₦airaland Forum

CORRUPTION, PRESS RELEASE

Yesterday, Mr. Ayo Fayose, the governor of Ekiti state attempted to pre-empt the EFCC over the illegal acquisition of properties bought with stolen funds from the coffers of a state that has not been able to pay workers' salaries for over six months. As soon as he got information that some his detained agents had confessed that they assisted him to buy properties in Lagos and Abuja he issued a statement to the effect that he owns the properties legitimately. How legitimate?
Not knowing that his agents and contractors had admitted that he stole Ekiti state funds to purchase the properties Mr. Fayose claimed that he bought them from the "campaign fund' donated to him by zenith bank plc and some unnamed friends. But the efcc has since confirmed how Ekiti people were duped by the lousy governor.
This guy must be so confused that he does not appreciate the legal implications of his stupid outbursts. The more he talks the more he implicates himself. Whether the N1.2 billion was stolen from the office of the NSA, Colonel Sambo Dasuki through Mr. Obanikoro or donated by zenith bank plc the efcc has the power to recover the criminally diverted fund. Granted that zenith bank plc donated the fund does the financial institution have the power to remove depositors' fund and donate it to Mr. Fayose for his political campaign? Can a bank contribute N1.2 billion to a political campaign of a politician?
Has Mike Ozekhome SAN forgotten to educate his client whose confessional statements are sufficient to convict him in a court of law. Is Ozekhome not aware that the maximum amount stipulate for political expenses of a governorship candidate is N200 million whereas his client has admitted that he spent N1.2 billion? Has Ozekhome not made it clear to his client that the N1.2 billion is forfeitable since it was either stolen from the office of the NSA or from the vault of a bank being depositors' fund?
However, the efcc must be commended for carrying out a professional investigation which is so thorough that the explanations of the suspect, Mr. Fayose, look so unintelligent. Surely, Mr. Fayose stands to forfeit all the properties and other assets traced to the campaign fund of N1.2 billion, whether stolen from the government of Nigeria or donated illegally by zenith bank plc. But since the efcc has shown that the money for the properties was stolen from the account of Ekiti state government through contractors, what is the explanation of Mr. stomach infrastructure?
Mr. Fayose claimed that the N1.2 billion traced to him was donated by zenith bank and unnamed friends. He said that he spent the entire fund on his election. Now, the efcc has found and confirmed that he bought properties worth N1.35 billion within 6 months of his inauguration. Will Mr. Fayose or his lawyer, Mr. Ozekhome add up the figures for the members of the public?

Sina Odugbemi
Coordinator, Value and Integrity Group

http://saharareporters.com/2016/07/07/fayose-admits-buying-properties-n135-billion

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The embattled chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, and chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the party, Senator Ahmed Muhammed Makarfi, are currently in a leadership tussle. In separate exclusive interviews with Daily Trust on Sunday, both leaders insist on the legitimacy of their control of the party and how they hope to end the present crisis.
The chairman of the party’s Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Muhammed Makarfi, said the party could collapse if Senator Ali Modu Sheriff prevailed as chairman of the party. He said one of the reasons Sheriff was removed was his ambition to contest the 2019 presidency. Sheriff on his part blames the South-West for the crisis. He also maintained that the Makarfi Caretaker Committee was illegal as the concept was alien to the PDP constitution.
“The quick end to the crisis depends on the first week of July, when we expect a major decision on whether the convention and the decisions therein were valid. If the convention was valid, fine; there is nothing anybody can do except you want to really destroy the party. But if it was not valid, what becomes of the PDP because 99.9 per cent of the party is not willing to accept Sheriff. This means that he would be left with less than 1 per cent of the people in the name of the PDP. And 99.9 per cent would have to look for an alternative,’’ Makarfi said.
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff on his part said, “There is nothing like caretaker in the constitution of the party. I am not desperate to be the chairman of our party, but I will not go against the law. I don’t have any personal problem with Makarfi. The Almighty Allah has given me accomplishments in life. Makarfi is not my problem in anyway and will never be my problem. This is about what is right and what is wrong.’’

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/makarfi-sheriff-expose-secret-behind-face-off/153594.html

– Olisa Metuh has agreed to refund the N400 million he allegedly received from the office of the national security adviser and for which
he is being prosecuted
– While welcoming him for being a convert, Ekujumi urged the anti-graft agency not to stop his prosecution for the simple fact that it was already late
– Ekujumi also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his stand in the face of serious criticisms and name-calling
Olisah Metuh, the former national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been welcomed and congratulated for deciding to convert from from his stand against President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption stand.
Comrade Nelson Ekujumi says Metuh should still face prosecution after returning the N400 million
Nelson Ekujumi, head of the Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate (CPPM) expressed joy that Metuh, after all the drama that followed his trial over an alleged N400 million he reportedly received from the office of the national security adviser in the administration of Goodluck Jonathan, has now volunteered to refund the amount as well as support Buhari in the fight against corruption.
READ ALSO: Nigerians react as Olisa Metuh becomes ‘born again’
Ekujumi also commended the president for
“his resoluteness, courage, determination, focus and commitment to winning the war against corruption which is a canker worm that has ravaged the body and soul of the Nigerian state for decades.
“One is also happy that despite the campaign of blackmail, calumny and mudslinging against the anti-corruption war as being one sided, persecution, witch-hunt, vendetta and stifling of opposition from expected quarters of beneficiaries and associates of corruptly indicted persons, the government has remained focused with the results manifesting on a regular basis.”
He recalled that Mr Olisa Metuh had admitted to collecting the N400 million of the diverted funds originally meant to fight insurgency from the office of Sambo Dasuki on the instruction of former President Goodluck Jonathan for a job which cannot be verified.
He however noted that Metuh decided to turn a new leaf “after acting a failed part of his moribund film in which he vowed not to refund a kobo of the people’s money which he collected illegally, went on hunger strike and when his system failed to sustain the hunger because it was alien to it, attempted to eat his confessional paper which he must have mistook for food, attempted intimidating the judiciary by alleging bias after the prosecution had closed its case and when it was his turn to open his defence and then his falling health all with the purpose of stalling his trial.
READ ALSO: Akpabio’s visit to Tinubu leaks, as PDP senators kick
“This is not to forget that while the whole drama of Olisa Metuh entertaining the Nigerian people and attempting to ridicule and intimidate the security agencies and judiciary lasted, seeing that there was no escape route or tactics that could truncate his trial for corruption, the family quickly waded in and promised to refund the money to save their son which was commendable, but too late in the day.
“But the questions that we asked the family then and which they were and have been unable to provide answers are: where were they when Olisa Metuh was ridiculing the whole country by his theatrics? Didn’t they know that they should have called him to order earlier than now by wading in?
“Well that is a lesson or food for thought for families to learn to bring up their children in the proper and moral ways, lest the family name be subjected to public damage like the Metuhs are now undergoing of which history is already documenting for posterity?”
He however said that becoming ‘born-again’ should not prevent Metuh from being prosecuted.
“We must commend the officers and men of the anti-graft agency who have been consistent, professional and dogged in the exercise of their responsibility to the Nigerian people by winning a soul, a new convert into the camp of the war against corruption.
READ ALSO: Why PDP needs to redeem itself now
“As Mr Metuh has voluntarily offered to refund what he vowed that he will only refund over his dead body sometime ago, may we call on the anti-corruption agencies to, apart from collecting the money, ensure that Metuh is prosecuted in line with the constitution for subjecting us all to this psychological trauma of his embarrassing drama, waste of tax payers’ money for prosecution and to serve as a deterrent to others that it is wrong and criminal to receive public money that is diverted for phony contracts,” he added.

https://www.naij.com/878671-happen-olisa-metuh-now-born-cso-advises-buhari.html?source=index_main

The decision by the military authorities to sack senior officers found wanting for professional misconduct will assist in bringing sanity to the institution, the Advocates of Social Justice for All (ASJA) has said.
The president of the organization, Torkuma Asogo, yesterday in Abuja in a statement also demanded that the affected officers return their salaries and all entitlements received within the period to the treasury.

Asogo commended the determination of the present leadership of the Nigerian Armed Forces for its commitment to transparency and desire to sanitise the military which according to him has taken a downward slide to the abyss of corruption.
He condemned the meddlesomeness of senior security chiefs in Nigeria into party affairs which he said has advertently polluted the security architecture with bad eggs.
“It is unfortunate that the Nigerian Military allowed these officers to stay on and perfected their succession plans, unlike the DSS that acted swiftly based on public opinion to weed the polluted eggs out, we still believe that the most appropriate thing to do is to commence legal procedure against them in a court of law,” he said.
 
Read more at http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/-sacked-military-chiefs-should-return-salaries-to-treasury/150879.html#bEC9PpAQM0LuwfrA.99

M

Coach Amodu Suhabu on time  manages of the Nigerian Super Eagles  and Technical Director of the NFF is dead.  


Amodu Shaibu
Amodu died in Benin there days after the death of former Super Eagles Captain and Coach, Stephen Keshi, who also died in Benin.

Reports have it that Shaibu Amodu complained of chest pains on Friday night and died in his sleep.

 

More details soon

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/breaking-news-amodu-suhabu-dead-2/

– Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja criticized the National Hospital in Abuja for transferring the treatment of Olisa Metuh to a Lagos hospital

– Abang stressed that the hospital should have informed the court that the defendant had been transferred to another hospital

– The judge threatened the hospital that he may order investigation into its activities and many heads will roll

Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja has criticized the National Hospital, Abuja, for transferring the treatment of Olisa Metuh, the former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, to a Lagos hospital.

Premium Times reports that the judge decried the action of the hospital on Friday, June 10, when he ruled in an application for adjournment brought by Metuh’s counsel, Emeka Etaiba.

Abang recalled that the matter was first adjourned on account of a medical report from the National Hospital in Abuja.

He stressed that the hospital should have informed the court that the defendant had been transferred to another hospital.

The judge threatened the hospital that he may order investigation into its activities.


“If I order investigation into the activities of the National Hospital regarding to Metuh’s medical report many heads will roll.

“I have authority over the management of the hospital because they are under my jurisdiction. The management is not above this court and the law.

“They cannot treat this court with levity; National Hospital has a duty to explain to the court what led to the transfer of Metuh from National Hospital, Abuja, to another hospital in Lagos.

“In any event, I have another medical report issued by Dr Olufemi Bankole from Lagos University Teaching Hospital that Metuh is on bed rest over back pains which he claimed,” the judge said.

However, he added that the medical report did not disclose the location of the hospital in Lagos.

The judge adjourned the case till July 7 for continuation of trial.

https://www.naij.com/856495-metuh-case-many-heads-will-roll-judge-threatens-national-hospital.html?source=index_main

Fastest fingers first.... FFF....!!

The State Security Service in Kano State has arrested five persons allegedly connected to the creation of sleeper ISIS training cells in the state.
The suspects were arrested on their way to Libya and other African countries.
The state director of SSS, Abdullahi Chiranchi, told journalists on Thursday that the arrest was a significant breakthrough in blocking every possible move to make Kano a training ground for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, ISIS.
He said those arrested were from Kogi State and were moving to Libya, Morocco and other places with ISIS presence.
He did not however disclose their names.
Mr. Chiranchi also said a nine-man international cattle rustling, armed robbery, kidnapping and car-snatching gang was arrested.
He said the gang had been terrorising Kano, Kaduna and residents of Niger Republic.
According to him, those who arrested include some persons who broke into the house of a former National Security Adviser, Mukthar Mohammed, a retired air vice marshal.


The SSS director explained that a Nigerian, Suleiman Mohammad, who was one of those arrested, was allegedly supplying arms to his gang from Niger Republic.
Mr. Chiranchi disclosed that two out of the four specially-made pistols recovered from the gang belonged to Nigerien security officials.
He also said a man, Kabiru Hamisu, who is allegedly an messenger at Sheik Isiyaku Rabiu House and who was accused of providing information about Mr. Rabiu’s, was arrested.
Mr. Hamisu was also alleged to be leading a gang of armed robbers which broke into Abdusamad Rabiu office and made away with cash meant for Zakkat.
Officials of the United States government were reported Thursday as saying there was no clear evidence to show that the Nigerian terror group, Boko Haram, has major link with ISIS, saying Boko Haram was merely using its avowed allegiance to ISIS for branding.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/205009-nigerias-secret-police-bust-isis-sleeper-cells-kano-arrest-5-suspects.html

Admittance of guilt. After crushing criticism and lampooning over various social mediums.

#Where are the waillers....??

Food is ready...

– Goodluck Jonathan noted that his administration spent excess crude oil revenue because pressure from governors was much

– He said he tried to fight corruption but the effort was frustrated

– He said his performance in the agricultural sector was the best in Nigeria’s history

Goodluck Jonathan has revealed how he was forced to spend from the excess crude oil revenue account during his administration.

The former president made this revelation during interview programme with Bloomberg TV.

Jonathan revealed that state governors were to blame for pressurising him to spend from the reserve fund thereby reducing the $20 billion at the inception of his administration left by Olusegun Obasanjo to about $2 billion when he left office on May 29, 2015.


Goodluck Jonathan

“At any time the earnings (from oil) drop, the governors would insist that there is no place in our laws that actually say that the federal government should keep the reserve. They always insisted that a part of it (excess crude revenue account) should be brought.”

READ ALSO: Goodluck Jonathan delivers speech at Bloomberg Studios

Jonathan pointed out that while some argued that the crude oil reserve account was to be used for rainy days, others said it should be used during time of financial difficulty.

“Yes, it is also part of our own reserves. But, when I was there, I tried to make a special fund called a sovereign wealth fund, so that it would not be easy for one to take from there.”

The former president identified the agricultural sector as where he made the biggest transformation and that it was the best in the country’s history.

He said this achievement led to the then minister of agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina, to be elected president of the African Development Bank.

He however regretted that his administration did not do well in the mineral sector industry despite all efforts to attract investors.

“The blue print and everything was worked out. So, if somebody says I did not diversify the economy, I will say that is not true. Of course, I was president of Nigeria. Sometimes, when people ask me question, it would seem I was the president of Nigeria from Independence till 2015. I was president for five years.”

On the issue that corruption was commonplace during his administration, Jonathan said there was nothing new about it as it had been the case since the country’s independence.

“Perception is based on what people say. In Nigeria, somehow it has been a routine. From the collapse of the First Republic, what the military said was the reason for taking over was corruption.

READ ALSO: Buhari to commission Abuja-Kaduna railway project next month

“When the Second Republic collapsed, the same was the story. If there is a major change in government where one political party is taking over power from another one, there must be issues that would be raised.

“Yes. I cannot say the country, from beginning of independence, there was no corruption. Yes, there was corruption. I did well to cut down on corruption. My approach was not to make money available to anybody to touch.”

The former president said his administration was able to eliminate corruption in fertilizer subsidies but could not do same in the oil industry.

“The very people that have been accusing us of corruption are the very people that frustrated it. It’s unfortunate,” he lamented.

Meanwhile, Jonathan also admitted that he has been investigated for alleged corruption during his administration by President Muhmammadu Buhari’s government.

When asked if he has been investigated, Jonathan replied: “Of course, obviously, they investigated and I’ve been investigated.

https://www.naij.com/852012-pressured-squander-crude-oil-savings-biggest-regret-president-gej.html?source=index_trending

Let's call a spade a spade... a criminal always remain a criminal no matter what.


They say a wise man learn from his mistakes but Saraki is not that type of person

EVEN a layman knows this is a share money laundering by keeping such huge amount of money

2011 as amended has made it a criminal offence for anyone to accept or make  a cash payment of a sum exceeding N5 million except through a financial institution. Having kept N12 million in his house which was stolen by yet to be known persons, Dr. Saraki must have accepted a cash payment in excess of what is allowed by law. 


Therefore, the admission by the guy that N12 million was stolen in his house is an admission of the crime. Having admitted that he committed a criminal offence Dr. Saraki should be prosecuted before the federal high court.
-Tope Michael
 

http://saharareporters.com/2016/06/06/senate-president-bukola-saraki-engaged-money-laundering-admitting-n12m-was-stolen-his

This is a part of Otuoke in Ogbia LGA of Bayelsa state. Thank you former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for this bridge.

#After some people go say you no perform....!!

This guy's have no conscience. About half of this year's budget criminally stolen away, what will life owe to our children if this had continue unabated and unchecked...??


#May God continue to expose them one after the other, they shall know no peace anywhere they go.....!!

N115bn expected from Switzerland, UK, UAE, US

Abimbola Akosile in Lagos and Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

In line with the promise President Muhammadu Buhari made on May 14 in London to give details of looted funds recovered by the administration during the first anniversary of his presidency, the federal government yesterday released an interim report specifying the recovered cash and assets. The report contained in a statement in Lagos by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the cash recoveries made between May 29, 2015 and May 25, 2016, including recoveries under interim forfeiture (cash and assets), totalled over N3. 4 trillion. It said about N115 billion was being awaited from the Switzerland, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and the United States.



Cash recovery within the period included N78,325,354,631.82 (Seventy eight billion, three hundred and twenty-five million, three hundred and fifty-four thousand, six hundred and thirty one Naira and eighty two kobo) and varying sums in other currencies, namely, $185,119,584.61 (One hundred and eight five million, one hundred and nineteen thousand, five hundred and eighty four US dollars, sixty one cents); 3,508,355.46 Pounds Sterling (Three million, five hundred and eight thousand, three hundred and fifty-five Pounds and 46 Pence), and 11, 250 Euros (Eleven thousand, two hundred and fifty Euros) from 29 May 2015 to 25 May 2016. These total about N144.9 billion.

Recoveries under interim forfeiture (cash and assets) during the period included N126,563,481,095.43 (One hundred and twenty six billion, five hundred and sixty three million, four hundred and eighty one thousand, and ninety five Naira, forty three Kobo) and the following amounts in other currencies: $9,090,243,920.15 (Nine billion, ninety million, two hundred and forty three thousand, nine hundred and twenty Dollars, fifteen cents); 2,484,447.55 Pounds Sterling (Two million, four hundred and eighty four thousand, four hundred and forty seven Pounds, fifty five Pence), and 303,399.17 Euros (Three hundred and three thousand, three hundred and ninety-nine Euros, 17 cents ). These come to about N3. 3 trillion.

Funds awaiting return from foreign jurisdictions included $321,316,726.1 (Three hundred and twenty one million, three hundred and sixteen thousand, seven hundred and twenty six Dollars, one cent); 6,900,000 Pounds (Six million, nine hundred thousand Pounds), and 11,826.11 Euros (Eleven thousand, eight hundred and twenty six Euros, 11 cents).

The recovered funds and assets were listed under four broad categories, namely, cash recoveries; recoveries under interim forfeiture; funds awaiting return from foreign jurisdictions, and non-cash recoveries.

The report also showed that there were non-cash recoveries (farmlands, plots of land, uncompleted buildings, completed buildings, vehicles and maritime vessels) totalling 239 items.

About N39,169,911,023.00 was recovered through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which also secured $128,494,076.66, £2,355 and 11,250 Euros.

In addition, the sums of N5,665,305,527.41 and $8,000,000.00 were recovered from the on-going searchlight on the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), while the loots recovered by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and lodged with CBN were put at N2,632,196,271.71. Also N47.7 million, $1.94 million and £3.50 million in cash were recovered through the Department of State Services (DSS).

Under the report, cash recoveries involving royalty and tax payments to the federal government in JP Morgan account in New York was put at N4,642,958,711.48 (four billion, six hundred and forty-two million, nine hundred and fifty-eight thousand, seven hundred and 11 naira, forty-eight kobo), and $40,727,253.65 (forty million, seven hundred and twenty-seven thousand, two hundred and fifty-three dollars, sixty-five cents).

The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation also recovered N5,500,000,000 (five billion, five hundred million naira) and $5,500,000 (five million, five hundred thousand dollars) in cash.

Buhari had said in an interview during the global anticorruption summit in London, “So far, what has come out, what has been recovered in whatever currency from each ministries, departments and individuals, I intend on the 29th to speak on this because all Nigerians are getting from the mass media because of the number of people arrested either by the EFCC, DSS. But we want to make a comprehensive report on the 29th.”

The president faced widespread criticism when in his Democracy Day speech on May 29 he failed to disclose the recovered funds as promised.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/06/05/keeping-his-promise-buhari-announces-recovery-of-n3-4-trillion-in-one-year/

BY both comparative advantage and con­ventional party politics, the ruling All Pro­gressives Congress (APC) is supposed to be the most buoyant of all political parties in Nigeria. One, by virtue of its control of power at the centre, APC stands at a more vantage position than other parties in terms of access to resources. Again, it controls ma­jority of elected representatives at the local, state and national levels, including having 23 state governors in its fold. Also, as people like to put their money where their mouth is, political patronage in form of corporate gifts and donations in exchange for contracts has always been a good source of funding for a ruling party.

But this may not necessarily be so for the APC with its change mantra. Unlike the op­position Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which had enormous resources to flaunt around while it held sway at the centre, APC is as much financially distressed as other parties in the country, Sunday Sun has reli­ably learnt.

According to a close source to the nation­al secretariat who spoke with Sunday Sun on condition of anonymity, APC is not in any way immune from the current financial hardship facing the Nigerian economy con­trary to the general impression in the public. Due to the present economic recession, he said, the party is having a difficult time man­aging its affairs both at the state and national levels. President Muhammadu Buhari’s seeming obsession with anti-corruption war is said to be partly responsible for the finan­cial crisis the leadership has had to grapple with since the new administration came into power on May 29 last year.

By conventional practice in Nigeria’s evolving multi-party democracy, huge sums of money is needed by parties to provide offices, equipment, staffing, campaign for political offices, congresses, conventions as well as litigation fees, among other electoral processes. This makes it imperative for po­litical parties to go out of their way to source for funds through such means as members’ subscription, subventions, donations, gifts and grants by individuals as authorized by law.

However, the disposition of the Buhari-led administration to sleazy source of fund­ing is said to have put the APC in a big dilemma. Sunday Sun gathered that some of the party’s stalwarts recently provoked President Buhari’s icy distemper when they approached him for approval of an ar­rangement that would mandate contractors to give their widow’s might to the national secretariat of the party to augment its al­ready depleted treasury. “I must be honest with you; all is not well within the APC. Even as a ruling party, we find it difficult to maintain the necessary structure that can sustain our presence at all levels. Ordinarily, we are not supposed to be starving for fund since we control majority of elected repre­sentatives at local, state and national levels. But as you know, these are hard times for the state governors. Many of them cannot pay salaries of workers. They owe backlog of salaries. So, the subventions that are ex­pected to come from the states as a source of funding to sustain the party’s structure are not forthcoming. And regrettably, President Buhari’s hard line position on corruption is not helping matters. Not too long ago, some concerned stakeholders approached the president to find an alternative source of funding. The idea was to encourage contrac­tors to pay some certain percentage of their profit to the national secretariat of the party. But President Buhari was so livid with anger that he sent them out of his office. That is why there is peace of the graveyard in the party now. Nobody is ready to rock the boat again,” he told Sunday Sun.

Lack of adequate resources for effective mobilization is said to be accountable for the woeful performance of APC in the recent rerun elections in some states. Before the rerun elections, many people had expected that the party would make a good showing in Cross River, Bayelsa and Rivers states. But many of its candidates lost out to their PDP counterparts.

There are palpable fears that the trend may mar the future of the APC, if the issue of funding is not appropriately addressed in time. “You know in an electoral contest, preparation for another election starts almost immediately soon as one ends. Compared to other climes, electoral contest is still a very expensive venture in our present democra­cy. And that is why some of us are worried that something urgent needs to be done to overcome the financial limitation facing the party before we go into another major elec­tion,” the source added.

Already, Edo and Ondo state governor­ship elections have been scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commis­sion (INEC) to hold in September and No­vember this year respectively. These two elections are critical and strategic for both the APC and PDP. For the PDP, which has been grandstanding, boasting that it would reclaim power at the centre in 2019, the poll is certainly going to be a litmus test for the strength of its supporters in the two states. In the same way, the APC would need to prove that it is still a popular party to beat in 2019 and beyond.

President Buhari is wary of what could be the implication of pursuing party financing in the way of the immediate past administra­tion of the PDP on his anti-corruption cru­sade. While the PDP held sway at the centre, the constitution of the party allowed elected and appointed public officers at all levels such as ministers, commissioners, special advisers, ambassadors, and board chairmen at federal level, among others, to contribute five percent of their basic annual salary to fund the party.

Apart from that, individuals and corporate organizations also made handsome contri­butions to the party during major elections. For instance, a group of business people under the aegis of Corporate Nigeria con­tributed over N2 billion to the campaign funds of President Olusegun Obasanjo in contravention of Section 38 Subsections 2 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act which prohibits corporate bodies from mak­ing contributions to political parties. The Act specifically in Section 38 says: “A company shall not have or exercise power either di­rectly or indirectly to make a donation or gift of any of its property or funds to a political party or political association, or for any po­litical purpose and if any company, in breach of this subsection makes any donation or gift of its property to a political party or politi­cal association or for any political purpose; the officers in default and any member who voted for the breach shall be jointly and sev­erally liable to refund to the company the sum or value of the donation or gift and in addition , the company and every such of­ficer or member shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine equal to the amount or value of the donation or gift.”

Sources told Sunday Sun that President Buhari is strongly against such a sleazy source of funding, making reference to an episode that played out in his first military regime in 1984 when the civilian governor of the defunct Bendel State, Ambrose Alli, was jailed for 100 years for donating the sum of N983, 000 meant for a road project to his Party by the military tribunal set up to try corrupt public officials.

Ahead of Edo and Ondo election, Sunday Sun learnt, some concerned stakeholders have been holding nocturnal meeting to find a way out of the quagmire to avoid a dis­graceful outing. In the same way, they are also said to be making frantic effort to curtail the looming implosion that may likely arise from the crisis of confidence among the various cleavages that coagulated to form the APC.

http://sunnewsonline.com/state-of-the-parties-graveyard-peace-in-apc/

The Independent National Electoral Commission says it is yet to take a position on the leadership crisis rocking Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
INEC’s Deputy Director for Public affairs, Nick Dazang, who disclosed this on “Political Platform,” a programme on Ray Power FM Radio Station, on Thursday, said the commission’s delegation that monitored the party’s recent national convention had submitted its report but it was yet to decide on it.
“The PDP, as we have said is in a state of flux. In spite of what happened in Port Harcourt, the Commission was there because it was invited and by law we are supposed to be invited 21 days to a convention or congress,” he said.
“We sent a high powered team led by a national commissioner to monitor the convention. They have submitted their report as at now but the Commission is yet to take a position in terms of who is supposed to be the chairman of the party.”
The PDP at its convention in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on May 21, sacked its acting National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, and appointed a Caretaker Committee headed by a former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Markarfi, to run the party until another convention is organised to elect substantive members of its national working committee.
However, Mr. Sheriff rejected his removal insisting that he was still the chairman of the party.
The disagreement led to the closure of the party’s national secretariat in Abuja until Wednesday when the members of Board of Trustees took over the running of the party.
Mr. Dazang said the PDP risked not taking part in the Edo State governorship election if the leadership crisis was not resolved soon.


He explained that in line with the timetable and the schedule of the governorship election unfolded by the election, parties participating in the election were expected to hold their primary elections between June 2 and July 4 to pick their candidates.
He stressed, “I expect that a very responsible party, a formidable party for that matter like the PDP will put its acts together in time for it particularly to collect the forms for those that will conduct the elections in Edo and Ondo and also to conduct the primaries that will lead up to who will now be their standard bearer for Edo governorship election to be conducted on Saturday 10 September.
“The primaries are supposed to take place between 2nd June and 4th July. So, we expect that between now and then the PDP should be able to resolve some of these issues in the interest of that election.”
Mr. Dazang was not definite when asked if, in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act, the Markarfi-led Caretaker Committee was competent to conduct primaries with a view to selecting the party’s candidate for the election.
He instead said officials of the electoral body “always encourage the parties to sort themselves amicably rather than resorting to the court”.
Stating that the Commission was pressed for time, Mr. Dazang warned the disputing groups not to resort to court to resolve their differences because such would be time consuming.
He said, “In this instance when we are pressed for time if the parties in the dispute resort to court, it is going to take long it before the issues are resolved and they collect these forms.
“So we advise that they resolve some of these issues in good time to collect the forms so that they can hold the primaries and the candidates that will contest under their platform can emerge. They have between now and 4th July to do that.
“We normally encourage them. We have a department that relates particularly with the political parties to ensure the processes we laid out and articulated in the timetable and schedule of activities are strictly and religiously followed and we expect them to that.”
Mr. Dazang also encouraged the other parties, apart from the PDP and the All Progressives Congress, to field candidates in the governorship election, “so that the contest will be very keen and the debate also will be robust and healthy as has happened in the past in Edo State.”
He said in line with Section 30 of the Electoral Act, the Commission was supposed to issue a notice 90 days before the election, adding “and starting from today (Wednesday), the Commission has 90 days before that election.”
The Act states that ‘the Commission shall, not later than 90 days before the day appointed for holding of an election under this Act, publish a notice in each state of the federation and the federal capital territory (a) stating the date of the election; and (b) appointing the place at which nominating papers are to be delivered.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/204589-pdp-may-not-participate-edo-guber-elections-inec-warns.html

SaharaRreporters has confidentially learned how Nigeria’s former Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, purchased Port Harcourt’s Le Meridien Hotel using First Bank of Nigeria Executive Director (ED), Dauda Lawal.


The revelation comes as the federal government of Nigeria this week struggles to release the list of the nation’s looters and saboteurs of the economy, an earth-shaking event the presidency says will happen latest Thursday.


Barely two weeks after Lawal was picked up by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the ED has reportedly returned huge amounts of money laundered through him by the ex-oil minister, with whom he was reported to be “extremely close.”

Mr. Lawal is said to have returned millions of dollars to the EFCC as the agency prepared to let him go on oil it was revealed that he had brokered the purchase of Le Meridien Hotel in Port Harcourt on behalf of the ex-Minister.

While investigators reportedly tried to seize the hotel, the Presidency pushed for the refund of the money from its owners, sources said.


SaharaReporters learnt that the owners paid back an amount that was said to be close to N18billion into the federal government recovery account, a story Nigerians will be looking to confirm in the government’s report in a few hours.


*MY GOODNESS!!!!..This woman didnt blink at all in looting so much!

Soccer's world governing body has introduced the biggest package of rule changes in its history. In many cases they may seem like minor details, but in others, they are actually meant to simplify things


With just 10 days to go until Euro 2016 kicks off, FIFA has introduced changes designed to improve the beautiful game. The eight members of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) got out their erasers and eliminated around 10,000 words from the rulebook. Here are the 10 most important changes:


1 Penalty: If a player (such as Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi) stops and starts in his run-up to the ball - in an effort to try to make the goalkeeper move first, he (or she) is to be given the yellow card. The opponents will also be awarded a free kick. A short hesitation is allowed, but not a complete stop.


2. Triple jeopardy: Until now, hand-balls and fouls in the penalty area have often resulted in a defender being given a red card, a penalty and a suspension. In future, the referee will have the discretion to hand out a red card only when he deems that there was intent. If he determines that the offender tried to play the ball but still fouled, he is only to be handed a yellow card. Until now, if the referee deemed that a cast-iron scoring chance was prevented by the offender, the rules obliged him to show red, whatever a defender's intent.


3. Sending off: The referee will no longer only have the power to hand out red cards during the actual match, but also before the opening kick off, if a player conducts himself in an unsportsmanlike manner. In this case, the offender's team would still be allowed to start the match with 11 players.



4. Breaks for the treatment of injuries: In future, if the physio's magic sponge can get the player back onto his feet within 20 seconds, the player won't have to leave the pitch. Until now, any player who required treatment has had to leave the pitch and could only return after getting permission from the referee.


5. Kick off: Until now, the ball has had to be played forward. Now the player performing the kick off also has the options of playing it backwards or sideways.


6. Attacking wall: For a time there was a trend towards attacking teams positioning players in amongst a defense's wall with the purpose of screening the goalkeeper's view. This is no longer permitted.


7. Drink breaks: Since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil the referee has had the option, particularly on a hot day or evening, to order a break so that the players can have a drink. Now, though, he also has to include the playing time lost in this way to time added on at the end of the match.


8. Throw in: This must now be conducted with both hands pushing the ball forward with equal force from both sides. A throw in with one hand pushing more from behind and the other just acting as a support are no longer allowed.


9. Shoeless player: If a player loses his shoe during a match, play will no longer be immediately interrupted, but the player in question can continue to play without it until the next stoppage in play. Not only that, but halleluiah! The shackles are finally off, as the same also applies to a lost shinguard!



10. Underwear: Wait a minute... No choice here anymore! If a player chooses to wear undershorts that are longer than his shorts, these must now match the color of his team's kit.

Deutsche well reportage -m.dw.com

A fierce battle is going on in Nigeria today between the Agents of Change and the Agents for the maintenance of status quo. It is one of the worst battles I have witnessed ever in Nigeria in recent times. It is a fierce battle for the soul of Nigeria between those who want their original country back and those who want to keep Nigeria as the conquered territory to be pillaged and milked with reckless abandon. It is war between truth and falsehood, war between darkness and light, war between reason and unreason, and war between the brains and the brainless.
I saw this dangerous war coming even before last year’s Presidential elections when it became obvious that PDP is gone. I alerted APC leaders to be prepared for it. I did not know then whether they took notice of my warnings. It took the bizarre, the most outrageous, and the most treacherous betrayal inside the hallowed chamber of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Senator Saraki and his gang for APC leaders to pay attention. Today the resultant effect of this betrayal is telling a big story in all nooks and crannies of Nigeria, laying ambush on this government’s monumental fight against corruption. PDP leaders, Senators, Lawyers, Judges, Petroleum Product Marketers, Civil Servants, Electricity workers etc. are hitting from all corners to circumvent government efforts to take back Nigeria.
In far away Panama, a consortium of lawyers using their law firm Mossack Fonseca founded by Ramon Fonseca, have been able to generate 11.5 million papers that linked government officials and looters across the world who siphoned money to Tax Haven in Virgin Island. This leak, the biggest ever in recent history, has led to the resignation of the Prime Minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davio Gunnlaugsson. In Nigeria, one of the persons mentioned in the criminal deal is the present President of the Senate of Nigeria, Senator Bukola Saraki. While the Mossack Fonseca lawyers worked tirelessly for years to do this great work for humanity, Nigerian lawyers, 90 of them are following the same Saraki to Code of Conduct Tribunal to render court process nugatory. Their professional colleagues in other climes are helping their countries to stop corruption but not these Charge and Bail lawyers here. They are neck deep into corruption and proceeds of corruption. They are worse than infidels.
The lawyers have been very busy searching for their birds of identical plumage in judges whether in High Court, Appeal Courts or Supreme Court to help truncate Saraki’s case. The corrupt Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are not left out in this show of shame. From 81 right from onset, the number of Senators following Saraki to CCT has reduced to 12 as at yesterday. Even with the heavy and weighty evidence before CCT, these woeful and useless Senators are still chasing shadows, making a mockery of themselves and people they represent. But the bigger they come, the harder they fall.
In the oil industry the marketers and subsidy fraudsters are holding sway, gripping Nigeria by the throat and ready to squeeze without caring a hoot. In the power sector the looters and their agents are working round the clock to reduce power generation to zero megawatt. If they are not pulling down transmission towers, they are busy blowing up gas supply to the power stations. I see this as an attack on the corporate existence of Nigeria as a political entity. I see this as a threat to national unity and cohesion. I see these attacks from all corners as acts of treason.
Now I do not think President Buhari and his cabinet need to offer any more excuses. I do not think it is necessary now. What is needed is concrete and practical solution. President Buhari needs to use the enormous power of the presidency to do the needful. The economic saboteurs are so powerful, so rich, well connected and potentially dangerous to set the people against the President if President Buhari still treats them with kid gloves. These people must be identified, crushed and defeated.
Nigerians voted for President Buhari to fight corruption, stop the drift in Nigeria, restore hope and build a new Nigeria. I know that the President is doing his best and I also know he can do more. President Buhari must not fail. If he fails, Nigeria may not recover again. We must kill corruption or corruption will kill Nigeria.
APC leaders must move now to help their President to succeed. This is not the time for blame games, this is not time to point accusing fingers, this is not the time to look the other way. This is the time for collective responsibility and concrete action. Let us fire from all cylinders now that we have a budget. Let Nigeria become a huge construction site. Let the power sector work. Let petrol flow endlessly for now. Let us secure Nigeria. I know that there will be change but let it start now to manifest. No further excuses again, no blame game. Let the change begin with us now.
Now we must protect power installation by all means possible. We must defeat saboteurs, fraudsters and enemies of Nigeria. Yes, we must clear the Augean Stable for Nigerians to have breathing space. I trust this President and like Dr Tony Momoh, I offer myself to be stoned if President Buhari fails. Case Rested!
-Igbokwe wrote from Lagos


http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2016/04/07/dubious-lawyers-dubious-senators-et-al/

A private radio station in Akwa Ibom State on Monday abruptly ended a live interview with the Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Ita Awak, after the guest mentioned the name of the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke on air.
Mr. Awak believed he was discharged from the ‘Team Nigeria’ programme on Planet 101.1FM because authorities feared he might proceed to criticise Governor Udom Emmanuel and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
The APC spokesman said he was well received by the host of the show but that 10 minutes into the programme, the interview was discontinued immediately he mentioned Mr. Luke’s name.
Mr. Awak said he referred to Mr. Luke in context, while trying to recall what the speaker’s opinion was on looted funds so far recovered by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The station stopped airing Mr. Awak’s interview, and started playing music in its place.
Mr. Awak said even before the interview started, he was warned by the station’s General Manager, Sunday Edet, not to talk about Governor Emmanuel, the Peoples Democratic Party, the Akwa Ibom state government or anybody within the state government.
“He told me since I am an APC spokesman I should only talk about the federal government that is being led by the APC.
“I challenged him on that. I said how can I, being an APC spokesman, talk about 17 years of democracy in Nigeria, without localising it?”


After the first interruption, the General Manager, Mr. Edet, negotiated with him to commit not to refer to any official of the state government during the programme.
When he felt a compromise had been reached, Mr. Edet gave permission for the interview to resume.
But Mr. Awak did the unexpected.
When the interview resumed, Mr. Awak told listeners, “Ladies and gentlemen, that break in transmission was caused by the censorship I am experiencing right now in this studio. The manager is prevailing on me not to mention anything about Akwa Ibom State government.”
Mr. Edet, who was standing in the studio to personally monitor the interview, immediately shut down the broadcast again.
Mr. Awak said when he asked why, Mr. Edet told him it was wrong for him (Awak) to have informed the listeners that he was being censored.
“So, you stand here to censor me, and you don’t want me to tell the public about it?” Mr. Awak told the GM, and then left the studio in anger, when he realised that the station would not allow the interview to resume.
The presenter of ‘Team Nigeria’, Aniekan Udosen, corroborated Mr. Awak’s claims, and added that the general manager of the station even ordered a studio assistant out of the studio when the interview was going on.
“It’s unprofessional for a station manager to stand inside the studio to monitor how an interview was being conducted,” Mr. Udosen said.
“The general manager told me he was there in the studio to protect his station, and I asked him ‘protect your station from who?’
“In broadcasting, we are guided by the code provided by the National Broadcasting Commission. There is absolutely nothing that Ita Awak said that is prohibited by the code.
“It’s politics, we know.”
Mr. Awak, who said he would brief the APC leadership in the state, and then wait for them to decide what action to take, said he almost had a similar encounter with the federal-owned Atlantic FM station in the state, a few days ago.
“The GM of Atlantic FM received phone calls from some persons within the Akwa Ibom State government, and became very restless about me being interviewed in the station.
He tried everything possible to make sure I didn’t criticise the state government.


“For me, this is very ominous signs.”
Mr. Edet, the GM of Planet FM, declined to comment for this story, when PREMIUM TIMES contacted him.
Sampson Akpan, the special assistant on electronic media to Governor Emmanuel, said no one should blame the governor for what happened to Mr. Awak.
“Planet FM is a private radio station, no government has the right to interfere it its running,” Mr. Akpan said.
This is not the first time Planet FM would be involved in controversy bordering on censorship.
In 2014, the station discontinued a live interview with the then senator representing Akwa Ibom North West, Aloysius Etok, who at the time had deep political disagreement with the Governor Godswill Akpabio.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/204390-protecting-governor-emmanuel-pdp-radio-station-halts-live-interview-apc-chieftain.html

The decision three years ago by some opposition parties to merge for the 2015 presidential election put paid to the ambition of the Peoples Democratic Party to rule for 60 years.
The merger of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, Congress for Progressive Change, Action Congress of Nigeria and a section of the All Progressive grand Alliance, APGA, led to the formation of the All Progressives Congress over one year before the 2015 general elections.
For a party that led Nigeria since the restoration of democracy 16 years ago, playing the opposition became a strange role for the PDP.
Indeed, shortly after PDP’s defeat by the APC in the March 28, 2015 presidential poll, the then spokesperson of the latter, Lai Mohammed, mockingly asked his counterpart in the PDP, Olisa Metuh, to come for a six week “crash course” on opposition information management.
“Metuh will need training to effectively carry out his new, tough task,” Mr. Mohammed said. “It is now obvious that he needs to understand that for him to succeed in his new role, he must be credible, empirical, more sophisticated in language use and very passionate, in addition to being able to operate on a lean or zero budget.”
At first, the PDP showed signs of adjusting to its new role as an opposition party. One of the first major gathering of the party faithful after it lost the presidential election was a retreat in Port Harcourt, where it discussed its future as an opposition party.
Mr. Metuh had used the occasion of the retreat whose theme was “The role of the opposition in facilitating development and good governance,” to assure the party’s supporters that the PDP was not weak by its apparent lack of “action” at the time.
He said PDP leaders were simply giving the new president and his party, time to settle down. He stressed that the PDP would periodically assess the performance of the APC administration so that “Nigerians on their own will decide which party is best to progress democracy in this country.”


On his part, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who also spoke at the retreat, vowed that PDP members in the National Assembly would hold the APC accountable to its campaign promises.
While recalling that the APC promised the release of the Chibok girls, the creation of two million jobs every year, among many others, he said, “The PDP lawmakers in the 8th National Assembly should hold the ruling APC accountable on each of its campaign promises.”
Loss of steam
To be sure, the PDP started strongly by always “checking” on the APC administration. Mr. Metuh would issue a statement or address a press conference on policy matters almost on daily basis.
Apart from Mr. Metuh, other outspoken members of the PDP, including a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, former presidential aide, Doyin Okupe, and the Governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose, variously voiced opposition to the policies and programmes of the Buhari administration.
The PDP spokesperson explained that the party would not attack the personality of Mr. Buhari and would “work” with the government in the fight against insurgency in the north east zone.
However, along the line, the opposition party lost steam, no thanks to the alleged involvement of some of its leaders in corrupt practices, which the Buhari administration vowed to tackle.
Mr. Metuh, who should be the arrowhead of the opposition, became one of the accused. He was alleged to have received, from the office of the National Security Adviser, N400 million from the $2.1 billion originally meant for arms procurement to fight Boko Haram. The money was allegedly diverted and used to prosecute the 2015 presidential campaign for President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP. The scandal has since been referred to as #Dasukigate by Nigerians.
His arrest and subsequent arraignment over the allegation has dealt a serious blow to the PDP’s ability to check the government of the day and make its positions on national matters known.
Unlike the then ACN which criticised the Goodluck Jonathan administration when it increased fuel price in 2010, the PDP, as Nigeria’s main opposition party, virtually kept mum when the Buhari-led APC government increased the pump price of petrol to N145 from N86.
The opposition party, perhaps dazed by the corruption allegations against its leaders, and internal wrangling, could not even issue a statement either in condemnation or support.
The only notable voice from the PDP that kicked against the fuel price was Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State. Even so, he did not speak officially for the party because it was not his job to do so.
Mr. Fani-Kayode, another outspoken member of the party, who could have kicked against the increase, is currently in detention and battling to save himself from the allegation that he, as spokesperson of the Jonathan Campaign Organisation, benefitted from the #Dasukigate scandal.
It is therefore safe to assume that many PDP members are unable to voice opposition to the APC government because of the fear that the ongoing corruption probe will soon get to them.


In-fighting
Perhaps, one other factor responsible for the lacklustre opposition role is the in-fighting among members of the party. At present, the PDP appears to have three factions with each claiming control of the party.
There is a group backed by the governors elected under the platform of the party. This group has former Kaduna governor, Ahmed Makarfi, as caretaker chairman.
Another group comprises of some members of the immediate past National Working Committee and is led by former Borno Governor, Ali Sheriff. A third group comprised mostly of founding members of the party and recognizes a former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, as chairman.
The leadership crisis is so intense that the party could not do an assessment of the Buhari administration as its clocks one year in office.
Should the crisis persist, it is unlikely that the once vibrant PDP would effectively be a check on the APC-led federal administration.
Worse still, the other opposition parties appear to have gone into oblivion, leaving the APC to govern unchecked.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/204265-analysis-pdp-failing-nigerias-main-opposition-party.html

M

There is a strange sickness that befalls politicians when they are facing trial and it is now used as an opportunity to garner sympathy from the people.

In this opinion by Emmanuel Uchenna Ugwu, he describes the sickness as a sign of corruption and that all persons involved in corruption must pass through that stage.

Stealing and smiling

There is a phenomenon crying to be acknowledged as one of the unique features of the Nigerian kleptocracy. That phenomenon also represents a multi-disciplinary riddle: It should provoke research in the fields of law, criminology, and medicine. That phenomenon is the near-assured certainty that the average Nigerian politico charged for expropriating public funds will ‘fall sick’ and request to be permitted a vacation in some offshore hospital.

Until last week, the working of that phenomenon rested on the claim of the ‘sick’ defendant. It used to be the pattern that one SAN in the thief’s defence team would urge the judge to consider the ailment of ‘my client’ and grant the sick leave to depart Nigeria for treatment.

Olisa Metuh, former spokesman of PDP, changed that. He came to court and puked and puked. He tendered his semi-digested breakfast as evidence that he was sick.

He would later request that the judge permit him to travel to the UK to take care of his health. His proof of illness on the floor of the courtroom, he was sure the judge would oblige him. But the judge shocked him.

The judge declined to release him to travel. The judge told Metu, ”This is not a sentimental issue. This is not the issue of sympathy.” You would have use Nigerian hospitals. Nigerian hospitals can nurse your hurting spinal cord.

The judge’s refusal is the right call. It should be the standard decision in similar cases. It should be the norm in our criminal justice system.

What’s making corrupt people fall sick?

When any former or serving public official standing trial for corruption ‘falls sick’, as expediency inevitably forces them to, they should be subjected to the public hospitals they ruined. The money-grubbers should not be privileged the right to escape to a foreign haven after they have made a fortune from starving Nigerian hospitals of medicines, machines, and manpower.

All thieves on trial should partake of Nigerian hospitals. They should experience the rotten hospitals they bequeathed to their own society. They should participate in the disaster like the rest of us do…for better or for worse.

These thieves were too selfish to build and equip hospitals in their neighborhoods. They figured they could jet out the morning after they suffer a mosquito bite. So there was no point building hospitals for the have-nots.

In the few instances they were reported to have ‘built’ hospitals, they were pretexts for robbery. They conceived an architectural statement, awarded an inflated contract, and called the resultant husk of a building an ‘ultramodern hospital.’

‘Senator’ Godswill Akpabio, former governor of Akwa Ibom state, crashed his car and sustained a fracture while crossing against the red light in Abuja the other month. He should have asked to be ferried to Uyo where he claims to have built a 30 billion naira ”ultramodern hospital.” But he didn’t. He chartered a private jet… and flew to UK!

Nigerians have seen enough of corrupt politicians feigning sickness.

Sambo Dasuki was healthy throughout his stint as Jonathan’s National Security Adviser. His hands were nimble. He would write a memo of less than one hundred words. And his principal will order the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria open!

But when EFCC found out that he stole funds earmarked for the procurement of arms for the Nigerian military, that he was the reason our troops fought barehanded against ferocious terrorists and sustained heavy casualties, that he was the cause of those cases of ‘mutiny’, Dasuki ‘fell sick.’ He became a cancer patient. A cancer patient whose ‘life is in danger’. A cancer patient that needs urgent medical intervention abroad.

Former PDP chairman and minister of defence, Haliru Bello Mohammed, used to be a healthy man too. He never showed any sign of serious ill health. He walked on his two legs and evinced remarkable youthfulness for his age.

But when the EFCC filed charges of fraud and money laundering against him and his son, the man who was not unwell to collude with Sambo Dasuki and divert funds meant for the procurement of arms for the Nigerian military, suddenly became a pitiable, ‘wheelchair bound’ figure. Sure enough, he pleaded ”not guilty” at his first appearance, and implored the court to grant him bail so he can attend to his health.

Kingsley Kuku, the adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs, was also a healthy young man. While he presided over ‘amnesty’ funds, he was agile, walked sprightly, and seemed to contain the energy of two adults.

But as soon as he sensed that EFCC was set to arrest and arraign him for the hundreds of millions of naira he stole, he ‘fell sick’ and became a medical refugee.

From his hideout in US, he disseminated pictures of himself propped with crutches. He claimed that he was anything but a fugitive from justice. He had just had a knee surgery. He was a patriotic Nigerian: He has served Nigeria ”with power and might.”



Diezani Allison-Madueke, former minister of petroleum, more aptly described as the most powerful of the five co-presidents that discretely and jointly sacked Nigeria during the Jonathan days, was a lively, pretty lady while her apotheosis lasted.

She attempted to buy Jonathan and herself the 2015 presidential elections by spreading 115 million dollars bribe among all election rigging experts she knew. When the plot failed, she started chasing Abdulsalami Abubakar so the ex head of state would help her prevail on President-elect Buhari to shield her. Buhari did not show that he was disposed to protecting her.

So, she took matters in her own hands and smuggled herself onto the London-bound plane Buhari was scheduled to travel in. On board, she tried to snuggle close to Buhari. To sweet-talk him into granting her ‘amnesty’. The strict Muslim man snobbed her!

That scared her. It made her ‘fall’ sick in London. It was from there that she summoned Dele Momodu, Nigeria’s foremost snapper, hagiographer, and sole auctioneer of ‘ovation’, for a chit-chat. She divulged her cancer secret in that ‘interview.’

When she got the feedback that her story earned few buy-ins, she lent herself to Momodu for a photo shoot. And then, we had pictures of a pale, shaven, and shrunken Diezani everywhere!

The pictures insinuated that we suspend the discussion of the 20 billion naira she disappeared from the NNPC. That we abstain from suggesting that she face reckoning. That we owe her the kindness of wishing her well, praying for her, and sending her flowers!

Who is fooling who?

Now, the thieves don’t call in sick while they are in office. They refute any rumor that they are indisposed. They boast that they are permanently healthy and incapable of being bed-ridden.

And, truly, they seldom take ill as long as they are salting away taxpayers’ money. The hobby of thievery is their immune booster. It makes them strong and vigorous.

It’s only when the state disrupts the liberty they thought they had to enjoy their loot in peace that they ‘fall sick.’

The thieves feign illness to prey on our humanity. To tease out sympathy from us. To instigate us to demand that EFCC give them time and space to recuperate.

The thieves reason that we are roughly as empathetic as we are gullible. We would buy their affectation of suffering. We would side with them against their ‘persecutors.’



The fake patients bank on our high aptitude for solicitude. The broader Nigerian culture doesn’t sanction the celebration of another man’s misfortune. We are socialized to dote on the sick and to prescribe a panacea.

But the Nigerian people have seen too much of those pretensions. Nigerians are sick and tired of them acting sick and weak. Nigerians want to see the looters return the spoils. Nigerians want them to ‘vomit’ the money they ‘ate’.

Metuh says his health has taken a turn for the worse. He is now ready to return the 400 million he made from the arms scam in exchange for freedom. He is willing to vomit the real stuff.

That’s the kind of nausea the fight against corruption should engender in all Nigerian thieves. They should be desperate to ‘vomit’. They should be begging to throw up.
Last week, a Federal High Court in Lagos asked Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, former minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, to account for the 30 trillion naira she and Jonathan stole from the nation’s coffers.

30 trillion naira is no trifle. 175 million Nigerians would receive 171, 428 naira each if it was distributed!

This is why the Nigerian state should make Ngozi and her boss ‘sick’ like Metuh. She and Jonathan should be so ‘sick’ they should beg to vomit the ‘missing’ trillions!

https://www.naij.com/843980-time-jonathan-okonjo-iweala-must-fall-sick-soon.html?source=index_trending

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RENOWNED lawyer, Prof Itse Sagay, chairman Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, is not too happy with the Senate, especially with the way and manner the members are giving blind support to Senate President, Bukola Saraki, in his ongoing trial. In this interview, he passed a damning verdict on the Red chambers for what he described as invidious personal interest of the legislators.

You recall the recent botched at­tempt by the Senate to amend the Code of Conduct Tribunal even as the Senate President, Senator Bu­kola Saraki, faces trial for alleged false declaration of assets. What is the position of the law on the is­sue?

There are two major issues connected to this occurrence. One is the moral issue. Leg­islature is set up for the good governance, peace and security of the country. It is not set up to give those who have been elected an opportunity of changing the law for their own personal and individual convenience. That is the moral issue first. If you look at the proposal, basically they were trying to reduce the power of the tribunal, giving impression that they themselves are already guilty of some acts, which is within the jurisdiction of the tribunal. So, the idea was to give them­selves advance immunity to cover up what­ever offences they have committed. Though technically, the National Assembly can make laws, but laws are not to be made by them for their own personal convenience, turning the whole country into their backyard for ad­vancing their invidious personal interest.

To toy into that really gives the whole world the impression that we are still a back­ward Third World country without any basic principles that govern the conduct of those who are ruling us at the legislative level. It is a total, shameless abuse of power. It is lack of restraint in self promotion and self protection at the expense of the whole country.

The moral burden they are carrying is just too heavy. I am surprised that we have a group of legislators who don’t have shame. They just carry on as if they are in some ani­mal jungle. There should be a limit to promot­ing self interest at the expense of the country because the people of this country can rise up one day and decide to end this type of op­pression and insensitivity, which particularly the Senate has been demonstrating.

Going to buy cars that cost as much as N38 million per unit of car for themselves in a country where people are finding it difficult to enjoy a meal a day is unacceptable. And this is because it is not their money. There is a level in which they will be stopped, if they carry on like this.

What about the situation where the Senate president is still presid­ing over the Senate affairs even as he faces trial?

If you look at all that has happened with re­gards to Saraki, you will see that it thorough­ly defines what we mean by shamelessness and impunity. First, when he was going to the tribunal, he had about 80 senators, marching beside him. Where in the world does that happen? An arm of government vacated its premises and poured on the street shame­lessly and totally overwhelmed the tribunal. Honestly, this level of backwardness is phe­nomenal. It’s unprecedented that people are so primitive, so barbaric that they did not see that they have made themselves a laughing stock in the international community.

Two, when a person is charged, you plead either guilty or not guilty. If you plead guilty, the case is closed. If you plead not guilty, then allow the case to be heard. But you can­not plead not guilty and insist that the case will never be heard. Again, that is purely Ni­gerian phenomenon. You see one individual, supported by his colleagues who have no sense of morality or sense of responsibility trying to totally over run and abuse the ju­dicial system of a whole country. So many terrible things are happening to the extent that he wants the court hearing his case to be subject to Senate sittings. He wants the case to be heard when he is not presiding. The whole thing is so shocking and unbelievable. To crown it all, the legislative arm now wants to invite a judicial arm to answer question.

It is as if these people are so ignorant and unconscious of the responsibility of their of­fice. You summon a judge sitting over your case! What does that mean? You now want to query the judge, who is handling your case, intimidate him to ridicule just because he is doing his job. Honestly, our legislature in this country is totally unfit to preside at local government level. They are a disgrace to any country. These people are just too primitive to hold any public office, all of them.

Are you saying that legislature does not have power to summon a judge?

Absolutely, they have no such power. They can only summon people when they are considering activities to which they have voted money. If they are not satisfied with the way the money is being spent on a particular project, they can invite minister or perma­nent secretary in that ministry to come and explain how money assigned to a particular project is being spent. What they have done is totally unrelated to their powers. This man is effectively a judicial officer because he is presiding over a case involving law and he is empowered to give judgment. It completely violates the constitution because one arm of government wants to subdue and subjugate the other arm and render it useless and sub­servient to it. What they have done is abomi­nable. And that is why I said their level of ig­norance and total lack of civility and morality is outrageous and very disturbing.

But many of these lawmakers be­lieve that his trial is politically mo­tivated. Is that too far from truth?

That is not the question. The question is: did he commit the offence? If he committed the offence, whether it is politically motivat­ed or not is irrelevant. Nobody can take me to tribunal and charge me for anything and I will say it is political. Let anybody take me there now, I will not say it is political because I have not done anything. So, that cover up is irrelevant. If he was not guilty, he will not be susceptible to any political action by any­body.

A man should be clean when holding polit­ical office. If you are not clean, then anything can happen to you and you dare not say it is political vendetta. If you are clean, nobody can take you up. I think it is a distraction, which should be ignored. If it is political, it means you haven’t done anything wrong. The court will vindicate you by the time you show your evidence that you have not done anything. Once you are guilty, the issue of whether or not is political is irrelevant. This is the more reason Saraki should be confident because he can go as far as Supreme Court.

What is your take on the issue of special court for trial of corrupt persons?

I believe in special court because the dock­et (case file of the judge) is fewer. Right now, some judges have 80 cases, some even have 100. But if you have a special court limited to a particular type of offences, docket will be smaller. What we are suggesting now is that special court should not be for corrup­tion alone, it should also be for terrorism, drug offences and money laundering. Those cases are not many. Work is going on in that regard.

How then do you select judges for special court without labeling others corrupt?

That is an important question. Those of us who in one way or the other involved in some of the processes are saying it at every opportunity that the fact that some judges are selected to handle these cases does not cast any doubt on the integrity of other judges. I want to reiterate that vast majority of our judges in this country are honourable, up­right and we have great respect for them.

There is also the criticism that President Buhari is spending too much time on anti-corruption war at the expense of governance. Is that not so?

It shows lack of awareness of how govern­ment functions. We have the EFCC, we have Code of Conduct Bureau, we have Code of Conduct Tribunal, DSS and Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, to mention but a few. They are all working full time. Once government appoints people to supervise these agencies, it does not su­pervise them. All the economic policies that need to be put in place are being done.

The president is addressing all the chal­lenges facing the economy, infrastructure, energy and so on. Ministers are not involved in anti-corruption struggles. The people who have been appointed are doing their jobs. There is division of labour and it is being strictly adhered to. The president is not di­rectly involved in the anti-corruption war.

The opposition Peoples Demo­cratic Party (PDP) views the cru­sade as a selective one. How would you react to such argu­ment?

I will give you two reasons why nobody should be thinking in that manner. One, when you have not been in government, it will be very difficult for you to have the opportunity to loot public funds. So, people in govern­ment now are not in government for more than a decade. The people who are being investigated are people who had managed the resources of this country and decided to loot the funds instead of using them for the purpose for which they have been assigned. Obviously, the focus has to be on those who had served in government in the past.

Two, if any one of them is innocent and he did not loot fund, he should use the op­portunity of the trial to prove his innocence. But you find out that most of them don’t want the case to go on and that clearly indi­cates that they know they have looted money and, therefore, all intrigues are being used to frustrate the investigation and their trial. All sorts of tricks are going on. They don’t want the case to be heard. If I am innocent, I will be anxious to see the case heard so that my name can be cleared. The fact that these people are delaying cases, holding up pro­ceedings and looking for all sorts of excuses for adjournment and postponement is a clear indication that they have actually done what they are being charged for.

A lot of people who have not even been charged have been admitting and even re­turning some of the monies. The whole pro­cess is very objective. The anti-corruption agencies are going after those who have looted the state funds. If they find out that anybody in APC is also involved, they will go after him. Don’t forget, there was a case of a retired military officer who is close to APC who was invited and, in fact, arrested. As far as I know, he is negotiating a soft landing by returning most of the money he is accused of taking. So, the whole prosecution process is blindfolded. They go after cases where there is evidence that funds belonging to this coun­try have been looted.

http://sunnewsonline.com/our-lawmakers-unfit-prof-sagay/

SaharaReporters investigation has revealed that Gabriel Suswam, the former Governor of Benue State, and the judge overseeing his trial for corruption at the Federal High Court in Abuja, Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed, have entered into an illegal financial agreement to give Mr. Suswam a “soft landing” from his charges.

Mr. Suswam was charged last year with embezzling and laundering N3.1 billion which he stole from Benue State as Governor from 2007 to 2015. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) first arraigned Mr. Suswam in November, 2015 following a lengthy interrogation of both him and his former Finance Commissioner Omadachi Oklobia.

Sources, requesting anonymity, have disclosed to SaharaReporters that as early as October, 2015 Mr. Suswam began plotting to compromise the imminent legal proceedings against him initiated by the EFCC.

One source told SaharaReporters that “I was brought in early to help give [Governor Suswam] a soft landing” and that would include using legal contacts in Abuja to reach Justice Mohammed and make a deal in favor of Mr. Suswam.

It will be recalled that, on November 10th 2015, the EFCC issued a statement that Mr. Suswam had his case docked before Justice Mohammed in the Federal High Court for nine counts of corruption. During this first public appearance, Mr. Mohammed granted bail to Mr. Suswam in the sum of N100 million.

According to one source, speaking to SaharaReporters on the condition of anonymity, Mr. Suswam began attempting to develop ways to influence Mr. Mohammed before their public appearance at the Federal Court in November. In doing so Mr. Suswam, who desired to have lenient bail conditions from Mr. Mohammed, offered to pay 10K in Euros and N2 million naira in cash as a “gift” to pay for medical bills of Mr. Mohammed’s relative.

“This was the first transaction between [Governor Suswam and Justice Mohammed] and would help ease the future relationship between them,” the source revealed.

SaharaReporters investigation found that one Hannatu Peters, who works at the Federal High Court in Abuja, played an instrumental role in facilitating the deal between Mr. Suswam and Mr. Mohammed. During a phone conversation with Mrs. Peters she acknowledged that she works for Mr. Mohammed at the Federal High Court and that she does know Mr. Suswam, but that she never arranged a deal between them.

However, sources speaking with SaharaReporters explained that Mrs. Peters acted as an intermediary on behalf of Mr. Mohammed to Mr. Suswam and certain associates.

It was also explained that both Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Suswam initially used these associates so they could plausibly deny ever making contact with one another should details of this transaction leak to the public.

SaharaReporters gathered that a tentative meeting was to be scheduled with intermediaries of Mr. Suswam and Mr. Mohammed between December 18th and December 22nd, 2015 in Abuja to discuss details of an arrangement. This meeting, however, never took place because both men reportedly felt comfortable enough meeting one-on-one at a later date.

According to text messages read by SaharaReporters, and sources with knowledge of the arrangement, Mr. Suswam and Mr. Mohammed met one another in Abuja on December 28th 2015.

A source told SaharaReporters that the meeting would finalize financial arrangements between the two men and to “coordinate legal proceedings” to give Mr. Suswam a soft landing.

“[Mr. Mohammed] advised Suswam on what to say to his legal council” when arguing Mr. Suswam’s case in court, a source told SaharaReporters. It was through this synchronization of efforts that would allow Mr. Mohammed to anticipate his subsequent rulings and swing the progress of the trial in Mr. Suswam’s favor.

This same source said that “three-hundred thousand dollars [$300 thousand] was to be given to the judge as good faith” to their agreement. The $300 thousand amount was to be part of a the total sum of $1.5 million that Mr. Suswam was to bribe Mr. Mohammed in exchange for a favorable ruling.

Following this meeting, Mr. Suswam and Mr. Mohammed formally exchanged numbers and agreed to have the $300 thousand delivered the next day.

SaharaReporters had a thirty-minute conversation with Mr. Suswam about these allegations during which he completely denied these allegations. He described this story as “blackmail” but could not identify who was trying to blackmail him or specific reasons for it.

However Mr. Suswam repeatedly shielded Mr. Mohammed from this report saying, “he should not be brought into this at all.”

Mr. Suswam continued defending the judge and added, “for them [the blackmailers] to now to start blaming the judge who does not know anything about what you’ve said I do not think it is fair.”

It will be recalled that SaharaReporters has previously reported on the dubious dealings of Justice Ahmed Mohammed as it relates to crimes committed by Senate President Bukola Saraki. SaharaReporters revealed on September 20th, 2015 that Mr. Saraki, Mr. Mohammed, and the former Attorney General Mohammed Adoke colluded to “force agents of the special fraud unit [which had discovered enormous banking fraud by Mr. Saraki] to abandon the senator’s loan fraud case.”

Justice Mohammed would later involve himself in Mr. Saraki’s legal troubles when he attempted to derail the senator’s Code of Conduct Tribunal in September 2015. However, following SaharaReporters reports, Mr. Mohammed ceased his attempts to interfere with Mr. Saraki’s CCT.

The discovery of this deal between Mr. Suswam and Justice Ahmed Mohammed is the latest following a crackdown by the EFCC on Nigerian justices and Senior Advocates. The disparaged Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Rickey Tarfa, was docked by the EFCC in March of this year for attempting to derail cases through shading dealings with Federal Justice Mohammed Yunusa. Mr. Tarfa also bribed two other judges—Justice Uwani Abba-Aji of the Court of Appeal and Chief Judge Ibrahim Auta—so that he could receive favorable rulings, according to the EFCC.

Another lawyer, Joseph Nwobike, was also charged by the EFCC for bribing Mr. Yunusa in February of this year, according to reports at the time.

All attempts to reach Mr. Mohammed by phone about these developments were unsuccessful at the time of publication.

http://saharareporters.com/2016/05/27/how-former-governor-suswam-bribed-justice-muhammad-soft-landing-corruption-trial

A National Prosecution Coordination Committee, NPCC, has been inaugurated for the effective prosecution of high criminal cases in the country, with an assurance that President Muhammadu Buhari is not interested in tele-guiding the anti-corruption agencies or prosecution authorities in the country.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, stated this earlier today at the Presidential Villa while inaugurating the committee headed by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami at an event attended by several government functionaries including the National Security Adviser, Brig-General Babagana Munguno, rtd, and heads of the ICPC and the CCB among others.
According to him, “when you look at the way that the EFCC and other law enforcement agencies have acted in recent times you will notice that they are not under any kind of direction of influence of the President. They are given the independence to act; they are given the authority and backing to act in their own and to use their own discretion appropriately at all times. You don’t get any situation where the president says go get that person of back off that person.”
Continuing, Prof. Osinbajo said “all of us know that the President is completely committed to fighting corruption and economic crimes and terrorism.”
He said such external influence does not exists under this administration, as the agencies are given the full authority to act and they do so using their best judgment. The Vice President who stood in for the President at the inauguration said what both the president and himself expect is that the agencies use their powers with fairness, devoid of any prejudice.
He said the same responsibility had been given to the newly formed NPCC to bring justice to the people.
Addressing the 20-member Committee, the Vice President noted “that is the sort of responsibility placed on your own shoulders as well, the responsibility to exercise prosecutorial power independently and without any direction except of course from the learned Attorney-General who is the constitutional and prosecutorial authority in the country.”
“It is a very serious responsibility because it also involves making sure that people are treated fairly or that people are not pursued by reason of bias or any other such consideration,’’ the VP said adding that it was important that those being prosecuted were not embarrassed needlessly by the prosecutors.
He stressed that it is important that everybody observe “that the system is fair and that the system works in the interest of the Nigerian people. When the system is fair everybody buys into it and it is not difficult for people to relate with it and support it.’’
While stating that every prosecuting organ or agent had the responsibility to put in place a system that “we ourselves would not be afraid to be subjected to,” the Vice President said that the selection of the committee members took into consideration not only their legal skills and learning, but also their integrity and strength of character in order to chart a new course in the nation’s criminal justice system.
He said although legal background was important, particular consideration was given to those who have courage and would not allow themselves to be cowed or influenced by tribe, religion, and friendships.
“Given the nature of economic crimes and the enormity sometimes of the money that is involved and the influence of those who may have to be prosecuted, you need more than legal skills. You need men and women of strong character and courage who will not only be able to turn down inducements of any kind but also act without consideration for tribe, friendship, religion or any other parochial considerations.’’
The Vice President observed that the composition of the committee was notable as they take on their tasks at a time of an upsurge in pipeline vandalism among other criminal acts.
“This is a very important committee because the administration itself is committed to ensuring that we are able to deal with not only question of corruption which is a big item on our agenda but also other economic crimes. Terrorism has assumed different shapes and proportions of late, and the vandalism that we see in parts of the Niger Delta, which has affected so many different things including oil production, power supply,” says Prof. Osinbajo.
“We are in a very crucial time in our social development and a committee such as this is very necessary and historic because I do not know of any other of such committee in the history of this country,’’ the Vice President added and congratulated the committee members for being chosen to perform the task and expressed the hope that the committee would be making a huge difference, “not only in headlines but in actual delivery of results’’ in in the next few months.
Earlier in his remarks, the Attorney General and Justice Minister said that the committee comprised 12 ex-officio and eight external members of proven integrity and competence. He said that to fast-rack the work of the committee the ministry had created 20 prosecution teams with four members each and had requested the all agencies exercising police powers to recommend five experienced investigators to support the committee’s work.
“The aim is to ensure effective investigation and prosecution of high profile criminal cases in Nigeria,’’ the minister said, adding that the committee was not a duplication of the existing anti-corruption agencies but would collaborate with such agencies for effective service delivery.
Besides the Attorney-General, who is the Chairman of the Committee, the members are:
Mr. Taiwo Abidogun-Solicitor-General/Permanent Secretary, Ministry of JusticeMr. Dipo Okpeseyi, SANMr. Chukuma Machukwu, SANProfessor Bolaji Owasanoye, the Executive Secretary of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-CorruptionMr. M.S. Diri, Director of Prosecution,Ministry of JusticeMr. Pius Oteh, Esq.Okoi Obono-Obla Esq.Mrs Juliet IbekakuMr. Abiodun Aikomo, Esq.Mr. Kehinde Oginni, Esq,Mr. Salihu Othman Isah-Special Adviser, Media & Publicity to the Attorney-GeneralAl-Amin Ado Ibrahim, from the Office of the National Security AdviserNafiu YakubuTunji Oluborode, Esq.Eric Onokif Ifere Esq.Mrs Diane OkokoTemitope Adebayo, Esq.DIG Abdulrahman Yusuf, RTDSylvester Imhanobe, Esq, Secretary to the Committee
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity



http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/204198-nigeria-sets-panel-prosecution-high-profile-corruption-cases.html