₦airaland Forum

Senate’s action childish, irresponsible –Sagay

Sagay, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, stated that Buhari would not be cowed by the Senate’s action which he described as an affront to the Presidency.

He said, “That action is childish and irresponsible. Do they think Buhari is a man that can easily be threatened? My God! How can people of such character occupy the highest legislative office in the country? Nigeria is finished.

“It is a great mistake and they will regret it.”

When asked what appropriate action Buhari could take, Sagay explained that Buhari could continue to appoint people in acting capacity where necessary.

He said the refusal to confirm the RECs was of no effect since officials of the INEC had been acting as RECs for over a year.

Sagay added, “Where the Senate is required to approve a person for a particular position and they refuse to do it, the person could continue to act depending on the nature of the appointment.

“However, if the nominee is coming from another sector, just like in the case of the RECs, it means they cannot act. However, people below that rank in INEC can continue to act as RECs all over the country as it has been done.”

He added, “What this action means is that the Senate is being occupied by the most unserious set of Nigerians in history. Nigeria is currently at its lowest level because we have people who have no sense of responsibility, who have no feeling and are there for just vanity and are ready to bring down the country in order to feel important, it is the worst case of abuse ever.

“Let them do what they want, they will regret it.”

The qualification scandal that has enveloped the senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District at the upper chamber of the National Assembly, Dino Melaye, has deepened.

Documents obtained exclusively by Saturday PUNCH through painstaking and thorough investigations showed that the embattled senator has a Bachelor of Arts certificate in Geography from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.

The senator, apart from bagging a third class, also possesses a diploma certificate from the University of Jos.

However, the senator only has a statement of results from ABU. And not only that, checks at the university revealed that it only offers B.Sc. Geography and not B.A. Geography as reflected on Melaye’s statement of results.

Melaye’s trouble began on Monday, March 20, 2017 when an online news medium, Sahara Reporters, in a tweet alleged that the senator did not graduate from ABU for his first degree, against his claim that he studied Geography in the prestigious institution.


The news medium also alleged that Melaye, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory, bribed his Head of Department, who assisted him to forge his transcript.

In a series of tweets via its Twitter handle, @SaharaReporters, the online news medium said some lecturers in the Geography Department insisted that Melaye did not graduate from the department and that his name was not on the graduation list because he failed five compulsory courses.

Following the report, which gained traction speedily, Melaye dismissed the allegations, daring the news medium to sue him if it had authentic evidence to back its claims.

He took to his twitter handle and wrote, “Sahara Reporters, please sue me and ABU if it is true that I did not graduate from Zaria. Tell Magu (EFCC Chairman) to arrest and prosecute me.”

Melaye also boasted that he was currently a student in ABU pursuing his seventh degree, adding, “Go round all the UNIS (universities) I attended in digging more.”



A day after the news broke, Melaye, while speaking on the floor of the Senate, also addressed himself as an “authentic graduate” of ABU.

Meanwhile, when The PUNCH contacted ABU to verify the conflicting information, the institution’s Information Officer, Adamu Mohammed, promised that the institution would come out with its position on Wednesday, which it failed to do as of the time of filing this report.

Amid the controversy, documents obtained by Saturday PUNCH revealed that the senator had a statement of results with the logo of ABU.

The statement of results read, “This is to certify that Daniel Jonah Melaye having completed an approved course of study and passed the prescribed examinations as, under the authority of the Senate been awarded the Bachelor of Arts (Geography) with Third Class honours.”

The statement, issued by the Office of the Registrar, Academic Office and dated February 3, 2000, was signed by B.B. Mshelthlila.


There are, however, certain discrepancies that beg for more clarifications. For instance, in the statement of results, his name was given as “Daniel Jonah MELAYE.” However, checks by one of our correspondents on https://abu.edu.ng/ revealed that Geography is in the Faculty of Science and not the Faculty of Arts as reflected in the statement of results.

Also, in the senator’s NYSC discharge certificate, which was issued on July 8, 2001, his name read “Melaye Daniel” and not Daniel Jonah as shown in the statement of results.

Also, in the diploma certificate issued to him by the University of Jos on August 3, 2006, his name read “Daniel Dino Melaye.”

He was issued an Advanced Diploma certificate in Law, Security and Conflict Resolution. He finished with ‘Lower Credit’ on August 3, 2006.

However, in his Senior School Certificate in 1992, his name read ‘Melaiye Daniel Jonah O.’ with Melaye being wrongly spelt.


In the result, he had P8 in English Language, P8 in Mathematics, P8 in Geography, P8 in Chemistry, C5 in Christian Religious Knowledge, P7 in Economics, C6 in Biology and B3 in Agric Science.

When contacted again by one of our correspondents on his mobile telephone on Friday evening, the Information Officer, ABU, Mr. Adamu Mohammed, sounded hostile.

“Please, this is not official time; call me tomorrow, thank you, goodnight,” he said and hung up.

It will be recalled that in furtherance to his defence, Melaye had reportedly claimed that he obtained degrees from the prestigious Harvard University, London School of Economics and Political Science and a post-graduate degree from the University of Jos.

But in a swift response to an enquiry, Harvard University, in a statement from the Registrar’s office, on Thursday noted that Melaye was not a graduate of the institution as he only completed a week-long leadership seminar in November 2016.

The London School of Economics equally responded on Thursday, saying there was no proof on the institution’s database that Melaye obtained any degree from the school.

But on Thursday, he filed a N5bn libel suit against Sahara Reporters at a FCT High Court. Meanwhile, given the Senate’s decision to investigate the allegation and the uproar the report had generated, Melaye had since taken to the social media to exonerate himself of all the allegations.

Moments after he filed the suit, he took to the social media to post pictures of the cover and certification pages of his Master’s project, and a group picture of his days as a corps member, even though he was the only one not in uniform.

He wore a white T-shirt and blue shorts, adding that he served in Kaduna State in 1999. The caption on the picture read, “ABU 99 set at NYSC camp in KD. Me in blue shorts.”

Also, on Friday, Wikipedia, had edited Melaye’s profile to include ‘Certificate Scandal’, which briefly chronicled the issues surrounding the ongoing certificate brouhaha..

SaharaReporters has obtained Senator Dino Melaye’s West African Examination Council (WAEC) result sheets showing that the embattled senator was a dismal student who earned only three credits.

The result sheet for the senator, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who represents Kogi West senatorial district, came from a secondary school attended by Mr. Melaye, even though he had kept that aspect of his academic history hidden from the public by scrubbing the school from his profile on the website of the Nigerian Senate.

Mr. Melaye sat for the WAEC exams at the Abdulazeez Attah Memorial College, Okeke in Kogi State. His results, exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters, reveal that Senator Melaye, whose name on the result sheets was registered as Daniel Jonah O. Melaiye, only made three credits in Christian Religious Studies (C5), Agricultural Science (A3) and Biology (C6). Melaye took 6 other subjects including English Language (P8), Mathematics (P8), Chemistry (P8), Economics (P7) and Physics (F9).

The dismal performance meant that Mr. Melaye did not have the minimum requisite credits to gain admission into a Nigerian university to study for a bachelor’s degree. In fact, the only way he could have been admitted for studies at a Nigerian university was if he earned other credits from another secondary school.
Mr. Melaye did not list his secondary school education on his www.linkedin.com profile. Nor did he provide it on his senatorial profile on the website of the Nigerian National Assembly. Instead, he listed Gandun Nasarawa Primary School in Kano as the source of his West African School Certificate. Pupils in primary school are not eligible to sit WAEC exams.

Authorities at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria have stopped responding to inquiries from the media to provide proof that Mr. Melaye fulfilled the requirements for admission and graduation at the university in 1993.
Two of Mr. Melaye’s classmates yesterday disclosed that the senator was impeached as the President of the National Association of Geography Students (NAGS) in 1998/99 because he was accused of stealing a brand new TV set purchased by the association. He replaced the stolen TV set with an old one.

Since Mr. Melaye’s certificate scandal broke, the senator has sued SaharaReporters for libel and defamation, making a court appearance at a Federal Capital Territory court in Abuja. The senator has also today petitioned the Inspector General of the Nigerian police claiming that the expose of his shady academic records by SaharaReporters constitutes a “cybercrime”.

Anasko:
thank you, but hope it was successful

Anasko:
Where is Ameera, how far concerning our reposting?

In response to the query President Muhammadu Buhari ordered, the embattled acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, questioned the sincerity and motive of the State Security Service, SSS, which accused him of integrity deficiency and professional misconduct, official correspondence reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES showed.
The SSS’ allegations blocked Mr. Magu’s confirmation as the substantive chairman of the EFCC, twice, as the agency repeatedly advised the Senate to reject his nomination because “MAGU has failed the integrity test and will eventually constitute a liability to the anti-corruption drive of the present administration.”

After the Senate first rejected Mr. Magu’s nomination by Mr. Buhari in December 2016, citing the allegations made against the nominee by the SSS, the President authorised the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to investigate the validity of the allegations.

President Muhammadu Buhari

In compliance, Mr. Malami on December 19 asked Mr. Magu to “respond within 48 hours” to the SSS’ allegations.

In his response, on December 21, Mr. Magu said he considered all the issues raised against him and provided “point-by-point response.”

MISSING FILES AND DISMISSAL FROM EFCC
Mr. Magu admitted official documents relating to cases under investigation were found in his private home when raided “on the order of Mrs. Farida Waziri when she succeeded Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as the chairman of the EFCC.”

But in defence, he said at the time, he had not formally handed over to Umar Sanda, his successor as head of Economic Governance Unit; and carrying out his duty at the time was impossible without working from home.
“The documents found in my house were actually found in my office bag where I kept documents relating to investigations,” he said. “I was in the process of handing over and it would be wrong to suggest that I wilfully kept the Commission’s files at home.”

Following the matter, Mr. Magu was placed on suspension without pay for 20 months during which the police was carrying out investigation, he said.
“But in the end, I was reprimanded, recalled and promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police.”
He continued: “It is important sir, to draw your attention to the fact that some of us that worked closely with Ribadu were victimised after his exit. And my ordeal was orchestrated as punishment for being the chief investigative officer for most of the high profile cases involving politically exposed persons some of whom became very influential in government at the time.”
Mr. Magu later returned to the EFCC upon the exit of Mrs. Waziri. But the SSS said his “close working relationship” with and how he was brought back by Ibrahim Lamorde, Mrs. Waziri’s successor, indicated “his culpability in the allegations of corrupt tendencies of LAMORDE led EFCC.

Replying, Mr. Magu said it was “preposterous” for the SSS to allege he was recalled, in 2012 when he was serving in the Anambra police command, to do hatchet job for Mr. Lamorde.

“My job schedule as Deputy Director, Department of Internal Affairs, under Lamorde, was simply handling issues of professional responsibility in the Commission. I had no inputs in core operations duties of the Commission,” said Mr. Magu.

HOUSE RENT, EXTRAVAGANCE, CONTROVERSIAL TIES
Contrary to the claim by the SSS that the residence Mr. Magu currently occupies was rented for him by “a questionable business man” at N40 million for two years, with another N43 million to “lavishly furnish” the apartment, the acting EFCC boss said, “The entire cost for both two-year rent and the furnishing of the house is N39.628million.

Director General of SSS, Lawan Daura

“Details of the transaction are contained in the contract award letter and payment schedule which are attached to this letter.”

The SSS had claimed the house was gotten from Mohammed Umar, a retired air commodore, now being tried for money laundering and illegal possession of firearms,
Mr. Magu denied “penchant for air travels” in private jet belonging to Mr. Umar, but admitted he had flown the said aircraft on two occasions: one, offer of ride from Kano to Abuja after an official assignment with two EFCC directors; two, when he was traveling to Maiduguri to see his sick mother.

“These, for me, were harmless gesture as we were both members of the presidential investigative committee on arms procurement. At the time I had no knowledge that he was under investigation for any alleged crimes,” he said.

He also denied he flew with the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Nnamdi Okonwko, who is under investigation by the EFCC, to Maiduguri in Mr. Umar’s private jet, stressing he had never flown in a private aircraft with any bank chief.

Further debunking claims he is flamboyant, he said in one instance he flew on a first class ticket with Emirate Airline to perform the lesser Hajj in Saudi Arabia, but argued that was not enough for the SSS to conclude he keeps extravagant lifestyle.

Moreover, he said he opted for first class because tickets for other classes had been sold out at the time, and that he funded the trip from his private pocket.
He did not disclose the cost of the trip for the pilgrimage, but SSS said it was N2,990,196 (about N3 million).

He said his relationship with Mr. Umar had been one of “professional acquaintance devoid of issues of conflict of interest” since their paths crossed when they became members of arms procurement probe panel.

He said: “The claim that EFCC documents, including EFCC letters addressed to the Vice President and being investigation reports on the activities of Emmanuel Kachikwu and his brother Demebi Kachikwu, were found in his home during a search by the DSS came to me as a surprise.

“If that is correct, he should be made to disclose how he came by such documents. I never discussed my official duties with him let alone give him documents pertaining to investigations being conducted by the Commission.”

RELUCTANCE TO ARRAIGN FORMER AIR CHIEF AMOSU
“ Indeed, among the suspects arrested over the arms procurement scandal, he (Adesola Amosu) was most cooperative. The Commission recovered N2.835billion cash from him, aside from property worth One Billion Five Hundred and Eighty-One Million Naira (N1,581, 000, 000), Two Million One Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States Dollars ($2,150, 000) and One Million Pounds Sterling (£1, 000, 000),” said Mr. Magu, explaining that Mr. Amosu’s arraignment was delayed because he cooperated with the EFCC in the process of recovery of proceeds of crime.

Since a key focus of the investigation was to recover as much proceeds of crime as possible, Mr. Magu added, the EFCC took its time to ensure it had recovered what was possible before arraigning the suspect in court.
“This had nothing to do with the wish of any individual.”
Mr. Magu also denied vendetta against Stanley Lawson, whom the SSS report described as one “working in the interest of the Federal Government.”

Diezani Alison-Madueke

According to the anti-graft chief, Mr. Lawson was arrested in relation to the investigation into the mismanagement of $118 million public funds for electioneering campaign involving former petroleum resources minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Denying “a bid to settle personal scores” as SSS alleged, Mr. Magu said: “It was discovered that he (Mr. Lawson) made payment of $25 million into Fidelity Bank and also facilitated the purchase of Ogeyi Place Le Meridien Hotel in Port Harcourt for Mrs. Alison Madueke, for which he collected Ninety-Four Million Five Hundred and Sixteen Thousand Naira (N 94, 516,000) as commission.
“Lawson was arrested and he made a refund of the N94.5million traced to him. He was never placed on any watch list.”

He also challenged the SSS to expose any EFCC operative “working closely with me” who is found to have indulged in unethical practices or living beyond legitimate means. That was a response to the allegation that he uses police cronies who have acquired “a lot of landed property” to “execute operations” and “cover his tracks”.

The anti-graft chief then questioned “the fact that DSS authored two separate reports on me.”

PREMIUM TIMES saw the two SSS reports – one to the Senate and the other to the Presidency – released same day, October 3, 2016 and signed by one official, Folashade Bello, on behalf of the Director-General, Lawal Daura.

However, while the two reports discredited Mr. Magu, the one to the Senate asked that he should not be confirmed, while the other one to the presidency said, “it may be expedient to give him benefit of doubt and be considered.”

“The two reports emanating from same agency raises question of sincerity and motive,” Mr. Magu said. You will want to find out why they came up with two conflicting reports on the same subject on the same day.

“It is important to note that in all this, I was not given the opportunity of fair hearing.”

Following Mr. Magu’s response to the attorney general’s query ordered by Mr. Buhari, Mr. Malami reported back to the President.

Acting on the feedback and advice by the attorney general, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and the Itse Sagay-led anti-corruption advisory council, Mr. Buhari wrote back to the Senate in January, re-nominating Mr. Magu and clearing him of any wrongdoing in respect of the allegations by the SSS.

By re-nominating Mr. Magu and telling the Senate allegations against him were false, the SSS’ competence and capacity was brought to doubt. But the President did not query the SSS headed by his kinsman, Lawal Daura, over the service’s claims.

Consequently, on the eve of Mr. Magu’s confirmation hearing following the second nomination, the SSS
wrote the Senate reaffirming its position that Mr. Magu lacks integrity and should not be confirmed, brushing aside the clearance from the Presidency.

With the SSS’ reaffirmation and Mr. Magu’s below-par performance at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, the Senate again rejected his nomination.

While Senate President Bukola Saraki expressed expectation that Mr. Buhari should consider it normal to replace Mr. Magu immediately, the presidential advsiers on anti-corruption campaign led by Mr. Sagay said the president should either re-nominate Mr. Magu for third time or keep him in acting capacity “because he is the best man for the job”.

But many have accused the president of losing control of his own government in view of the SSS action, and questioned his sincerity about Mr. Magu’s confirmation.