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SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

July 27, 2016 Samuel Ogundipe
Embattled former chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation on Wednesday raised 20 questions for Speaker Yakubu Dogara bordering on the unfolding budget padding scandal.
Mr. Jibrin said Mr. Dogara must respond to the questions individually.
The House was thrown into chaos following a decision the leadership took to remove Mr. Jibrin as Appropriation Committee chairman last week Wednesday.
Speaker Yakubu Dogara said Mr. Jibrin was removed because he allegedly betrayed the House and lacked competence in steering the committee.
Mr. Jibrin, however, said he stepped down willingly and denied the charges that he committed treachery and lacked competence.
The 20 questions are as follows:
1. Why did you take the decision to fraudulently shortchange the House by taken away 40 billion naira out of the 100 billion naira allocated for constituency projects and distributing same to yourself and others without the approval of the House?
2. Why did you approach the former house appropriation chairman with written personal requests and list of about 30 billion naira to be inserted into the 2016 budget and his inability to get that done caused a major rift between you all and him?
3. Why did you insert wasteful projects for your various constituencies worth about 20billion naira despite the former appropriation chairman professional advice against such?
4. Why did you ignore his complaint to you that just about 10 standing committees of the House inserted over 2000 projects worth 284 billion naira?
5. Why did you take away the appropriation committee secretariat on two occasions where several insertions were made into the budget which created avoidable tension during the budget process?
6. Why did you direct the former appropriation chair which he rejected to create a strange line item in the service wide vote to allow for a 20 billion naira insertion into the budget under the name of NASS using a former PDP Senator and top politician?
7. Why are you trying to scam members with a fraudulent arrangement to deduct monthly from money meant for members office running cost to fund a so called mortgage arrangement?
8. Why did you abuse your office in a conflict of interest directed an agency to grant loans and a construction company to work on your Asokoro plot and arrange frequent private meetings with heads of MDA’s?
9. Why did you allocate to yourselves the entire 20% inputs reserved for the House after the harmonization exercise?
10. How much did you collect for rent of house and guests houses and how much did Hon Herma Hembe steal from the money that caused the outburst of Lasun?
11. why are you trying to drag the entire House and illegally using the official spokesman of the House into allegations that were made on you and the 3 others ONLY?
12. Why did you consistently block the former chairman appropriation from briefing Hon members and denied him his right to be heard by his colleagues on this matter?
13. Why did you scuttle his effort and Sen Goje’s to assist Mr. President after working so hard consulting ministers on the budget out of envy and vindictiveness that Mr. President granted them audience without you?
14. Why did you insist and ensured that the immunity clause for the House principal officers is inserted into our agenda despite huge resistance from members and the general public?
15. Why did you connive with 5 other members of the House to use some elements of the Nigerian police and thugs in an attempt to blackmail, kidnap, intimidate and silence him and his family?
16. Why are you desperately going round media houses offering money to silent the statements of the former appropriation chairman?
17. Why has it taken you this long to put together such a lame storyt of why you “sacked” the former appropriation chairman after admitting on national TV that he resigned?
18. Is it true that you left a huge mess and allegations of money laundering against you as chairman House services both in the 6th and 7th House?
19. Why have you refused to open up the financial dealings and details of internal budget of the House to your colleagues, Hon members?
20. Why do you have problems with reconvening the House immediately to allow for an independent investigation on the allegations?

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/207658-budget-padding-scandal-ex-appropriation-committee-chair-jibrin-raises-20-questions-speaker-dogara.html

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

July 26, 2016Sani Tukur
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday advised President Muhammadu Buhari against releasing funds meant for constituency projects to federal lawmakers.
Mr. Obasanjo said shortly after visiting Mr. Buhari at the Presidential Villa that the current crisis in the House of Representatives confirmed his allegation that there were thieves in the National Assembly.
The former president spoke as the rift between the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, intensified.
Mr. Jibrin is accusing Mr. Dogara and leaders of the lower legislative chamber of padding the 2016 budget.
But in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES from his Abeokuta home later on Monday, Mr. Obasanjo said on no account should Mr. Buhari release any money in the name of constituency projects to the National Assembly.
The former president said Nigerians should continue to protest the move by federal lawmakers to use the budget to illegally enrich themselves.
Since Mr. Buhari is the only person empowered to release money under the law, Mr. Obasanjo advised the president to only make funds available for expenditures that were legally budgeted for.
“That is criminal and they should be held accountable for it,” Mr. Obasanjo said. “There should be a showdown between what is right and what is wrong. After such a showdown, what is right will definitely prevail and the criminals will be put to shame.”

[b]He said the constituency projects, as being canvassed by the lawmakers, were “illegal, criminal and wrapped in corruption”.
“They are the contractors, the jury, the judge and prosecutors,” Mr. Obasanjo said. “They put the projects in the budgets and they do the projects by themselves or through contractors they nominate. Where is integrity? Where is honesty?” the former president asked.
Still carpeting the lawmakers, Mr. Obasanjo said members of the National Assembly were simply trying to hijack the job of the executive arm of government.
“Who supervises the job? Who ascertains that the job has been done? It is not in their place to execute projects. It is illegal,” he said.
Mr. Obasanjo advised lawmakers interested in having projects executed in their constituencies to go to the executive and make their cases.
He argued that constituency projects were illegal and that Nigerian lawmakers only use them to steal money.
“They are thieves. I have always held the view that they are thieves, can you all see it now?” he said.[/b]
He also said once lawmakers perform the functions of the executive, they would not do justice to lawmaking and would not be able to pass budgets the way they should be done.
The former president lamented that the national lawmakers were using the “constituency projects” to crowd out legitimate and genuine capital projects the executive would have used to develop the country.
The former president said during his tenure, he did not release funds for constituency projects.
“I explained to them that it was the job of the executive to execute projects to develop the country, while that of lawmakers was to approve the budget.” Mr. Obasanjo was president between 1999 and 2007.
He said he also advised federal lawmakers that if they wanted to be in a position to award contracts or execute projects like those in the executive arm of government, they should go and contest elections as local government chairmen, governors or president.
He warned lawmakers against usurping the functions of the executive out of greed, selfishness, lawlessness and criminality.
“They should be lawmakers, not law breakers,” Mr. Obasanjo said.

The former president described the “so-called constituency projects” as a waste of public funds that should not be condoned by any leader.
“The question to ask is: assuming they execute the contracts, although we know they don’t, they usually pocket the monies. But assuming they execute the contracts, what becomes of the projects in future when they cease to be in the National Assembly? Who maintains them? When a project is not built by states, local governments or federal governments, they do not have a future,” he said.
This is not the first time Mr. Obasanjo had descended heavily on Nigerian lawmakers.
In 2012, the former president lashed out at the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly, describing them as institutions filled with “rogues and armed robbers”.
Mr. Obasanjo spoke at an event in Lagos attended by two former Heads of State, Yakubu Gowon and Ernest Shonekan.
He again lambasted the country’s lawmakers at the Fourth Annual Conference of the Academy for Entrepreneurial Studies, attended by former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola and retired Chief Justice Nigeria, Muhammadu Uwais.
At that event, Mr. Obasanjo referred to the legislature as among the the nation’s most corrupt and inefficient institutions.
[b]“Integrity is necessary for all systems and institutions to be strong,” the former president had said. “Today, rogues, armed robbers are in the state houses of assembly and the national assembly. What sort of laws will they make?”
[/b]Mr. Obasanjo again took lawmakers to the cleaners sometime in 2014 at a book launch in honour of a former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, Mustapha Akanbi.
At the event, the former president said the National Assembly was populated by corrupt persons.

“Apart from shrouding the remunerations of the National Assembly in opaqueness and without transparency, they indulge in extorting money from departments, contractors and ministries in two ways,” he said.
“They do so during visits to their projects and programmes and in the process of budget approval, when they raise budgets for ministries and departments, who agree to give it back to them in contracts that they do not execute. They do similar things during their inquiries.”
In January this year, the former president wrote Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Dogara accusing the federal lawmakers of corruption, impunity, greed and of repeatedly breaking the nation’s laws.
In a letter dated January 13, Mr. Obasanjo specifically accused the lawmakers of fixing and earning salaries and allowances far above what the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission approved for them.
He also alleged that most of the 109 senators and 369 members of the House of Representatives were receiving constituency allowances without maintaining constituency offices as required by law.
In the letter, exclusively published by PREMIUM TIMES, the former president said on a few occasions, both in and out of office as president, he had agonised over the massive corruption and lawlessness at the National Assembly and other arms and tiers of government.
He said the practices in the National Assembly “which detracts from “distinguishness” and “honourability” because it is shrouded in opaqueness and absolute lack of transparency and could not be regarded as normal, good and decent practice in a democracy that is supposed to be exemplary.”
Nigerian senators like to refer to themselves as “distinguished” while members of the House of Representatives like being addressed as “honourables”.
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/207531-exclusive-budget-padding-buhari-deal-criminal-lawmakers-obasanjo.html

About 70 per cent of over N500bn raised from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee in June came from the non-oil sector, the Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Tunde Fowler, has said.

Fowler, who is also the Chairman, Joint Tax Board, was quoted in a Monday report by Economic Confidential as saying, “Of the sum, 70 per cent came from non-oil sources while only 30 per cent came from oil sources. It was the first time in 2016 that the Federal Government shared over N500bn among the three tiers of government during the FAAC meeting.”

“We are proud of the development and we tell ourselves that this is the time to fund the budget of the Federal Government from non-oil sources.

He spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during a visit by the 36 state chairmen of the State Boards of Internal Revenue to the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun.

According to Fowler, the FIRS tax revenue collection is a combination of a robust taxpayer registration drive, tax education and engagement through the establishment of the Federal Engagement and Enlightenment Tax Teams.

He said the audit of five key sectors, namely banking and the financial sector, aviation, power, telecoms, and oil & gas had started yielding result.

According to Fowler, the FIRS has added over 700,000 new corporate accounts since he assumed office.

Nigeria, he said, had a cumulative figure of 10 million registered taxpayers if the number of taxpayers of States Boards of Internal Revenue and the FIRS was added.

The FIRS chairman said the JTB had given itself a target to register at least 10 million additional taxpayers by December 31, 2016.

He said, “We have commenced tax enforcement too. We are happy that the efforts of the FIRS in collaboration with revenue stakeholders are already yielding positive result.

He thanked Amosun for approving the FIRS’ request on automated deduction and remittance of Value Added Tax and withholding tax from the point of payments to contractors in the state.

Fowler said, “Pursuant to implementing the collaboration framework, the FIRS requested for an approval of state governors to allow the automation of the process of payments on taxable transactions to enhance the deduction, at source, particularly of withholding tax and Value Added Tax.

“It is important to note and acknowledge that the Ogun state governor was the first to acknowledge and approve the implementation of the process. I thank Senator Ibikunle Amosun for the demonstration of his total support towards our efforts of making the Nigerian tax system efficient.”
http://punchng.com/70-june-allocation-non-oil-sector-fowler/

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

Posted By: Dele Anofi, Abujaon: July 25, 2016
A member of the House of Representatives, Abdulmumin Jubrin, on Monday accused the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, of perpetrating financial fraud on behalf of entire members of the House.

Jibrin, who was sacked by Dogara as Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, said the magnitude of corruption perpetrated by Dogara, Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Lasun, Chief Whip, Hassan Ado Doguwa and the Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, is in contrast to the anti-corruption position of President Muhammadu Buhari.
[b]
He asked Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the Speaker and the other three principal officers of the House for financial fraud.

In a statement issued on Monday, Jibrin alleged that the Speaker is running the finances of the House like his personal estate.

He said: “Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his senior cabal namely – Deputy Speaker of the House, Yussuff Lasun, Whip Ado Doguwa and the Minority leader, Leo Ogor had promoted corruption so badly in the House that if President Muhammadu Buhari with his disdain for corruption and corrupt people have the slightest idea, he will ban the quartet permanently from the Villa before they eventually allow for proper and unbiased investigation by the House.

“Mr. Speaker and Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun diverted millions of naira all in the name of paying for guest houses and official residence.

“The issue became so messy that the Deputy Speaker openly accused Hon. Herma Hembe of short changing them of millions of naira in the deal to the shock of many honourable members of the House.

“Speaker Yakubu Dogara abuses his office by soliciting for inappropriate favours from agencies and multinational companies.

“He forced an agency to grant loans and a construction company was blackmailed to do some work at his Asokoro plot.”

“Speaker Yakubu Dogara has carefully designed a scheme to scam members of the House through deduction from their salaries certain amount of money for a so called mortgage arrangements to build houses for members.

“He has been applying every under hand tactics to ensure members agree to the deal.

“Speaker Yakubu Dogara has consistently refused members access to the financial dealings and internal budget of the House. He runs the financial management of the House like a cult aided and abated by the Chairman House Services. Hon. Babanlle Ila.”[/b]

Meanwhile, Dogara has denied allegations of corruption leveled against him by the former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation.

In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan, the Speaker said the allegations were all lies, describing Jibrin as a drowning man.

The statement said, “These are all lies and desperate attempts of a drowning man to clutch unto anything having found that all his frivolous allegations do not disclose any element of corruption or wrongdoing against Mr. Speaker.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/jibrin-efcc-quiz-dogara-lasun-others-financial-scam/

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

Posted By: Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja on: July 25, 2016
……Urges Buhari to be vigilant

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday said that recent happenings concerning the 2016 Budget scandal in the National Assembly have vindicated him.

Obasanjo, who had earlier claimed that the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly were filled with armed robbers and rogues, had in January this year challenged Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara to open the financial records of the National Assembly since 1999 to external bodies.

The ex-President was on Monday reacting to the current budget padding accusation and counter accusation between the leadership of the House of Representatives and sacked Chairman of the House of Reps Appropriation Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin.

Jibrin, who was removed as the chairman of the committee last week, alleged on Sunday that the padding of the 2016 budget with N40 billion was done at a secret location with the backing of Dogara and three principal officers including Deputy Speaker Yusuff Lasun, House Whip Alhassan Ado Doguwa and Minority Leader Leo Ogor.

Speaking with State House correspondents on whether he was worried about the issue of corruption in the National Assembly, after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Obasanjo said: “Well, if you said that I have said it in the past and if there are people who didn’t believe what I said ‎in the past then, you can now see that what has come out confirms what I said in the past. Then what I said in the past is what I will say now.

Asked if he wanted investigation into the issue of padding of the budget, he said: “It’s not question of investigation, we should get men and women of integrity in the place and the President should be very vigilant, whatever should not pass should not pass.”

He disclosed that he was in the Villa to deliver some messages to the President.

He said: “Not too long ago, I was in Liberia and Gambia and I have messages these two countries will want me to deliver to the president.

“Also, only yesterday I came back from Seychelles Island where I attended this year’s Annual General meeting of Africa Export Development Bank. And there are aspects of the proceedings that I think I should update the President,” he added

On whether he is enjoying all the travelling, he said: “Travelling is a good education, what you will learn about a country by visiting that country for two or three days you won’t learn by reading through books.

Asked further if he was considering slowing down, Obasanjo said: “May God never let you to slow down.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/2016-budget-scandal-im-vindicated-obasanjo/

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

July 24, 2016Samuel Ogundipe
Nigerian civil society groups on Sunday called on the leadership of the House of Representatives to allow anti-corruption agencies commence detailed investigation into allegations that principal officers attempted to smuggle line items into the 2016 Appropriation Bill.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, and the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, in separate exchanges with PREMIUM TIMES this morning said only a thorough inquiry into the alleged sharp practices could unravel the circumstances under which they were perpetrated.
The civic groups’ demand came in the wake of fresh allegations of unethical inflation of budget figures by the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, and other principal officers during the consideration of the 2016 budget proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Leading the charge against Mr. Dogara was Abdulmumin Jibrin, a lawmaker from Kano State, who said the speaker colluded with his deputy, Yusuf Lasun, Chief Whip Alhassan Doguwa, and Minority Whip Leo Ogor to earmark up to ₦40 billion to themselves in the National Assembly budget.
The lawmakers denied the allegations and said Mr. Jibrin was expressing the scorn he felt after being sacked as chairman of Committee on Appropriation amid allegations of serial betrayal of the House.
Mr. Jibrin in turn denied the allegations, saying he was being victimised for asserting himself as an independent voice and that the he willingly resigned because he had grown disillusioned with the position.
The budget was passed and signed into law by Mr. Buhari in April.
Mr. Dogara should “urgently refer to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for an effective and independent investigation the allegations that the leadership of the House attempted to pad this year’s budget to the tune of N40 billion and that the member who blew the whistle was victimized for opposing immunity for principal officers,” the executive director of SERAP, Adetokunboh Mumuni, said in a statement to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday.

“There must be full accountability for any leader or member of the House found to be responsible for corruption and abuse of office.”
Mr. Mumuni said, due to the “seriousness and gravity of the allegations” against the principal officers, the House cannot conduct any sufficient investigation. Hence, the appropriate agencies charged with investigating graft and other official malfeasances must be allowed to look into the issues.
To forestall similar situation in the future, the activist suggested that the House should immediately pass a bill that would further strengthen ethical conduct of lawmakers.
Such a law would help “restore public confidence in the National Assembly; provide a check against corruption; and protect the leadership of the House and Senate from claims and criticisms of self-interest,” he said.
Ibrahim Zikirullahi, the chairman of TMG, said the development had exposed Nigerian lawmakers as unprincipled people.
The allegations and counter-allegations “showed the character of men and women that we have in the Assembly because they introduced selfish interests to delay the document that was needed to take care of the nation,” Mr. Zikirullahi said.
He said Mr. Dogara and other lawmakers named in the scandal must not be allowed to walk away from it unscathed, saying their case cannot be an outlier because the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, were also answering charges of misconduct before the court.
“They need to be thoroughly investigated and, if possible, prosecuted.”
Debo Adeniran, the chairman of CACOL, said the bickering among the lawmakers should be seen in positive light by all Nigerians.
“Definitely, it’s a good omen for Nigerians when leaders of that sort begin to expose each other,” Mr. Adeniran said. “It’s only each of the two tortoises that knows how to bite one another. So it’s good that they’re biting and exposing themselves.”
Mr. Adeniran said Nigerians would have been more worried about the situation if the lawmakers had displayed keen interest in improving the lot of people who elected them as representatives.
“We know they have not been performing the functions that we sent them to perform.”
He said the ongoing crisis in the legislature might not be unconnected with the prevailing frustration they are grappling with regards to accessing public funds, which, he said, was brought about by the implementation of the Treasury Single Account policy of Mr. Buhari’s government.
“They don’t have direct access to slush funds that there would be a high level of bitterness,” Mr. Adeniran said. “They don’t have as much illicit money as they would have wanted for themselves. So they’re pained by that.”

Mr. Adeniran called for a review of the laws that govern the funding of the National Assembly to vest more power in the accountant general and the auditor general of the federation to monitor financial flow to the lawmakers in order to make it even more difficult for the them to access money from public coffers.
“The accountant general and audition general should begin to have a supervision about how they get funded,” Mr. Adeniran said. “Even if they pad the budget, they won’t be able to escape the prying eye of the accountant general.”
“They have unfettered access to funds now and that should not be.”

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/207403-budget-padding-scandal-groups-want-efcc-icpc-investigate-nigerian-lawmakers.html

By Dayo Oketola, John Ameh and Gbenro Adeoye
In a new twist to the recent drama in the House of Representatives, men close the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, have said that Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin was sacked as Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation for padding the budget with N250m.

A senior member in the House of Representatives and one of Dogara’s aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Jibrin was sacked by the Speaker because he had jerked up the budget by the said amount.

The sources said Jibrin’s plan was discovered after he had tabled the final copy of the budget document on a Thursday for passage by the two chambers of the National Assembly.

They said that it was the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Dogara, who blocked Jibrin’s move.

“The Senate President and the Speaker directed Jibrin to not only revert to original figure proposed by the President but also lower it by about N30bn because of expected drop in revenue,” one of the sources said.

“That was why the budget was not passed until the following Tuesday.”

But the fresh information contradicts claims by Jibrin in a statement released on Thursday that he was being victimised by the Speaker because he had objected to a request Dogara made that he (Jibrin) should allocate projects worth N40bn to him in the 2016 budget.

He had also alleged that the projects would have been shared among four principal officers, namely, Dogara; the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Yussuff Lasun; the Whip, Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa; and the Minority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor.

However, the source also accused Jibrin of allocating N4.1bn to his constituency – Kiru/Bebeji Federal constituency of Kano State. The source also alleged that Jibrin tinkered with reports of all standing committees on the budget by cutting10 per cent of all capital votes of all ministries, departments and agencies across board and also taking from the personnel budgets of some MDAs, making it difficult for them to pay workers’ salaries.

Meanwhile, two of the principal officers of the House Representatives indicted by Jibrin, Ado-Doguwa, and Ogor, on Friday also gave reasons why the leadership of the House relieved its former Chairman, Committee on Appropriation of his position.

Ado-Doguwa, who is the Chief Whip of the House, is an All Progressives Congress lawmaker from Kano State like Jibrin.

Ogor is the Minority Leader of the House, and member of the Peoples Democratic Party from Delta State.

They were named by Jibrin, along with the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, and the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Yussuff Lasun, as the principal officers who demanded that he included projects worth N40bn in the 2016 budget for them.

Jibrin had alleged that his refusal to oblige the request set him on a path of disagreement with Dogara and the other three principal officers, culminating in his sacking on Wednesday.

He also stated that Dogara failed to act on reports he made that some committee heads were distorting the budgets of Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

Jibrin also alleged that his opposition to the proposal to grant immunity to presiding officers of the National Assembly was used against him by the Speaker.

But Ado-Doguwa claimed that Jibrin was not being truthful, adding that he made the accusations to let off his frustrations for being removed as a chairman.

Contrary to Jibrin’s allegations, Ado-Doguwa stated that the former committee chairman was largely responsible for the distortions in the 2016 budget, which generated a row between the National Assembly and the Presidency.

He added that it was “unheard of” that an appropriation committee chairman would work on a N6.06tn budget alone without involving his members.

Ado-Doguwa noted that the end result was “how he thoroughly messed up the budget, incurring the anger of his colleagues, but refusing to admit that he failed.”

In an electronic mail to Saturday PUNCH in Abuja, Ado-Doguwa explained further, “For me, as an individual and having been mentioned in the sacked chairman’s claims, I would like to say with all sense of responsibility that what his claims were frivolous and unfounded.

“As a principal officer, I know that Jibrin was only relieved of his appointment due to widespread outcries and disenchantment among members of his committee for gross anomalies and absolute non-inclusion of members of his committee in the discharge of the duties of his erstwhile committee.

“His case was further worsened by sheer disrespect to the leadership (of the House) and even the generality of other members in the House. Other issues to do with grievous controversies that set the National Assembly against the Executive Arm (on the budget) were largely generated by Jibrin when he was superintending the affairs of this very vital committee.

“These and so many other reasons warranted a very popular urge amongst members to remove him. Ultimately, the leadership was left with no option but to yield to the members’ demand.

“Other issues he raised on our attempt to ‘selfishly’ allocate funds to ourselves in the 2016- budget were also untrue. And his mischievous claims were borne out of his overzealous attempt to divert the public attention from the fact that he is the first in the history of the National Assembly that has woefully failed as a chairman of such an important committee in the parliament.”

Ado-Doguwa added that but for the fact that the House had already proceeded on recess, members would have taken “decisive actions” against him for bringing the House and its rules to “disrepute and parliamentary contempt” through his latest comments.

On his part, Ogor described Jibrin’s statement as “laughable.”

Ogor said Nigerians could easily remember that it was the same Jibrin who appeared on several television interviews, attacking the Presidency over the content of the 2016 budget, but in reality, was defending “his own inability to deliver as a committee chairman.”

Ogor asked Jibrin to tell Nigerians why he avoided mentioning the “N4bn” projects he built into the budget for his Bebeji Federal Constituency in Kano State.

“Who in the National Assembly has a project of N4bn in the budget? Yet, he got away with it and he is now opening his mouth to accuse the leadership of taking a decision that would have been taken long before now.”

He added that it would be wasting his time to speak on Jibrin’s “fabricated lies, coming from someone who doesn’t know his left from his right.”

Ogor challenged Jibrin to release the implicating documents he claimed to have in his possession.

“At the appropriate time, when we resume on the floor, we will speak, but I can assure you that they are all bunch of lies and there is nothing in it.

“I am not going to waste my time responding to an issue I consider to be inconsequential,” the minority leader said.

The House began its annual recess on Thursday and members will be away till September 13.

Saturday PUNCH made unsuccessful attempts to get the comments of the Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, on the development.

He also did not respond to text messages sent to him.

Although, Gbajabiamila was not mentioned by Jibrin as having been among those who requested the N40bn projects, the convention since 1999, is that all principal officers get concessions in the budget.

Efforts to get Jibrin for further comments on Friday also failed as his telephone lines were unavailable.

…Jibrin demands probe of allegations

However, Jibrin, speaking through his lawyers on Friday, called for an investigation into the allegations he levelled against Dogara and others.

In a statement issued on his behalf by The Law Offices Of Messrs HAMMART & CO (LAW BOND SOLICITORS and DOKA CHAMBERS), Jibrin said he stood by the allegations and would “prove same” at the appropriate time.

Jibrin, who demanded that the allegations should be investigated by the House so that he could defend them, also alleged plans by Dogara, Lasun, Ado-Doguwa and Ogor to use the police to harass him.

He claimed that their plan was to restrict his freedom to free speech with the sole purpose of getting him to recant his statement.

Part of a statement his lawyers issued late on Friday, read, “We now have it on good authority that these quartet, acting in concert are at the moment using some elements within the police to monitor, harass, intimidate and hound our client into an unwarranted detention with the purpose of inhibiting his right to move freely and to express himself as contained in Chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

“The purpose of their antics is to upturn the narrative and paint our client as the black sheep in the flock, and cleverly presenting themselves as transparent angels.

“Accordingly, we have made appropriate representations to the Inspector-General of Police and other relevant security agencies in the country, drawing their attention to these unwarranted and ill-intentioned steps taken by these quartet and not to allow themselves to be used to execute the personal objectives of these quartet.”

He claimed to have also taken “appropriate legal action” to protect his fundamental human rights.

The statement was jointly signed by Mohammed Abdulhamid, Chukwuma Nwachukwu and A.B. Bako.

Meanwhile, a member from Buhari’s Katsina home state, Mr. Danlami Muhammad-Kurfi, has berated Jibrin over his comments on the leadership of the House.

Kurfi, who represents Dutsinma/Kurfi Federal Federal Constituency, said it was unfortunate that Jibrin attempted to drag Buhari into “paying for his actions” by mentioning the President’ name in his Thursday statement.

He said, “Why did it take him this long to tell Mr. President that the speaker dines with his enemies?

“If this had happened while we were in session, some of us would have moved for his suspension.

“He has no regard for other members of the House and even members of his committee.”

http://punchng.com/jibrin-padded-budget-n250bn-dogaras-men/

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

July 22, 2016 Premium Times
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and other civil society organisations in Nigeria have criticized moves by the House of Representatives to regulate their activities.
Other groups condemning the bill are Women Advocates and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Women Empowerment and Legal Aid Initiative (WELA), Partnership for Justice and Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR).
The Executive Director of SERAP, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said in a statement on Thursday in Lagos that the lawmakers were pursuing anti-people and anti-civil society agenda.
They accused the lawmakers of using their law-making powers to launch a “deliberate campaign to shield members from accountability.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bill seeking to establish a regulatory commission to monitor the work of civil society organizations in the country had on July 14 scaled second reading in the House of Representatives..
The statement said: “Under the bill, civil society and community groups including the labour unions, associations of journalists, associations of teachers, association of market women, human rights NGOs and other civil society bodies will face intrusive and unwarranted surveillance of their operations.
“The bill clearly aims not only to undermine and frustrate the work of independent civil society and community organizations in the country, but also to intimidate human rights and anti-corruption activists.”
It described the bill as unnecessary, pointing out that there are extant laws regulating the operations of civil society organisations.

“Like the anti-social media bill, this anti-civil society bill is entirely unnecessary as Nigeria already has enough legislations such as the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the Criminal Code and the Penal Code.
“As well as other common law provisions to address any purported issues of defective operational values of such organizations that are left to operate within its own Constitution and sometimes within the whims and caprices of their donors,” the statement noted.
The statement noted that the anti-civil society bill marked “a new and disturbing pattern of repressive and anti-people bills” being championed by the National Assembly that sought to regulate the freedom of expression of Nigerians.
“The anti-civil society bill amounts to regulation of the constitutional and internationally recognized human rights of Nigerians to freedom of expression and association and therefore constitutes a blatant affront on constitutional authority and legitimacy.
“The United Nations, the African Union and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights have repeatedly affirmed the importance of civil society and human rights defenders.”
Mr. Mumuni called on Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker, to use his position to ensure the withdrawal of the anti-civil society bill or facelegal action.
“We will take all appropriate legal actions nationally and internationally to ensure that the bill is dropped and promote the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in Nigeria,” the statement added.
(NAN)

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/207332-groups-slam-nass-bill-regulate-civil-society-groups.html

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

Posted By: Olakunle Abimbola on: July 19, 2016
Bukky’s angels? First, ponder two band of angels: one from John Milton’s Paradise Lost; the other, from contemporary America.

Englishman John Milton (1608-1674) probably had a point to prove in language politics; in those days when Greek and Latin were the core languages of court.

By how times have changed, with Greek and Latin virtually entombed in antiquity! But English has bloomed — core language of the modern court, from scholarship, to diplomacy, to global business. Why, even an irate segment of EU is sniping: at Brussels, with Brexit, UK should exit, with its English! Some hope!

From Paradise Lost to the United States, with Charlie’s Angels: a TV detective series that ran on American TV from 1976 to 1981, starring Kate Jackson, Farrah Fowcett and Jaclyn Smith, three ravishingly beautiful angels, sworn to smashing crime, as their adored Charlie proclaimed!

But nobody ever saw Charlie. He was only a voice — but all-knowing and all-seeing!

Charlie’s angels were angels for good: finding out crime anywhere, and fixing it.

Not so, Lucifer’s angels. In Paradise Lost, Lucifer, the son of the morning and hitherto brightest of all archangels, got consumed by sheer pride and conceit.

His host swooped, bristled, quivered and rippled against the Almighty, on account of Lucifer’s beauty and hubris; quaking, after their doomed hero: better reign in hell than serve in heaven!

They got their wish — and the once luminous Lucifer, archangel of the high heavens, got hauled down as Satan, chained to the pit of hell, infernal king of darkness.

Still, Bukky’s angels?

Well, unlike Charlie’s angels that swooped for the public good, Bukky’s angels are the contemporary Nigerian equivalent of the satanic gang, brusquely resisting their imminent lost paradise of filth.

Like Lucifer and his host, they would rather reign in the continued Nigerian hell, of corruption and dysfunction; than serve in a dream Nigeria: corrupt-free, workable, equitable and fair.

That is the crux of all the excitement on Saraki’s senatorial front.

Bukky’s angels are the quivering and rippling and threatening and swearing senators, bound by no laws but their conceit and whims; held by no parliamentary etiquette, but their rotten and uncouth temper; and ever ready to bristle their wings in anger, hinting at their unlimited capacity for mischief, when, where and how they damn well please!

They are the unfazed guardian angels of Bukola Saraki, controversial president of the Senate, who is not comfy on, but is self-glued to his throne of thorns, since his spiky installation on 9 June 2015.

Yes, it all started in June 2015 when Dr. Saraki, by selling off his party, delegitimized an otherwise legitimate bid for Senate president; and Ike Ekweremadu, by selling his soul to crass opportunism, assumed a position he had no claim to, by his party’s minority status.

Folks say trying to get rid of Saraki is political. It is. But so was Saraki’s premeditated perfidy against his party and its entitlement by right, by law and by convention, for infernal careerism.

So, one political motive cancels out the other, right?

But pray, what would cancel out the criminal raps on the neck of Saraki and Ekweremadu?

Threat-belching senators, with the malady peaking with that kindergarten one to impeach the president?

Or, gambit for time, by Saraki and his lawyers, to frustrate court processes, instead of vigorously and swiftly establishing his innocence?

Still, the embattled Senate president tends to miss something. Whereas the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), if Saraki is convicted, might be soft landing; for its penalty is just some years’ suspension from politics; the alleged forgery case, if found guilty, fetches him gaol and ruin.

Just compare the images. At CCT, Saraki has the “Accused’s Box” to himself, with a chair to boot. But when he appeared in court for the forgery charge, he was herded in the dock, standing with three others — the first Senate president to clock such ignominy!

Yet, the Saraki camp’s strategy remains the same: stalling by bluff and bluster, powered by senatorial blackmail, and not a tad rascality.

When the CCT case broke, Saraki’s senatorial angels caused the CCT Chairman, Justice Danladi Umar, to appear before a senate committee, a classic case of wanton self-help and criminal arm-twisting.

The forgery charge birthed a similar scenario: the fuming band also summoned the federal Attorney-General (AGF), to explain his temerity to dock a citizen — though he be senate president and his deputy — indicted for alleged crime!

What hubris! A Senate created by the Constitution, challenging a constitutional fiat from that same grundnorm!

That conceit provoked a counter-conceit from the AGF, who first spurned the summons, which was unfortunate.

But it does underscore that strengthening institutions in a delicate democracy requires utmost and mutual decorum. The moment a Senate makes a habit of reckless orders, aimed at illicit self-help, by brow-beating others, citizens would start — and not illegitimately too — calling its bluff. That shreds the dignity and integrity of the country’s highest legislative chamber.

Well, the Senate would ram through its legalistic summons, for the AGF eventually appeared. But it heard what it didn’t want to hear. Besides, it was clear who won the moral war.

The Senate, under Bukola Saraki, has reduced everything to reckless gaming, hoping that the consequent noisy spectacle — even if it is scandalously unedifying — would somewhat block the people’s nose from its oozing rot — that turns hollow, an otherwise hallowed chamber.

Add all this to the sewer-speak from Dino Melaye — he of the uncouth and irrational din — and you would easily realize how low the Senate had sunk. Yet, it is still sinking!

The more the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency strives to pull a rotten country towards rectitude, the more Saraki’s Senate desperately rallies to shove it back into the sewers, believing in the inevitable triumph of evil over good.

How so tragically misguided — just like Lucifer and his doomed angels!

Saraki may well herd his tragic ensemble into the hell in which they so wish to reign. In any case, in building a better Nigeria, it’s only a matter of time before they are consumed by own folly.

But parliament would bear the long-term collateral damage, long after this unfortunate 8th Senate would have been history.

The more this Senate craves illicit power, the more it loses authority, respect and prestige, and the more it is fated to domination by the executive.

But it’s doubtful if the Saraki Senate would care, having worked itself into some Samson complex.

It would spectacularly crash, to be sure, bound to self-destruction as it is. But unlike Samson, who at least had some moral grudge against Delilah, for betraying him, Saraki and co would crash alone.

Political self-destruction is a democratic choice. Though it’s still some three years to election time, the electorate nationwide must start pencilling down those senatorial irritants, and ship them to the political Siberia they belong.

The Senate is there for good governance. But the reverse is the case in this 8th Senate, because its leadership has serious ethical and integrity challenges.

May Nigeria never see such a Senate again!

http://thenationonlineng.net/bukkys-angels/

July 18, 2016 Premium Times
The Court of Appeal on Monday in Abuja adjourned until October 6 to hear an appeal filed by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, challenging his criminal trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
Justice Abdul Aboki, leading four other Justices of the Court, gave the date at the instance of counsel to the parties.
Kanu Agabi (SAN) and Rotimi Jacob (SAN) are representing Mr. Saraki and the Federal Government respectively.
At the resume hearing, Mr. Agabi urged the court to adjourn the matter on account of the convenience of the presiding justices.
“My Lordships, it is glaring that the court is overworked and this is telling on the postures of your Lordships,” he said.
“If we say we should press on because of the exigency of this appeal we could all be dead.
“We shall at this juncture be urging your Lordships to adjourn hearing on this appeal after you have returned from the annual break.”
Meanwhile, the presiding judge interjected to assure parties of the court’s readiness to entertain the appeal.
“We appreciate the concerns advanced by the Senior Advocate Agabi, but we shall not be adjourning on account of our convenience as we are here to serve,’’ Mr. Aboki said.
Mr. Jacobs, counsel to the federal government, opposed the motion for adjournment, adding that the applicant should be eager for the appeal to be heard.
He said, “My Lordships, I am also concern about the effort you people are putting to ensure speedy dispensation of appeals. And this no doubt is telling on your health.
“More so that the court has come to the threshold of this year’s annual recess, it is appropriate to take your deserved rest but not when a matter is ripe for hearing.
“Hearing of this appeal has been adjourned three times at the instance of the appellant applicant.”
Mr. Jacobs further said, “Why have they suddenly developed cold feet towards the application?
“Be that as it may, My Lordships, I shall be guided by the body language of the court to hold that My Lordships’ discretion should prevail in the circumstance,’’ Mr. Jacobs said.
Mr. Saraki is challenging the jurisdiction of the CCT to try him on charges of false and anticipatory assets declaration.
The senate president had approached the appellate court challenging the March 24 ruling of the Danladi Umar-led Code of Conduct Tribunal dismissing his application challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal.
He further said that the Code of Conduct Bureau did not give him the opportunity to react to the alleged discrepancies in his asset declaration form before his prosecution.
It would be recalled that Mr. Saraki’s earlier appeal aimed at ending his trial was dismissed by the Supreme Court in its judgment delivered on February 5.
The Supreme Court had in that decision ordered the senate president to submit himself for trial at the CCT.
(NAN)
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/207099-saraki-begs-court-adjourn-appeal-says-judges-deserve-rest.html

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

July 18, 2016
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has quizzed Captain Ahmed Borodo, the pilot whose plane was allegedly chartered by a former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, to transport N1.219bn to Governor Ayodele Fayose.

The money was alleged to be part of the N4.7bn transferred from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser to the bank account of Sylvan McNamara, a company allegedly owned by Obanikoro’s two sons- Babajide and Gbolahan.

Borodo, who was grilled last week, was quoted as telling detectives that he flew Obanikoro on June 17, 2014 from Lagos to Akure on an HS-125 aircraft.

Impeccable sources at the anti-graft agency told The PUNCH that the pilot admitted that about eight big green tarpaulin or military bags were loaded onto the plane by Obanikoro’s men.

He said at a point, he had to complain to the former minister that the aircraft was too small and thus could not carry too much weight.

An investigator said, “The pilot told us that on June 17, 2014, he was instructed by his company around 7am to prepare the aircraft for an 8.30am flight from Lagos to Akure. He was informed that the client was Obanikoro. He said he along with his colleagues including one Capt. Olubiyi Famuyiwa got on the plane.

“He said Obanikoro’s aides arrived at the tarmac with some bullion vans and started offloading the contents which were in big green tarpaulin bags. He informed them that the aircraft could only carry about eight or nine bags due to its small size.

“The pilot said at that point, Obanikoro intervened and began pleading with him to allow them load all the bags on the plane but he refused and then the minister, his ADC and a friend boarded the plane and the aircraft departed.”

Borodo was said to have flown the aircraft to Akure where a bullion van from Zenith Bank and some soldiers welcomed Obanikoro and received the money.

Further investigations revealed that Fayose’s friend, Abiodun Agbele, who is currently in the EFCC custody, was among those who received Obanikoro.

The detective added, “The pilot said on getting to the Akure airport, some soldiers received them and the bags were offloaded and put into a bullion van. He noted that the plane returned empty to Lagos.

“He said that the next day, he returned to Akure and then flew Obanikoro to Abuja with his Aide-de-Camp, Lt. Adewale.”

The commission also interrogated the General Manager of the airline, Mr. Jide West, who told the EFCC that Obanikoro paid $25,200 for both flights.

http://punchng.com/efcc-quizzes-pilot-flying-fayoses-n1-2bn-cash/

BATTERED BY DINO MELAYE

BATTERED BY DINO

The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit has found discrepancies in the payroll of the Federal Governmment’s Ministries, Agencies and Departments to the tune of N5.7 billion monthly.
The Head of the Continuous Audit Team, Mohammed Dikwa, made this known in an interview with journalists on Friday in Kano on the sideline of the two-day National Revenue Retreat, organised by the Ministry of Finance.
He said the amount was the true state of their findings as at June 30, 2016, and as a result the federal government had been saved from paying that amount monthly.
President Buhari had set up the Continuous Audit Team to look into the finance of Federal Government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
This is meant to address issue of ghost workers, over payment of allowances, fraud and embezzlement in MDAs.
“The Continuous Audit Team plans to conduct regular checks on the control and risk assessment of MDAs. We look at the records that are being kept to ensure transparency and accountability of the financial transactions carried over time.
“In terms of ghost workers, we have found about 43,000 ghost workers so far and as at May 30, we had N4.2 billion that is saved on a monthly basis.
“But as at June, 30, we were able to make more recoveries of N2.2 billion which has led to an additional savings of N6.4 billion monthly,” he said.
Mr. Dikwa said more savings would be made when the team succeeds in capturing all the Federal Govenment’s MDA into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
“The IPPIS platform is only having 20 per cent of the MDAs of the Federal Government on board. This means that about 80 per cent of MDAs are still outside the IPPIS platform.
“And it is important that they are all captured because our system of approach in conducting the continuous audit is automated.
“We get those on the IPPIS platform and match them with their Bank Verification Numbers and see who is collecting two salaries at the same time.
“We also check if there is any money being paid into individual accounts that is way above what he or she should be getting as allowances and salaries,” he said.
Mr. Dikwa said the team had a long way to go as it had only covered 20 per cent of its workload.
He said that all suspected cases of ghost workers and other acts were being forwarded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to ensure recoveries.
Mr. Dikwa said also that the team had succeeded in reducing the personnel cost of the federal government from N150 billion monthly in January, to N142 billion per month as at June 2016.
“This drastic reduction in personnel cost will continue as the Continuous Audit Team maintains its continuous visitations to all MDAs.
“It is expected that by Dec 31, over N100 billion will be reduced from the budgeted personnel cost of the 2016 year.

http://punchng.com/ghost-workers-fg-saves-n4-2bn-monthly/

Published on July 15, 2016 by ·
The outgoing United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle, has commended EFCC Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu for bringing vigour to the anti-corruption fight in the country.
A statement issued by Mr Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, on Friday in Abuja, said that the departing envoy gave the commendation when Magu, visited him in his office to bid him farewell.
The statement quoted Entwistle as saying that the best part of his time in Nigeria was strengthening cooperation with law enforcement agencies, especially the EFCC.
“It is in our interest to see Nigerian law enforcement capacity grow. It is not enough to complain about things.
“We have to help our friends; I am proud of the EFCC and privileged to be of some help,’’ Entwistle was quoted as saying.
The statement added that the envoy expressed delight that President Muhammadu Buhari had already asked the National Assembly to confirm the appointment of the EFCC Chairman and wished him well.
It quoted the EFCC boss as saying: “It is significant that the envoy is leaving at a time the commission is having its best relationship with the U.S”.
Magu, the statement further said, thanked the envoy for his support and cooperation and urged him to continue being Nigerian`s ambassador as he leaves for his country.
He also urged Entwistle to continue monitoring his performance as EFCC chairman and assured the envoy that he would not compromise his integrity in the anti-graft war.

http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2016/07/15/u-s-envoy-commends-nigerias-anti-graft-chairman/