₦airaland Forum

On February 16th, Nigeria will hold a general election. Four years ago, the country experienced its first democratic transfer of power to the opposition since 1999. The vote in a few days will be no less significant.
 
As president, I have tried to judiciously exercise the trust vested in me to combat the problems of corruption, insecurity and an inequitable economy. All are important. But amongst them, one stands above the others as both a cause and aggravator of the rest. It is, of course, corruption.
 
A policy programme that does not have fighting corruption at its core is destined to fail. The battle against graft must be the base on which we secure the country, build our economy, provide decent infrastructure and educate the next generation.
 
This is the challenge of our generation: the variable on which our success as a nation shall be determined. But the vested interests at play can make this fight difficult. By way of their looting, the corrupt have powerful resources at their disposal. And they will use them. For when you fight corruption, you can be sure it will fight back.
 
It even threatens to undermine February’s poll and – by extension – our democracy. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has raised concerns over laundered money being funnelled into vote buying. This is the problem of corruption writ large. It illustrates how it lurks in all and every crevice of public life, manipulating due process in pursuit of self-preservation and perpetuation; protecting personal political and economic interests at the expense of the common good.
 
Indeed, those who have criticised my administration’s anti-corruption drive are those who oppose its mission. And though their lawyers may craft expensive alibis, they cannot escape that which binds them together: a raft of documents and barely legal (some clearly illegal) mechanisms – whether that be the Panama Papers, US Congress reports, shell companies or offshore bank accounts.
 
Corruption corrodes the trust on which the idea of community is founded, because one rule for the few and another for everyone else is unacceptable to anyone working honestly.
 
But as we have intensified our war on corruption, so we have found that corruption innovates to resist the law. This is not the sole domain of those Nigerians, but the international corruption industry: the unsavoury fellow-traveler of globalisation.
 
Once the enablers are let in – as they have been in the past – the greed of those they collude with grows. We have closed the door on them, but unfortunately there still remain individuals who are willing to open windows.
 
Concrete progress has been made, but there is still much to do. We have repatriated hundreds of millions of dollars stowed away in foreign banks. These funds have been transparently deployed on infrastructural projects and used to directly empower the poorest in society. More is still to come from our international partners in France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Yet the hundreds of billions sifted out of the country for the best part of this century promise more.
 
We have secured high profile convictions, but greater cases remain. Lawyers table endless objections to obstruct court proceedings, whilst their clients hope it lasts until a ‘friendly’ president is voted into office. We must continue to tighten the legal framework and ensure the authorities have the investigative powers at their disposal to secure sentences. Only then will we begin to neutralise the advantages the corrupt have.
 
More ghost workers must be removed from government payroll (almost $550 million has been saved from identifying phantom employees). More can be recovered through our whistle-blower policy ($370 million has been returned since its launch in 2016). More is still to come. But, together, we shall prevail over corruption.
 
A Yoruba proverb states that only the patient one can milk a lion. Likewise, victory over corruption is difficult, but not impossible. We must not flounder in our resolve. I know many Nigerians would like to see faster action. So do I. But so too must we follow due process and exercise restraint, ensuring allegation never takes the place of evidence. For that is not the Nigeria we should wish to build.
 
There is no doubt that this Administration has changed the way we tackle corruption. The choice before voters is this: Do we continue forward on this testing path against corruption? Or do revert to the past, resigned to the falsehood that it is just the-way-things-are-done? Or that it is just too difficult – too pervasive – to fix? I know which one I would choose. It is why I am asking Nigerians for another four years to serve them.
 
 
MUHAMMADU BUHARI,
PRESIDENT,
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

Popular Nigerian musician, Adekunle Temitope, aka Small Doctor has endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for re-election in next week's presidential polls.
Small Doctor made the endorsement on his official Instagram account on Saturday. He also posted an animated video.
He explained that he was inspired to endorse President Buhari and VP Osinbajo after a meeting with Buhari-Osinbajo South West Support Group (BOSWG), a group led by Lagos based PR expert & Ife Princess Temilade Aderemi Okesanjo.
Buhari and Osinbajo are seeking re-election on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The musician deployed the tune and rhythm of his hit song, Penalty, to support the duo who he credited for fighting corruption and developing Nigeria.
“After meeting with the BOSWG, I believe we should stand up for what we believe in. We all should support and re-elect President Buhari,” he posted along with the animated video on Saturday morning.
Asides endorsing President Buhari’s re-election, Small Doctor urged Nigerians against selling their votes to other candidates.
“If you no vote Buhari, hide your face, won ti gba opposition lo throwing,” he said in the song.
BOSWSG led by Princess Temilade Aderemi Okesanjo, is one of the leading groups that support President Buhari and Prof Osinbajo’s re-election and it is also a group that Small Doctor supports.

Like he has done in the past few months, throughout the week Vice President Yemi Osinbajo continued his door-to-door campaign in various states. Tagged ‘family chats’, he is usually greeted by crowds in every community or town he visits, as he interacts with potential voters from all regions, eagerly trying to catch a glimpse of him.

Very much in-character with President Buhari’s personal campaign style of the last election, one thing that shines through is how Osinbajo is at home at all the parts of Nigeria he’s visited so far, connecting with the Nigerians he meets, as the campaign train moves along.

Following the chopper incident in Kabba, Kogi State, last Saturday, where Osinbajo and his crew escaped unhurt, many Nigerians were left wondering how a Vice President, who had just survived a chopper crash-land would still stay unruffled and continue campaigning, in the state, and other parts of the country.

Osinbajo, after the incident, had said: “We are extremely grateful to the Lord for preserving our lives from the incident that just happened. Everyone is safe and no one is maimed. God has delivered us from death so we can do more for our people and country.”

At last year’s Ake Festival, held in Lagos for the first time, he was the guest of honour, and after the opening, he patiently smiled with admirers, taking selfies with a crowd of guests at the literary event.

Osinbajo’s unique campaign makes it the same everywhere he goes. From Benue, Akwa Ibom and Adamawa states, to Ogun, Lagos, Oyo, and Delta. He, depending on the places he visits, switches from Yoruba to English, and even pidgin English to get his message across.

Osinbajo’s associates spoken to by Daily Trust Saturday say that the courage and determination he has shown is only a glimpse to not just the steel and compassion of his personality, but his heart for the people. “[The] Vice President leads by example,” said one of them.

As reported, during his visit to the farming community of Ado-Odo, Ogun State last week, as Osinbajo walked from the helipad to the headquarters of Ado-Odo Local Council Development Area, acknowledging cheers from the people. Security details and officials had a hard time trying to control the crowd that surged to get a glimpse of him.

Mala Umaru, a Forex trader based in Abuja, said for him, it sums up that a leader that puts his country before himself, or any other sentiments, is a true leader, and indeed deserves the support of the people.

“I think that’s part of why I, and many others, connect with Osinbajo on a personal level. He’s very accessible, and very real. It’s also why youths like him so much,” said Mariam Balogun, a former banker who hails from Kwara State. “He’s a father-figure, and at the same time, like the uncle next door with whom you can relate with,” she said, adding: “His style is truly unique.”

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has dismissed reports and claims that President Muhammadu Buhari or anyone for that matter has plans to Islamize Nigeria.

Osinbajo who resumed his unique Family Chat at Kurudu, FCT, told a mammoth crowd that no one is trying to impose any single religion on the country.

He explained that the propaganda peddled by naysayers is aimed at discrediting President Buhari who already has a record that shows he is a detribalized leader.

“I have interacted with this man (President Buhari), he is an honest man, he has no intention whatsoever of imposing his religion on anybody at all,” he told the crowd at Kurudu.

Prof Osinbajo added that, “In our cabinet, there are 20 people who are Christians, 18 who are Muslims and our Head of Service (Winifred Oyo-Ita) is a Christian from Winners Chapel. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Boss Mustapha) who is the highest civil servant is also a Christian, so there is no way in the world that anybody will tell you that. They are only spreading propaganda and they are trying to discredit the man (Buhari) but they are telling a lie,” Osinbajo said.

Prof Osinbajo added that this was how they previously lied that President Buhari was sponsoring Boko Haram and had told the terrorist group to attack the Jonathan government.

“In 2015 when we were coming into office, they said this man (Buhari) is the one sponsoring Boko Haram, they said it was because he didn’t mean well for Jonathan’s government, but it was a lie because on 24th July, 2014, Boko Haram attacked Buhari in Kaduna, killed 82 people including seven of Buhari’s relatives who were with him”.

“That is the same Boko Haram that they claimed he was sponsoring but now everybody knows that his not behind Boko Haram, the same Muhammadu Buhari is the one who drove Maitatsine out of this county, when Maitatsine was in this country and he is doing same thing to Boko Haram.

Osinbajo had earlier visited the family of late Major Solomon Kabiru Umaru.

The gallant army officer passed out from Nigeria Defence Academy in 2003. His last unit was 143 battalion, Ovin. He died on the 17th December 2014 serving the nation in the North East.

Prof Osinbajo also had a chat with his wife, Mrs Gloria Umaru and three kids Ruth, Solomon Jnr and Sarah.

The unique Family Chat style campaign by Prof Osinbajo is being taken to every segment of the populace

*The Economist and its double standard poll prediction*

By Sunday James Akinloye

For those who take The Economist prediction as gospel, you might be in for a long haul because they do have a handful of failed poll predictions that has hurt their believers hard in times past.

In 2016, they put Hillary Clinton to the sword by falsely making her and her campaign team believe that they will win. Here’s how The Economist predicted the outcome of the 2016 election in the United States.

“Could it happen? Absolutely. But it would be a very, very big upset—about as likely as, say, the Chicago Cubs baseball team coming back from a three-games-to-one deficit to win their first World Series since 1908. So yeah, Hillary’s got this. Democrats, just ask a Cleveland Indians fan whether you have anything to worry about.”

We all know what happened at the end. Clinton lost and Trump won. The Economist misled them and billions across the world. Coming back home for a bit. In December 2018, The Economist predicted that incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari will win a second term in office and that the opposition will collapse.

The Economist in its edition, “The World in 2019” said: “The president, Muhammadu Buhari, will win re-election in February, as the new opposition coalition may collapse before the vote.

Just to state categorically, the quote from The Economist claimed two things. One is that President Buhari will be re-elected and that the opposition will collapse before the elections. One thing is clear, President Buhari is clear favourites to win if the campaign rallies across the country are anything to go by.

President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have embarked on a more proactive and people-oriented campaigns than any other party in Nigerian democratic history. The mammoth crowds at the rallies are also a confirmation that the presidential duo is loved.

Fast forward to February 2019, barely two weeks before the presidential election in Nigeria, the supposedly reputed magazine did a U-turn and claimed that the main opposition party will win.

Please stop for a minute and take a deep breath, do you expect the truth from a man who speaks from both sides of his mouth?

Little wonder, economic historian and professor of Economics, Bradford DeLong wrote this about The Economist, “As a longtime reader of The Economist, let me just say that in the past six years I have come to the conclusion that in five important issue areas--U.S. politics, U.S. economics, finance (U.S. and global), Middle Eastern politics, and African politics — anything The Economist states that I did not already know is likely to be wrong... And it's the reason I pay much more attention these days to the Financial Times.”

In all fairness, there is nothing left of The Economist’s credibility when it comes to political calculations and predictions. Hopefully, The Economist will have the decency to apologise to Nigerians after the elections on 16 February.

*Akinloye is President of Initiative to Save Democracy. He is a social commentator and political analyst*

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
PRESS RELEASE

VP NARRATES HOW PASTOR ADEBOYE HAD PRAYED FOR HIS PROTECTION NIGHT BEFORE CHOPPER CRASH-LANDS

*How he briefed G.O on his recent campaign efforts

*Lists names of those with him on the helicopter during testimony


TESTIMONY OF VICE PRESIDENT YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, DURING A THANKSGIVING SERVICE HELD AT THE RCCG, CITY OF GRACE, LOKOJA, KOGI STATE, ON SUNDAY, 3RD FEBRUARY, 2019


On Friday, we went to (RCCG) camp; usually, I attend our Holy Ghost service. We came in very late from Akwa Ibom State. In fact, we arrived just in time for the grace at the end of the service.

Thereafter, our daddy in the Lord, (G.O) Pastor Adeboye, wanted to speak to me. He asked me how things were going on, the campaign activities and all that, and I explained everything; what I was doing on the campaign trail and all of that, some of the challenges.

He then said, I am going to pray for you. He said a prayer that turned out to be very interesting because usually, as you know, he doesn’t pray for long.

He said “Lord God Almighty, I want you to protect this man,” He said it three times and paused, then he continued. “You know how very dear he is to my heart. I want you to protect him.” I found it very funny that he repeated it several times and then he prayed for favour and other things.

So, when the crash happened, immediately it dawned on me that the Lord God had led him to say that very special prayer. And the Lord God Almighty delivered us in accordance with His word that, “even when 10,000 fall by our side, no harm whatsoever, will come near us.” I just want to thank the Almighty God for His grace and mercy that has been so abundant in my life and in all of our lives who are here.

(Earlier the VP had called up members of his entourage who were with him in the Chopper and who were in the church to join him at the altar.

They are: Labour Minister, Stephen Ocheni; & Mr. Femi Osinbajo, VP'S elder brother. He also called the names of Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Special Adviser; & Ambassador Abdullahi Gwary, SSA Foreign Affairs/Protocol - although both of them were not in the service.

Others are Mr. Laolu Akande, the VP's Spokesman; Dr Biodun Adelowo, Personal Physician; Mr. Doyin Adetuberu, Security Officer; and Ayoola Oladunni, ADC).

This is my older brother, the same father, same mother. Our father passed on long ago, but our mother is alive. If both of us had lost our lives on the same day, that would have been an absolute tragedy, but God saved that from happening. We are truly grateful to the Almighty God and we bless the name of the Lord. And for all of you who are rejoicing with us today, your homes will be filled with rejoicing. You will not know tragedy, you will not know harm, all the days of your lives will be filled with rejoicing.”


Released by:

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
4th February, 2019

NBA PRESIDENT SHOULD LEAVE NJC

The ruling of the Court of Appeal that the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen should go and answer to his charges at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) is a vindication of President Buhari’s suspension of the Chief Justice, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has said.

The group in, a statement signed by Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Madueke, its Chairman and Secretary respectively, stated that the ruling by the Appeal Court re-affirmed the fact that Justice Onnoghen has a serious matter to answer to, and that the Tribunal has the powers to entertain that matter rightly, and as such also has the power to make an order for his suspension pending the conclusion of the matter.

The group also noted that the ruling of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Abdul Aboki, further affirms that: “the call by Paul Usoro(SAN), chairman of the NBA that the courts be boycotted showed that the man who heads the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) lacks an understanding of basic principles of the rule of law and does not appreciate the issue of jurisdiction of courts to matters.

“We also commend the various NBA branches that did not heed the senseless call for a boycott, but went ahead to attend court sessions and honor their clients and the temple of justice.

“This also shows that Paul Usoro has lost his credibility in the NBA due to his proclivity to defend corruption and stand for what is wrong - a characteristic that should not be synonymous with the Nigerian Bar Association.”

The BMO also called on the NBA Chairman to recuse himself from membership of the National Judicial Council(NJC), stating that a man who is facing serious allegations of corruption with the EFCC should not be found deciding the fate of people with similar moral burdens.

The statement noted that the NBA Chairman had also brought disrepute to the association, stating that the NBA was becoming an institution of ridicule because of the tainted leadership of Paul Usoro. “This should not be so as the association is made up of thousands of members with honor and integrity who should not be identified with corruption”.

The group noted that Paul Usoro was now also using the NBA as a tool to fight the institutions fighting corruption.

“Paul Usoro, a man facing serious allegations of corruption in the court is now using the Nigerian Bar Association to fight the institutions constitutionally mandated to fight corruption, including the courts.

“His kangaroo instruction to legal practitioners to boycott the courts was not just embarrassing and unfortunate; it was a mockery and an insult to the legal profession. Asides the fact that lawyers owe it as a duty to represent their clients in courts, they are not meant to insult their practice and the temples of justice by boycotting the courts.”

The group noted that the call for a boycott of courts by Paul Usoro was indeed corruption fighting back.

The group stated that Paul Usoro already had a damaged reputation, and lacked moral authority to lead the Nigerian Bar Association, stating that his leadership was bringing the association to disrepute.

BUHARI IS HEALTHIER THAN MOST OTHER CANDIDATES - BMO

The spate of criticisms and ‘concerns’ about President Muhammadu Buhari’s health is most regrettable, uncalled for and outrightly reprehensible. The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) says it is a smokescreen to embarrass and distract the President.

The group made this assertion in response to insinuations in the media, and a law suit, challenging the health status of the President. BMO made particular reference to a press statement signed by Ugochinyere Ikenga, spokesperson of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) in which the organisation stated that the President is not healthy enough to lead the nation for another four years, and that the courts should order President Buhari to make public his health status.



In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO asked Nigerians to dismiss “the moronic claim from Ikenga. He is the kind of person that is giving the Nigerian Bar Association a bad name, bringing all sorts of malicious lawsuits and invectives against the person of the President, He should be reminded that under the National Health Law any adult has the right to disclose or withhold his or her health Status.



“Aside from that, what could be more telling of the President's fitness when he has visited 21 states in the last two weeks, 18 states twice and three states once.

“President Buhari has shown that at his age, he is a hard worker, going by things he has put in place in three and a half years: the roads, the rail system, power supply etc. These are unprecedented achievements. No head of government has done half that in Nigeria’s history.

“In any case, President Buhari is not a Robo cop, he is a mortal like any one of us and can fall ill at any time- again, just like any of us. We at BMO are proud to be associated with him for the things he has done, which are unmatched and unmatchable especially by the ruinous People’s Democratic Party (PDP) elements.”

BMO said despite Buhari’s hectic campaign tours, to more than half of the States, “he has not abandoned his normal duties. Also, in all the states where he has campaigned, he has commissioned several Federal Government projects.

“Of course, we understand why PDP, in its blurred vision, cannot see any of this. We strongly recommend that PDP leadership should see the nearest Psychiatrist for evaluation and cure for their multiple neuroses. Perhaps then they will see what others are seeing.

“Pensioners are jubilant, workers being owed a back-log of salaries have being settled. There is endorsement galore; students, oil marketers, traders, fishermen, farmers and beneficiaries of Social Investment Programme (SIP) are all singing the Presidents praises.” BMO said only the myopic and people in perpetual denial will still challenge or doubt that President Muhammadu Buhari is fit, in good health, and more than able, physically and mentally, to discharge the duties of his office for the next four years.”

BMO says the CUPP spokes person Ikenga should be ashamed of himself “for collecting peanuts for character assassination. we want to remind the public that this ‘no chamber’, ‘charge and bail CAC lawyer’ was an aide to Bukola Saraki. Just a few years ago, he was parading himself as President of Youth Council of Nigeria.

“Ikenga should be reminded that pouring out the pot-pourri of invectives won't get to President Buhari’s base, a sea of patriots in all the states he has gone to in the last two weeks, unlike the PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar who spent two weeks in Dubai for Medical treatment, only for his handlers to come out of that two-week haze with a compendium of what is now infamously known as the ‘Dubai Strategy’.



“We know Ikenga is only playing his role in the Dubai Strategy, so we are not bothered. President Muhammadu Buhari remains committed to lifting Nigerians out of Poverty, so far over 13 million Nigerians have been touched by his Social Investment Programme and the next level is definitely going to be more telling in the lives of the average citizen”, BMO added.

He ( VP Osinbajo ) woke up in the morning and dashed to the airport for Yola in Adamawa State to address the annual conference of the Lutheran Church. He stood for 40 minutes without a prepared speech and held the mammoth crowd spell bound.

He moved on from there to Uyo where he did a home visit, visitations to a market in Ikot Ekpene and another in Uyo township.

We thought he was done, suddenly he asked the convoy to stop on the street of Uyo and thousands of people joined him shouting APC and Sai Baba.

We did about two kilometers on the road and with admirers of our party pushing and shoving and making their way to shake hands with him and take selfies.

From the Street Walk we drove to Ibom Hotels, a good distance from the town and entered a hall filled with men of God. Several questions thereafter he kept going strong his faith and self discipline being his guide

Down in a bigger hall were about a thousand business men and entrepreneurs waiting to be addressed on their concerns on business, government policies as it relates to the South South and Akwa Ibom State.
He calmly took their questions. I heard one in the audience said “this man is a genius” . There was no issue he failed to address from water ways to Oku Iboku Paper Mill Industry, Aluminium Smelting Company at Ikot Abasi to Coastal rail as well as the recurring issue of fighting corruption.

As a younger person with about four years in between us my legs were already reluctant and failing to obey me. He keeps going on and on and you begin to wonder what about this professor and pastor?

As at writing it is 9.05 pm and he is still talking , marketing the government and its policies, dispelling negative perceptions and winning souls for our party and government.
I have been part of campaigns since 1999 when I traveled around with an uncle who who was a top member of the Unity Party of Nigeria, my foray into campus politics, professional unionism down to my work with Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 1999 and the Ekiti engagements I have never seen anything like this. I am sneezing as I am writing and my nose running with Dr Ebi Awosika passing tissue paper to me but my principal is still bouncing as if he just got up from bed at the crow of the cock at dawn. I thought I was strong here is someone stronger than strong.

You know what he must still get to Lagos tonight and he will drive to Ogun State for an engagement. What a life? What a day? What a man?

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a trained health inspection officer who worked for the Nigerian Customs Service and as the Vice President of Nigeria, is seen by many as an irredeemably corrupt person who many see as corruption personified for the following reasons:


He bought the PDP ticket to be its Presidential candidate in Port Harcourt by inducing each of the delegates that voted for him $5, 000;
Making false claim of employing 100, 000 workers in his businesses;
As PDP Vice President he implemented the instruction of his boss and orchestrated the kidnapping and detention of the Governor of Anambra state, Dr. Ngige;
He conspired with his boss, President Obasanjo to illegally withheld FAAC allocation for Lagos States’ Local Government Areas;
They rigged out AD Governors in the South West in 2003 by deploying subterfuge and criminal force;
He played leading roles in the Halliburton scandal, the Siemens fraud, the Malabu Oil field criminal deal for which he was indicted;
His money laundering case and indictment in the United States of America has been so thoroughly documented that, it will remain indelible forever;
His role in handing over public assets built by patriotic Nigerians over the years to his friends for a token is proof of his lack of patriotism;
Atiku Abubakar promised to enrich his friends by selling-off the family silver to them cheaply should he become the President of Nigeria;
Atiku’s letter to foreign countries to fight the Buhari Administration on the CJN case exposes his status as a quisling of the West and an unpatriotic man who wants see his country ruined by others;
Atiku on National Television bragged about how he stopped a former Governor of Anambra State, Chinwoke Mbadinuju from getting his second term.

*CUPP AND A CASE OF MEDICAL FITNESS*

Election campaign seasons always come with lots of animated drama, and sometimes pure comedy. How else would a sane adult mind conjure some things like this latest ridiculously desperate action by none other than the notorious CUPP, a coalition with no sensible bearing? By asking that President Buhari be declared medically unfit to seek re-election, they have only shown how shallow their thinking is, which comes as no surprise.

When a rag-tag army of disgruntled elements seeking a shred of relevance where there can never be none, decide to continue disturbing the peace of a country, we can only give them a passing glance because they are merely exercising their freedom of speech. Whether this expression makes any logical meaning is a whole different ball game.

Some lawsuits are clearly dead on arrival right from where the idea was finalized, so it will definitely come as no surprise when this gets thrown out for lack of any merit and is adjudged a total waste of the time of any competent law court in the land. If this was from the Nigerian Medical Association, one might even be tempted take the claims by CUPP seriously, but the comedy is unending as Imo Ugochinyere seems hell bent on providing comic relief in the days leading up to the presidential elections on February 16, 2019.

Simple ethics of Doctor-Patient confidentiality will negate this move seeking an order from the court directing Buhari to make public the result of his medical examination. Even a student doctor knows that much about the medical profession.

Only a criminal investigation can override some professional principles. This wishy washy lawsuit is none other than a national distraction along the lines of overly hashed rumours a la “Jubrin/Jibril from Sudan”.

He who brings a case before the court where there is obviously none, should be ready to bear the burden of proof that lies on him. Ugochinyere and his CUPP eagerly seek their 15 minutes of fame, no matter how ingloriously and from anywhere they can try to scratch it up, so we are truly not surprised at this episode which only amounts to the barking of a toothless bulldog puppy.

The president and his campaign entourage would do well to pay them no mind for as the saying goes, the dog barks but the caravan moves on.

TEXT OF SPEECH DELIVERED BY H.E, BABATUNDE RAJI FASHOLA, SAN AT THE PRESS BRIEFING ON NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE FRAMEWORK ON THURSDAY 31ST JANUARY 2019 AT FEDERAL MINISTRY OF POWER, WORKS AND HOUSING HEADQUARTERS MABUSHI, ABUJA



I welcome you warmly to this press briefing to share information about two very important developments that occurred in the month of January 2019.



The first was that on the 9th January 2019, the Federal Executive Council, Nigeria's highest decision making organ of the Executive arm of government approved a National Maintenance Framework for public buildings.



The second is that on the 24th January 2019, President Muhammad Buhari signed into law a bill to prohibit discrimination against persons living with disabilities which included provisions for specific actions that must be taken within a period of 5 (FIVE) years to provide opportunities for such persons to live as normal a life as possible.



This briefing is meant to discuss what these developments mean for Nigeria and Nigerians, and to highlight the possibilities that they offer for our way of life and our economy.



National Maintenance Framework for Public Buildings

Let me start with the National Maintenance Framework on Public Buildings and first point out that for now, this only applies to public buildings but will ultimately extend to other public assets like roads, bridges, rail, power installations and other infrastructure of a public nature.



What the FEC approval means is that after decades of agonizing about lack of maintenance, the Buhari government has chosen to act.



This is policy decision of enormous profundity because the records do not indicate that any such policy decision has previously been taken at the federal level.



The decision was provoked by a memorandum from the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing that challenged the conventional thinking that "Nigeria does not have a maintenance culture".



The memorandum argued and FEC agreed, that maintenance of infrastructure whether public or private, is not a cultural issue but an economic one.



The memorandum showed that in the built industry, only about 23% of the workforce is employed by Design (6%) and Construction (15%), Governance (2%) , while the remaining 77% are employed by Maintenance and operation.



Council was persuaded to accept that while skill training and vocational centres exist almost nationwide for training artisans like plumbers, painters, bricklayers, welders, tilers, electricians etc., there is a lack of National policy that makes the practice of these vocations economically worthwhile on a sustainable basis.



The available data showed that many people trained in these vocations often resort to earning a living by resorting to other vocations in which they do not have a training, such as riding motor-cycles and tri-cycles in order to make a living.



Therefore, the federal government’s decision on maintenance is an economic one, to empower Nigerians at the base of the economic pyramid who are artisans, those at the middle of the pyramid who own small businesses, SMEs who are involved in manufacturing of building and allied materials.



What it entails is that:



a) Site assessment of the affected buildings will have to be conducted, measurement are to be taken, valuation conducted and data is collated. This on its own requires the employment of people to carry out this process and therefore jobs will be created from the very first step.



It will also provide for credible data such as lettable space, value of the property and so on which can form the basis of the economic decisions or even actions in emergency periods.



b) Condition assessment is the next step that requires people to be trained and employed to assess the conditions of affected buildings from foundation to roof and for mechanical and electrical sustainability for purpose.



In one of our sample buildings leading up to the memorandum to FEC, we found out that out of 63 air-conditioning units, 11 required replacement or repairs. We also identified windows, doors, tiles, roofing materials, plastering works that required replacement or repair.



c) The maintenance program is then developed from these assessments as to what jobs need to be done to restore the building to fitness, what needs to be replaced and what needs to be repaired.



d) This is the basis for the award of the maintenance contract following the existing procurement law.



e) This provides a window of opportunity for small businesses who are into facility management and for young graduates of building tech, architecture, engineering and even technical schools to register for these contracts.



f) Successful bidders are then in a position to employ artisans to execute the maintenance contract they have won in the bid.



g) Each ministry, department and agency will be responsible for its own procurement for its own building after training of their designated personnel by the staff of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing who will guide them through the framework approved by FEC.



h) Because data is critical to the programme, each MDA will file data with the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing who will centrally manage data and use it to advise government and brief the public, while the MDA reserves the right to keep its own data.





i) The award of contracts will not only drive employment for artisans, it will drive demand of manufacturing and suppliers of parts like wood, pipes, paint, tiles, electrical fittings, windows and tools, in addition to those of cleaning items like soap, detergent, polish, varnish etc.



This is the economy that we see ahead as we set out to implement this approval starting from buildings, and as I said, and extending to roads, rail, bridges etc. as we progress.



Our pilot programme covered 9 buildings comprising a Federal government college, a Federal Hospital, a Federal Court building, a federal prison, a federal secretariat and our office buildings at our headquarters here in Mabushi.



The pilot survey showed that these 9 (Nine) buildings will cost N40.3 billion to reconstruct, while it will cost N­­­922.8m per annum to maintain them which is about 2.3 % of the cost of replacement.



Just these 9 (NINE) buildings will require about 448 people to keep them well maintained a year. For example, the school will require at least 30 people to be employed per school for maintenance; and the federal government owns 104 Unity schools which potentially will require 30 X 104 = 3,120.



So you can see the economy we see when this extends to all our hospitals, all our courts, all our prisons, all our police stations, all our universities and covers all public buildings.



This is an economic choice by this government to drive the small business sector, to drive skill utilization and to move the economy from growth without jobs to growth driven by new jobs that reward services.



But as if this was not enough, President Buhari raised the bar for construction, services and a new way of life for Nigerians when he signed the law to protect people living with disability from discrimination and exclusion.



We have 5 years to comply, and this requires that all our buildings must have lifts and ramps. (By this I mean well designed ramps for people confined to their wheelchairs, not hills they cannot use on their own).



We must modify all our toilets with support for our brothers and sisters who are living with disabilities, as we must build sidewalks for them to use our roads without colliding with vehicles.



Our airports and parking lots in buildings must become compliant with international best practice by providing corridors and facilities for people living with disabilities at arrival and departure points, while a minimum number of slots clearly designated must be provided for vehicles owned by people living with disabilities.



This is another opportunity for jobs to re-design, to re-model, to retrofit all our assets nationwide to comply with the law as signed by Mr President.



Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Nigeria that beckons upon us from today and the immediate future. A Nigeria where public infrastructure works because they are maintained.



A Nigeria where everybody has a secure sense of belonging because they can use their skills and labour to earn a decent income and retain their dignity.



A Nigeria where government cares for the people living with disability by providing the basic minimum facilities that gives them a sense of belonging to demonstrate their ability.



Government has taken the leadership role to provide the policy and the how to make this Nigeria possible.



It is now your responsibility and mine to take ownership of this platform of opportunities and make it work for all of us.



Thank you for listening.



Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN

Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing





Thursday 31st January 2019

Tuesday 29th January 2019 – The Kano State Judiciary in collaboration with the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has inaugurated a Small Claims Court in Kano. This is in line with enabling business environment reforms across all arms of Government aimed at making Nigeria a progressively easier place to do business.

The objective of the court is to improve the judicial process by providing easy access to a cost-effective and fast resolution of debt recovery disputes involving small claims of five million naira (N5m) and below. All claims which are filed at the Small Claims Court are expected to be heard and judgment delivered within a maximum period of 60 days, with a further 30 days for enforcement. Only one adjournment is allowed under exceptional circumstances. In addition, magistrates are to hear matters daily to conclusion, and are enjoined to promote, encourage and facilitate negotiation among parties. The court also encourages self-representation, and adhere to strict timelines for following key specified court events.

The Small Claims Court is regulated by the Practice Directions on Small Claims 2018 issued by the Chief Judge of Kano State pursuant to the Magistrate Court Law of 2018. The launch took place on January 24, 2019 at the Judicial Service Commission, Audu Bako Secretariat, Kano State and was attended by the Ag. Chief Judge, Attorney General, Judges of the High Court, Magistrates, Judicial Officers and members of the bar.

In her remarks at the occasion, PEBEC Secretary and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole said; "The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council continues to collaborate with the Kano State Government, including the Kano State Judiciary, on business climate reforms for the State. The launch of the Small Claims Court is further proof of our successful collaboration, and how working together can yield great results.”

“On behalf of PEBEC, I congratulate the Acting Chief Registrar and the entire Kano State Judiciary on the successful commissioning of the Small Claims Court. We implore all small businesses to take advantage of the court and to tell more stakeholders about them. It can only be as efficient as we want it to be if we engage and use them”.

In order to ensure effectiveness of the court, PEBEC also conducted a 2-day training for magistrates and court officials in collaboration with leading commercial law firms in Nigeria.

Following the establishment of the Small Claims Court in Lagos in April 2018, it is reported that 90% of judgments delivered from May to September 2018 were delivered within the 60-day timeline in compliance with the Lagos State Magistrates’ Practice Directions on Small Claims. This indicates substantial compliance in terms of timely disposition of matters. Prior to the establishment of the Small Claims Court, the 2019 World Bank Doing Business report stated that it took 447 days for matters to be resolved with the commercial court at the Lagos State Judiciary, and it currently takes 476 days for the court in Kano.

PEBEC was established in 2016 to oversee Nigeria’s business climate reform agenda, and is Chaired by His Excellency the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. PEBEC’s model aligns with global best practice and includes a strong performance tracking element that is measured by the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index (DBI), which is reported annually.

The DBI is an annual ranking that objectively assesses prevailing business climate conditions across 190 countries based on 10 Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) indicators. The Index offers comparative insights based on private sector validation of reforms delivered in the two largest commercial cities in countries with a population higher than 100 million. For Nigeria, the DBI tracks both Lagos and Kano States, being the two largest business cities in the country. The reform area/indicator known as Enforcing Contracts focuses mainly on the reforms of the judiciary and how cases are handled in the Small Claims Court within the State - from filing to delivery and enforcement of judgement.

Signed

Dr. Jumoke Oduwole

SSA Industry, Trade & Investment to the President (OVP)

Thursday, January 31, 2019

PRESS STATEMENT BY APC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COUNCIL

THE FICTIONS, THE LIES AND THE FACTS IN ATIKU/OBI’S CLAIMS IN THE TV SHOW CALLED ‘THE CANDIDATES’.

Yesterday, Nigerians watched with shock and dismay the barefaced lies and outright dishonest claims of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi in the television show tagged ‘The Candidates’.

Let us tell Nigerians some of the lies they told in that programme, which some simple fact-checks would easily expose.

Lie Number 1:

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claimed that at handover in May 2019, our GDP growth rate was 6%.

Fact Checked Truth: It is a well-documented fact that at handover, the GDP growth rate was 2.35%. The economy was on a free fall as the GDP growth rate had dropped for three consecutive quarters.

Lie Number 2:

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claims recession was caused by the APC Government.

Fact Checked Truth: With a consistent and rapid drop of our GDP, their Coordinating Minister of the Economy at that time, Okonjo Iweala, former Central Bank Governor Prof. Charles Soludo and the Central Bank Governor at the time, now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, warned the PDP Government and Nigerians that we were headed for a recession.

Lie Number 3:

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claimed that security challenges were restricted to the North East during their time.

Truth: Nigerians will recall that the Boko Haram activities had spread all over the North East, North West and North Central. For instance, the UN Headquarters, Police Headquarters, a Bus stop in Nyanya, a prominent Plaza in Wuse II were all bombed during the era of the last govt. A church or Mosque was bombed every week in 2013/2014. The herders-farmers’ clashes were the deadliest in 2014, claiming over 1,300 lives in a short period across the North. Boko Haram occupied over 17 Local Government Areas and hoisted their flags, effectively establishing a caliphate in the North East. All these happened before the coming of this administration.

Lie Number 4:

Peter Obi claimed that out-of-school children grew to 13.5 million under this administration .

Truth: The figure of 13.2 million out-of-school children was a 2015 survey by UNICEF. An alarm was raised by several global bodies then because the figure had grown from 10.5 million in 2010 to 13.2 million in 2015, despite record earnings of the Government at that time. In other words, Peter Obi’s claim is self-indicting.

Lie Number 5:

That Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as a Customs officer, said there was nothing wrong at that time with setting up a company that had dealings in the Ports that were under Customs’ supervision.

Truth: The Code of Conduct for Public Officers was first enshrined in the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Atiku Abubakar co-founded the company, as a serving Customs officer, three years after the 1979 Constitution came into operation. According to Section 1 of the 5th Schedule to the 1979 Constitution, a public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities. By establishing a company involved in Port-related business at a time when he was an officer in the Nigeria Customs Service charged with managing the Ports, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar definitely put himself in a position where his personal (business) interest conflicted with his duties as a public officer.

Lie Number 6:

Peter Obi claims Nigeria has record poverty now.

Truth: Despite high oil revenue, according to the World Bank, extreme poverty under PDP grew to 112 million in 2013 through 2014, compared to 86 million today. India pulled their citizens out of poverty for over two decades by using the same methods Nigeria is now using today.

In summary one would have thought that in the course of the programme, ‘The Candidates’, Atiku/Obi would have modified the lies they told earlier in their campaigns and make it consistent with reality as most of them were already fact-checked by independent bodies and proven to be lies. Alas they have continued on the same path, believing that ‘If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed’.

The Summary of their Presentations:

First and foremost, Nigerians should take note that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar defined Corruption as "the use of your privileged position to either enrich yourself or enrich your relatives or even your friends". When this is juxtaposed with his earlier statement in Lagos, that he will enrich his friends if he becomes President, we can safely conclude that he will be fully in the business of corruption if he becomes President.

Secondly, Atiku/Obi made it clear to Nigerians that conflict of interests as a public servant should be the norm as, during their tenures, they found absolutely nothing wrong then and today, with investing public funds in enterprises they own or their families own. For instance, Kadaria ran Peter Obi into a ditch when she asked him if his family was not enriched as a result of using public funds for his family business ‘NEXT’.

Thirdly, their claim on experience in running anything public or private cannot stand any act of scrutiny. The Presidential candidate, who is easily a major contributor to our huge unemployment problem today as a result of his corrupt privatisation programme, counts this failure as a huge experience and wants to repeat same if elected.

Finally, their proposed Agriculture Programme which they claim to have put together to lift majority of the people out of poverty is a version of what is already being implemented by the present government under the Anchors Borrowers Programme and the Government Enterprises and Empowerment Programmes.

After watching Atiku/Obi on that programme, it has become clear to all Nigerians that our public institutions and commonwealth would be in grave danger if left in the hands of these dodgy and questionable characters who have no morals and no scruples about using and misusing public funds for private gains.

Thank you.

FESTUS KEYAMO, SAN, FCIArb (UK)

Director, Strategic Communications,

APC Presidential Campaign Council,

(Official Spokesperson).

Like a snow ball rolling downhill, the number of endorsements being heaped on the President and his Vice, Prof. Osinbajo, as he goes about on his door to door campaign is growing exponentially.

On Wednesday, 30 January 2019, the supreme traditional ruler of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi gave his own endorsement to the candidates from the ruling party.

The Deji of Akure endorsed the duo when Vice President Osinbajo paid him a courtesy call at his palace in Akure, the capital of Ondo state accompanied by the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu.

In his speech, the Oba, while speaking to the Vice President’s entourage and his subjects present said “Everybody likes to be in a progressive place. Anyone who wants to be a progressive, hands up please. Vote for the people, we are all in the same boat.

“Look at how he (VP Osinbajo) is carrying out his door-to-door campaign. He doesn’t say we know we are going to win, even though by a big ratio but he doesn’t take his campaign for granted”.

“He is still going from door-to-door to tell the people what they will do. They want to tell the people their manifesto, to tell them that their government will do better. Yesterday the Afenifere endorsed them and Afenifere is the leader of Yorubas, so Akure should follow suit to.”

Afterwards the vice president continued his unique Family Chat, visiting the home of Florence Aladetoyinbo. He will make other stops in Ondo as he continues to interact with the people from one location to the next.

On Tuesday, Afenifere, the highest-ranking pan Yoruba group, endorsed the incumbent duo who are seeking re-election for their second term on the platform of the All Progressive Congress.

This was followed by that of Owa of Idanre, Oba Frederick Aroloye, Arubiefin III who proclaimed the second term bid was secured as the people of Idanre would be voting massively for the incumbent President and Vice President. He was quoted as saying “Go and write it down, you have won.”

*Is Russian meddling on the cards in Nigeria’s 2019 election?*

*By Bernard Oluwole/New Jersey*

The 2016 election in the United States opened my eyes to collusion and by collusion, I mean the ‘Russian Collusion’ that has led Special Counsellor Robert Mueller on an investigation. As an African American I’m seeing similar signs unravel in Nigeria and I think a collusion might on the cards.

That Atiku Abubakar, one of the presidential candidates, share the same lobbyist as President Donald Trump should be worrying to Nigerians but more disturbing is the fact that the same night that Abubakar slept at the Trump Hotel, Vice President Mike Pence was at the hotel.

That was not a coincidence in my books, it was well orchestrated by Brian Ballard, a well-known lobbyist and a long-standing Trump ally, there the collusion must have been agreed.

Fast forward to last week, the President of Nigeria for some reasons suspended the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the reaction of Abubakar and his party was startling. They decided to suspend their campaign. Who does that? Is the CJN a member of their party?

No, it only goes to show that he has been assured that even if he doesn’t campaign, he will win the election. You’re probably wondering, why I said that, the statement of the UK, US and EU after the suspension pointed to a collusion.

Following the official statements released by the US, UK and EU on the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, who has immediately been replaced by an acting CJN, one begins to see an all too familiar pattern.
The sovereignty of the Nigerian state is sacrosanct; hence this gang-up is not being convened in the best interest of Nigeria.

We are still watching the daily revelations coming out from the probe of Russian meddling and collusion in the US Presidential Elections of 2016 which produced Donald Trump as US President. For our ‘friends’ in the US, UK and EU, their stance clearly amounts to crying more than the bereaved.
They would not condone such infractions from their own judges, so it is baffling how they want to advise Nigeria to do the same.

Senior justices have been suspended and tried in American and British courts, but we never heard their outcry, why is it that Nigeria has suddenly become their favorite now that Onnoghen got suspended?

We know that Atiku desperately lobbied to get into the US using a PR firm that is loyal to Trump, so the swift alignment of the Trump administration that is mouthing the same words as the PDP is not surprising, millions of dollars are doing the talking here.

The UK government also tried its best to ensure safe passage to Atiku from UK to US but could not succeed until Ballard Partners were signed up to do the job. America should first take care of her domestic problems arising from the ongoing US government shutdown, before trying to pontificate on Nigerian matters. It would do well for the UK and EU to realize that the colonial era is long gone, and Nigeria is an independent nation. We need not cross any lines here.

This trend of events portrays a grand plan of interference and meddling in Nigerian affairs in order to effect a clandestine change of government by any means necessary.

Only the real voters of Nigeria have the right to decide who wins on February 16 and will get sworn in to occupy Aso Villa as from May 29, 2019.

*Bernard Oluwole is a political commentator and social activist*

TEXT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND
CULTURE, ALHAJI LAI MOHAMMED, IN ABUJA ON MONDAY, 28 JAN 2019

Gentlemen of the press, thank you for once again honouring our invitation.

2 As you would recollect, President Muhammadu Buhari last Friday
complied with the order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, directing
the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon Justice Walter
Onnoghen, pending the determination of the cases against him at the
Code of Conduct Tribunal and several fora relating to his alleged
breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

3. Since then, there have been widespread reactions from within and
outside the country. In particular, the opposition has latched on to
it, threatening fire and brimstone and concocting all sorts of
imaginary scenarios and generally muddying the waters. In what I will
call the theater of the absurd, the main opposition party, the PDP,
even suspended its electioneering campaign for 72 hours! Of course,
you must have seen my reaction to that. I said there is nothing to
suspend in a campaign that never took off in the first instance! So
much for the opposition's hysteria.

4. Today, I have called this press conference to set the records
straight and redirect the discourse. Contrary to what the opposition
and their ilk have been saying, this is not about the forthcoming
elections, neither does the suspension of the CJN signal the beginning
of dictatorship. President Buhari is an avowed democrat, and this he
has proven time and time again. This Administration stands firm on the
rule of law!

5. This whole issue is about the country's highest judicial officer,
the Chief Justice of Nigeria, being accused of a breach of the Code of
Conduct for Public Officers, and the legal and moral conundrum
surrounding that. It is about the suspicious transactions running into
millions of dollars to the suspended CJN's personal attacks, all
undeclared or improperly declared as required by law. It is about the
Hon. Justice Onnoghen himself admitting to the charges that he indeed
failed to follow the spirit and letter of the law in declaring his
assets, calling it a ‘mistake’. And it is about him refusing to take
responsibility, instead opting to put the entire judiciary on trial.
Please remember that Justice Onnoghen has been given
the opportunity of fair hearing, but he has been abusing his
position and the judicial process by filing frivolous applications
and even dodging service of process.


THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA
6. It is regrettable to note that the media, which should have led
the discourse, has not done so. In fact, a section of the media has
taken sides. Several newspapers have written editorials on this issue.
Some newspapers have employed rather crude and obnoxious language to
push forth their opinions, while others have been more tempered. But
curiously, none has written from a perspective that shows that they
understand the big picture.

7. What is the big picture? In the words of The Right Honourable Sir
Alfred Denning, or Lord Denning, then Lord Justice of the British
Court of Appeal, a judge should in his own character be beyond
reproach, or at any rate should have so disciplined himself that he is
not himself a breaker of the law. Still talking of the big picture,
some have suggested that the suspension of Justice Onnoghen is a
threat to our democracy or even the country's very existence. They are
wrong. Again, Lord Denning, himself quoting the words of Sydney Smith,
said: ''Nations fall when judges are unjust, because there is nothing
which the multitude think worth defending.'' Had the section of the
media that i referred to earlier understood the big picture, they
would have framed the debate differently, rather than work to inflame
passion and help those seeking to muddy the waters.

THE ROLES OF THE NJC AND THE CODE OF CONDUCT TRIBUNAL
8. It is unfortunate that in the ensuing debate, the talk about due
process has overshadowed the talk about the substance. Procedure
cannot or should not trounce substance. That brings me to the role of
the National Judicial Council (NJC). Some have argued that the Justice
Onnoghen issue should have been referred to the NJC to handle. They
would have been right if Justice Onnoghen had been accused of
professional misconduct, which is what is within the purview of the
NJC. The allegations against Justice Onnoghen go beyond professional
misconduct. It is the alleged breach of the Code of Conduct for Public
Officers. And only one body is statutorily empowered to deal with
this: The Code of Conduct Tribunal.

9. Interestingly, Justice Onnoghen himself has elucidated on this.
In various judgments, he upheld the provisions of the law concerning
the CCT. In one particular judgement he delivered on July 12, 2013,
Justice Onnoghen held that the CCT had EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION
(emphasis mine) to deal with all violations contravening any of the
provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau. Let me put this in a
layman's language: All breaches of the Code of Conduct for Public
Officers must be handled by the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Pure and
simple. In other words, Justice Onnoghen's judgement held that the
provisions “expressly ousted the powers of ordinary regular courts in
respect of such violations.”

10. In a case between Ismaeel Ahmed and Nasiru Ahmed, Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC), Chairman of the Kano state chapter of the
party, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which
has been reported by the media, Onnoghen, while interpreting Paragraph
12 of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as
regards CCT’s jurisdiction held that, "…the said paragraph 12 provides
as follows: ‘Any allegation that a public officer has committed a
breach of or has not complied with the provisions of this Code shall
be made to the Code of Conduct Bureau."

11. The judgement, which was delivered at the Supreme Court with suit
number 'SC.279/2012' before Justices Onnoghen and others, also held
that the provisions of the law are clearly unambiguous. Justice
Onnoghen said that the provisions are, "so construed literally meaning
that any breaches of any provisions of the said 5th schedule or
matters of noncompliance with any provisions of the Code shall be made
to the Code of Conduct Bureau that has established its Tribunal with
the exclusive jurisdiction to deal with any violations of any
provisions under the Code.''

12. Is anyone still in doubt that the CCT is the right court to try
the alleged breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers levied
against Justice Onnoghen? Is it not clear that challenging the
jurisdiction of the CCT to try him is an abuse of court process by
Justice Onnoghen?

13. As for those who argued that the CCT is wrong in ordering Justice
Onnoghen's suspension, are they aware that Justice Onnoghen himself
disagreed with them? In the judgement I referred to earlier, he wrote:
“The Tribunal to the exclusion of other courts is also empowered to
impose any punishments as specified under sub-paragraphs (2) (a), (b)
& (c) of paragraph 18 as provided in sub-paragraphs 3 and 4 of
paragraph 18 while appeals shall lie as of right from such decisions
to the Court of Appeal." In essence, the CCT is right to have directed
Justice Onnoghen's suspension, and the President did the right thing
by acting on the orders of the CCT. Needless to say that in many of
the cases of professional misconduct against judges that Justice
Onnoghen has presided over at the NJC, judges have been suspended
while still undergoing trial!

CONCLUSION
14. Gentlemen, from the foregoing, it is clear that:

a) Contrary to the cacophony of voices that have been muddying the
waters, the CCT was acting within its powers in ordering the
suspension of Justice Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria, and
President Muhammadu Buhari was right in carrying out the order.

b) The suspension of Justice Onnoghen is a consequence of his breach
of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers and has nothing to do with
the forthcoming elections, neither does it signify the onset of
dictatorship or tyranny as some have insinuated. It amounts to
irresponsible extrapolation to say that the suspension of Justice
Onnoghen is the onset of dictatorship.

c) A section of the media shirked their agenda-setting role by failing to
objectively lead the discourse on the issue of the allegation facing
Justice Onnoghen and his subsequent suspension. Certain editorials
crossed the acceptable limit of decent discourse, and did little or
nothing to enlighten the public on the issue at stake.

d) The opposition, in its reaction, is guilty of engaging in hysteria
and for overheating the polity. Conveniently, they have anchored their
failed campaign for the 2019 election on an issue that is totally
unrelated to the election. By their reaction, they have made their
tattered umbrella available for shielding alleged corrupt persons.
Their leopard can never change its spots: The PDP is corruption
personified and it's only reason for seeking a return to office is to
complete their looting of the national treasury. The attack dogs
unleashed by the opposition have been engaging in incitement and other
actions that can threaten law and order. There is no cause for alarm,
as the law enforcement agencies are alive to their responsibilities

e) The threat of mass action by some groups cannot undermine the
course of justice. More Nigerians are with us than are with them on
this issue, going by the feelers that we are getting from across the
country. Those who want to protest against the suspension of the
CJN should feel free to exercise their rights, within the limits of the law.

15. I thank you for your kind attention. I will now take questions
strictly related to the issues I have addressed

US, UK and the European Union are not in a position to recommend to Nigeria what is not acceptable in their countries nor in other advanced democracies, and if they cannot help the country in the fight against corruption, they should not worsen the situation with insidious comments.

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) said, in reaction to a coordinated statement by the trio on the suspension of Chief Justice of Nigeria Walter Onnoghen, that their position smacks of hypocrisy of the worst order.

In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said the advanced democracies cannot in one breadth claim to support Nigeria’s fight against corruption and in another criticise bold steps taken in the course of the fight.

it said: “Do they want us to remain ‘fantastically corrupt’, to borrow the offensive and odious words of former British Prime Minister David Cameron, or do they want us to move against those who are giving the country a bad reputation within the ambits of Nigerian laws?

“There is nowhere in the world where the head of a country’s judiciary would be found to have committed an offence like that of Justice Onnoghen and the government would look elsewhere.

“Just like the Presidency said in its clarification on the matter, the suspended CJN was not only found to have operated several secret domiciliary accounts with unexplained amount of money which he admitted in writing but claimed to have forgotten to declare ownership of the accounts.

“Investigators also found multiple deposits of US $10,000 in some of those accounts on the same day which Justice Onnoghen has no plausible explanation for.

“This is clearly an offence under any jurisdiction, especially in advanced democracies like in the EU and the United States and there is no way the authorities in these countries would not have taken the type of action our President took.

“We are aware that, in the US, a West Virginia Supreme Court Judge Allen Loughry was suspended in June 2018 over allegations that he lied as well as used his public office for personal gains.

“India, Kenya and Malaysia are also known to have suspended Judges found to have been involved in bribery and other acts of corruption without any of these governments as much as batting an eyelid in reaction”.
BMO added that inspite of the evidence at his disposal, President Buhari did not immediately move against Justice Onnoghen until he received a valid order issued by the Code of Conduct Tribunal which is constitutionally empowered to try public officers who violate provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau on asset declaration.

It said: “What the US and the others may not have realised is that the suspended CJN had built a hedge around himself to frustrate his trial, including the indefinite postponement of the meeting of the National Judicial Council (NJC) ostensibly to avert any consideration of the matter.

“Coming at a time Nigeria is battling to shed the toga of corruption, these countries that pressurised us to set up anti-graft agencies about twenty years ago should be hailing the President’s move rather than reading subterranean meanings to it.

“We believe that it would be careless of President Buhari not to have acted on the information at his disposal, as well as a valid court order, on a tainted Chief Justice”.

As for suggestions that the suspension of Justice Onnoghen may have some negative effects on the forthcoming election, BMO said nothing could be more preposterous.

“There is nowhere in Nigeria’s electoral laws that links the suspended CJN or any of his colleagues to the forthcoming general election or the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headed by Professor Mahmud Yakubu.

“He also has no direct link to the electoral process or any of the activities leading up to the election and would only be involved alongside the Supreme Court as the final arbiter in a Presidential election dispute”, it said

PRESS RELEASE

PDP's Suspension of Campaign Over Onnoghen, Face-saving Measure - Minister

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
described as a face-saving measure the decision by the PDP to pull the
brakes on its electioneering campaign over Justice Walter Onnoghen's
suspension, saying the PDP's campaign never gained traction in the
first instance.

Responding to reporters’ question in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital,
on Saturday, on the suspension of the PDP's campaign, the Minister
said: ''Which Campaign? Their campaign was over a long time ago. There
is nothing to suspend. We said it that their campaign had floundered.
You can now see. What they are doing now is looking for a face-saving
way out of a dead and buried campaign.''

He wondered why the PDP is crying more than the bereaved, and asked
the opposition party whether Justice Onnoghen is one of its members.

“And in any event, let’s ask them this question: Is there something
that they know that we don’t know? Is there something between them and
the suspended CJN? Otherwise, we did not see why they should suspend
their campaign anyway, but I can understand that their campaign was
bound to end this way,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

He said while Nigerians have been trooping out in large numbers
wherever the President’s campaign ship berths, the PDP supporters have
been dwindling by the day.

On the outcry by some people and organizations over Justice Onnoghen's
suspension, the Minister said it’s troubling that those who are crying
foul over the suspension of the CJN have actually ignored the fact
that a serving Chief Justice not only amassed millions of dollars in
his account, but admitted that he forgot to declare same in his Assets
Declaration Form.

“For anybody who read Mr. President’s address yesterday, two things
stood out. The first is that additional evidence has just been
revealed that the suspended CJN refused to declare millions of dollars
in his possession. More worrisome is the fact that when the suspended
CJN was confronted with the petition that he failed to declare his
assets, he added that it was a mistake, that he forgot.

“Now, I would have been a happier person if the same people who are
now crying tyranny and dictatorship could really address the issue raised
by the President, in his address on Friday, that addition investigations have
revealed that several millions of dollars were found in the CJN's account.
And when the CJN was confronted with the original allegation, he
admitted that he forgot to make full declaration, and that it was a mistake,''
he said.

On the constitutionality of the CJN's suspension, he faulted those
claiming that the President acted outside of the Constitution, adding
that in suspending Justice Onnoghen, the President merely carried out
an order of a court of competent jurisdiction directing him to suspend
the Chief Justice pending the final determination of the cases against
him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal


Segun Adeyemi
SA To Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Ilorin
26Jan2019

President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to suspend the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, signifies a conscious shift of policy to fast track the fight against, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has said.
This ,the group explained is because the suspended CJN had built a hedge around himself to continue in office in spite of his written admission of hiding several domiciliary accounts with suspicious lodgements of funds believed to be proceeds of corruption.
BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that President Buhari had no alternative but to respect a valid suspension order issued by the Code of Conduct Tribunal pending final determination of the case against Justice Onnoghen.
“Resignation was the only meaningful option for the suspended Chief Justice. He is indeed, a confessed felon after claiming in one breadth to have made a mistake and also forgot to have properly declared his assets in line with provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau for public officials when confronted by investigators.
“Just like the President said in his speech at the swearing in of the Acting CJN, someone with a moral authority so wounded by serious charges of corruption by his own written admission ought to have stepped down on his own volition.
“But in the character of tainted high office holders in Nigeria, Justice Onnoghen preferred to lash on to the rigmarole of legal technicalities as well as a desperately shallow opposition party that is on the lookout for anything to use to cast aspersions on President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to shore up its flagging campaign and an apparent failed effort to market a presidential candidate with questionable moral standing.
“The suspended CJN forgot, as usual, that he once ruled on a case in his capacity of a Supreme Court judge that the Code of Conduct Tribunal has the exclusive jurisdiction to deal with any violation of provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau notwithstanding the status of the public officer in question.”it said.
The group pointed out that the CJN’s suspension is in line with the President’s vow to respect the rule of law as demonstrated in this case by the order issued by the Tribunal on January 23.
It said: “President Buhari’s action cannot be said to be unilateral because it was based on the order of a duly constituted tribunal and it will pave way for the case against the suspended CJN to be heard on merit rather than a situation where it would be stalled by unnecessary judicial subterfuge which are associated with high profile cases in Nigeria.
“We consider the indefinite postponement of the statutory meeting of the Nigerian Judicial Council NJC by Justice Onnoghen as one of those unbridled manipulation of the judicial process. The postponement of the NJC meeting is a brazen abuse of office by Justice Onnoghen to prevent the other members of the Council from intervening in the Asset Declaration scandal which may either lead to his being suspended or being asked to recuse himself while the other members take a second look at the implication of the grave corruption allegation hanging on the head of the country’s judiciary.
“So, from whichever angle one looks at it, it would be difficult to fault the President’s action with all the facts at his disposal as well as the CCT suspension order”
BMO consequently urges Nigerians across the country to rally around the President at this critical time and ignore attempts by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential candidate to obfuscate the issue with a view to scoring political points.
“No one should be surprised that Atiku and his corruption-loving party would jump into the fray in a public show of defence of the suspended Chief Justice as it is in line with their tendencies to defend the worst forms of value erosion that continue to assail our national sensitivity in recent times. It tells you all you need to know about a Presidential candidate that has vowed to enrich his friends obviously through corrupt means if (God forbids) he becomes President
But there is no way President Buhari, with his disdain for corrupt acts, would pretend that all is well in a situation where the head of the nation’s judiciary would have undeclared sums of money running into millions of dollars in accounts hidden from public scrutiny.
“We urge Nigerians across divides to show support and solidarity with the President in his bid to fast track the fight against corruption no matter whose ox is gored,' it said

THE CASE BETWEEN THE PDP AND CHIEF JUSTICE(?) WALTER ONNOGHEN:

The way and manner the entire coalition of thieves and crooks in Nigeria led by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) blew their cool and even went off the rails in rabid anger over the timely and legitimate exposure of the suspicion of corruption surrounding the declaration of the assets of Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen is understandable. It is understandable, especially if you have not forgotten the morbid, pungent, unpalatable history of the PDP and their satellite groups and personalities who look upon the rogue party as a source of inspiration for their vainness, fickleness and fecklessness!

Looking at the comical noises, rants and even threats coming from the gangsters that rule over the PDP over the Justice(?) Walter Onnoghen assets affair, you could be forgiven if you think the charge or accusation of false declaration of assets against a man who heads the country's judicial arm of government is a moral virtue worthy of honour and emulation. As a matter of fact, the sons and daughters of these PDP 'thieftains' listening to them or reading about how their fathers and mothers are fuming with rage and even frothing in their mouths in opposition to the noble quest for the Chief Justice of Nigeria to come clean on his suspicious assets could think that it is a badge of honour for a public official to deceive the government and the public by falsely declaring their assets!

Well, but to we Nigerians who know and understand the gut-wrenching history of the PDP, especially their well documented story of how they plundered and stagnated the growth and prosperity of this country, we know that they will try anything ignoble to jump themselves back to power to continue from where they stopped in their looting enterprise. And that's how the story got out from certain credible sources that the petition to the Code of Conduct Tribunal against Justice(?) Walter Onnoghen was actually a checkmate on the PDP camorra's plan against the man!

Unknown to most Nigerians, the PDP camorra has done an extensive investigation on Justice(?) Onnoghen and discovered that he has such infractions concerning his assets. They confronted him with documented facts in their possession, and then tabled their offer and demands with the threat that failure to accede to their demands will be tantamount to having the facts in their possession published on social media and other media outlets. He balked, just like every other person without integrity will.

There the PDP camorra got their mouthwatering deal that the 2019 elections tribunals will be set up in their favour, especially the presidential election tribunal alongside other key National Assembly seats they are not sure of winning. The ultimate promise was that if the presidential election case comes up to the Supreme Court, Justice(?) Walter Onnoghen will lead other justices of the court to outrightly overturn the election results and award victory to the PDP on technicalities and nothing else will be done since it is the highest court of the land with the last ruling over any matter!

There you are. That's PDP's kind of democracy, and that's how they have been practising it since 2003 till 2011, for we already know that the global and domestic forces that were arrayed against them in 2015 made it surely impossible for them to perpetrate their warped version of democracy. And that is why it is always strange ,comical and equally annoying when you hear them screaming that democracy is being threatened whenever a high profile crook is being brought to book. Their warped version of democracy is, thieves and all manner of crooks occupying or have occupied high positions in government should not be called to account over anything. Remember how they even said the search on Atiku Abubakar's private jet was a threat to democracy?

Just in case you don't know, it is worthwhile to now know that the PDP camorra have done all their research and permutations regarding the 2019 elections and realized that they will not win, and one of their famed Dubai strategies was the use of clandestine investigations and blackmails over key personnel that are vital in the entire electoral process in order to get victory through the back door. Their reckoning was, if hacking and fake news cannot give them victory, then blackmail could. Hence the Walter Onnoghen affair that has now gone sour, which explains their bitter anger and threats to the corporate existence of the country using Niger Delta terrorists!

Well, unknown to them, a timely leak of their plot that necessitated the petition to the Code of Conduct Tribunal blew their whole agenda apart. Now that the secret they have over this fickle and feckless Chief Justice has been made public, their hold over him has become as useless as the uncompleted headquarters of the PDP. They cannot blackmail him again since everybody now knows he has criminally deceived the government and the public. The only struggles this fickle and feckless Judge has now are the struggle between himself and his conscience, and the struggle between himself and the Nigerian public. He has lost all credibility and honour. If he does not resign honourably, every judicial pronouncement that comes from his mouth will be scrutinized with more suspicion than a jealous wife scrutinizes her husband's shirts and pockets for traces of lipsticks, female perfumes and condoms!

What is yet to be known is how long they may have been blackmailing this fickle and feckless Chief Justice, considering the suspicious manner in which the Supreme Court under the leadership of this fickle and feckless Judge threw out the fraudulent assets declaration case of Senator Bukola Saraki who is now the Director General of the Alhaji Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign!

Nigerians should recall a PREMIUM TIMES investigative report last year about how the corrupt leadership of the National Assembly were blackmailing the Minister of Finance (at that time) Mrs Kemi Adeosun, and were extorting her of billions of naira. They knew she had a fake NYSC certificate and were using the knowledge of that fact to loot the government through her office. She only got her freedom from those buccaneers after the same PREMIUM TIMES exposed her forged NYSC certificate and she left her office. Now, with the Walter Onnoghen affair, nobody knows how many other top people this PDP camorra is blackmailing but let it be known that as hardened criminals, they will continue to play rough! We have to be rougher and tougher. And it will not be out of place for Nigerians to now demand that all the judgments made by the Supreme Court under the leadership of this fickle and feckless Judge be subjected to judicial reviews. Who knows, perhaps certain rulings may have been tweaked through blackmails.

Now you know why they are so mad that Justice(?) Walter Onnoghen has been exposed.

The script is being acted in sequence and sustained by different actors- the general plot is to get President Muhammadu Buhari out of office. The plot started with the Shiite's daring masochism with the Nigerian Army, followed by the IPOB imbroglio and then the daring affront from the Niger Delta Avengers. While these flashlights of attrition were going on, the echoes of restructuring reverberated with cacophonous lightening. Almost every opinion moulders woke up with the singsong of restructuring. With Buhari in power, the country needed to be restructured, they fumed. Just as this sponsored dummy was fizzling to a vain crescendo, another antic surfaced, this time a purported fight between Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari- it took Asiwaju's blanket salvo to end the rumoured bad blood.

With the above-mentioned antics not getting the desired lethal effect, they found solace in the begging and itchy fingers of online columnists who were cheaply bought to write in venom. Overnight, teachers of grammar became bashers of PMB. The stranded professors got willing companions in other disgruntled elements.

With series of failed onslaught, the sponsors of destabilization lured some ferry pastors and Islamic preachers to incite and pour venom on the Nigerian state. Just when Christians and Muslims came close to rising up against themselves, they suddenly realized that it's foolish for brothers to fight against themselves. Shamed were the belligerent shamed as common sense prevailed over bigotry.

Then came the tool of mobilization against the state is the use of musical artistes. And they got hold of innocent Tuface Idibia whose innocence was vulnerably exploited. While Audu Maikori was crying genocide, Tuface was crying hardship. What a coincidental advocacy at the same time?

Tragically, surfaced another dangerous dimension to the onslaught, the narrative of gunmen and the politicization of the senseless herdsmen killings in Benue state. Instead of looking for solutions for this pogrom, the altar became centres of agitation. The cry of annihilation pervaded the air, shout of islamization raid the air and then come the verdict of the man next to God- Olusegun Obasanjo. After this, another script surfaced and as usual, it kissed the dust, as Nigerians gave no hoot to the mischief of the egoistic man. The can of mischief is loaded and inexhaustible but while they plan, they left out the master planner who watches in majesty the infantile treachery of mortals.

The stunts continue to fail, as the mischief planners continue to unleash their antics, from nowhere, Buhari of Nigeria became Jibrin of Sudan as they argued and swore to high heavens that the president died in London and was cloned and imported home by the cabal. Even highly educated folks bought this balderdash as they supported their claims with all shades of defences. When this failed, they hatched a new song, this time, the man was no longer in charge of the Nigerian situation but mercilessly controlled by the cabals. Who are the cabal and what have the cabals influenced that has affected national development? The man asked and still begging for answers that aren’t forthcoming.

The latest and the last of the oppositions’ antics are the vituperations of the former generals. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is ranting and writing letters, Chief Theophilus Danjuma is inciting people against the president and the other old guards are mobilizing against Buhari while the masses that are the beneficiaries of Buhari's policies are doing everything to have him re-elected. And Nigerians are saying ‘Never again shall we be dictated to by the grips of those who say they are the landlords of Nigeria.

This is a chronicle of the antics used thus far by the agent of destabilization. You can choose to see sense in them or see the rubbish in them but as usual, I chose to always write from the prism of common sense.

Traducelly musing
Abdullahi O.Haruna Haruspice

COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS (CAM) BILL PASSES THIRD READING AT THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES



… seen as representing boldest reform in Nigeria’s corporate environment in almost 30 years



Tuesday 22nd January, 2019 – The Companies Allied Matters (CAM) Bill has passed the third reading at the Federal House of Representatives. The Bill, which passed by the Senate in 2018 is the largest business reform bill to be passed in Nigeria in over 28 years, as it represents the re-enactment of the existing Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990 (CAMA).



The CAM Bill signifies meaningful progress towards aligning business practices, which had been heavily constrained by several provisions in the old 1990 Act, with global standards as it speaks to all matters affecting a company, from incorporation to winding up and insolvency. The Bill directly affects the influx of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Nigeria due to its relevance to the ease of doing business and investing in Nigeria.



According to the legislative brief of the new Bill, it has new features that will make doing business in Nigeria a lot easier. “In order for Nigeria to improve it’s standing in World Bank Doing Business (WBDB) Ranking Index, it needs to improve on its ease of establishing and running businesses and bring its business legal regime in tandem with modern advances,” the legislative brief explained.



A key thrust of the Bill is therefore aimed at simplifying the process of starting and growing a business in Nigeria by abolishing the requirement for a company to have authorized share capital, enabling a single person to form a private company, introducing for the first time a business rescue process, and introducing the concept of limited liability partnership.



It also ensures more appropriate regulation for micro, small and medium scale enterprises, by making it optional for smaller companies to have a company secretary, comply with accounting requirements, and for one-man and small companies to hold an annual general meeting, as well as introducing separate models of articles of association for private companies.



In line with Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) mandate, this re-enactment is a strong demonstration of the Administration’s commitment to improving the business environment, and ultimately Nigeria's competitiveness. The passage of the Bill was promoted by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and was made possible through the collaborative efforts of several public and private sector stakeholders supported by the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES), including the Senate, the House of Representatives, the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER), the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, and a number of leading commercial law firms in Nigeria.



Speaking on this positive development, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, the Secretary of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, stated “This is a significant hurdle crossed in our efforts to help businesses grow in Nigeria, and in driving our Ease of Doing Business ranking as a nation.

“We congratulate every Nigerian on this achievement, and we applaud the several partners that came together in partnership to make this work. We look forward to receiving the Bill for Mr President’s assent, and we are confident of the benefits this will bring to businesses to drive exponential growth in the next few years.”



Some other benefits of the landmark reform Bill include the promotion of policies that will enhance the regulatory environment for growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), reduce entry barriers for smaller businesses, enhance transparency and shareholder engagement, align regulatory frameworks with international best practice for competitiveness, and increase the efficiency of the regulatory process in line with today’s realities.



Further benefits are faster and cheaper registration of companies limited by guarantee, easier authentication of documents, prevention of asset shielding, and combating money laundering, terrorism financing or other illicit or criminal activities using companies as vehicles; among others.





Signed

Dr Jumoke Oduwole

SSA Industry, Trade & Investment to the President (Office Of The Vice President)

If Farook Kperoogi was a trader, his store would always have one police man and a customer inside, at every point in time. Why? He would have sold fake items, and the unsuspecting customers would have returned with the force of law to demand a refund and call for the shutdown of his store. Worse, if he was a pharmacist, he would have been responsible for the death of a great percentage of those who make the error of patronising him.

Farook Kperoogi is a trader indeed. But his stock in trade is not the sale of household items, pharmaceuticals or general goods. He is a merchant of fake news. Of lies and of stories that have no place in reality.

Farook Kperoogi is notorious for coming up with figments of his imagination and ascribing the status of fact to them, as if they were indeed so. He does not spare his unsuspecting readers in his most recent piece: A VOTE FOR APC ISN`T A VOTE FOR BUHARI.

In this ridiculous piece he points to the existence of cabals who he claims are stealing the common wealth of the nation. In his customary fashion, he shows no evidence, and provides no proofs. This has often made many question that he is a so-called lecturer. Shouldn’t a lecturer know better that you do not make assertions like this without at least any supporting evidence?

I have stumbled on some items of commentaries online on his lecturing by his students in Kennesaw University, and their reviews have helped me understand the absurdity that he is. They have most times noted that the Associate Professor is out of touch with reality and forces his wrong opinions on them.

In this ignorant piece that he attempts to sell, Farook makes an attack on the Vice President. A laughable one. He forgets that the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has his credentials of integrity and unquestionable honesty intact. All times Professor Osinbajo has been accused of a wrong, all times it has turned out false. This cannot be said of Farook who at every time he has put his pen to paper and churned out half baked lies, he has been ridiculed and embarrassed with facts to the contrary.

He claims the Vice President is a mere figure-head. A man who teaches comprehension and communication and sees all the activities the Vice President is engaged in, yet calls him a mere figure-head is indeed a trader of fake news.

To start with, compare the Vice President with former Vice Presidents and the roles they played in office. Professor Osinbajo has stood out in terms of his active de facto participation in governance, in the economy and even in politics. It is no news that he is the only Vice President Nigeria has ever had who has acted as President, and exercised those powers as if he were the President with no shortcomings or setbacks - from the President or in the quality of the decisions he made.

As Vice President, Professor Yemi plays the constitutional and critical role of heading Nigeria’s economy. And he has done this fantastically well. He is credited for being the mind behind taking Nigeria out of recession by leading an economic management team that came up with the unconventional policies that has put Nigeria on steady growth.

He is actively leading Nigeria’s journey to diversifying the economy through the route of improving our non-oil sector growth and creating inclusiveness for the poor. The poor today are being given an opportunity to come out of poverty and take advantage of sustainable opportunities that would enable them create wealth.

Vice President Osinbajo is known to manage the Social Investment Programmes: Nigeria’s most ambitious, most credible, and most effective Social Investment attempt. It is recorded that over ten million Nigerians are in one way or the other benefitting from the programmes.

If Farook was an honest man, he would at least have put these in the front burner when he scribbled the insult of an article he penned. A compulsive liar and an evil one too. 

He also puts on the table some events that he claims to have taken place in the villa and says they indeed happened. He is obsessed with the existence of a cabal.

Asides the fact that these events exist only in the imaginations of Farook, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo does not just enjoy the respect, loyalty and honour of the friends of the President, his inner circle and his appointees, Osinbajo also enjoys the support, respect and regard of President Buhari - who has said this and shown this time without number.

The Buhari - Osinbajo relationship is blessed and orchestrated divinely - it is the most proactive, balanced and in fact the best synergy between a President and his Vice we have ever seen.

The likes of Kperoogi, the bitter rotten lemons, who are morose when good things happen may continue to sell their fake goods and fake products to unsuspecting victims. But like all fake items, they do not last, they cause a rumble in the tummy, and they are thrown away. Nigerians are wiser, they do not buy nonsense anymore.

Nathaniel C. Adoji

HOW ATIKU SPENT $4.8 MILION DOLLARS TO SECURE WAIVER TO ENTER AMERICA, THAT MADE ZERO IMPACT ON HIS INTEGRITY AND PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

An insider source very close to Senator Bukola Saraki, the Senate President and the Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation has revealed how Senator Saraki engaged some American and other foreign Lobbyists to secure entry for Atiku Abubakar into America. Alhaji Atiku indicted by the American Senate for corrupt practices, who could not travel to United States of America for over a decade following intelligence reported that he was on the wanted list in America for various degrees of corruption offences was able to find himself into America for a less than 50-hours visit.

According to the source who preferred not to be named, he said Senator Saraki got some lobbyists who explored some loopholes in International Law and America’s Policy on Non-Intervention (Non-Interference) with political activities of foreign countries. The source said it was a very high level and secret arrangement, even most of the leaders of the Atiku Campaign Organisation and the Peoples Democratic Party were out of the picture.

The source said: “America has this policy that prohibits the country from interfering with political activities of other countries. The lobbyists simply put up well articulated argument which made it seem that America’s refusal to allow Atiku entry into America at this moment was already providing an advantage to the All Progressives Congress (APC)”. He said, in the lobbyists’ opinion, “any action of America that confers an advantage to a political party amounts to interference in the electoral process.”

It was based on this argument that Atiku Abubakar was given a waiver to enter into America and the waiver was for 6months. The entry was however subjected to so many restrictions, one of which was that Atiku could not stay in America for more that 7days on the entry within the waiver period. He added, “Atiku was prohibited from having any communication with any member of the American Government, whether of the executive or the legislature. He also signed 24 hours surveillance watch on him while in America”.

Independent investigation revealed that America is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention and Interference in the Domestic Affairs of States (UNGA Resolution 2131 (XX) of 1965. The resolution has formed the basis for the relationship between so many member states including America. In international law, the principle of non-intervention is not limited to the prohibition of the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of a state, but also includes interference on the political independence of any state. The principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of States also signifies that a State should not otherwise intervene in a dictatorial way in the internal affairs and electoral process of other States.

You would recall that weeks before Atiku Abubakar was granted waiver to enter into America, Mr. Russell Brooks, the Public Affairs Officer at the US Consulate General Lagos, was on the news to say that America would continue to remain neutral and do everything not to be seen to prefer any candidate. He said: “We are not favouring or supporting any candidate. It is up to the Nigerian people to decide. Our candidate is the process. The process should be free and fair, it should be a non-violent process. I am not talking of any plus or minus of any candidate, we are not favouring any candidate. We are not trying to influence the success of any candidate. That is not our role.”

The source made a rather more shocking revelation when he said that “the lobbyists charged $4m USD. The facilitators that link them to the lobbyists charged $800,000 USD”

Even though the National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has described Atiku’s visit to United States of America as “political milestone achievement”, however the dominant public opinion is that it made zero impact on Atiku’s integrity or on his political campaign. The truth remains that should Atiku Abubakar lose in his presidential bid, he would automatically lose the privilege and waiver that got him into America after a decade of ban.

As an APC supporter puts it succinctly: “Alhaji Atiku is simply running the election to acquire diplomatic immunity to shield him from pending danger. It is the duty of Nigerians to stop him from acquiring that immunity and protection from persecution”.

Modupe Abiola
Ontario, Canada

Sunday, January 20, 2019


PRESS STATEMENT BY APC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COUNCIL

ON

ATIKU’S CLANDESTINE VISIT TO THE U.S

In our press release issued on Sunday, December 30, 2018, titled “WHEN THE THIEF IS SHOUTING THIEF”: THE CASE OF ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR”, we correctly predicted as follows: “By running for President of Nigeria, Atiku intends to get some immunity from prosecution. Already he is hoping to obtain a visa to visit the US, as a guest of the State department, a concession that the US will grant to a Presidential candidate of Africa’s biggest Nation”.

Therefore, we were not surprised by his visit to the U.S. For us, this visit is really a non-event considering the issues involved in the forthcoming election. However, we have bad news for those who think this is a momentous event for Atiku Abubakar: the visit was nothing but a downright catastrophe because rather than dispel the fact of indictments hanging over his head, it further confirms and reinforces those facts for the following reasons:

(1) The visit had all the trappings of a fugitive sneaking into America under a “special diplomatic waiver”. For the candidate of the major opposition party in Nigeria, it is an absolute disaster that the visit was not announced ahead of time in Nigeria, with his programmes and itinerary clearly spelt out, the decent and customary minimum standard of such visits. This culminated in his close aides issuing conflicting statements about the visit when he was already on his way there. In fact, one of them called Paul Ibe actually spoke to the Press that his principal was nowhere near America! Such was the secrecy of the planning and execution of that visit.

(2) It is shameful that a presidential candidate of a major opposition party in Africa’s most populous country would visit America, and the international press was kept in the dark: There was NO SINGLE press conference with the array of international media and correspondents required for such ‘high-profile’ visit. Atiku knows he has no moral stamina to withstand the avalanche of hard questions bordering on his sordid past in America. In fact, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claims he visited the Voice of America (VOA) but only did two carefully-packaged interviews with the Hausa service and the English to Africa program - platforms that have always been available to him back home. How strange! In fact, both the Twitter handle (@VOANews) and official website of VOA did not mention any such visit of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to their station. For news hounds, you would agree with us that such an ‘important personality’ cannot walk into a news premises without reporters swooping on him. Whatever he went to do in the premises of the VOA must have been a carefully-arranged private visit for the photo-ops, which was intended to scam Nigerians. What more evidence do we need of a “sneak-in-sneak-out” arrangement than this?.

(3) For a candidate who claims he wants to “get Nigeria working again” (a meaningless phrase) to sneak into America without meeting major players in private businesses is a curiosity and an indication that we are dealing with a candidate with a dodgy and questionable character. He claims he went to the U.S Chamber of Commerce, which is supposed to be a business federation. Again, the Twitter handle (@USChamber) and the website of the organization make no mention of the visit of such an ‘important personality’ to them. Maybe their famous American lobbyist on a salary of N9million per month can help them ‘do something’ about this after this press statement.

(4) It is also an anomaly that the candidate of the major opposition party in Nigeria sneaked into America and did not meet large sections of political leaders of similar ideologies and persuasions towards which he claims to be inclined. For all his claim to be going to America to meet “U.S Government officials”, he only succeeded in meeting a certain “Congressman Smith”, who is the equivalent of a member of the House of Representatives in Nigeria. You would agree with us that as dignified and respected as the office of a Member of the House of Representatives is, an important personality cannot come to Nigeria on an official visit and claim he has met the “Nigerian government officials” after he pays a private visit to that Member. For all we know, the Congressman Smith may just be a private friend of Dr. Bukola Saraki or Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. That reminds us of Atiku’s famous legislator friend he threw under the bus, Williams Jefferson, who taught us how to hide laundered money ( which was meant for Atiku Abubakar) in the deep freezer when the cops came knocking on his door!

In all, it is very obvious now that the so-called American trip was a desperate trip for photo-ops. Throughout the trip, Atiku Abubakar looked cagey, frightened and on edge. We note the close support always provided by Senate President Bukola Saraki like a comforting guardian angel. The visit and arrangements smack of things local yahoo yahoo boys do to scam their victims. It is utterly disgusting and puerile that it has been brought into a serious political contest.

Rather than being the highpoint of his campaign, the American visit is indeed the lowest watermark of Atiku Abubakar’s campaign. It was a political and P.R disaster. The statements he released from there only to the Nigerian Press back home that he intends to alienate other countries and do business with the U.S is actually the antithesis to our policy of non-alignment.

For the information of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his handlers, Nigerians know that Nigeria is already working again for everyone and not for a few. As confirmed by him in a town-hall meeting a few days before his disastrous trip to the U.S, he said he wants to “get Nigeria working again” only for few of his friends who he claims he wants to make rich. If he cannot get them rich now from his private businesses, it is obvious that he is referring to the use of public funds to make his friends rich. Nigerians should judge for themselves whether this is the type of President they want.

Finally, whoever advised Atiku Abubakar to undertake that trip to America just destroyed his entire campaign and exposed him for who he is – a questionable character who has continued to leave huge questions over his suitability for the highest office of the land and as such cannot be trusted by the Nigerian people.

Thank you.



FESTUS KEYAMO, SAN, FCIArb (UK)

Director, Strategic Communications,
APC Presidential Campaign Council.
(Official Spokesperson).

The visit of the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar to the United States has not changed the material fact of his indictment by the US Congress, according to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO).
It said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that the former Vice President’s eventual entry into the country after a 12-year travel ban cannot negate the US Congressional report that named him in one of four notorious cases of money laundering in the world.
“The2010 report titled ‘Keeping foreign corruption out of the US’ clearly linked the convicted American Congressman Williams Jefferson to Atiku Abubakar who was described as ‘a high-ranking official in Nigeria's executive branch who had a spouse in Potomac, Maryland’ in a bribery scheme meant to influence business contracts with African countries
“It also noted that Atiku’s fourth wife Jennifer Douglas Abubakar helped her husband bring over $40m in suspect funds into the US including at least $1.7m in bribe payments from Siemens AG, a German corporation, and over $38m from little known offshore corporations.
“Jefferson and Siemens who were technically the former Vice President’s co-conspirators in the deal were convicted and Jefferson went to jail while his sealed indictment had been intact since 2010”,the group said
BMO also said it is convinced that the PDP Presidential candidate has made some promises to his American lobbyists to facilitate the visit
“Based on the former Vice President’s antecedents as attested to by his former Principal, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerians should not be surprised to hear that Atiku may have agreed to trade off some interests and values that President Muhammadu Buhari had been protecting in exchange for temporary reprieve.
“It is a fact that the US President Donald Trump with his ‘America First’ mantra had not been too comfortable with Africa’s booming relations with China with Nigeria as arrowhead and may be willing to do business with anyone that will boost his country’s interest even to the detriment of their own country.
“The world has seen how Trump had been reluctant to take a hard-line stance against Saudi Arabia over ‘Kashoggi murder’ because of his close business link with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman”,it said
The pro-Buhari group however noted that the visit did not catch it by surprise as it had revealed in November last year that the PDP and its Presidential candidate had secured the services of Brian Ballard, a US lobbyist with close links to President Donald Trump, to facilitate the entry visa for millions of dollars.
“We said back then that even if Trump’s friend convinced the US authorities to clear the path for Atiku to finally enter the US, it won’t clear the former Vice President of the corruption scandals that have over the years stuck to him.
“We believe that Nigerians are not prepared to easily forget how the PDP Presidential candidate’s name featured in high profile sleaze probes including that of the Senate on the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF) where he was indicted of diverting $125m during his 8-year tenure as Vice President”

In BMO’s view, not even a close ally of Trump can wipe clean a slate of corruption that took years of intense begging for his former principal to reluctantly accept his apology but for which Obasanjo still wants him to seek the forgiveness of Nigerians.

Saturday, January 19, 2019

PRESS STATEMENT BY APC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COUNCIL:
WHY PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI DID NOT ATTEND THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE ORGANISED BY THE NIGERIA ELECTION DEBATE GROUP AND THE BROADCASTING ORGANISATIONS OF NIGERIA

The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who is also the APC Presidential Candidate in the forthcoming Presidential Election, President Muhammadu Buhari, could not attend the Presidential Debate organised by the Nigeria Election Debate Group and the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria which held today, Saturday, January 19, 2019 for the following reasons:

Firstly, out of several opportunities afforded our candidate to interact with the Nigerian people directly by different organisations, our presidential candidate has taken full advantage of another town-hall meeting organized by another group which held on Wednesday, January 16, 2019. He was also joined at that town-hall meeting by our Vice-Presidential candidate who is also the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. Nigerians from all walks of life who were physically present and through on-line platforms asked uncensored questions which were adequately answered. It was also transmitted live by various broadcast networks in Nigeria.

In addition, the busy and hectic official and campaign schedules of Mr. President clashed with this programme. Today, Mr. President commissioned the Baro Inland Water Port in Niger State and campaigned in Niger and Plateau States where his time was over-stretched by the tumultuous and mammoth crowds in both States, (as seen by Nigerians on live television) and only returned to Abuja late this evening.

Whilst we thank the organisers for the invitation, we want to assure Nigerians that we shall continue to hold these debate groups and Nigerians in high esteem which our candidate has demonstrated during past election debates when he honoured similar invitations. Nigerians will also recall that a few weeks ago, our Vice-Presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, also attended the debate organized by the same organisations.

Lastly, we note the statement of the candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who actually came for the event and left the venue when he did not see Mr. President, who is our candidate. According to him, he would not want to “attack” Mr. President in his absence.

It should now be obvious to Nigerians that for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the PDP, this election is all about attacking the person and programmes of Mr. President and not about proffering their own solutions to the problems they created during their sixteen years of misrule, maladministration and looting of the nation’s resources. When they cannot see President Buhari to attack, the content of their campaign becomes hollow, empty and “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”. Now that Atiku Abubakar had a unique opportunity to explain to Nigerians his own vision and mission without a President Buhari in the picture, he ran away. Afterall, he has his own eight years of crass and grand corruption as Vice President to defend before the Nigerian people.

On February 16, 2019 we urge Nigerians to demonstrate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the PDP, through their votes, how empty indeed their campaign has always been and to vote massively for President Muhammadu Buhari and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN who have started the rebuilding process of our great nation.

Thank you.

FESTUS KEYAMO,SAN, FCIArb (UK)
Director, Strategic Communications,
APC Presidential Campaign Council.
(Official Spokesperson).

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) says it has unearthed plans by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential Candidate Atiku Abubakar to rig next month’s Presidential election.

A part of the plan “to subvert the will of the people”, according to the group, is PDP’s recent recruitment of a former INEC Chairman known to have presided over the worse election in Nigeria’s recent political history.

BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, that the rigging plot also involves spending huge sums of money on police personnel and election officials in many parts of the country.

“With their campaign daily losing steam, PDP has also resorted to accusing everyone directly or remotely connected to President Muhammadu Buhari of corruption; after realising that Nigerians are not buying any of their Dubai Strategy of lies”.

“Their leaders had been working on this plan for a while and had consciously been raising all sorts of allegations and attacking national institutions involved in the electoral process in order to divert attention from their devious agenda.

“Part of the plot is to discredit INEC’s new election guidelines which included simultaneous accreditation and voting, and which also barred collation officers from making or receiving calls on election day.

“This same style was successfully test run in all bye-elections in recent months including those won by PDP candidates, but the party did not see anything wrong with it until the Commission insisted that it would be used during the next elections”.

BMO noted that PDP is also working on infiltrating INEC by embedding its supporters among ad-hoc electoral officials as part of its rigging plan.

It consequently advised the Commission to be cautious in its recruitment plan for the general election.

“We want to place Nigerians on notice that they should be at alert and not allow PDP elements at all levels to subvert the will of the electorate.

“There is also a need for the election management body to properly scrutinise ad-hoc staff to be recruited for Election Day duty as well as pay more than a passing attention to its officials in the run up to the February 16 election.

“This is because PDP, a party that is known for electoral manipulation, and which has a lot of dirty schemes in its kitty to rig the process in favour of its Presidential candidate, needs to be put under close surveillance”, BMO concluded.

CJN ONNOGHEN: NIGERIANS MUST FIGHT CORRUPTION AT ANY LEVEL - BMO



Nigerians must unite and decisively take a stand against corruption, no matter who is involved, the Buhari Media Organisation has said.



In a statement signed by the Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Madueke, the Secretary, the group noted that the President Buhari administration is undeterred in its resolve to fight corruption at all levels of government, regardless of the position of the person, or any sentiments attached.



The group was reacting to comments made in some quarters over the recent arraignment of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.



“We are aware of the sentiments from various quarters on the arraignment of the CJN, but we are equally worried that there is a mindset in the country that sets certain people to be special. The Chief Justice of the Federation leads Nigerian’s third arm of government responsible for the application of the law, he of all people must lead by example, and thus where there is suspicion as to his conduct, it is only right that the law take its course with him.”



“It is important to remind Nigerians that this Chief Justice is the same person who had, in a statement credited to him, said that wherever Nigerians saw corruption among Judges they should call it out. As long as he has nothing to hide then the law should be allowed to take its course, and this should be the mindset of all Nigerians.”



“In fact, Justice Onnoghen is reported to have admitted to have forgotten to declare some of his assets. He said he made a mistake, that is embarrassing, to say the least. A man who should know better than any law officer in the country, should appreciate that ignorance is not an excuse in law.”



The group also argued that in saner climes a chief justice of the country who had previously sat and oversaw cases of other public officials where they failed to declare their assets would have resigned honourably so as not to shame his exalted seat.



“This same Chief Justice has sat down on cases bearing on the declaration of assets by public officials, he had declared some wanting and set others free - like he did to the Senate President - so what is there if he subjects himself to the same procedure he has subjected others to. Moreover, for the sanctity of the profession and the respect for the judiciary, we would have expected that the Chief Justice step down after admitting to making such a profound mistake that casts doubt on his integrity and honesty.”



The group stated that the President Buhari administration was intent and determined to build stronger institutions and would not interfere in the matter.



“The President does not have a hand in the matter, and would not ask that it should be withdrawn, neither would he endorse it. President Buhari believes that when institutions are tested and left to work independently, they are strengthened. And this is his position.



“President Buhari at every point in time he lost an election, before his eventual victory in 2015, submitted himself to the courts and whatever they decided.”



The group called on Nigerians to attune their minds to supporting the President’s anti-corruption war, and support institutions that were set up to purge the country of corruption in any form, especially in the public life.



“Nigerians must not look at the anti-corruption fight from a partisan point of view but from one that seeks national development and restoring sanity to the country.”



The group highlighted that, “President Buhari has the political will to fight corruption and must be given all necessary support. He is the only President who has taken on the three arms of government where corruption was alleged, including his own Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), who he did not spare but fired, and who is under investigation by the EFCC.”



The group noted that the fact that top Nigerians were being investigated and prosecuted showed that the President was not sparing anyone, whether in high or in low places.

DON’T ALLOW A LOSING PDP TO SABOTAGE OUR DEMOCRACY

We read the various statements issued in the press by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP with the latest personalizing their attacks on President Muhammadu Buhari.


This is an uncalled for attack on the administration that crosses the line in a democracy. A call for disobedience to government is a call to anarchy and should not be called opposition politics.


Seeing people go down as the PDP and its leaders are heading to in the elections is pitiful but to seek to bring down the roof on everyone is tragic, selfish and the height of desperation. Happily, these acts do not reflect the true feeling of citizens across the whole nation, and that is why the PDP is sinking deeper and deeper into the oblivion. They are losing memberships in droves and their campaign is just a caricature of a proper campaign.

It is high time Nigerians separated the chaff floating around in the air in the name of opposition from the crude and disgraceful invective being thrown personally at President Muhammadu Buhari.

The problem of the opposition is that they are not talking about solutions. Rather, each of them, led in the pack by the PDP is an expert at counting problems. That is the reason why the voting population is coming around the Buhari-led All Progressive s Congress,APC.

For years, the PDP had been a bastion of corruption and impunity and it is difficult for them to change from their rentier way if life in the nation’s affairs. But CHANGE has come, and has come to stay.

Garba Shehu

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT



PRESS RELEASE


IMPLEMENTATION OF CODE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE WILL MINIMIZE WASTAGE, CORRUPTION - OSINBAJO



“I trust that you will find the principle-based approach and the constructs in the code helpful and consistent with our focus on making it easier to do business in Nigeria.”



“With today’s event, Nigeria is taking a big stride in our efforts to be a preferred investment destination.” – VP Osinbajo





REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CODE ON THE 15TH OF JANUARY, 2019



PROTOCOLS





I would like to thank the governing board of the Financial Reporting Council and other stakeholders that have contributed to the code that we are about to unveil. I should also thank the many captains of industry, heads of regulatory agencies, development partners and others that have taken time not just to review and contribute to the process of developing the code, but are here to witness this occasion.



We are all familiar with the journey that has culminated in today’s ceremony and I am pleased that we now have a widely accepted National Code of Corporate Governance ready for use.



The code has been long awaited and I believe that it will satisfy our desire for higher standards of corporate governance and ethical practices in our business environment and help to rebuild public trust and investor confidence in the Nigerian economy.



The implementation of the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018 is important and will promote corporate success and economic growth, lower cost of capital and perhaps, help to minimise the wastage and corruption.



I, therefore, encourage companies, regulators, the media, to be publicity agents in spreading the news of the release of the code and the imperatives of its implementation.



To our business leaders here gathered, let me reiterate that the government very much looks forward to your enthusiastic implementation of the code and to your being corporate role models in this regard.



I trust that you will find the principle-based approach and the constructs in the code helpful and consistent with our focus on making it easier to do business in Nigeria.



With today’s event, Nigeria is taking a big stride in our efforts to be a preferred investment destination.



I congratulate the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria for this development. The unveiling of the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance today amounts to not just a symbolic presentation, but also to presenting an internationally accepted best practice standards for business conduct in Nigeria, the benefits of which will be enjoyed by investors, the entities applying the code and our economy.



Finally, as we promote and imbibe best practices in corporate governance, I’m hopeful that given the constant flow of talents from the corporate world to the political space and vice versa, we would also be promoting and demonstrating high standards of governance in the political space over time.



I hope and wish we could extend this code of corporate governance to political players; at least it might help a bit in stemming defections and counter defections.



Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby formally unveil the corporate governance code.



Thank you.



Released by:

Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity

Office of the Vice President

January 15, 2019