₦airaland Forum

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Ifeanyi Odili

The Convener of the Conference of Nigerian Civil Rights Activists and a leader of Campaign for Democracy, Mr. Ifeanyi Odili, in this interview with BAYO AKINLOYE, says allegations linking former President Goodluck Jonathan to the Niger Delta Avengers are grievous and that the ex-president should seek legal redress to clear his name if he is innocent

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and the Reformed Niger Delta have accused former President Goodluck Jonathan of being sympathetic to the Niger Delta Avengers and that he’s using the Avengers to destabilise President Muhammadu Buhari’s government. Do you think that the allegation was proper, considering the fact that he willingly conceded defeat to Buhari?

Yes. People should be curious because they seem not to realise that in Nigeria, everything is possible. The question of whether it is right or wrong (to accuse Goodluck Jonathan of sponsoring the Avengers) has not arisen. The question should be: can he possibly allow himself to be involved in such unpatriotic act? The answer to the question can go either way. I am from the Niger Delta; I know what some of us can do. Who was Jonathan before he became the vice president? As a nation, are we aware of his security antecedents? No Ijaw man is free from militancy. And besides, do you think that Jonathan willingly accepted defeat?  That belief (that he graciously accepted defeat) is nothing but mere fallacy. The man was not to leave the stage (hand over power to Buhari). The voice of rejection was too loud and clear for him to risk clinging on to power through either a Machiavellian approach or any other guise. He had no option than to quit, otherwise his case would have been worse than that of Laurent Gbagbo and Muammar Gaddafi. He had been rejected. So, refusing to relinquish power would have been disastrous for him and the entire nation. The country would probably have been at war at that moment. In other words, he did not sacrifice his presidential ambition; rather, he was rejected and he knew it. If you study the body language of some of his followers, then you will infer that the accusation could be true.

Do you think it is important for Jonathan to seek legal redress if truly he has no link to the militant group, to clear his name?

What Jonathan should have done is to sue those who levelled the allegation against him for their intention to defame and damage his character; that is if his hands are clean. I cannot give an undertaking for anybody from that region on issues like this. But from a legal point of view, if someone is accused of a certain criminal act, it is the duty of the government to investigate this weighty allegation against an ex-president.

There’s been destruction of oil facilities in the Niger Delta by the Avengers and violent attacks in the South-West by other militants. No one has heard the ex-president openly condemn such actions. What do you think about Jonathan’s body language?

His body language speaks volume; it is conceived of so many meanings. At his level and being an elder statesman, such actions should not have come from his domain. He could have urged the militants to sheathe their sword. He cannot openly condemn the attack going by his body language. Some of us from the Niger Delta believed before now, that it was (President Muhammadu) Buhari who was sponsoring or instigating Boko Haram against the Jonathan’s government, being a southerner. Now that Buhari, a northerner is there, someone from the Niger Delta might think this is a time to revenge. I think that is what we are witnessing today. However, that notion ought to have been deleted from their memories since the soldiers allegedly killed over 700 members of Shiite Muslims and continued detention of (Ibraheem) El-Zakzaky by the Nigerian Army under the watch of Buhari.

Are you saying the inaction or silence of the former president on the militants’ activities is deliberate?

One would not be off the mark to say emphatically that his silence is deliberate because it is said that ‘silence means consent.’ What would have prompted some prominent South-South leaders to approach Buhari and demand the suspension of the ongoing prosecution of Jonathan’s aides as part of conditions to stop the destruction of oil facilities by the NDA? Who do you think was the mastermind of such irresponsible move? Those leaders could not have taken such step without due consultation with Jonathan. What has dropping of corruption charges got to do with destruction of government properties which is regarded as our collective heritage, inasmuch as we remain as one indivisible nation?

Do you think he can be instrumental to resolving the Niger Delta crisis?

Obviously, not. As an aggrieved and ousted president? He cannot and can never be instrumental in the resolution of the crisis because what we are seeing today is what they (Jonathan’s supporters) termed ‘Plan B’ following his loss at the presidential poll. So, anyone who thinks Jonathan can be instrumental to resolving the ongoing destruction of our properties and the Niger Delta crisis is committing a huge political and economic blunder. Solution to Niger Delta Crisis is that the government should deal directly with the common people, not the likes of (Government Ekpemupolo, aka) Tompolo, (Kingsley) Kuku, Asari Dokubo, and Edwin Clark, among others. There cannot be any solution until justice is done. The real owners of these resources must feel the impact of their resources; I mean the masses in that region.

What do you make of the ex-president’s alleged relationship with Government Tompolo?

That is one of the things I have just said. If Jonathan and Tompolo did not have a robust relationship, what is Tompolo doing with the billions of naira which belonged to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency? It was also alleged that contract to import ammunition to fight Boko Haram insurgents was given to him. When did Tompolo become importer of arms? When did he become a registered fire arms supplier in the Ministry of Defence? Let me tell you, Buhari’s earthly sojourn will not be complete if all these looters are not apprehended and jailed – if possible, executed – because their act, have sent many souls to their untimely graves.

Don’t you think that linking Jonathan with NDA is APC propaganda to discredit him?

This is not propaganda; it is a reality and a fact that should be properly investigated. Such allegation is not what the government will just overlook or sweep under the carpet – or else, this country is doomed. But while I hold that view, I cannot allow my sense of reasoning to be clouded because I also have a second reflection about it. Don’t forget that a petition was written against Ken Saro-Wiwa by the Ogonis (his own people) to the then Federal Military Government under (Gen. Sani) Abacha over what was termed treason and arson upon which he was sentenced to death. Consequently, he was hanged. So, the allegation could be out of jealousy, hatred and vengeance by his (Jonathan’s) own people. This we cannot be ruled out completely. It can also be a ploy as you have rightly suggested, by the government to cause harm or damage to his image, because the world sees him as a hero for relinquishing power ‘willingly.’

So, to prove his innocence, he should go to court?

If Jonathan was not willing to clear his name on the matter, legally, and the government sees the allegation as something to act upon and as a threat to the Nigerian nation – namely, our corporate existence. It (The Federal Government) should ask the security agencies to invite the erstwhile president (for questioning); investigate and prosecute him for treason and economic sabotage, if found guilty.

Could it be that the ex-president doesn’t care about what people say about him?

I don’t think so. I think he wants to display some bit of maturity and intelligence but I am afraid this is really a serious allegation that he should not have ignored.

It appears Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was banking on a precious metal inflow from Rio to fix his nation's ailing economy as he has ordered the arrest of all 31 Zimbabwean Olympic athletes arrested and detained for daring to return home with no medals.

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Zimbabwe which is one of the countries in the Olympics without a medal presented a team of 31 athletes. The closest any of the athletes came to win a contest was at the 8th position.
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Mr. Mugabe who is incensed with the team’s performance told the Police Chief to arrest all the team members and detain them.

“We have wasted the country’s money on these rats we call athletes. If you are not ready to sacrifice and win even copper or brass medals (referring the 4th and 5th positions) as our neighbors Botswana did, then why do you go to waste our money” he said.
 
”If we needed people to just go to Brazil to sing our national anthem and hoist our flag, we would have sent some of the beautiful girls and handsome guys from University of Zimbabwe to represent us.”
 
He added that, the money invested in the team to represent the country could have been used to provide amenities and build schools.
 
“This situation is like an impotent man who is married to five women, what is the essence? I will make sure we share the cost across board for all of them to pay back to government chest even if it takes 10 years to recoup, now it turns out to be a soft loan we have given them to go and visit Brazil as tourist, they are useless” he concluded.

While we doubt Mugabe ever cared much for the Olympic spirit, with this one act (and we are still having trouble believing Mugabe actually did this) Zimbabwe's dictator has doomed his country to having no future olympians at all.

When (or if) any of these Zimbabwean athletes get out of jail, maybe it's time to emigrate to Singapore?

chiefobdk:
drugs.

wat dis boys take eh....if dem share am into 99 give you 1. sorry na ur name.

Reeberry:
I have checked it before quoting you, and I see nothing bad. Just because she asked "have you eaten"? That's why you called her" werey"?

You don't have to pour your frustration on people who don't know where the frustration hitted you.

Reeberry:
And you got these likes for your rudeness. Oga o

ladygudhead:
bros na d wey u tek take anoda man matter personal naim make dat babe con use style dey advice u say if u Neva chop today make u try go eat,because e fit b say na hungry dey make u yann like dis ... me too sef surprise 4 d way u drink panadol 4 basketmouth headache!




abeg 4giv my sabi sabi...nor binu say I com chuk mouth 4 d mata, na lack of sleep dey do me...

hadayleke:
Lol..
ko to yen nw

nikkypearl:
av you eaten today?

BUHARImyDOG:
WATCHING MY DOG FROM A FAR DISTANCE


NO HE WON'T TAKE ANY ACTION AGAINST HIS BLOOD BROTHERS

IF IT WHERE PEACEFUL NDA OR BIAFRA AGITATORS



HIS OLD DICKK WILL RISE.........

The Rebranded Indigenous People of Biafra (TRIPOB), a breakaway group from the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu, has picked October 1, Nigeria’s Independence Day, to publicly denounce Biafra Republic and burn its flag.

According to Chima ‘Phillip Effiong’ Osuji, who released a statement on behalf of the group on Wednesday, CHIMA “PHILLIP EFFIONG” OSUJI, the decision was taken on Monday at the end of an emergency meeting of “disaffected” IPOB members.

TRIPOB said it now sees the Biafra question “from a different perspective”, as Biafra will now become “a powerful metaphor for change, development and greatness of the Igbos inside a united Nigeria”.

It said it had “accepted the fact that the Biafra Republic is not a reality but an anachronism”, and doubts that the south-south region will ever become a part of a Biafra Republic, except by force after a declaration of another civil war.

[b]THE FULL STATEMENT

At an emergency meeting convened by some disaffected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Monday, August 22, 2016 in Aba, Abia state, it was resolved that due to the rigid and fatalistic position of the Nnamdi Kanu led IPOB, several of us with like minds shall breakaway and form The Rebranded Indigenous People of Biafra or TRIPOB.

TRIPOB now sees the Biafra question from a different perspective. Biafra will now become to us a powerful metaphor for change, development and greatness of the Igbos inside a united Nigeria, where the South East axis will be a utopia from the sheer determination borne out of the Biafra metaphor.

We believe in being a part of a united Nigeria, and a new way of thinking, where the victim mentality will no longer be acceptable.

We have accepted the fact that the Biafra Republic is not a reality but an anachronism, and doubt that the South South region will become a part of a Biafra Republic, except by force; after a declaration of another civil war.

That the lessons and history of the civil war will only reinforce the belief in ourselves to reach the zenith in this great country, Nigeria, where opportunities abound for every one regardless of tribe or religion, and even where such narrow sentiments exists, we will not see ourselves as victims. Never!

In view of this new mindset, members of the TRIPOB and any new defectors will on October 1, 2016 make a public denunciation of a
Seccesionist Biafra Republic at the Eagle Square, Abuja. 

The event will also include recitation of the Pledge to Nigeria our Country, singing of the National anthem, followed by a solemn burning of the Biafra flag and unveiling a new Biafra flag representing pride, change, potential and spirit of the Igbo race which can thrive any where in the world.

Long live the Biafra Spirit! Igbo…Kwenu!!!

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria! Nigeria…Kwenu!!![/b]

MadamExcellency:
You mean to tell Nigerians that CCB prepared the document for Buhari?

Where is Buhari's copy? Let him make it public and stop playing on our intelligence.



@Op
Which one concern Assets Declaration Records with Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT)? Is the Bureau now scrapped?

President Muhammadu Buhari recently challenged Nigerians desirous of knowing the assets he owns to approach the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to request his asset declaration documents.

But in this interview with PREMIUM TIMES team of Ibanga Isine, Evelyn Ukakwu and Georgina Bako, the bureau’s chairman, Sam Saba, explains why his Bureau will not release the document to the public despite the president advising it to do so on national television.

EXCERPT:

PT: Recently, a huge leak of document from a Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, lifted the lid on how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth. The names of many Nigerians were found in the leak aptly called “Panama Papers.” Are you considering taking action against such people?

Many have asked us this question earlier but at that time we were not in a position to give any answer. But I later asked my counterpart in the ICPC if he was in the picture and he replied in the negative. He, however advised me to approach PREMIUM TIMES.

Already, we have some questions for certain public officers, which I will not be able to disclose at the moment. Until they finish answering those questions, I may not be able to discuss it.

PT: Can you assure Nigerians that you will take action against the indicted persons?

Didn’t you hear what I said? I said that already we have correspondences asking us what we know about specific public officers on this matter. And we are doing that. I don’t want to reveal the names to you now. But if at the end of the day, I can do that, I will let you know. But I want to let you know that government has written us and given us some names to investigate, based on what they have been reading and hearing regarding the leaked document. In fact, that was why immediately this issue came up, I thought of who to contact to help us.

PT: Talking about your ongoing case against Senate President, Bukola Saraki, are there likely to be more prosecutions in the nearest future?

We are going to discuss it at our board meeting next week, so I cannot disclose that to you right now. I am not going to commit myself now. Let the time come and we will inform you. After all, this is an ongoing conversation.

PT: Can you take us down memory lane on the number of convictions you have secured since the inception of the Bureau?

There are so many. We can give you a list of the convictions. Some people are fined. Of course, nobody is sentenced. The law does not give us that power. It’s just fines, seizure or forfeiture of the assets.

PT: What are your major challenges in the course of this assignment.

The major challenges we have are essentially lack of capacity building and inadequate funding.

PT: While CCB is Nigeria’s foremost anti-corruption agency, nothing much was heard of its operations unlike the EFCC and ICPC. Why did the bureau remain silent this long?

That has been a recurring question and I have a very simple answer for it. What most people do not understand is that the Code of Conduct Bureau is different from the EFCC and ICPC. Cases that are referred to these other agencies concern offences that have already been committed. On the other hand, the CCB is largely a preventive organisation. Is it going to make news to you today for me to say that 30 people have not declared their assets? Or that we have sent 20 names to the tribunal for default in filing their asset declaration forms? I have discovered over this period that Nigerians love a situation where they hear that this person or that person has been caught and taken to prison. That is not the nature of this agency.

This organisation was established to maintain good public service. We do that in various ways. One is through asset declaration, the other is through public enlightenment and the third method is through sanctions. And this is done through the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT. But people often ask; “Where are the convictions?” “Your level of conviction is low?” CCB is not the one that does the convictions. It is the CCT that does the convictions.

So if CCT does not give a conviction, it does not mean that CCB has not worked. We are dealing with millions of public officers, and how many people will come out to volunteer information. People are afraid of volunteering information. It is only in recent times that this whistle-blowing thing is taking shape because they see that the present administration is serious about fighting corruption.

Even then, when we take an asset declaration form to a public officer who has just retired; everybody will say they don’t know his address. Even when we are able to trace his residence and send people there, nobody takes the declaration form from the staff. As I have always said, the CCB does not have the power of arrest. These other two agencies have the power of arrest. CCT can issue a warrant and the police does the arrest.

PT: What mechanisms do you have to crosscheck and be sure that what public servants declare are true or do you just rely on what people fill in those forms?

We rely on two things – what people fill and the intelligence we gather regarding what they filled. We receive petitions, but when we look at most of the petitions, they are based on frivolous reasoning; either the petitioner and the accused fell out and then one wants to write and tarnish the image of the other.

PT: But do you have a unit that investigates the claims public servants make on their asset declaration forms?

We have a unit that verifies; though we cannot verify everybody. But we verify the executive, including the ministers. We verify principal officers of the National Assembly. We verify governors in the state and local government chairmen.

PT: Don’t you also verify judicial officers like the Chief Justice of the Federation?

Every public officer. So long as you draw a stipend from the federal, state and local government; you are a public officer. That is our own definition.

PT: How do you deal with some governors, who come in with almost nothing but when they are leaving office, amassed so many properties?

It is very difficult in the sense that you only hear these kind of stories but in reality they are not so. I’ll give you an instance. Most people will tell you that public officers own the big buildings in this town. But nobody will send even an anonymous message saying Mr. ‘A’ owns this property and we know that he does not have the capacity and legitimate means to own it. It is partly because we do not have a strong whistleblower legislation. Though the legislation is already in the pipeline, we hope that it will soon become implementable.

PT: During his maiden media chat, President Muhammadu Buhari had said you have the power to release his asset declaration document to us in PREMIUM TIMES. Would you be willing now to release the documents to us, just as the president said on live television?

I will give you a very simple answer. He said you are free but who is free? Is the CCB free? The law does not say I should release anybody’s asset declaration. The document does not become public document after declaration, it is only the CCB that is allowed by the constitution to retain custody of such documents. That is what the CCB Act says. Besides, Schedule 3, Paragraph 3 (c) of the 1999 Constitution as amended says the bureau shall have power to retain custody of such declarations and make them available for inspection by any citizen of Nigeria on such terms and conditions as the National Assembly may prescribe.

PT: And the National Assembly has in the Freedom of Information Act, prescribed that we can have access to such public document. In fact, we have already written to you. Would you oblige us now?

We answered you. Go and read your letter again. And we gave you answers as it was provided for in the FOI Act. Study the response again and compare it with these sections and you will know what I am talking about.

PT: Was the president wrong in insisting that the document should be made public? Remember late President Umaru Yar’Adua published his own based on an earlier promise. Why did you not stop him at the time?

Because he did not come to us. He just did it. And let me tell you something about late President Yar’Adua. He was already used to doing so even when he was governor. So for him, it was a normal thing. And he did not need anybody’s advice to publish it. That was his business. It has nothing to do with me. I know one director general who has put his own asset declaration on his website. He did it willingly and he told us that he just decided to do it on his own. So, it is a matter of choice. If you are a public officer and you want everybody to know about it, you can do the same.

PT: Don’t you think that is a virtue that should be encouraged?

Yes, we encourage it

PT: But if you encourage it and President Buhari said on national television that you have powers to release his own document, don’t you think you would be standing on the way of probity and transparency you are talking about?

Did the president say he has written to CCB and said ‘go and make my declarations public?’

PT: Are you saying he has to write officially to CCB before you can release the document he promised to make public during electioneering campaigns?

But the President has already declared his assets his assets are there; if there is anything in it he has not disclosed, you should have asked him specific questions.

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CCB Chair Sam Saba

Respectnelson:
don't use longest rather use Tallest do u understand?

ststyreal:
No wahala for that dowry return but, before I go return all those things you mentioned, the man must return me to my original self prior to the marriage, in the absence of that, I will not return a dime and he will fulfill his fatherly responsibility towards the children after the divorce but heaven knows that divorce is never and would not be my portion in Jesus name amen.

Eco2580:
Bros that one na Business transaction not marriage

shuggah:
dont say shit when u dont knw...in the southeast where you are referring to,those millions and items are nt d bride price,d bride price neva exceed 10k in d east,ask around. my two sisters are married too.

During our wedding, so as to make things easy for him, I barely requested him to give me my favourite Islamic music cassette as my bride price and I am ready to refund it.

Obviously, there is no true love between Sidikat and Yusuf because the husband cannot respond to the fundamental issues raised by the wife.

“Accordingly, Sidikat shall refund the Islamic cassette which stood as bride price on wedding day to Yusuf.