps at N78 million each and 10 Landcruisers each costing N63 million.
He said the vehicles were acquired with funds meant for the provision of water, housing, hospital, schools and infrastructure development in the Niger Delta region.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr. Sagay spoke at the opening of a two-day national dialogue on corruption organised by PACAC in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President.
“The cars were bought with money from funds meant for infrastructure, water, housing, hospital, schools, without conscience and without a thought for the wretched people of the Niger Delta.
“These huge sums were plundered from their allocations and yet the Managing Director was ironically complaining as reported by the Nation newspaper of Feb. 6, 2017 that the NDDC lacks funds to execute projects.
“The managing director also said that NDDC was in debt up to the tune of N1.2 trillion. What an irony.
“The recklessness with which public officers spend public funds is insensitive to the point of insanity. The level of insensitivity has become pathological.’’

Mr. Sagay also took a swipe at the Nigeria Customs Service, saying nothing had changed since the current administration came on board in May 2015.
Mr. Sagay cited an instance with the Tin Can Island in Lagos, where he said customs officials now charge fees to physically examine goods following the breakdown of the scanner.
Describing it as brazen corruption, he said there were many other instances which PACAC brought to the attention of the Comptroller General during a recent visit to him.
Mr. Sagay decried public apathy to issues of corruption in the country, noting that the people’s attitude to corruption had become hardened, and that there was no longer any fear of consequence.
“Now, we need to ask ourselves what the problem really is. We are definitely overwhelmed by the epidemic of kleptomania. But do we also have a collective psychiatric problem?
“Why should a person loot what he cannot spend in 10 lifetimes, thereby exposing the rest of the population to misery, hunger, poverty and wretchedness?” he asked.
Mr. Sagay also reflected on judicial corruption, saying some judges still grant adjournments running into months in contravention of provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
He accused lawyers of contributing to the problem by using different delay tactics thereby causing the nation great embarrassment.
He said he had suggested to PACAC on the need to recruit a group of young lawyers to monitor court sittings and note issues of adjournments.
According to him, the reports sent by the monitors will be compiled and sent to the National Judicial Council for appropriate action.
Mr. Sagay faulted the recent public demonstrations against the present administration, saying they were sponsored by those who lost elections and those whose appointments were not renewed.(NAN)

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/225054-presidential-panel-accuses-nddc-customs-corruption.html

ON FEBRUARY 23, 201712:53 By Ikechukwu Nnochiri ABUJA

The Federal Government, on Thursday, re-arraigned the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, in Abuja, on an amended 18-count corruption charge. Saraki pleaded not guilty to the fresh charge, even as the tribunal headed by Justice Danladi Umar, gave the third prosecution witness, PW-3, Mr. Samuel Madujemu the nod to narrate how FG uncovered discrepancies in assets he declared to the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB.

The witness is the Chief Admin Officer at the CCB. He was the head of investigation Division under the Department of Intelligence, Investigation and Monitoring, that joined the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to probe Saraki’s assets.

It will be recalled that the Senate President was initially docked before the tribunal on September 22, 2015, on a 13-count charge.

He was latter re-arraigned on April 28, 2016 after FG increased allegations against him to 16 counts.

FG had alleged that the defendant made false/anticipatory declaration of assets, operated foreign accounts while in office as Kwara State governor between 2003 and 2011, as well as collected governorship salary four years after his tenure had elapsed.

In the amended charge that was read to the defendant on Thursday, FG, alleged that he had while in office as governor of Kwara state in 2007, failed to declare his interest in No. 15 Mc Donald, Ikoyi, Lagos, a property he acquired in 2006 through a company, Tiny Tee Limited for the sum of N165million.

It said the defendant, on or about the September 16, 2003, while in office as a governor, made false declaration by claiming ownership of No 15A & 15B Mc Donald, Ikoyi, Lagos through Carlisle Properties Ltd in the year 2000, when the said properties was in actual fact sold by the Federal Government to G & C Real Estate Properties and Investment Company Limited in 1997 for the sum of N12million.

In count four and five of the fresh charge, FG, alleged that Saraki, whilst being a public officer, on or about June 3 2011, falsely declared his assets at the end of his tenure as a governor and on his assumption of office as Senator in the same year, when he declared that he acquired No 17A and 17B Mc Donald, Ikoyi, Lagos on September 6, 2006, from the proceeds of sale of Rice and Sugar commodities, whereas he acquired the said properties with aggregate sum of N497.2million, through a loan he obtained from Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

FG alleged that contrary to section 15(1) & (2) of the CCB and Tribunal Act, Cap C15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, Saraki, at the end of his tenure as governor in 2007, failed to declare his outstanding loan liability of N315, 054, 355. 92 out of N380million loan he obtained from GTB on February 5, 2007.

The defendant was also accused of failing to declare his ownership of Plot 2A Glover Road, Ikoyi Lagos, which he acquired between 2007 and 2008 through Carlisle Properties Ltd from the Central Bank of Nigeria for the sum of N325million, as well as not declaring that No 1 and 3 Tagus Street Maitama, Abuja belongs to him.

The prosecution told the tribunal that as a governor, Saraki, in 2008, transferred the sum of $73, 223. 28 to a bank account he operated outside Nigeria.

Saraki allegedly failed in his second tenure as Kwara State governor to declare his interest in an American Express Bank, New York card No. 374588216836009 through which he transferred $3.4million between August 2009 and October 2012 from his GTB domiciliary account No 441441953210 to the American Express Services Europe Ltd No. 730580 for onward credit to the said card account.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the witness told the tribunal that Saraki had in his capacity as a governor, made several cash lodgements running into billions of Naira into his personal accounts.

He said the cash lodgements were in excess of Saraki’s salary as a governor.

Asked if public officers are permitted by the law to operate private business ventures, the witness said: “My lord, public officers are only entitled to engage in farming. Governors are not permitted to engage in sales of Rice and Sugar”.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/cct-trial-saraki-pleads-not-guilty-fresh-corruption-charges/

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

October 27, 2016 Ade Adesomoju, Abuja

‎The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday called its first prosecution witness before a Federal High Court in Abuja in the trial of an aide of Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, Mr. Abiodun Agbele, who is being prosecuted for money laundering charges.

‎The first prosecution witness, Oluseye Alade, who is an official of Zenith Bank Plc, gave a breakdown of how the sum of N1.2bn allegedly airlifted to Akure by a former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro on June 17, 2016, was distributed by Agbele.

He did not disclose where the aircraft flew from.

But he said he was informed by a colleague of his in Ibadan to wait for the arrival of the aircraft.

The EFCC had on August 3, 2016 aarraigned Agbele before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High on 11 counts of money laundering involving about N4,685,723,000,000.

The money was allegedly taken by former National Security Adviser from the account of the office of the NSA domicile in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The prosecution alleged that on June 17, 2014, Agbele, Obanikoro and other suspects (said to be at large), took N1,219,000,000 from the total N4,685,723,000,000, when they “reasonably ought to have known” that the money was part of proceeds of Dasuki’s unlawful activity.”

Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Wahab Shittu, the witness who is the Branch Head of the Zenith Bank in Akure gave details of how the N1.2bn was disbursed on the instruction of Agbele.

He said the money was airlifted to Akure by Obanikoro and others in two batches.
He said the money was moved from the airport to the bank by a bullion van on the two occasions of the arrival of the aircraft.”

He said, “I first met Agbele on June 17, 2014. On that day, my zonal head, Abiodun Oshode, informed me that he recieved a message from Lawrence Akande, the Zonal Head of Oyo State Branch of Zenith Bank that a customer will be coming to the bank from the airport with cash. He said that I should arrange for our bullion van to be taken to the airport to convey the cash when it arrives.

“After about an hour, Oshode walked to me that the customer is in the bank and I followed him to his office where he introduced Mr. Abiodun Agbele to me as the customer.

“Agbele told me that they had security details and that I should not bother about policemen since they had enough. That was how I, my Zonal Head, the bullion van driver, Agbele and his team drove to the airport.

“When we got to the airport, we waited for some minutes before the aircraft arrived. When the aircraft offloaded its passengers, one of them appeared to me to be Senator Musliu Obanikoro and the other one appeared to be his ADC, Adewale.

“Agbele walked up to them and had a discussion with them. Thereafter, he signaled me to bring the van. Bags loaded with cash were evacuated into the van and Obanikoro’s ADC, I and Agbele drove back to the bank.

“When we got to the bank, we bundle-counted the cash and it was N724,500,000. Agbele told us that more money was still coming and then, Obanikoro’s ADC left for the airport immediately.

“In the evening, all of us left for the airport a second time. After the passengers disembarked, we offloaded the cash bags into our bullion van and drove back to the bank to ascertain how much the cash was.

“The second tranche was N494,990,000, bringing the total about N1.219, 490,000
“We headed straight to our zonal head office where instructions were given by Agbele on how the funds were to be credited to various accounts.

“However, because of the amount involved, we needed to detail-count before crediting the accounts the next day. All these are recorded in the statements I volunteered to the EFCC.”

The four statements earlier made by the witness to the EFCC were tendered by the prosecuting counsel and admitted by the court as exhibits.

http://punchng.com/obanikoro-others-airlifted-n1-2bn-cash-fayose-bank-official/

SHAMELESS SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

October 24, 2016 Ade Adesomoju, Abuja

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), said on Monday, that the National Judicial Council had the power to place judges under investigation on interim suspension.

Falana said in a statement that the position held by the NJC to the effect that it had no power to suspend judges without first receiving a petition against a judge and investigating it was wrong.

Citing the provisions of the newly launched National Judicial Policy and a similar scenario in 2006, the lawyer said the NJC had to seek the help of the Department of State Service to investigate some of judges accused of taking N10m bribe after placing them on interim suspension.

Falana said, “If the NJC had treated this national crisis with the urgency required it should have investigated the matter based on the avalanche of materials placed before it.

“Interestingly, the NJC had handled a similar complaint of judicial corruption about a decade ago.

“That was in 2006 when it was alleged that the members of the Akwa Ibom governorship election petition tribunal had received bribes to pervert Justice.

“Without prejudice to the innocence of the judges, the NJC suspended them and requested the Director-General of the SSS to conduct a discreet investigation into the allegation.

“Upon the receipt of the report of the investigation it was found that each of the members of the tribunal had received a bribe of N10m while a judge of the Federal High Court had acted as a conduit in the scandal.

“At that stage the judges were confronted with the allegations. As their defence was found unsatisfactory the NJC recommended their removal from the bench.

“Furthermore, the NJC referred the matter to the Independent and Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission. One of the indicted judges collapsed and died when the ICPC operatives wanted to arrest him in his house in Makurdi, Benue State!”

The Nigerian Bar Association had called for the suspension four serving judges among the seven, whose houses were raided by the DSS operatives between October 7 and 8.

Falana said while the NJC had called an emergency meeting to address the arrest of the judges, it had not deemed it fit to investigate the allegations levelled against the judges.

He said apart from Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, whose house was searched but was not arrested, the rest of the judges had not frontally denied the allegations levelled against them.

http://punchng.com/njc-powers-suspend-arrested-judge-falana/

What about allegations that the Federal Government went after the judges for political reasons, particularly as it relates to rulings on the matter of the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.)?
I have confirmed that the residence of Justice Nnamdi Dimgba was illegally invaded by the security operatives. Since it was a case of mistaken identity, the Federal Government ought to tender a public apology to his lordship who I know as a man of unimpeachable character. Unfortunately, I have not established that the arrest of any of the other judges was politically motivated. Even though, I led the legal defence of the majority of military officers and soldiers, including those who were sentenced to death, I have condemned the disobedience of the orders of court which admitted Col. Sambo Dasuki to bail. One of the NBA leaders criticised me by saying that the suspect can be arrested as many times as possible. Can you believe that? But I have been vindicated by the ECOWAS Court, which has ordered the Federal Government to comply with the orders of its municipal courts.

Some Nigerians believe that if this or President Buhari is allowed to continue to act in this manner, soon enough, we will help create an unstoppable despot and dictator. What do you think about this assertion?
If we could defeat military despots, no civilian dictator will be tolerated by the Nigerian people. I don’t believe in the assertion that the arrest of a few judges is an indication that the state has become fascistic. In other words, there is nothing dictatorial in arresting criminal suspects accused of corrupt practices. We should stop using the rule of law to cover up grave economic crimes that have ruined our country. What you have described as gestapo tactics with the arrest of judges are the same methods that daily apply to common people by the police and security agencies in Nigeria. That was why I said that we should take advantage of the plight of the judges to put in place irreducible minimum standards for the treatment of all criminal suspects. However, I strongly believe that the legal profession owes itself a duty to adopt pro-active measures to remove corrupt lawyers and judges from the bench and the bar.

You recently called for the prompt investigation into range of dealings involving alleged diversion of public funds over the years by government establishments, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, under former governors, Chukwuma Soludo and Lamido Sanusi. Why are you just raising the issues now?
I raised them under the previous regime but they were not given any attention. After all, the regime could not differentiate between corruption and stealing. But since the Buhari administration is desperately looking for money to run the neo-colonial capitalist economy, I decided to request the Minister of Finance to ensure that the funds are recovered. The Federal Government knows that my demands are not baseless. More so, that the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has written to me to confirm that $20.2bn was withheld from the Federation Account from 1999 – 2012. The confirmation was in response to a request I had made under the Freedom of Information Act. When Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the current Emir of Kano, was the Governor of the Central Bank, I took him up for paying N2.5tn to a cabal of fuel importers when the approved budget for fuel subsidy was N245bn in 2011. I got that figure from the report of the House of Representatives, which investigated the monumental fraud. We also had a running battle over his decision to turn the CBN into a Father Christmas when it donated hundreds of millions to all manners of people and institutions. I also asked that the loan of N600bn given as bailout to the banks in 2008 be recovered. So, I am not just raising these issues to stir any controversy.

You said that the finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, had not taken steps to recover billions of dollars “either criminally diverted or illegally withheld”. Do you think this government lacks the political will to fight corruption to a standstill?
I wrote the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to the effect that the government could raise up to $200bn from individuals and institutions which have illegally withheld funds from the Federation Account or criminally diverted the nation’s wealth. The minister acknowledged the letter but failed to act on my demands. Hence I petitioned the EFCC. As far as I am concerned, the administration has not mustered the political will to recover huge public funds from western governments and financial institutions. The money allegedly stolen by local politicians and military officers pales into insignificance when compared with the theft of tons of crude oil illegally shipped out of Nigeria by oil companies in the last 10 years.
Soludo has described your allegations as blatant lies, saying you goofed and that you should publish the details of the $7bn loan he gave out or publish a retraction and unreserved apology. Beyond the newspaper report you quoted, are there other details in your possession that you plan to publish?
I have dismissed Prof. Soludo’s demand for apology because it is baseless. Initially, he said that I told a lie by saying that he gave out $7bn to 14 banks. As soon as I produced the statement wherein the Central Bank of Nigeria, under his governorship announced that the fund was given to the banks, he turned round to say that it was a deposit and not a loan. At that stage, I challenged him to disclose the terms of the $7bn deposit and tell the nation when it was paid back to the foreign reserves. Prof. Soludo has not been able to address those serious issues. So where is the basis of the demand for a retraction and a public apology? Just recently, Mr. Henry Boyo, one of your respected columnists, raised fresh queries on the missing sum of $7bn from our foreign reserves.

Some Nigerians have described you as a loyalist of the APC, and that you are in support of many of the controversial policies of this government because you still hope to serve in the government some day. How would you react to that?
That is a cheap blackmail which cannot derail me from the struggle to free our country from tiny grip of imperialism and its local lackeys. I have consistently taken issues with the regime over the execution of neo-liberal economic policies. When we were fighting military dictators, did some fools not say that we were looking for cheap publicity? When I supported the EFCC under Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and the ICPC under Justice Mustapha Akanbi, was I looking for a position in the Peoples Democratic Party-led regime? Apart from the conditional support for the anti-graft agencies under the Buhari administration, which other policy have I supported to warrant such bunkum speculation? I have criticised the regime for begging western nations to repatriate our looted wealth instead of embarking on aggressive diplomatic and legal measures for loot recovery. I have consistently demanded for the release of soldiers, who were illegally convicted by courts-martial set up by military officers who diverted the $15bn earmarked for procurement of arms and ammunition. I have sued the regime over the illegal detention of citizens, including Sheik Ibrahim El Zakzaky and his wife. For taking up the case of the couple, the DSS has declared me persona non grata. I have accused the regime of grave human rights violations by not prosecuting the soldiers who killed 348 citizens and buried their dead bodies in Zaria last year, as well as the violent suppression of the agitation for the state of Biafra, the harassment of the Bring Back Our Girls Campaigners. If these positions have turned me into a loyalist of the APC government, so be it.
In the 1990s, judicial corruption assumed a dangerous dimension in the country. As the legal profession failed to arrest the ugly development, the Sani Abacha junta was compelled to set up the Kayode Eso Panel. During the proceedings of the panel, lawyers and members of the public submitted the names of corrupt judges. As soon as the panel submitted its report, powerful judges and lawyers convinced the junta not to sack the indicted judges. They succeeded, as the report was only sent to the archives. But as soon as civil rule was restored in 1999, The News Magazine published the report. Some top lawyers asked the government to charge the editors of the magazine to court for breaching the Official Secrets Act by publishing the report without authorisation. As counsel to the magazine, I wrote to the government not to cover up judicial corruption by relying on the colonial legislation that is in conflict with the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. The NBA never demanded for the release of the report. However, the Olusegun Obasanjo administration released the report and sent it to the NJC for implementation. Based on the confirmation of the findings of the Eso Panel by the NJC, 47 judges were flushed out of the system. The judiciary was better for it.

http://punchng.com/nba-leaders-know-corrupt-judges-lawyers-nigeria-falana/

October 22, 2016
Human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), speaks on his disagreement with the Nigerian Bar Association on the recent arrest of judges by the Department of State Services, allegations of corruption in the judiciary and other issues, in this interview with GBENRO ADEOYE

It appears that you have created more enemies for yourself in the NBA and the legal profession as a whole with your recent statements; don’t you feel bothered by that?
For ideological reasons, I have always had enemies in the legal profession. I am not bothered because some of the NBA leaders are not defending judges but themselves. When I was working with the late Comrade Alao Aka-Bashorun, who is rated as the best NBA president so far, the NBA did not address press conferences to declare a state of emergency, whatever that means. If judges were harassed or lawyers were detained, the NBA leaders would meet the Attorney-General or President of a country to find out the basis of any arrest. Aka-Bashorun did that in Nigeria, Togo and Ghana. In 1987, Aka-Bashorun mobilised 270 lawyers to defend the late Gani Fawehinmi. He was fighting a very corrupt military junta. When the same military dictators later charged some of us with treasonable felony, the NBA also defended us. The NBA also rallied round non lawyers like Comrade Balarabe Musa and Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti as they were in the forefront of the struggle for the restoration of democratic rule. At that time, the NBA never mobilised 90 lawyers to defend any lawyer charged with corrupt practices.

You accused alleged corrupt judges being investigated by the anti-graft bodies of rushing to the court to seek interlocutory injunction to stop their arrest and prosecution. But isn’t that allowed in law?
I have always kicked against the issuance of interim, interlocutory and perpetual injunctions by judges to restrain the anti-graft agencies and the police from arresting, investigating and prosecuting corrupt people in the society. It is an illegal exercise of judicial power to confer immunity on rich and powerful criminal suspects. The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal have stated very explicitly that no judge has the power to turn any citizen into an outlaw in any civilised society, where the rule of law operates. Whenever judges were accused of corruption in the recent past, senior lawyers had rushed to court to secure court injunctions to frustrate the investigation and prosecution of the suspects. Neither the National Judicial Council nor the Nigerian Bar Association has ever called the judges and lawyers involved in the illegality to order. Sometime in 2011, it was alleged that the head of the National Judicial Institute was involved in N6bn fraud. He was politely invited for questioning by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, but the then sitting Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the Institute asked him to ignore the invitation. The suspect did and thereafter, he secured an injunction at a Federal High Court to halt the investigation. As if that was not enough, he collated the names of 18 employees of the institute and sacked them because he suspected that they had exposed the fraud to the ICPC. The sacked employees cried to the National Judicial Council and the Nigerian Bar Association for redress. They were ignored. They ran to my office and I had to file a suit praying the Federal High Court to set aside their illegal dismissal. We are currently pursuing the matter on pro bono basis. On another occasion, a judge in a Federal High Court was invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to explain the source of N2bn found in her account. She rushed to court and obtained an order which has restrained the EFCC from investigating and prosecuting her. Can you believe that the order was granted by one of the judges being investigated by the Department of State Services? There is also the case of a chief judge, who used the public presentation of a book to raise money from members of the public, including litigants. At the ceremony, a businessman, who had two cases before the chief judge, announced a donation of N10m. A poor man, who had a case against the donor before the chief judge, asked his lawyer to apply for the transfer of his case to another judge. The lawyer made the application. The chief judge ordered the lawyer’s arrest. After the NBA refused to intervene to prevent the lawyer’s arrest, he had to turn to me. I took up his matter, approached a Federal High Court, which prohibited the police from carrying out the illegal order of the chief judge. His Lordship was allowed by the NBA to intimidate the lawyer. The NJC cleared the chief judge but the matter was revisited when the chief judge ignored the advice of the NJC to transfer the cases to another judge. Based on the act of misconduct and other allegations of corruption, the chief judge has been removed. He was also arrested last week.

Many Nigerians were surprised that you were not on the side of the NBA, why is that?
The NBA is not always right with respect to the anti-corruption crusade. In 1984, the NBA asked lawyers to boycott courts to protest the trial of corrupt politicians by the Special Military Tribunals set up by the (Muhammadu) Buhari/(Tunde) Idiagbon junta. Gani Fawehinmi defied the NBA because lawyers were appearing before general courts-martial and special courts-martial, which were also constituted by soldiers. His name was recorded in a so-called black book. But when Mr. Aka-Bashorun became our president, he persuaded the NBA to remove the name because of Fawehinmi’s unrivalled public spirited role in the society. In the past, the NBA defended human rights and fought corruption. Even under the (Ibrahim) Babangida junta, the NBA boycotted courts to protest the disobedience of a single court order. But today, disobedience of court orders has become the order of the day. The human rights committees of the NBA were mobilised to challenge the violation of the human rights of the Nigerian people. I am only asking the NBA to return to the glorious era of defending popular causes. But I cannot be part of the NBA if it goes around assembling scores of lawyers to appear for other lawyers when they are charged with bribing judges. If you organise a press conference to issue threats over the arrest of judges accused of corruption, you simply parade the NBA as a pro-corruption society. There are other ways of defending judges in a responsible manner.

But don’t you think your criticisms of some judges could later come back to haunt you in the courtroom as some cases could go against you should there be a gang-up?
If I lose a good case, I will appeal to a higher court. A judge in the Lagos High Court once threatened to jail me for insisting on protecting the interests of my client. On the day set aside to carry out the threat, another judge met me at the car park and advised me not to apologise to his colleague as he had been warned to stop his bullying tactics. On getting to the court room, I was flabbergasted to see 45 lawyers who had turned up in solidarity. The judge was intimidated and was compelled to drop the contempt charge. I was then a junior lawyer. Now, I have put in over three decades of active legal practice. The system has even grudgingly admitted me to the inner bar. Seriously speaking, it is too late to entertain any fear. Indeed, I am encouraged to keep up the struggle by majority of judges who are incorruptible. I have also been encouraged by many lawyers, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria because they are suffering in silence. When you accuse the Nigerian judiciary of corruption, you are embarrassing the incorruptible ones. When you accuse all SANs of corruption, you are embarrassing the decent ones who will never bribe judges or pervert the cause of justice.

You said that the Nigerian Bar Association has information on corrupt judges and lawyers in the country. How do you know that?
I am a full-time practising lawyer. I was Secretary-General of the African Bar Association and former President of the West African Bar Association. I am involved in human rights work. So, I am in a vantage position to know what happens in the bar and the bench. In our bar meetings and other gatherings of lawyers, leaders always condemn judicial corruption. In the last 10 years, there is no president of the NBA who has not openly condemned judicial corruption. In his maiden speech last August, Mr. Abubakar Mohammed (SAN), the current NBA President, promised to make the legal profession unattractive to corrupt judges and lawyers. His immediate predecessor, Mr. Austin Aleghe (SAN), once condemned judicial corruption at a valedictory session at the Supreme Court. At the end of his speech, the outgoing Chief Justice, Honourable Justice Mahmud Mohammed, openly challenged Mr. Aleghe to submit a list of corrupt judges to the NJC. But he never took up the challenge. Before then, a former NBA President, Mr. J.B. Daudu (SAN), had openly accused election petition tribunals of selling justice to the highest bidders. He even proceeded to set up an anti-corruption commission. But apart from holding seminars and workshops, the NBA has failed woefully to adopt concrete measures to purge the legal profession of corrupt judges and lawyers. Two sets of cases, election petitions and corruption cases have continued to expose the nation’s judiciary to ridicule. Such cases are handled by senior lawyers, but some of them are compromised as justice is said to be sold to the highest bidders. The NBA leaders know all the corrupt judges and lawyers. The branches of the NBA also know them.

Is there something you know and not sharing? You also made it sound like you know some of these corrupt lawyers and judges?
Sadly, good lawyers in practice have become victims of judicial corruption. From time to time, I am bombarded with information by litigants who are victims of judicial corruption. I have never hesitated to report such complaints to the authorities if you provide me with information. Not too long ago, a President of the NBA informed me that the house of a particular Federal High Court judge was built for him by a leading construction firm in the country and that the mansion was worth over one billion naira. I tried to persuade him to take it up at the NJC since he was a member. His reply was “Femi, you know, I don’t have your courage to be able to take it up.” Since he gave me the name of the judge, I decided to take it up with the relevant anti-graft agency. It is the crisis of compromise and opportunism on the part of NBA leaders that has led the legal profession to the mess we are going through. You cannot have an incorruptible judiciary if the lawyers are corrupt. But some of us have resolved to identify and isolate the few corrupt judges and lawyers in our midst.

Some people have wondered why you are just speaking out about corruption in the judiciary now after some arrests have been made. What is behind it?
I have always spoken out against injustice and corruption. All the incorruptible judges know that I speak out and defend them. Decent lawyers equally know that I speak out for them. Apart from speaking out regularly, I meet with the relevant authorities to express concern over the growing rate of judicial corruption in the country. Because I insist that we rid the legal profession of bad eggs, I have recently been under pressure from my colleagues to compromise my stand. Unfortunately for them, I have been joined by younger colleagues who are men and women of integrity. Very soon, the public will be surprised to know that some of the petitions that have landed our judges in trouble were written and signed by young lawyers. Recently, I was involved in a case. Unknown to me, the senior lawyer on the other side and the trial judge were on regular telephone conversation to plan a common strategy against me. When the lawyer met his waterloo, many senior lawyers attempted to blackmail me. But I asked them if they expected me to clap for a fellow SAN, who had recorded a dubious victory against me. In 2003, a five-member election petitions tribunal collected money in Akwa Ibom State to pervert the course of justice. They were caught and dismissed. But the Court of Appeal refused to set aside a judgment that was purchased with the dirty money. At about the same time, two Justices of the Court of Appeal collected N12m bribe from a politician in Anambra State. Both Justices were dismissed from the bench. Again, the Court of Appeal refused to quash the fraudulent judgment. The NBA never protested such injustice. In the notorious case of Federal Republic of Nigeria v Chief James Ibori, the accused was alleged to have looted the treasury of Delta State to the tune of several billions of naira. He was also said to have attempted to bribe the then EFCC Chairman, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, with $15m. Without any trial whatsoever, the Federal High Court dismissed the case and set the defendant free. But to the shame of our country, the same fellow pleaded guilty to a similar charge in the United Kingdom and was convicted and jailed. The judicial authorities never investigated what happened at the Federal High Court; the two leading defence counsel, who filed the application that led to the dismissal of the case in Nigeria are former NBA presidents.

You said the few lawyers with the courage to expose corrupt judges and lawyers have been stigmatised and treated like lepers by their colleagues. Would you say you are one of such lawyers or have you lacked the courage to expose corrupt judges and lawyers?
Of course, I am one of them but I cannot be intimidated by the gang-up of shady characters. None of my colleagues can intimidate me. They have left me alone because they know that I am standing on the rock of Gibraltar. But they are intimidating other junior lawyers. Luckily, the NADL has been revived to take up some of these matters. As a patron of the organisation, I am going to collaborate with the members to defend incorruptible judges and expose the corrupt ones together with the lawyers who act as conduit for them.

But do you think the Department of State Services had the right to arrest the judges in the gestapo manner in which it did?
Under the defunct military dictatorship, my house was raided several times by the Nigerian Security Organisation, which metamorphosed into the State Security Service (Department of State Services). The SSS also subjected my house to similar reckless invasions even though I never committed any criminal offence. In fact, on one occasion, my son, Folarin (Falz), asked his mother if I was a criminal because his teacher had taught him in the elementary school that only criminals were arrested and taken away by the police. Since he was only six years old at the time, he did not understand his mother’s explanation that my ordeals were politically motivated. So, I know what it means to be a victim of nocturnal raids by security forces. Beside my personal experience, I have always fought against the humiliation of all criminal suspects. While I cannot support the gestapo tactics adopted by security agencies, I have suggested that we take advantage of the experience of the arrested judges to put in place a common standard for the treatment of all criminal suspects in Nigeria. For the bar to be respected, it has to kick against the extrajudicial killing of criminal suspects in police custody, the brutalisation of journalists, workers and other citizens. I am asking the NBA not to limit the defence of human rights to judges and senior lawyers and other privileged people in the society. The NBA has over 100 branches. Each of the branches has a human rights committee. Let the committees be motivated to fight the brutalisation of criminal suspects throughout the country. Let them go to the police stations and prisons and set at liberty those who should not be there.

The NBA said the core mandate of the DSS is to guarantee internal national security. How does that translate into arresting judges?
Is the NBA not aware that lawyers who wish to be elevated to the bench are mandatorily required to be screened by the DSS? So, if you allow an agency to screen you before appointment, can you turn round to question its locus standi if it decides to monitor your performance? If a judge collected money in an election petition and declared a wrong candidate the winner of a presidential or governorship election, it can lead to the breakdown of law and order. Can you say that has nothing to do with the internal security of the nation? In the instant case, the DSS wrote to the NJC requesting to interview some judges. Neither the NJC nor the NBA questioned the competence of the DSS to investigate the judges. It is so sad that some aggrieved persons who had sent petitions to the NJC had to ask the DSS to intervene because the judges involved were not investigated.

Former NBA presidents like Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), are also behind NBA in its criticism of the action of the DSS, why then have you chosen this lonely path?
Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) are perfectly entitled to stand solidly behind the NBA in declaring a state of emergency. I respect both of them. But as a member of the NBA, I have the freedom of expression to ask pertinent questions on the purport and motive of the declaration of a state of emergency having regard to the facts and circumstances of this shameful episode. My path is not a lonely one as I represent the majority of lawyers and their clients who are being chased out of our courts because justice has been fully commoditised. The figures being bandied around are so scary. The dismissed Justice Kabiru Auta (allegedly) sold justice in his court for N197m. Justice Ladan Tsamiya had (allegedly) concluded arrangement to collect N200m to sell justice in one single appeal. A SAN recently charged N5m (allegedly) as his professional fee and N100m for the judge. Others are purchasing justice in dollars and pounds. Right now, many lawyers are being driven out of legal practice as they can no longer compete with the judicial tycoons that have taken over some of our courts. I just cannot fathom how the NBA can be issuing threats to protect judges who are alleged to have converted our courts to the last hope of very rich criminal elements. Or is the NBA still saying that a court where justice is sold for not less than N100m remains the last hope of the common man? When some of the bar leaders and I joined the legal profession some decades ago, you could predict the outcome of a bad case. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case in many of our courts.

PT: You people in the executive are angry that Sambo Dasuki has not been convicted after more than a year.
Obono-Obla: I will not say that. You are a Nigerian like me and you have been watching the proceedings. I cannot say it categorically because the matter is in court. You can just infer.

PT: The ECOWAS Court ruled that he should be released. When will that be effected?
Obono-Obla: It is an advisory opinion. The ECOWAS Court cannot enforce its judgements. So its rulings are advisory. The government is not obligated. That is why you see that Israel has flouted all the judgements of the ICJ. So also the so-called bastion of democracy, America, has flouted all the judgements of the ICJ against America. They even refused to join the ICC. So it is national interest and it is paramount. So the federal government is not obligated to obey an advisory opinion of ECOWAS Court of Justice. But we are studying the ruling and at the end of the day we will react.

PT: Many Nigerians feel that your office and indeed that of AGF is slow in prosecuting cases. Why? For instance the case involving Saraki you were slow in prosecuting him.
Obono-Obla: Which case are you talking about because we have a lot of prosecuting agencies? It is not only the office of the AGF that prosecutes. The police prosecute, the Customs Service, the Immigration Service, EFCC prosecute, ICPC. If you look at the EFCC Act, it gives the EFCC powers to prosecute. They are on their own.

PT: Will his release threaten Nigeria’s security?
Obono-Obla: Well he was a National Security Adviser. That’s a very powerful office; and he’s a prince. The president has not disobeyed any law regarding Dasuki. The first charge against Dasuki was unlawful possession of firearms. They brought application for his bail which was granted. As he was perfecting his bail conditions and before he was released, he was arrested for another offence. That’s it.
If you are arrested for manslaughter, you asked for bail and the bail is granted. But as you are about to be released, the police come to say you are accused of killing another person two years ago, that has cancelled the first bail. There is no evidence that the federal government is in contempt of court.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/213289-interview-nigeria-how-njc-is-protecting-corrupt-judges-buharis-adviser.html

October 22, 2016 By Festus Owete and Hassan Adebayo

The Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution, Okoi Obono-Obla, a lawyer, in this interview with PREMIUM TIMES’ Festus Owete and Hassan Adebayo, speaks on how the judiciary has frustrated the corruption war of the Buhari administration and steps being taken to purge it.

PT: Nigerians have expressed different views on the arrest and detention and even the release of some judges. Some persons have said the SSS does not have the powers to effect the arrest. What is your take?
Obono-Obla: The arrest of the judges is lawful, legitimate and constitutional. In the first place, judges are not above the law; judges in Nigerian do not have immunity. The issue of immunity is purely spelt out in the constitution. The president, vice president, governors and deputy governors are the only categories of politicians who have immunity. If the framers of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) intended that the members of the judicial branch of government should have immunity, they would have clearly spelt it out in the constitution. Nigerians are confounded, surprised and amazed because this type of a thing has never happened in Nigeria. It is unprecedented. So the assumption that judges are above the law has been there. It was a perception but it is not true in reality. And this is a reformist government that will ensure that the rule of law is obeyed by everybody and that is why I can see that Nigerians are surprised that these things are happening.
Even Ghana, 22 judges were arrested, arraigned and dismissed from service. In Italy recently 16 judges were arrested by police and 1 billion Euros recovered from them. In the U.S. that is supposedly the bastion of constitutional and liberal democracy, judges have been arrested and jailed by FBI. In the U.K., judges have been arrested, tried and jailed. In India that is very similar to Nigeria in terms of socio-economic development, judges have been arrested and jailed.
But in Nigeria, judges have never been arrested because there has been no will in Nigeria to enforce the rule of law. And then this mentality – the Nigerian big man has this mindset that ‘I am above the law’ and then the thing has trickled down to the ordinary people who have the perception that big men should not be answerable for their crimes. That is why each time a big man is arrested in Nigeria, it will generate controversy. It has happened in Dasuki’s case and so many other high profile cases. They just generate controversy so that government is discredited and distracted. So, do we want two standards of justice in Nigeria – one for the rich people and one for the poor people? When the police break into the homes of the poor people and arrest them, nobody says anything. Go to the prisons and see how poor people who allegedly stole maybe N1 or N5 are being treated. So all said and done, judges are ordinary people. They are subjected to the law just as you and me. It is only when a judge is sitting in the courtroom that he has immunity just like the legislators when they are inside the parliament they have immunity. If a judge comes out of chambers and he commits a crime he is liable to the law.
On the legality of DSS’ action, DSS was a branch of the Nigerian police. It was known as the Intelligence and Investigation Unit of the Nigerian Police. That is the historical background. But later on it was severed from the Nigerian Police to form the Nigerian Security Organisation. Then in the 1990s when Babangida was president, he had to change it to SSS. If you look at Section 2 (3) (A) of the National Security Agency Act, the SSS has the power of prevention and detection of any crime within Nigeria against the internal security of Nigeria. If a judge collects bribe to pervert the cause of justice in an election matter, don’t you think that can lead to a threat to national security? It is a threat to national security because there is a tendency towards impunity and lawlessness by Nigeria.
There is a serious propensity of Nigerians taking laws into their hands. Why? It is because they no longer have faith in the judicial system because judges collect bribe. Is that not a threat to national security? It is. What is the goal of judicial branch of government? The role is to interpret the law, maintain social equilibrium, social harmony so that Nigerians live together. If they have disagreement, they should go to court and have justice. The court will make a pronouncement that Mr. B is right and Mr. B is wrong to prevent Nigerians from taking laws into their hands.
If there is a crisis between the executive and legislature, its own is to interpret and resolve their crisis on conflict. So if we have a judiciary that is collecting bribe to subvert the course of justice, is that not a threat to national security? So DSS or SSS by virtue of section 2 (3) (A) of the National Security Act, has the power to also investigate corruption cases, financial and economic crimes, terrorism, etc. If you also look at section 2 (3) (c), of the Act, it gives the president the discretion to assign any role to SSS in so far as the national interest or security is involved.
A lot of people do not know that in 1999, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, when he was head of state, made an executive order pursuant to section 2 (3) (c) of the Act vesting the power on SSS to investigate financial and economic crimes. So what are they talking about? It is just the Nigerian thing that when a big man is involved there is propaganda in the media to distract government and discredit the process. We must do away with that mindset that big men are not subject to the law.

PT: But in this matter, we understand the president has a hand in the arrest of the judges.
Obono-Obla: The president has no hand. This president is one man who does not interfere with the work of the various ministries, commissions etc. There are a lot of petitions against judges that were even sent to this office by civil society groups. There are a lot of petitions sent to the NJC and NJC could not investigate these petitions for whatever reason. So these petitions were forwarded to the relevant security agencies to investigate because they border on crime.
You must know that NJC has no power to investigate crime. NJC has powers to investigate professional misconduct of judges. It is spelt out in Section 153 (1) (i) of the 1999 Constitution that created the NJC and then you go to the Third Schedule Section 21 is on the jurisdiction or the powers of the NJC, it vests the power on NJC to discipline judges and to take part in the nomination of judges etc. There is no criminal power vested on NJC. And most of the allegations against the judges border on crime – money laundering, abuse of office, official corruption etc.

PT: These issues of money laundering, abuse of office are things that happened in the course of their professional practice
Obono-Obla: Yes. The NJC has been accused of being half-hearted in fixing complaints filed by members of the public. If they are working, if a complaint is sent to NJC that borders on crime, what they are supposed to do is to refer that complaint to EFCC, ICPC for further investigation. There were insinuations that the SSS made efforts to NJC to react to these allegations made against all these judges that border on crime. Can you allow us have access to these judges? Can you allow us to investigate them and they were stonewalling.

PT: Now these judges have been released on bail, when will they be prosecuted? They were to be brought to court last Monday but it never happened.
Obono-Obla: It was speculative. We never made a categorical statement that the judges would be taken to court on Monday. For goodness, these judges were arrested on Saturday and investigations are still ongoing. The asset declaration forms have to be looked into and it will take a few days to verify the information on asset recovery. If these things were declared in the asset declaration form, it has to be established. So, let Nigerians allow the security agencies investigate this matter properly before taking these judges to court.
If they are charged to court and there is no evidence and the matter is struck out there will be a backlash. So, SSS is investigating these judges. Let us give them time. The judges have been released on bail. Give us time, we will charge them to court. If we were not serious, we wouldn’t have gone on sting operation. It has to be done with a lot of deliberation and painstaking manner. You cannot just go and arrest judges and make headlines without charging them to court.

PT: What time are we looking at?
Obono-Obla: Maybe next week. But I am assuring you that definitely they will be charged to court. It takes time to investigate. For instance, some of the former governors have been under investigation for a very long time. If you want to us to do a wishy-washy investigation, then the matter will be thrown out and you will say government is not serious or we have compromised. But I can assure you that this matter will be dealt with because we have to clean up the judiciary. If we don’t clean up the judiciary no foreign investor will come to the country and then the country will be sliding into anarchy. We must clean up the judiciary because the judiciary is very, very important to the economy, to Nigerians living together, to the national unity, integration etc

PT: The executive is now of the view that in the judiciary there are bad eggs that have to be flushed out. But in the executive, there are certain individuals against whom the allegations of corruption have also been made.
Obono-Obla: What are the grounds? Who are they? They have said there are some bad eggs in the executive. All what I see is a spate of speculative allegations. If you have anything against any member of the executive bring it out, concrete information on wrong doing or corruption. They always mention Rotimi Amaechi, Babatunde Fashola and the Minister of Interior, Dambazau.
Let’s take the case of Amaechi. Amaechi was governor of Rivers State for eight years. If the Rivers State government truly believe that Amaechi committed a crime or was corrupt why can’t the attorney general of the state that is vested with the power to prosecute anybody in the state who has committed an offence against the laws of the state not prosecute Amaechi? Why is he passing the buck to the federal government? Where is the evidence that Amaechi was corrupt apart from the politics of maliciousness and vindictiveness? They simply drag the federal government into these things simply because some of them do not want Amaechi to be appointed.
If anybody has concrete allegation against Amaechi let him send it to the EFCC and pursue it and ensure that EFCC does the right thing. The president is not EFCC or ICPC. Send these reports to EFCC or ICPC to take action and if the president is blocking these allegations then you can go home and say the president is selective or he is protecting Amaechi.
The allegation against the minister of interior is that he has property abroad; it is not that he stole from this government. He was in government when the president was an opposition leader. So if the evidence is there that he bought the property let them come out with petition and bring to the ministry of justice and let them tell us where the property are and then we start investigating him. I can tell you that nobody is protecting anybody. But it is not just to make any allegation against somebody because you want to rope in somebody or because you want to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.

PT: In clear terms, does the president believe the judiciary is corrupt?
Obono-Obla: I cannot say, but the president has made some statements that the judiciary is not forthcoming in the war against corruption, that the attitude of the judiciary, and cases are delayed just like Saraki’s case. I have been going to court since last year and we have not made any headway because of the attitude of the judges. And there is nothing you can do. He is the master of his court. That is why the president said the judiciary is not forthcoming. But he has not said the judiciary is corrupt. He has not told me that.

PT: Given this frustration from the court are you thinking of ways to make this corruption war faster and effective?
Obono-Obla: There is nothing we can do for now. We have to use the laws that are in place to fight the war against corruption. But we have done a lot of interventions to ensure that convictions are quickly secured. For instance, we have come out with some documents. We have designed some documents, strategic plans for prosecution between 2016 and 2019. We have also come out with a National Policy on Prosecution. We have also come out with guidelines on prosecution. We have also come out with Code of Conduct for prosecutors. We have also established the administration of criminal justice monitoring committee whose function is to ensure that criminal cases are speedily dealt with.
The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption has also designed some documents which have been sent to the AGF for adoption. We have also designed a draft bill to create a special criminal court that will be vested with powers to deal with economic, corruption cases, terrorism etc.
Meanwhile, because it will take a while to pass for this bill to be passed into law, we have set up a National Prosecution Coordinating Committee to complement the efforts of public prosecution in the federation. These are all the interventions we have made and we will keep on appealing to lawyers, the police and all those involved in the administration of justice to cooperate so that criminal justice system can work.
I am also appealing to the judges to be firm because the attitude we see is that when big people have cases in court and they hire big lawyers, some of the judges are not firm. They indulge the big lawyers. Ironically they don’t indulge the young aspiring lawyers. If a poor man is facing trial and his lawyer makes an application for adjournment the judge will descend on that lawyer and tell him off. But you see senior lawyers making all these manoeuvres in court calculated to stall the hearing of a matter involving a big man. The judge looks the other way.

PT: Are these interventions capable of addressing these issues you are raising giving the extent of the rot in the system?
Obono-Obla: That is why the judiciary has to be cleaned up and that is what we are doing. There is a lot of quakes in the country, a lot of sensational headlines, a lot of making a mountain out of nothing. We are going to clean up the judiciary to have judges, who are committed, who are patriotic, who are knowledgeable about the law, who are firm, who have courage to interpret the law the way it is.

PT: What about the NJC? Are you also thinking of cleaning up the NJC?
Obono-Obla: Yes. It is one of the defects in the constitution. The defect is that NJC is 80 per cent made up of judges. So the question is – is that not a contradiction? Because this universal principle of justice which is also embedded in our constitution – you cannot be a judge in your own court. You have seen the NJC trying to protect some categories of judges.
Let me give you an instance in the contradiction in the rulings of the NJC of recent. That is the case of Justice Mohammed Tsamiya of the Ilorin Division (of Appeal Court), one of the arrested judges. Somebody lodged a complaint, one Nnamdi Oji, against that judge for collecting bribe and four other members of the Election Petition Tribunal Appeal Panel that sat over election disputes. The NJC found that judge guilty and that he should return the N200 million in instalments.
And the complainant is very angry. He spoke with me on phone. He told me that he is very angry because he lodged a complaint and that he has evidence that all the five judges were involved. He told me that he is ready to appear in any court to testify against those judges. The NJC exonerated three judges and asked Justice Mohammed to pay N200 million he collected as bribe in instalments. They did not say Justice Mohammed should appear before SSS, EFCC or ICPC.
But a Kano State judge who allegedly collected N197 million from somebody, the NJC ruled that he should be dismissed and also lodged a complaint with the Assistant Inspector General of Police for his arrest and prosecution. But in Justice Mohammed’s case they did not say he should be prosecuted but instead he should pay this N200 million in instalments. What kind of justice is that? So you can see clearly that they are trying to protect Justice Mohammed. Maybe the judge in Kano is not a senior judge and is not well connected. They reported him to the police.
That also shows that NJC does not have power over criminal complaints against judges. All judges are screened by SSS and so why are they suggesting that the SSS has no power over judges? Before their appointments they are screened by the SSS. That is the practice which has been going on for the past 30 years in this country. So you can see that NJC is a toothless bulldog. If NJC is up and doing, all the rots we have in the judicial system will not be there.
So because it is made up of 80 per cent judges who want to protect themselves which is also against the principle of fair hearing. You are a judge in your own court. So there should be constitutional reform of the NJC. Maybe we should bring in outsiders that are not necessarily lawyers or judges, men of proven integrity who will judge judges. Judges should not judge themselves. If a member of the executive arm of government commits a crime, it is the judges who judge him and also in the legislature. But the judges don’t want another body to judge them. So there should be constitutional reforms.

OCT 20, 2016
Twenty-nine (29) Senior officers of the Nigeria Customs Service have been dismissed for various acts of gross misconduct. The dismissed officers are among forty-four (44) Senior officers who were punished for actions capable of compromising national economy and security.

Ten (10) other officers were retired from Service, while the appointment of one (1) was terminated. Four (4) officers were given written warnings to be of better conduct while another 4 officers who were investigated and tried for some offences were exonerated.

Four (4) of the officers who got the hammer were of the rank of Deputy-Comptroller of Customs, while five (5) were Assistant-Comptroller. Others were seven (7) Chief Superintendents of
Customs and four (4) Superintendents, among others.

Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hammed Ali (Rtd) had made it clear upon his assumption of duties that the Service will not compromise on Corruption and Indiscipline among the officers corps. In line with this, the structure and process for investigation of offences was strengthened to handle cases reported promptly and professionally. “We will give all officers fair hearing in line with the principle of natural justice. We will however insist that sanctions be punitive, not only to match the offence committed, but to serve as deterrent to others”, the CGC remarked at Management meeting convened to consider the report of the Disciplinary Committee that
investigated the cases.

The process leading to the actions taken on the officers was painstaking in line with the Public Service Rules (PSR). All the officers were served with Queries indicating offences committed,
before they made appearances before the Special Investigation Committee. The Committee’s recommendation was discussed and approved by the Customs Management. The recommendation was thereafter referred to the Presidency for ratification, in the absence of a substantive Board for the Nigeria Customs Service. All the officers affected in the exercise have been communicated accordingly.

The Comptroller-General warned officers that punitive sanctions will continue to be used to discipline officers who refuse to embrace change.

Officers affected in this exercise were investigated for involvement in improper examination and release of containers without proper documentation and payment of duties, illegal release of goods in advance before the arrival of vessels, collection of bribe to release prohibited items, release of export prohibitions, fraudulent sale of seized items, use of fake certificates and bribery to secure auctioned goods.

Last week, seventeen (17) Junior officers were similarly dismissed from service for offences like bribery, drug addiction, use of fake certificates and absence from duty.

Signed
Wale Adeniyi
Deputy Comptroller/Public Relations Officer

http://saharareporters.com/2016/10/20/corruption-ncs-dismisses-more-customs-officers

Posted By: Onyedi Ojiabor, Abuja on: October 19, 2016
The campaign for the scrapping of the senate received a boost in a dramatic manner Wednesday at the national assembly just there was a call for collaboration towards repackaging the senate.

[b]Drama unfolding in the Senate Wednesday as the North-East nominee for appointment to the Governing Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Aliyu Saidu Abubakar, called for the immediate scrapping of the upper chamber

Abubakar made the call during the screening of the presidential nominees for the Governing Board of the Nigerian Communications NCC, by the Senator Gilbert Nnaji-led committee on Communications.

A member of the committee had confronted the nominee asking why he once led a protest for the scrapping of the Senate.

The member told the nominee that he was appearing before the same Senate he wanted scrapped.

Abubakar in his response insisted that the cost of running the senate was high and therefore should be scrapped.

The nominee noted that a situation where the senators had been receiving huge transport, ward robe and dressing allowances and others was a clear economic loss to the country.

He also listed the purchase expensive vehicles for Senators as another reason why the upper chamber should done away with.

The committee presented several photographs of the nominee leading organised protests against the Senate particularly at the gate of the National Assembly recently.

The apparent unrepentant Abubakar told the committee that he has no regret for his actions.

He insisted that he was still convinced that “the Senate is an avenue for wastage of scarce economic resources of the country.”[/b]

The Senate, he said, “must go”

[b]Speaking after the session, Abubakar, told reporters that the Senate should be scrapped.

The Bauchi State nominee however denied telling the committee that the Senate must be scrapped.

He said, “It is not true that I told members of the committee that the Senate should be scrapped. They asked me whether I was part of the group that agitated for the scrapping of the Senate and I said yes because of so many things involved in the Senate and their budget.

“They asked me to state the reasons why we were agitating for the scrapping of the Senate, I said it is because of their huge budget; they (Senators) consume a lot of resources from the government; they put it in their own budget.

“Also, they have transport allowance and, yet, they budget a lot of money to acquire vehicles.”

He said that the committee confronted him with several photographs of him during the ‘Occupy National Assembly’ protests, including the ones held at the National Assembly and in Bauchi State which he did not deny.

Asked if he still stood by his words that it was a waste to keep the Senate and that it should be scrapped, Abubakar replied, “The Senate must go because something has to be done to cut down the expenses on the Senate. I still maintain that.”[/b]

The committee had earlier listed what it described as “grave irregularities” in the personal records of the nominee.

The committee noted that it was curious that apart from birth certificate, there were only copies of court affidavit and police extract dated the same day, claiming loss of his credentials.

The committee noted that it appears the court affidavit and police extract were procured after Abubakar had been nominated to serve in the board.

The committee also said that it was interesting that the highest academic qualification of the nominee was a one-year “Diploma in Computer” from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.

It said that the attached statement of result was dated 23rd September 2016, also obtained after he had been nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Requested to show reason why he chose to present documents that were procured shortly after his nomination and also why he believed that he was qualified to function as a National Commissioner in such a critical agency like NCC given the rigours, challenges and required expertise for efficiency of the commission, Abubakar said that he “did not bother to go for the credentials.”

He explained further that he “only went to school merely for knowledge having been self-employed prior to the nomination.”

The NCC chairman-designate, Senator Bisi Durojaiye expressed concern over the public perception of the Senate.

Durojaiye noted that as former Senator who also headed the Committee on Communications he was committed and passionate for a very strong Senate that grows in leaps and bound.

He said, “Please permit me to convey a message from the oldest living former Senator Chief Reuben Farosanti who just clocked 91. Although I have presented it to the Senate President, Senator Farosanti had requested for a closed door session between the current Senate and the old generation to discuss. Considering the heat from the other side this has become imperative….”

Chairman of the Committee, Senator Gilbert Nnaji, urged the nominees to seek to add value to the regulatory agency and ensure that Nigerian masses truly got the greatest benefits of their appointment if they scale through.

Nnaji said that the committee would make its report to the plenary for approval and confirmation.

http://thenationonlineng.net/drama-as-nominee-for-ncc-board-seeks-scrap-of-senate/

Published on October 18, 2016 by
Several instances of how the nation’s judges frustrate the fight against corruption have been highlighted by the Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) to deny claim by the National Judicial Council (NJC) that it had acted on all petitions alleging misconduct against judicial officers.
In a statement, CSNAC put a lie to the NJC claim, describing it as completely misleading because it is far from the truth.
Citing various petitions it wrote against judges on judicial corruption and impunity but which were disregarded by the NJC, the society blamed recent raids on homes of judges by the Department of State Service (DSS) on the refusal of the NJC to purge the Nigerian judicial system of corruption.
”The deliberate refusal of the NJC to investigate and sanction judges accused of corruption, abuse of office and other acts of misconduct by members of the public has encouraged judicial corruption in the country. Corruption and impunity is endemic in Nigeria’s judicial system. In other words, the outright failure of the judiciary to purge the Nigerian judicial system of corrupt practices has eroded public confidence in the judiciary. Indeed, the disciplinary measures meted out to some erring judges has cast serious doubt on the expressed commitment of the NJC to restore public confidence in the country’s judiciary,” the society stated.
The society said claim by the NJC that it is committed to the anti corruption policy of the Muhammadu Buhari administration flies in the face of the granting of frivolous injunctions issued by judges which have frustrated the investigation and prosecution of politically exposed persons and people accused of corruption.
”In several other cases, judges involved in the trial of corruption cases as well as the appellate courts have granted stay of proceedings to stall the prosecution of corrupt people in the society.
”Apart from the case of Justice Mohammed Yunusa who was recently recommended for retirement by the NJC, no other judge has been sanctioned by the NJC for frustrating the fight against corruption. Even in the case of Justice Yunusa, the NJC failed to act until the Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) had to compile seven cases in which the judge granted perpetual injunction to restrain the EFCC, ICPC and the offices of the Inspector-General of Police and Attorney-General of the Federation from prosecuting some persons accused of criminal diversion of billions of naira,” CSNAC stated.
To buttress its point, the CSNAC listed 10 petitions it sent to the NJC alleging misconduct against judicial officers which were not investigated or sanctioned.
The petitions include:
(1) The petition against Justice B.A Adejumo, President of the National Industrial Court for granting illegal ex parte orders against two state governments. The petitions were submitted to the NJC by the governments of Edo and Oyo states.
(2) The petition written against the President of the Court of Appeal for the failure to hear and determine the appeal filed by the EFCC in 2008 at the Court of Appeal against the judgment of Justice Buba in the Odili case. The counsel handling the case on behalf of the EFCC is the current President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. A. B. Mahmoud SAN. The petition was written by the CSNAC.
(3) The petition written against four judges namely Justice Uwani Abba-Aji of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ibrahim Auta, Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa and Mohammed Yunusa of Federal High Court and Chief Judge of the Federal High Court alleged to have collected bribes from Mr. Rickey Tarfa (SAN) currently undergoing trial for transfer of sums of money to the judges. The petition was submitted to the NJC by the CSNAC.
(4) The petition written against Justice Marcel Awokulehin for sentencing convicted drug dealers to lesser terms contrary to the provisions of the NDLEA Act. The petition was submitted to the NJC by the CSNAC.
(5) The petition written against Justice Abdul Kafarati for gross misconduct and desecration of the bench. The petition was submitted to the NJC by the CSNAC.
(6) The petition written against Justice Adejumo for recommending unqualified candidates who were appointed as judges of the National Industrial Court. The petition was written by the CSNAC.
(7) The NJC gave the impression that there is only one petition pending against Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the federal high court. This is not correct as the NJC also received a petition alleging that the judge wrote two judgments in one case. The petition together with the two judgments were submitted to the NJC by the Committee of Anambra State PDP House of Representatives Members-Elect.
(8 ) On not less than two occasions Justice Ademola has obtained injunctions to restrain the NJC from investigating allegations of corruption against him. What steps did the NJC take to set aside the black market injunctions?
(9) Justice I. A. Umezulike, Chief Judge of Enugu state has been retired on the recommendation of the NJC for launching a book where he collected N10 million from a litigant. Why was Justice Ibrahim Auta who collected over N40 million from his book launch not recommended for retirement by the NJC? A petition to this effect was submitted by CSNAC.
(10) The petition submitted to the NJC by the DSS last week week on the 15 judges who are said to have engaged in money laundering and corruption was not considered. Did the same NJC not recommend the dismissal and prosecution of Justice Kabiru Auta who had collected N200 million bribe from a litigant. Why was the NJC silent on the millions of naira, dollars, pounds and other foreign currencies.
CSNAC asked why in the press statement issued at the end of its meeting last week, the NJC claimed that it recommended Justice Tiamiya of the Court of Appeal for retirement because he demanded N200 million from a litigant whose appeal in an election petition was pending before the Court.
”Is the NJC not aware that anyone who demands a bribe has committed a serious offence under the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Act? Why was he not recommended for prosecution?
”We recall that the NJC recently recommended the retirement of some judges for not delivering judgments within the 90 days stipulated by the Constitution. But why was Justice Rita Ajumogobia merely warned by the NJC even though it was found as a fact she did not deliver judgment in a pre-election matter until the expiration of the term of office of the defendant?
”CSNAC is of firm opinion that corruption and impunity in the judiciary pose serious disincentive to credible administration of justice as well impugn on the collective psyche of stakeholders in the judicial system. CSNAC therefore calls on the NJC to join the calls to rid the judiciary of bad eggs, in the interest of justice, democracy and good governance.
”In view of the foregoing the CSNAC is compelled to call on the NJC to investigate the petitions referred to above without any further delay.
”The public deserves to know why the NJC refused to investigate the judges involved in the serious allegations of misconduct raised in the said petitions,” CSNAC stated.

http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2016/10/18/how-judges-frustrate-fight-against-corruption-report/

October 18, 2016
Sadly, acknowledged bright minds are now waxing strong in superstitious theology and pseudo-spirituality. Society is guided by the philosophy it embraces. Because theology is the mother of all philosophy, every society will become what it theologises!

What ensnared the Presidential Villa, and indeed Nigeria itself, was corruption in all of its forms. Attributing metaphysical basis to our individual and collective irresponsibility is a shifty way of blaming everything on Satan!

“No be Satan’s fault. Na our fault!” Forget Lucifer and his demons; corrupt leaders inflict more harm on a country than the beasts from Dante’s Inferno. Every money stolen whether by a president, governor, minister, legislator, civil servant, contractor or judge catapults the fleecing of the land to infernal magnitude.

Let all thieves cough up their loot. Roads will be built, environment will be cleaned, schools will be renovated, hospitals will be equipped, airports will be maintained and lives will be preserved.

Mega million naira “egunje” are commonplace in government offices. Meanwhile, the elevators in the buildings that quarter those offices are not working. The clinics are not equipped, the electronics constantly fail. And those whose dereliction of duty inflicts such disrepair blame demons and principalities! Hogwash!

Consider the fact that Islamic Qatar and Saudi Arabia are working just as are Singapore and Pakistan. Christian England and the USA are working as are Italy, France and other countries proffering Christianity. Israel has prospered with its Judaism. Hindu India is working. Atheist China and Russia are working. Bhuddist Japan is working. Multicultural Malaysia is working. Does God hate Nigeria so much that he puts half of the demons of the world to live there? Or might it be that the righteousness which exalts a nation is defined by ethical behaviour and moral rectitude rather than by theological malarkey?

Our people, especially opinion moulders must wake up from this hocus-pocus supernaturalist worldview. You reap what you sow and sleep on the bed you lay.

There was an Orisa edifice in Oregun in Ikeja that prevented the expansion of an important road. Contractors feared moving the edifice which had been erected as far back as anyone could remember. After Governor Bola Tinubu took office in 1999, I offered to help to negotiate with the chief priest of that Orisa to remove the edifice. I proffered that the law of eminent domain, operated worldwide, allows any government to displace private interest for the good of the larger public.

Should the Chief Priest refuse to negotiate, I offered to kidnap the Orisa, burn it and dump its ashes in the Atlantic. I dared the Orisa to visit its wrath on me. Governor Tinubu had a better idea. He and Julius Berger made a better offer to the Chief Priest. The Orisa and its Chief Priest relocated within a month. The road was renovated and expanded. It is now called Kudirat Abiola Way in Oregun, Ikeja.

If there were ghosts disturbing them in Aso Villa, they should long have given others the key. As a friend of mine asserted, he would have lived with all the ghosts and got the job done. We must accept no excuses. Anyone who cannot overcome the ghosts should leave the job alone; let’s get professional ghost busters to run the country.

Ghosts always bow to determined humans!

Senator Sola Adeyeye, Abuja

http://punchng.com/demons-villa-ghosts-nigerian-paralysis/

SHAMELESS SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

Posted By: Yusuf Allion: October 18, 2016
A judge is under probe for allegedly collecting from a senator N30million bribe.

He stuffed some of the cash, which was in United States dollars, in his shoes and walked barefooted to his car.

The senator complained to the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) being led Prof. Itse Sagay.

Also yesterday, it was learnt that most of the nine arrested judges had petitions against them with the National Judicial Council (NJC).

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, is said to have the list of judges to be investigated in the last five months.

Although the list was shown to some legal authorities by the CJN, no action was taken by the NJC, a source claimed.

PACAC has about 50 petitions sent to it against some judges by some aggrieved Nigerians,

One of the said complaints came from a senator who alleged that a judge demanded about N50million from him to influence a case but he paid N30million.

The money was delivered to the Court of Appeal Justice in dollars.

But following the senator’s inability to pay the balance of N20million, the judge gave judgment against the senator, it was alleged.

A source said: “The senator told us that the judge asked for N50million but he could only pay N30million and lost the case for not meeting up with the balance.

“He said when the judge came at night to collect the bribe, he stuffed every available space and went to a ridiculous extent of stuffing some of the money in his shoes. The judge then decided to walk barefooted to his car.

“We have the complaint against the judge and the senator is ready to testify because the judge did not refund the N30million to date. The government is going to see to the logical conclusion of this case against the judge.”

Asked to name the judge, the source added: “The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), disclosed the name of the justice at a session with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to underscore why the bench must be rid of bad eggs. The NBA has been briefed, let them also talk.

“This is to show that the government is transparent about the whole process. It is not a witch-hunt at all.”

The highly-placed source gave insight into the arrest of nine judges and how the operation was conducted.

The judges are Supreme Court Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro; the suspended Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed, Ladan Tsamiya, who was picked up in Sokoto; Justice Adeniyi Ademola( Federal High Court); the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I. A. Umezulike; Justice Kabiru Auta of Kano State High Court; Justice Muazu Pindiga (Gombe State High Court); Justice Bashir Sukola and Justice Ladan Manir, from the Kaduna State High Court.

The source added: “In fact, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed has had the list of some alleged corrupt judges in his possession in the last five months. The list emanated from his office and anti-corruption agencies. But the NJC did not do anything.

“About 60 per cent of the nine judges under probe have petitions against them before the NJC. The records are there. Nigerians should ask what has become of this petition.

“Take the case of the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I. A. Umezulike; he had more than three petitions against him. If the petitioner had not been steadfast, the Judge would not have been sanctioned by the NJC.

“The allegation of N500million bribe against Justice Pindiga was actually made a “dead-on-arrival” by a Petition Review Committee of the NJC.”

Unknown to most of the judges arrested, the Department of State Services(DSS) video-taped every details.

The source added: “The DSS is ready to tender the video clips in court. In fact, some of the judges will be shocked by the professionalism of the security agency.

“The clips have already been shown to a few lawyers to prove that due diligence was followed. We hope the court will allow the prosecution to show the clips during trial.

http://thenationonlineng.net/judge-stuffs-cash-shoes/

October 14, 2016
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Oye, has said that the crisis in his party has been resolved.

Oye was suspended by some members of the National Working Committee of the party on Thursday last week for alleged gross misconduct.

But speaking with journalists at Amawbia, Anambra State on Wednesday evening, Oye said the crisis was caused by greed and ignorance.

He said, “The rebels didn’t know the workings of APGA constitution. Even if you get the majority of the signatures of members of the NWC of APGA, you can’t remove the national chairman.

“For you to remove me as the national chairman of APGA, you need to call a full national convention of APGA to succeed. It’s not an easy task, but because of ignorance and greed, six members of the party thought they could do it and went on a mission impossible.

“But everything has been resolved. We thank His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Anambra State for his intervention.”

On the allegation that the state governor spent N200m to save him (Oye) from being removed, the APGA boss described the story as laughable.

He said, “Who will give them such money; for what purpose? We gave them spaghetti, egwusi soup, semo, and, of course, in such meetings, you are entitled to a stipend for transport, a total of all was less than N1m. Who will give them N200m? This is laughable.”

When contacted on the telephone, an APGA NWC member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Oye lied about what transpired at the meeting.

“I was at the meeting. We attended the governor’s meeting because of our respect for the governor as the leader and BOT chairman of the party.

“We rejected their food, hotel accommodation and money. We told the governor point-blank that Victor Oye could no longer lead us. His suspension subsists.

“So, what he told you people was a lie. What are we doing with their food? Oye must leave APGA,” he said.

The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano on Media, Mr. James Eze, confirmed that the governor held a meeting with some APGA stakeholders over the crisis in the party but denied that N200m was shared to save the situation.

He said, “How do you think that the governor, as an accountant and acclaimed auditor, can spend such money in a period of recession?”

He described the story as inconceivable.

http://punchng.com/settled-apga-rebels-spaghetti-national-chairman/

SHAMELESS SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

Posted By: Joseph Jibueze on: October 13, 2016
A Senior Advocate of Nigerian (SAN) Mr Jibrin Okutepa, yesterday said some lawyers avoid taking their cases to some courts because of corrupt judges.

He said those condemning the mode of arrest of two Supreme Court justices, a Federal High Court judge and others ignored the substance.

Okutepa said: “When justice is bought and sold, there is no more hope for the society. What our society needs is an honest, trusted and trustworthy judiciary. Those of us who genuinely practice in our courts know what goes on in some courts.

“Some of us don’t go to some judges’ courts, not because we don’t like doing our jobs, but because it appears you don’t know the law in some of these courts. The language of the judgment depends on what is offered and not the settled principle of law.

“While I will always defend the judiciary, it will be difficult to offer the best of defence in favour of a judicial officer whose conduct and lifestyle suggests evidence of corruption.

“It is my thinking that we need to decide and come to agreement on what we want as a people. Do we want undiluted and unpolluted stream of justice? Then we must have judicial officers who are above board.”

According to him, a corrupt judge is a danger to the society, adding that lawyers must join hands to rid the judiciary of graft rather than shying away from the real issues.

He said: “I am really bothered as to why we devoted arguments on the propriety or otherwise of the method used by DSS to expose corruption on the part of some judges of our superior courts.

“I am not in position to say these gentlemen did or did not do what they were accused of. I am also not in a position to say the money recovered was theirs or planted.

“But I am in a position to be worried as to why it had to be them that money was planted on. I am worried that we talk more of the process used to let the Nigerian public know that all is not well. Have we all not agreed that all is not well?”

http://thenationonlineng.net/lawyers-avoid-courts-due-corrupt-judges-says-san/

October 13, 2016 Simon Utebor, Yenagoa
Eleven ex-militants have dragged their leader, Mr. Emomotimi Ukparasia, popularly known as ‘General’ Africa before the Federal High Court in Yenagoa following non-payment of their amnesty stipends.

Also joined in the suit are the Federal Government, the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig,-Gen. Paul Boroh (retd.) and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

The court, on Thursday, fixed November 8 to hear the suit by the aggrieved ex-militants.
The suit listed the angry ex-militants as Karibo Allen, Sunday Elijah, Utiki Claudius, Boukeme Nimitei, Kingsley Nichodemus, Leleindine and Sanga Sanga.

Others are James Godgift, Philip Bibinibeye, Joseph Macdonus and Allison Timi-Izuo.

The ex-militants, who were in the camp of Africa, prayed the court to declare that they were validly qualified beneficiaries of the amnesty programme.

The ex-militants also sought a declaration that the defendants were liable, especially Boroh, for the payment of their allowances from October 2009 till the termination of the programme.

They prayed the court to mandate the defendants to pay “the sum of N65,000 multiplied by 11 persons being their monthly allowance from October 2009 to September 2012, amounting to N25.6m and the total accruals of their allowances at the termination of this suit”.

The ex-agitators, in their statement of claims, stated that they accepted the amnesty declaration of the Federal Government, submitted themselves to the disarmament process and participated fully in the post-amnesty orientation training at Obubra in Cross River State.

They said they were given three certificates each by the trainees, who were contracted for the training by the government.

According to the ex-militants, they were identified by Africa for admission into the camp and issued identity cards by the PAP.

They added that having passed through the processes, they became qualified to benefit from the programme.

They averred that based on their qualifications, the defendants asked them to open accounts in different banks for the payment of their stipends.

The ex-militants said, “We concluded the training and ought to start receiving allowances from October 2009 till the end of the amnesty programme but have not received anything.

“Since we finished our orientation and were asked to leave the camp with promises that we would start receiving our allowances, we have not received any allowance or any other money for any reasons related to the amnesty programme from Africa or any other persons.”

http://punchng.com/ex-militants-sue-leader-non-payment-n25-6m-amnesty-stipends/

House Committee Members Openly Beg Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority For Inclusion In Staff Training
BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK OCT 12, 2016
It was a show of shame today at the headquarters of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos as some members of the House Committee on Aviation openly canvassed for their inclusion in the training of the agency’s staff.

The committee, led by its Chairman, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, had visited the agency and some other parastatals in the industry as part of their oversight functions, but during discussions with the Director-General of NCAA, Capt. Muhtar Usman, a member of the committee said that it would be necessary for the agency to also include them in the training of its personnel, which it carries out abroad regularly.

A member of the committee, Garba Mohammed Gololo from Bauchi made the appeal to Usman on behalf of other committee members, suggesting that their inclusion would enable them to know the nitty-gritty of the industry. Gololo was one of the house of reps members accusing of soliciting for sex during a visit to the US.

Immediately he dropped the microphone, a colleague of his in the committee, Victor Nwokolo, provided support, saying that at least two members of the committee should be selected in the first phase of the training.

At the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Ms. Onyejeocha also implored the management of the agency to incorporate some of its members in training in order to further improve their knowledge of the industry.

She said, “I think it is necessary for some of the committee’s members to be part of the NAMA’s training so that we can get the terminologies in the industry. There are some things you are saying now that we can’t understand.”

Meanwhile, the Director-General of NCAA, Usman has called on the Federal Government to grant aviation a priority in terms of sourcing foreign exchange.

He explained that one of the major challenges facing the industry was the issue of foreign exchange and non-availability of aviation fuel.

Usman recalled that the scarcity of the product had made some of the airlines, including foreign carriers, to move to Ghana to purchase fuel while some of them have pull out of Nigeria completely.

“Aviation industry should be given priority by the government,” he said. “This is very important to us to continue to maintain safety in the sector. The major thing is safety and we will continue to maintain safety in the system.”

Usman also disclosed that the Federal Government through the Central Bank, has released to the foreign carriers 50 per cent of their funds trapped in the country and assured that the issue will be resolved very soon.

http://saharareporters.com/2016/10/12/house-committee-members-openly-beg-nigerian-civil-aviation-authority-inclusion-staff#disqus_thread

October 12, 2016
The Federal Government on Wednesday said it was not unusual to step on sensitive toes in its current fight against corruption.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this in an interview with State House correspondents at the end of a meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Mohammed was reacting to the outrage that has been trailing the recent arrests of judges and raids on their homes by officials of the Department of State Services.

While asking Nigerians to separate emotions from facts, the minister advised that the fight against corruption should not be mistaken for a fight against the judiciary.

He insisted that the arrests of the judges were carried out within the ambit of the law since they do not have immunity against investigation and prosecution.

He said the fact that about 11 of the President’s ministers are lawyers out of which about five are Senior Advocates of Nigeria showed that Buhari has a lot of respect for the judiciary.

Mohammed added that the fact that the President took the cases of his three failed attempts to become the President before the judiciary also demonstrated that he respects that arm of government.

The minister said, “Do not confuse the fight against corruption as a fight against judiciary. What the government is concerned and passionate about is to fight corruption.

[b]“In the process of fighting corruption, it is not unusual that you step on some very sensitive toes but the question to ask and I think these has been adequately answered by the Attorney-General is that let’s remove emotion from facts.

“One, do judges have immunity? The answer is no. Can judges be arrested? The answer is yes. Have judges that are serving been arrested in Nigeria? The answer is yes. Justice Okoli had been arrested and tried.

“Now, the next question to ask is what is the proper procedure for arresting anybody including judges. There must be properly executing search warrant. Was such presented? The answer again is yes.

“People have tried to muddle the facts about when do you search the person’s house. The truth of the matter is that under the new criminal justice law, you can search anybody, anywhere, anytime.

“Again they have tried to muddle issues by trying to say that the NJC is the only authority that can attend to complaints and discipline. The answer once again is no.
[/b]
“When a judge is accused of professional misconduct is quite different from what is happening now. If you suspect anybody including Governors who have immunity, they are still subject to investigations. So I want to make it clear, this government has the highest respect for judiciary and two we are not in anyway trying to ridicule the judiciary.

“We are not painting the whole of the judges with the same brush but we also have a duty to fight corruption at whatever level and in doing so, we will do so within the ambit of the law.”

http://punchng.com/judges-arrest-fight-against-corruption-not-judiciary-lai-mohammed/