₦airaland Forum

A new public survey released today by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) reports high levels of corruption in public institutions in Nigeria for the past 5 years. Of the five major public institutions surveyed, the police emerge as the most corrupt, with the power sector identified as the second most corrupt in the country today. Other public institutions identified as corrupt by 70% of Nigerians surveyed are: the judiciary, education and health ministries. The survey reveals that the level of corruption has not changed in the last 5 years. The latest report by SERAP entitled Nigeria: Corruption Perception Survey was launched today at the Sheraton Hotels, Lagos.

According to the survey, “a bribe is paid in 54% of interactions with the police. In fact, there is a 63% probability that an average Nigerian would be asked to pay a bribe each time he or she interacted with the police. That is almost two out of three.” The chair of the report launch Professor Akin Oyebode said: “Nigeria is looked upon as a giant of Africa. Yet Nigeria could not conduct free, fair and credible elections. It is a smear on the image of Nigeria. If we do away with selective enforcement and condonation of corruption, we will build and live in a better society. Corruption is a refined form of stealing. The politicians are stealing our common patrimony. Development of the people is almost inversely proportional to the level of corruption.” The report read in part: “Corruption remains a significant impediment to law enforcement, access to justice and basic public services such as affordable healthcare, education, and electricity supply. Several Nigerians have to pay a bribe to access police, judiciary, power, education and health services. Corruption is still a key concern in the country with 70% of Nigerians describing the level of corruption as high and in the same measure, stating that corruption levels either increased or remained the same in the last five years.

” “The national survey carried out between September and December 2018, covered the police, judiciary, power, education and health sectors to assess the state of corruption in law enforcement and public service provision.” “From the analysis of the anti-corruption legal and institutional framework in Nigeria, the following cross-cutting issues emerged: there is lack of political goodwill to consistently enforce the different anti-corruption laws; inadequate funding for the various anti-corruption agencies; weak public support and/or ownership of anti-corruption initiatives; poor clarity of roles between various anti-corruption agencies; and public perceptions of politicisation of corruption arrests and prosecutions.” “Bribery experiences were interrogated and recorded in the key sectors of education, health, the police, judiciary and power. Data analysis was conducted under five different and interrelated variables. There was a 63% probability that an average Nigerian would be asked to pay a bribe each time he/she interacted with the police. The likelihood of bribery in the power sector stood at 49%. With the chances of encountering bribery at the judiciary, education and health services standing at 27%, 25% and 20% respectively.” “The police were the most adversely ranked on this indicator. For every 100 police interactions reported by the respondents, there was a bribe paid in 54 interactions. The prevalence levels stood at 37% in the power sector and 18% in education,17.7% in the judiciary and 14% in the health sector.” “51% of the individuals that paid bribes to the police and 35% to the power sector believed this was the only way to access the services sought from the institutions. The ranking of the education sector and the judiciary was less adverse with 16% perceiving bribery as the main avenue of accessing services in the institutions, and health services recording 13%.

” “The police and judiciary had the largest proportion of total bribes paid at 33% and 31% respectively. Bribes paid for education, power and health services accounted for 19%, 10.9 and 5% respectively of all bribes reported. The average amount of bribe paid by the respondents was highest among those who paid to the judiciary at about Naira 108,000 (US$ 298). All the other institutions ranked lower on this variable with Naira 12,253 and 11,566 reportedly paid to the police and education sectors, and Naira 6,462 and 5,143 paid for health and power services respectively.” “Perceptions on corruption trends in Nigeria show almost 70% of the respondents perceived the current level of corruption as high compared to 15.5% that felt it was low. 70% of the respondents said corruption levels either increased or remained the same in the last five years. Only a quarter of the respondents felt corruption reduced in this period.” “About 41% of the respondents projected that corruption will either increase or remain the same in the next year. About a third of the respondents (31.5%) believed the ruling elite are pursuing their selfish interests only therefore corruption levels will increase into the future. Additionally, about a quarter of the respondents (24.9%) believed the current anti-corruption efforts are not comprehensive enough. The poor state of the economy was also seen as a driving factor to increased corruption at 17.2%.” “Respondents identified poor coordination among the different state players as a key obstacle at 18.4%. Lack of political will from the government and weak public support were ranked second at 12%. Civic action against poor governance: 54.8% of the respondents reported that they had not taken any action against poor governance. That more than a half of the respondents were unwilling to initiate action is alarming and points to low confidence levels that appropriate measures would be taken even if the respondents took action.” “This assumption is buttressed by the finding that 82% of the actions taken were either not responded to or deemed sufficiently appropriate. Low civic action may also indicate low levels of public awareness on what redress mechanisms exist or how to access them.

” “The Federal government should establish an independent commission of inquiry to conduct a transparent, comprehensive, and impartial investigation into systemic corruption within the Nigeria Police Force, judiciary, and the ministries of power, education and health.” “The Inspector General of Police should receive and investigate complaints of bribery and corruption against police officers filed by members of the public. The police should liaise with community leaders and civil society organisations in regard to incidents of police bribery and corruption within the community.” “The Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council should identify and review all outstanding cases of judicial corruption and refer such cases to appropriate anti-corruption agencies. They should apply the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers in a consistent and transparent manner, with full respect for the fundamental guarantees of fair trial and due process.” “The Chief Justice of Nigeria and the NJC should publish annual reports of all activities involving the judiciary, including expenditure, and provide the public with reliable information about its governance and organisation, including the number of judges found to be corrupt, as well as ensure that the Chief Justice of Nigeria and all other judges make periodic asset disclosures.” “The National Assembly should move swiftly to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act to ensure public access to asset declarations made by public officials, and urgently pass the Proceeds of Crime Bill, the Whistleblowers Bill, and the Witness Protection Bill among other relevant pieces of legislation.

” “The National Assembly should immediately publish all reports of investigations on corruption and corruption-related matters in the judiciary, education, power and health sectors among others that have been conducted by the National Assembly since the return of democracy in 1999.” “A positive legacy by the in-coming administration on 29 May 2019 and the recently appointed Inspector General of Police will mean improving accountability of the police, and proactively working to end all forms of corruption within the rank and file of the police. The Inspector General of Police should streamline and prioritise internal control mechanisms by establishing an Ethics and Integrity Unit at each police station. The unit should include a human rights officer, an anti-corruption officer, and an officer responsible for service delivery complaints.” “The survey targeted a total of 2,655 respondents selected from seven states spread across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria and the capital city of Abuja.

The sample was proportionate to population size across these zones. The survey covered the police, judiciary, power, education and health sectors to assess the state of corruption in public law enforcement and service provision.” “Data for the survey was collected through a survey among ordinary citizens picked through simple random sampling of Nigerians above 18 years; in-depth interviews with key governance experts including representatives of national anti-corruption bodies, trade unions, the business community, media, lawyers, academia, people living with disability and university student leaders; and a review of the legal and institutional frameworks guiding anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria to assess their effectiveness.”

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/03/police-most-corrupt-institution-in-nigeria-reveals-serap-survey/

Nigeria no dey shame......

They always want to show powers oooo

Arab and executions are two words that can't be separated

It's only in Africa they still kidnap.

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council on Monday asked the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services to invite, interrogate and possibly prosecute leaders of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party over what it described as their illegal access to the server of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The organisation’s Director, Strategic Communications, Festus Keyamo (SAN), made the call in a petition addressed to the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu; and the Director-General of DSS, Yusuf Bichi.



Although he was not specific on the identities of the PDP leaders he wants investigated, Keyamo made reference to the fact that the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has filed an election petition against the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and has made a claim of having access to INEC server.

He claimed that upon the postponement of the February 16, 2019 presidential/National Assembly elections, already prepared presidential election results surfaced on the Internet.

Keyamo said the fake results which had details of the scores of the candidates of the major political parties gave victory to Atiku even when elections did not hold.

According to him, the only conclusion that can be drawn from the development is that the PDP had prepared those results which were to be smuggled into INEC server.

He added that when the election was finally held on February 23, 2019 and Buhari was declared the winner, the PDP cried foul and claimed that from results it obtained from INEC server, it had proof that its candidate won the election by about 1.6million votes.

Keyamo said the claim had revealed that “some criminally-minded PDP operatives” had access to the INEC server to be able to smuggle in fake results.

He argued that the only means by which they could have access to the INEC server was by the criminal hacking of the server or through the criminal conspiracy of some INEC officials.

He said, “The APC Presidential Campaign Council hereby prays that the Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of the Department of State Services should use your good offices to investigate the hacking of and/or illegal tampering with the INEC server by the PDP.



“The leadership of the PDP must be invited, interrogated and investigated and those identified as perpetrators must be arrested and prosecuted.

“Opposition is healthy in a democracy but it is not a licence for criminality and illegality.

“A country governed by laws cannot be blackmailed or cowed into indolence by the perceived underdog status of the opposition so as to condone such a blatant criminal claim by the PDP of having illegal access to INEC server.”

Court won’t rely on Atiku’s server figure to sack Buhari – Keyamo

In an interview with our correspondent, Keyamo said the claim by Atiku that he beat President Buhari with 1.6 million votes would have no effect before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.

He said that there was no way the court would rely on the figure to remove President Buhari from office.

Keyamo said the Electoral Act (2010) as amended did not support electronic transfer of election results.

Besides this, he said the result being brandished by both Atiku and the PDP was not genuine.

Recall that Atiku and the PDP, who are petitioners at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal had claimed that it was wrong to claim that Buhari won the February 23, 2019 Presidential election as declared by INEC.

INEC had on February 27, 2019 declared that President Buhari won the election with 15,191, 847 votes to defeat Atiku who polled 11, 262, 978 votes.

Both Atiku and the PDP in their 139-page petition to challenge Buhari’s victory claim that “from the data in the 1st respondent’s (INEC’s) server…the true, actual and correct results from state to state computation” showed that Atiku polled a total of 18,356,732 votes to defeat Buhari whom they said scored 16, 741, 430 votes.

Keyamo said both Atiku and the PDP did not know that transmission of votes by electronic means was not allowed by law.

He said, “The law or the Electoral Act does not allow you to bring (transmit) results by server. No room for electronic transmission at all. All results were collated and transmitted manually.

“So, they cannot use that forgery to remove the President or sack him.

“In their forgery, all they put together was the PDP and the APC. What happened to other political parties and their candidates? They scored zero?

“In the first place, they will have to explain to Nigerians and the security agencies how they got access to the fake result sheet they are brandishing up and down.”

Asked if the President had filled his defence to the claim by Atiku and the PDP before the tribunal, Keyamo declined to give a categorical answer, but said the party and its candidate were still within the time stipulated by law to respond.

Buhari, APC panicking over Atiku’s case at Tribunal – PDP

Responding, the National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, alleged that the APC and Buhari were panicking because of the case instituted before the tribunal by it and Atiku.

He said this was why the ruling party was writing petitions to the DSS and the police.

Secondus, who spoke with our correspondent, said the national leadership of the party would not be intimidated.

He said both the APC and the President were afraid to defend their “rigging of the presidential election at the tribunal.”

He said, “It is obvious that the President and his party are afraid and are panicking as a result of the petition we filed at the tribunal.

“They failed in their clandestine moves to persuade us not to go to the tribunal. Now the reality has dawned on them that they have to defend the injustice they meted out to us and Nigerians now.

“Now, for election they claimed they won, they ought to have filed their defence at the tribunal and be eager to defend it.

“Why are they running to the DSS and the Police with the hope that they will force us to reveal our sources? Tell them to go to the tribunal and submit their evidence of winning the election.”

Source:https://punchng.com/inec-server-secondus-kicks-as-apc-wants-pdp-leaders-arrested-for-illegal-access/

Former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume has written the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, to inform him of his decision to run for the office of the President of the Senate of the ninth National Assembly.

Ndume in a letter of intent dated March 25, 2019 and addressed to Oshiomhole, specifically sought the blessing of the party to actualise his aspiration.



The senator representing Borno South on the platform of the APC said he is “throwing his hat into the ring believing that the Senate President position would be zoned to the North East geopolitical zone” where he hails from.



He said the decision to seek election into the office was borne out of his desire to help accelerate socioeconomic development of the nation.

He said, “Following the successful conduct of the 2019 general election and the overwhelming victory of our great party the APC at all levels, I hereby forward my letter of intent to contest for the office of the President of the Senate in the 9th National Assembly.”

Source:https://punchng.com/ninth-assembly-ndume-writes-oshiomhole-indicates-interest-in-senate-presidency/

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission has alleged that a former Inspector-General of Police, Sunday Ehindero, fraudulently received interest on the Nigeria Police fund lodged in a fixed deposit account with a bank.


In a released signed by the commission’s spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa, the ICPC said the allegation was contained in a statement made by a banker, Aibangbe Maifuwa, to a Federal Capital Territory High Court 7, sitting in Apo, Abuja.



ICPC said, “The banker, Mr Aibangbe Maifuwa, a Business Development Manager with WEMA Bank Plc, who testified before Justice S. C. Oriji, in a case brought against Ehindero by the ICPC, said the money which was N10.3m was part of proceeds from N300m police fund he allegedly kept in a fixed deposit account with the bank.

“The banker, who was led in evidence by the ICPC’s lawyer, Zainab Nass, told the court that the retired police boss had fixed the money at a 10 per cent interest rate per annum, between July 11, 2006 and January 19, 2007.

“In his response to questions put to him during cross-examination by Ehindero’s lawyer, K. O. Omolola, the banker said the former IGP had written to the bank requesting that the accrued interest on the N300m fixed deposit, amounting to the sum of N10, 364,283.77, be paid to him in cash, while the principal sum be paid through a WEMA bank cheque in his favour.”

READ ALSO: I’ll review Ajimobi’s last-minute contracts —Makinde

ICPC said the retired IGP and a former Commissioner of Police in charge of budget at the Police Force Headquarters, Mr John Obaniyi, who were present in the court, were being charged with multiple counts bordering on mismanagement of police funds and abuse of office.

It added that the case had been adjourned to May 13, 2019 for continuation of hearing.

Source:https://punchng.com/ex-ig-ehindero-received-10-interest-on-police-funds-icpc/

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has rested its case of alleged misconduct against the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, at the National Judicial Council, The PUNCH has learnt.

Our correspondent learnt from multiple sources conversant with the proceedings of the five-man investigation panel of the NJC that the EFCC rested its case after calling seven witnesses.



The commission was said to have called its first witness on March 12 and rested its case within one week.

It was learnt on Sunday that Onnoghen has since opened his defence and called two witnesses on Wednesday, March 20.

“The EFCC has rested its case and Justice Onnoghen has opened his defence. With this, we expect that the NJC will soon end its investigation,” one of the sources told our correspondent.

In its petition before the NJC, the EFCC, it was learnt, accused Onnoghen of having some suspicious lodgments of huge funds in his bank accounts.

The other petition against the suspended CJN was reportedly by a civil society group, the Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative, and its Executive Director, Mr Dennis Aghanya.

The allegations in the petition sent to the NJC by the group were said to be a replica of the petition sent to the Code of Conduct Bureau which informed the six counts filed before the Code of Conduct Tribunal accusing the suspended CJN of failure to declare some bank accounts with huge funds in foreign currencies as part of his assets.

The NJC had at its February 13, 2019 meeting reviewed the pre-assessment report on the petitions written against Onnoghen and the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tahko Muhammad, and considered the complaints worthy of being investigated.

READ ALSO: Bayelsa election violence panel, a smokescreen – Lokpobiri



The council then set up the five-man panel led by a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice S.A. Akande, to investigate the petitions.

There are at least two petitions against each of Onnoghen and Muhammad to be heard by the Justice Akande-led panel.

Source: https://punchng.com/efcc-closes-case-against-onnoghen-at-njc/

Nigeria can never change with the attitude portrayed by the Nigerian Citizen. Nigeria might be the poorest nation on earth in years to come

The Senate Comedian. The new senate go see something....

People that want her to open legs for them a much oooo

I blame Kwankwaso for not having thugs in place to resist the rigging. A commissioner was in charge of security in the state and thugs never took over but common supplementary election in few Lgas AIG couldn't not handle

Nothing we no go see

Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, Second Republic politician, in this encounter speaks on the military involvement in Nigeria elections and advocates that retired generals be excluded from contesting elections to position of civilian president where they also become commander-in-chief of the armed forces because of the negative impact of miliatry involvement in elections, especially the last elections. Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, He pointed out that Buhari’s order to security operatives to shoot ballot box snatchers was in bad taste as it created the problems in Rivers and other states where elections were declared inconclusive.

He bemoaned situations in Rivers, Kano and other Northern states where elections were declared inconclusive. He also expressed dismay at what happened in the North, especially in places where the PDP was winning and warned that if the issues are not handled properly, it could swallow Nigeria. WHAT do you think about military involvement in Nigerian elections? What we need to do is to make sure that we don’t invite them into democracy in Nigeria. The President, apart from his role as President of Nigeria, combines the job with that of the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. So, the military and other security agencies don’t see Buhari as a civilian despite being a civilian president. They see him as Commander-in-Chief and not as the President. So, to them, he is a soldier, a military man. Therefore, all his orders are being carried out whether it is constitutional or not. It is a big job to correct people when they go wrong and continue to make the same mistake. Twenty-three soldiers in Chad killed in Boko Haram raid But if you remember, when Obasanjo was the president, he directed the military to act as if he was still a general. You remember the issue of Zaki Biam in Benue State and how troops overran Zaki-Biam under his watch. You also remember the issue of Odi. Then, Obasanjo used the military to exterminate Zaki-Biam and Odi. This is what is happening here. Buhari and Obasanjo are retired generals, but the military don’t see them as such. They still see them as Generals, and Buhari as a Commander-in-Chief. They don’t see him as a civilian and whatever he says is seen as a military order which must be carried out with fiat. Secondly, because of his military background, he does not see anything wrong with involving the military in a purely civilian issue. Nowhere in the world are soldiers involved in election matter as as we have in Nigeria. It is ridiculous to go out to elections, polling units and collation centres with guns in a civilian regime. It is not done anywhere in the world except in Nigeria and they are all over the place.

They are in Kano, in Kaduna, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa-Ibom, everywhere. The pictures are published everywhere of soldiers wielding guns, blocking roads, operating at polling units and collation centres in a civilian election. I saw in a collation centre in Rivers where the military were beating an electoral official. That is not right and it is a problem. In future, even in re-run elections, the military should be far away from civilian events like an election. We should stop militarising elections and the military should have their place where they belong. They have no business with Nigerian election or using guns to intimidate voters and electoral officials. It has never happened elsewhere in the world except Nigeria and should not be tolerated. The President was wrong in acting with military fiat during an election, giving the military such an order and knowing they will obey same to the letter. This thing the military is doing is destroying our democracy. So, they shouldn’t be involved in elections? They should not and we should not be quiet about it because if we don’t speak out, they will do worse things when they come out in their true colours. It is the duty of the media and we the Nigeria people to talk about this and expose the dangers inherent in the militarisation of democracy. We should speak out before things get out of control. Nigerians should be aware of the danger involved in having them control our elections. When they are retired, we can elect them as Senators, Governors and House of Representatives members.A retired general should no longer be the president of Nigeria.

Defence chief urges media to correct misconceptions about military I am advocating that Nigeria should not elect a retired general into the position of a Commander-in-Chief. A retired general who will combine his job with that of a Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces is bad as President of Nigeria. I will ask that the law of the land be amended to hinder retired generals from contesting elections as the President of Nigeria. Is that what brought about inconclusive elections in some states? We have never had the issue of inconclusive elections except in the tenure of the current INEC leadership. Before this election, the leadership of INEC was held in very high regard and people expected credibility and integrity in their handling of the elections. But when we started hearing inconclusive elections, people started to doubt the integrity and competence of the leadership of INEC. Now, we have seven inconclusive elections in the current elections. The irony of it is that it happened in the Northern parts of the country and also in states where the opposition is leading. We cannot accept this. President Buhari said he wants to be remembered for conducting the most credible elections in Nigeria. That has failed already.

The inconclusive elections in the country is nothing to write home about, especially when talking about the integrity of the current elections in Nigeria and the electoral commission. It has never happened in Nigeria or anywhere in the world. It is seen as a real device to rig elections. Anybody that is knowledgeable about the conduct of elections can pre-empt this very bad way of running elections. It happened in seven states in this election. Only God know what will happen in subsequent elections. So, Nigerians must rise and kick against this threat and we must make sure that the integrity of elections is protected, otherwise, without credible elections, there will be no credible government and if there is no credible governments, there will be no development. It seems the case of Rivers is worse than elsewhere, as if the military are now the election umpire. It is terrible and has never happened. The election commission should start putting its acts together. We know that in Rivers State, there is no love lost between Rotimi Amaechi and Nyesom Wike. And now, an election was conducted. In almost about 90% of the state, everything was fine but when they found out Wike is winning, there was a collusion between the army, the police, the INEC to stop the result of the election. A number of things is at stake in Rivers State and the powers that be should know this. Emulate leadership qualities of Shagari, NASFAT, MPAC charge political leaders It has not happened before and has never happened anywhere. Wike from the results announced by INEC so far clearly won. But Amaechi could not take it. He is the one causing the problems in Rivers. How can one individual cause mayhem in his own state? INEC has set up a fact-finding committee and they should allow INEC to announce the results. APC has no candidate in Rivers election and two days before the election, Amaechi adopted an unknown person as his candidate and he is causing problems in Rivers. Everybody knows the candidate Amaechi adopted could not have won. Nobody knows his name until now.

Amaechi wants to govern Rivers by proxy and it is not acceptable. It cannot happen and Nigerians should speak up now against the impending disaster in Rivers because it can swallow the whole country. We should learn from history. I know some people don’t care about legality and how power is taken but we should care. If this is democracy, we should act as democrats. Democracy has the same meaning in Nigeria and anywhere else. It is a tool for development and if we don’t have democracy in Nigeria, there will be no development. This country is suffering. We were on the same level with countries like Korea, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia and so on. Now, because of lack of democracy in Nigeria, these other countries are far ahead. Let Nigerian people redeem democracy. We should stop people trying to take power by force for their own selfish reasons. Nigerians should fight this hopelessness happening in our democracy. INEC should sit up and do the right thing because history will judge the commission if anything happens to Nigeria.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/03/retired-generals-should-be-barred-from-contesting-presidential-elections-tanko-yakassai/