₦airaland Forum

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday fixed November 16, 2015 for hearing of a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by a former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah.


Oduah is seeking protection of the court from possible probe over the purchase of two armoured BMW cars at a cost of N160 million in 2013 by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) under her watch.
She had on August 26, 2015, obtained an interim injunction barring the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from taking any action against her pending the determination of the suit.


Though after granting the interim injunction on August 26, Justice Mohammed Yunusa adjourned hearing of the main case till October 2, 2015, the matter was however listed for hearing yesterday.


It was learnt that questions had trailed the granting of the interim order, neccessitating the hearing of the case before the original adjourned date.


But when the case was called, Oduah, EFCC and the Inspector General of Police (IG) were not represented in court.


Only the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission  (ICPC)was represented by its counsel, Funmilola Oluborode.


The ICPC counsel said hearing notice was not issued on the commission, adding that she only came to court on the instruction of one of her superiors, who had on Tuesday sighted the case on the cause list for yesterday.
In view of the absence of the other parties, Oluborode sought an adjournment till November 16.


The counsel, who said the ICPC was yet to file any response to Oduah’s suit, begged the court to adjourn the case to enable the commission file its defence.
Though the court pointed out that the suit was a fundamental rights enforcement suit which deserves urgent hearing, the ICPC counsel begged the court to adjourn till November to enable her superior appear in court in person to defend the case.


JusticeYunusa consequently adjourned hearing of the suit till November 16, 2015.


Oduah, who is currently in the Senate representing Anambra North senatorial district, had approached the court claiming that the current government, under the guise of anti-graft war, was making moves to persecute and humiliate her.


She claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government had perfected plans to try prominent members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including herself, on trumped-up charges in a Lagos State government-controlled court.


According to her, this ploy was to depopulate the PDP so that Nigeria could become a one-party country.


She said unless the EFCC, ICPC and the AIG are barred, they would be used by the APC government to unleash a repression against her and other prominent PDP members, a situation that could “cause the country to recede to a one-party state, with gross adverse effects and irreparable damage to our nascent democracy.”


She said her persecution, which began in the build-up to the 2015 general election, was spearheaded by the Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, who was then Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairman House’s Aviation Committee.


According to Oduah, the APC, in a desperate bid to capture power, began a campaign of calumny by “demonising the most visible leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, including myself and others who were seen as pivotal to the re-election bid of the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.”


She said as part of the APC’s campaign of calumny, the party’s leadership commissioned some faceless organisations to write letters to the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, accusing her of “all manners of corrupt practices and offences in respect of my stewardship as Minister of Aviation.”


Oduah said despite her selfless service and the immense progress made under her watch, including the revamping of the country’s air transportation, Tambuwal still ordered her investigation based on the petitions containing “spurious and wild allegations.”


She said because of her electoral value and strategic politicking, she had been a target of the ploy by the APC to depopulate the PDP and distract its leaders with trumped up charges.


According to her, part of the APC plan was to charge PDP leaders “in a criminal trial in a Lagos State Government-controlled court.”


She, however, explained that the two armoured BMW purchased for N160 million, was for the purpose  of conveying officials of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, (ICAO) who were in the country at the time for the routine inspection and certification of the 22 airports in the country, which were being rehabilitated under her watch.


She said the purchase of the armoured vehicles was necessitated to safeguard the lives of the foreign officials, since the inspection and certification of the airports coincided with “the peak of Boko Haram terrorists’ menace in the country, when the United Nations building and the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force were bombed in Abuja.


“It was thus imperative that the NCAA, which is an apex regulatory authority in the Nigerian aviation industry, operating under the SARPs of the ICAO and subject to assessment by ICAO, acquire its own armoured vehicles for the use of the ICAO officials coming for inspection and certification at the time,” Oduah explained.

She added that the bulletproof vehicles were budgeted for in the 2013 budget, adding that they were duly procured in line with the Bureau of Public Procurement regulations.


The ex-minister said upon her assumption of office in 2011, she “quickly realised that the quest for direct foreign investment in Nigeria could not be optimally successful without world standard airports for international and domestic air travels.”


Because of this, she said, she therefore directed that the proposal of N9 billion made for the rehabilitation of four airports be made to cover all the 22 airports in the country.

asha80:
your people I guess

A criminal runs, even when no one is in pursuit.

You are definitely one of the people I was referring to.

tonychristopher:
Hawaii is too far from USA yet it was annexed


Hong Kong is far from China yet it can be annexed


Lagos is just few nautical miles ..so that can be annexed

Joker.

Your deluded fathers could not even conquer small Ore, not to talk of Ondo.

Reclaim back your fathers houses that were hijacked by the minorities and rename the town they changed the name,as well as the streets and we shall begin to take you serious.

For now you are noise makers and chest beaters, just like your defeated and conquered grandfathers and fathers that gave birth to this your enslaved generation.

How much is Driving License?

These people again!!!!!!!!!!! Na Wa for u na.

zendy:
Which is why they badly need their own independent have Homeland of Biafra where they can finally call home.

Who is holding them?

What stops them from just going to Afikpo to declare the failed and online Jungle Republic of Biafra JRB, for the 2nd time?

Is it not an aberration when cowards are not allowing the "stupidly courageous chest beaters" from leaving?

Is it not a shame on the supposed lion of the Jungle of Biafra, if the rams and goats of the so called zoo of Naija are holding them to ransome. What a lion indeed!!!!!

wisdomguy4u:
In 1966 when igbo left lagos in drove back to SE, your fathers came after them endlessly like their life depend on igbos, they fought for igbos to come back.

If you want to have lagos for urselves, grow a lil courage and start agitating for oduduwa republic. When you get it, you can then make laws to send igbos out of you territory

You are only envious of Igbos, becus they outsmart you in business. Compete with them if you can or fight for oduduwa republic man

Envious of gala selling people or at best, they buy and sell, which is a no brainer.

Bunch of deluded clowns.

pazienza:
http://www.nigeriamasterweb.com/OhanaezeDraftSubConstitutionReview.html

If Nigeria becomes restructured like Ohanaeze proposed above.

Then we can successfully relocate our business to the East and leverage on the New seaports ports that will suddenly spring up in Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers and Rivers, and we can build ours at Obuaku in the long term.

Restructuring of the country that way, will see the major bucks flowing into Niger delta, the banks like scavengers will move in to mop it up, the spending power of the area will increase, New and old companies will move to the area, creating employment opportunities, there will be a major 're distribution of population towards the region, Lagos will become de-congested and it's real estate will depreciate while the real estate business in the SS will increase.

SE can then make use of our proximity to SS( Rivers, Delta and Akwa ibom) to full advantage.

When will all these "we will do this, we will do that" come into fruition?

We have been hearing of the Obuaku Seaport since when I was in KG school.

Be rest assured, all the multinationals will still remain in the peaceful alluring land of the yorubas, while they will only maintain skeletal regional offices in your region due to insecurity and crime.

I am laughing in mandarin.

Asking an Iboman not to run away from the cursed gully eroded land of alaigbo is similar to asking fish to live on land.

They ran away from other regions in 1966, they still went back, when hunger, red mud and gully erosion nearly annihilated them.

They ran away from SW during June 12, they still came back, when hunger, red mud and gully erosion nearly wiped them away.

Be rest assured if they run away again, they will still come back. As usual, it will be ten times more than they left.

I really restrained myself from commenting on this thread, before I will be handed another lifetime ban.

The D-day keeps drawing near on a daily basis.

The spelling of your "Vice" actually says a lot about your mental capacity and capability.

There is no rattling any where.

We all know it was coming and it was not sudden.

It is an opportunity to make our bond market more local content driven, rather than seeking volatile foreign funds.

Nigeria should also dump JP Morgan from being a custodian of her sovereign wealth fund.

Officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Friday, arrested a suspected notorious drug pusher, Odugwe Joseph Azubuike, over unlawful importation of 1.025kg of cocaine.

Odugwe, who is currently on bail over several drug charges brought against him by the Agency, was found with wraps of powdery substances that tested positive for cocaine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos.

The arrest was made during inward screening of passengers on Emirates airline flight from Dubai.

The wraps of cocaine were packed in duty free polythene inside his luggage.

This mode of drug concealment in duty free bags is similar to the last drug charge involving him.

The suspected drug kingpin told investigators during interrogation that he had made a big mistake.

Odugwe had pleaded not guilty to previous charges where drugs were not found on him alleging that his enemies were behind his trial.

Ahmadu Garba , NDLEA commander at the Lagos Airport, said “I am happy with this high profile arrest. The suspect travelled to Dubai on 6th September and was arrested on 10th September on arrival at the Lagos airport’.

He promised to make the airport difficult for drug traffickers.

Also speaking, Ahmadu Giade, Chairman of the Agency NDLEA, said that the arrest of Odugwe is rewarding for the country’s fight against drugs.

“The game is up for the suspect who has been charged to court for sponsoring several drug couriers. This latest arrest is like the icing on the outstanding charges against him. He claimed to be an importer of legitimate goods but his source of income had been exposed. We shall diligently prosecute and dispossess him of illegal drug proceeds,” he said.

Giade also assured Nigerians that no drug baron shall escape the dragnet of justice.

Giving details of his earlier arrest, Mitchell Ofoyeju, NDLEA spokesman said in May 12, 2010, Odugwe was arraigned before Justice Mohammed Liman at the Federal High Court Ikoyi, Lagos on three count charge of conspiracy, aiding and unlawful importation of heroin.

The accused pleaded not guilty to all counts of the charge and was remanded in prison custody.

He was nabbed in a follow-up operation to the arrest of Olehi Josephine Otuochinma, who was caught with 3.150kg of heroin at the Lagos airport on December 29, 2009 at about 13.45 hours on arrival from Dubai aboard an Ethiopian Airline flight.

The mother of three children allegedly packed the brownish powdery substance that tested positive to heroin in a transparent polythene inside a white duty free polythene bag.

Investigation conducted by the Agency then points to the accused as the mastermind of several cases involving unlawful importation of narcotics into the country.

Odugwe had also been linked with two other cases involving heroin trafficking.

He was arrested for sponsoring one Anagozie John Kennedy to Pakistan on July 2007, to import 1.296 kilogrammes of substances that tested positive for heroin.

Similarly, on March 11, 2009, Azubuike was rearrested after another foiled attempt by him to take delivery of 3kg of heroin from a drug courier, Sodiq Hameed.

Meanwhile, the Agency said he will soon be charged to court.

A mission with a definite mandate.

F00028:
why all the furniture still dey leda?

He just bought them with the donations of gullible mumus that are simply enriching this yahoo boy.

He is the greatest scammer after Madoff.

Former Managing Director of the Pipeline Product Marketing Company, PPMC, Prince Haruna Momoh is currently under the radar of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC over the sum of $700 Million he fleeced
from the Petroleum agency and laundered in foreign Banks, sources familiar with the investigation hinted Pointblanknews.com.

As part of the investigation, traveling documents of Prince Momoh have also been confiscated by Federal Authorities to prevent him from fleeing the country while investigation is on-going.

Pointblanknews.com gathered from very credible sources that officials of the Metropolitan Police in the United Kingdom had placed Prince Momoh under investigation when huge sums running into several Millions of Dollars were deposited in London branches of Access Bank and First Bank.

According to a source familiar with the investigation who pleaded anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the matter, Aig Imoukhuede, the former Managing Director of Access Bank was notified of the Millions of Dollars deposited in Access Bank, London branch. Not wanting to get into trouble, he immediately asked that the account be
closed.

Soon after the account linked to the former PPMC boss was closed by Access Bank, Mr. Imoukhuede was said to have immediately alerted the Metropolitan Police who swiftly began investigations.

Sources told Pointblanknews.com that preliminary investigations indicated that the sum of $700 million belonging to Prince Haruna has been traced through a lady acquaintance whom he uses as a front at a Bank in the Isle of Man.

Officials of the ICPC are said to have been intimated of the development and are currently collaborating with officials of the Metropolitan Police to repatriate the funds to Nigeria.

Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the ICPC were not successful but an official who from the anti-graft agency who spoke to Pointblanknews.com said he is not aware of the $700 million looted funds.

He said although Prince Haruna is under investigation on other matters relating to money laundering and fraud while he served as the PPMC boss.

“I can confirm he is under investigation for money laundering but I am not aware of the $700million fraud. That seem to be another new area I would have to cross-check with my superiors,” the source said.

Sources said while Haruna served in PPMC, he looted the agency, acquired choice properties which include 11 estates in Abuja and 13 Houses in London

He is also alleged to have laundered a whopping sum of $30million through Sterling Bank Plc using one Biodun, a staff of Access Bank as point man.

Part of the atrocities linked to the former PPMC boss include the use of Kerosene as Aviation fuel for which he allegedly rakes in for himself the  sum of $1million for every five thousand tons of Kerosene sold as Aviation fuel.

Only recently, Chairman of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, the umbrella body of the domestic airlines in the country, Captain Nogie Meggison accused Aviation fuel marketers of selling kerosene as aviation fuel to airlines in the country.

He said the practice was already affecting the performance of the local carriers’ aircraft engines.

Meggison spoke at a one-day breakfast meeting organized by Aviation Round Table, an industry advocacy body, in Lagos recently.

“Oil marketers are now selling kerosene to us as aviation fuel. The NCAA is aware of this because we have sent a document to the NCAA on the issue,” the AON chairman said.

He said that the International Air Transport Association had sent a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) to all airline operators coming into the country to beware of aviation fuel being sold to them in Nigeria, stressing that the NCAA had been notified of the development.

Sources said Haruna, in collaboration with some top officials of the NNPC allegedly connived with some Aviation fuel marketers to sell Kerosene as Aviation fuel, making huge profits which are in turn banked in both Nigeria and foreign accounts.

When Pointblanknews.com sought to speak with the former PPMC boss, his numbers were switched off and text messages not delivering.

How does that reduce the price of garri in the market?

She is a British and not a Nigerian. The same way Michael Adebolajo is also a British citizen.

We need to close our Sovereign Wealth Fund Account in JP Morgan too.

dewale1234:
You seem to have a lot of time to spare. Many on this forum are literate but not educated in finance and economic matters. They pick a statement and just run their fingers on their phones, without any understanding of the issue. Take a trip around the world and see what is happening all over. We will only go south if the folks at CBN are sleeping. Anyways, the last time I checked, the current helmsman of CBN is a Jonathan appointee.

The dummies are always happy at every slightest negative news, as if Jonathan and his bunch of looters were paying them personally.

The money market reacted calmly to the information yesterday without any significant impact. Most tradings were down below 17% which was not even expected. Which clearly shows the market absorbed the news and the impact is near zero.

The worst that can happen is the $3bn leaving by October and if the economy has been resilient on the face of 8bn leaving between January and now, the same we also absorbed it in October.

JP Morgan wants the naira to spiral out of control at the expense of Nigeria's interests they can go to hell. Exiting JP Morgan does not mean we are out of MCSI index, which is another alternative to JP Morgan for us.

BraniacX:
$8billion worth of investment expected to leave by the end of october!!!!!


Chissooooooooos!!!!


This is what you get when an illiterate runs your economy

I hope many workers have saved enough money, because many corporate jobs will be the first to go..................after some daft sai chanter will say the Jp morgan de-listing has no effect on the common man

This is a lie from the pit of hell.

$8bn already left between January and now and the remaining $3bn can also leave by end of October. The effect on the money market can be reversed by CBN reducing CRR From 31% to 15-20%.

We need to make our bond more local content driven than foreign investors driven. That is the strength of China.

atlwireles:
What It Means For Nigeria To Be Kicked Out Of The JP Morgan EM Bond Index

http://nairametrics.com/jp-morgan-index-list-of-possible-implications-when-nigeria-is-evetually-kicked-out

Political Capital
The current Buhari Government has been taking credit for some of the policy initiatives carried out by Goodluck Jonathan Government such as stable power, the Treasury Single Account, tax initiatives, war on terror, renewal of strong diplomatic ties with the US etc. The Buhari Government is also not relenting in calling out the past government for its bad policies and alleged corruption. This development will now give critics of the current government, the opposition party and sympathisers of the past government enough armory to blame the current government. They will surely blame the Buhari government for not acting swiftly enough to stop the decision of JP Morgan considering that it issued the threat about 9 months ago. They will also say it is because of the slow mode of operation of the current government (which for example has not announced a cabinet more than 100 days after being in office) that has made the CBN Governor act alone thus portraying the country as one without an economic direction. This will cost the president a lot of political capital as even his supporters must now be jittery.
Bond Yields

When Nigeria borrows money by selling bonds they pay investors based on the on prevailing bond yields. For example, a unit of a bond priced at N1000 may have been originally sold at an interest rate of 10%, that is N100 per N1000. With Nigerian thrown out of the index holders of that bond could dump it and sell for lower than N1000 per paper just to exit. If the average price drops to N800 due to high volume of sellers then that interest rate of 10% is now 12.5%, that is N100 dividend by N800.
This means the next time the Nigerian Government goes out to borrow it will no longer attract a 10% yield but will now borrow from investors at a yield of 12.5% or even more. This will cost the government more money in servicing interest thus taking money it could have used for capital projects for debt servicing.

Lack of foreign demand
By taking Nigeria off the index, there will be little or no demand for our bonds from foreign investors. Already, since JPM threatened to yank Nigerian off back in January, foreign holding of our bonds has dropped from a peak of $11 billion in 2013 to $3 billion today. It is therefore likely that this may even shrink further thus affecting the demand for our debts. A lack of demand for our debts means yields may even get higher as fewer investors will now sought for our bonds
Gain for other emerging markets
With Nigeria out of the scene, other emerging markets in Africa like Ghana, Kenya and even South Africa could now be more attractive to investors. They will simply now move their funds to competing countries leaving Nigeria in its wake. Since investors like to follow the money, it is also likely that other forms of investments may elude Nigeria because of this singular move.
Prestige and Clout
With the above happening, Nigeria will lose its prestige as not just the largest economy in Africa but the economy attracting the most foreign investments. This will be damaging to an economy that has been thumping itself as the destination to be for foreign investors.

Corporate Bonds

Local companies and banks also borrow money from foreign investors by selling foreign denominated bonds and also Naira bonds. Now that the Federal Government is likely to see their borrowing cost go up due to this development, it is likely that banks and other corporates seeking to borrow may have to pay more in interest as well. Some companies may not even have the courage to borrow with bonds again due to high lending rates and may result in some companies gets starved of funds so much that they may start to incur losses or even fold up. For those that have even borrowed refinancing such loans will now be expensive as yields have already gone up.

Higher lending rates
For the banks that are lucky enough to borrow, they will have to pass on that cost to someone else. Small businesses which rely on banks for small loans such as overdrafts, local purchase orders, letters of credit etc. may also see their borrowing rates rise even higher. For individuals with consumer loans they may also be expecting a letter from banks telling them that their loan rates have gone up.

Foreign Currency Cost
It is also likely that foreign currencies will cost more to use due to this action. Holiday makers or business travelers who use their cards abroad for foreign denominated transactions may also see themselves paying more whenever they spend their naira debit cards. Since some banks also channels some of their foreign borrowings in the forex market it is likely that they will charge end users more to recover the higher cost of borrowing.

Shallow market
With the exit of most foreign investors the long term plan of the Debt Management Office of ensuring that our bond market is deep is now in jeopardy. With little demand, it is unlikely that the government and other private companies seeking foreign currency loans will use the bond market as a possible source. This will make the market shallow and unattractive and could even throw some companies out of business. For example, Fund Sourcing Companies, Legal Advisers and other consultants may witness a huge reduction in deals thus affecting their revenues.

Ripple Effect
The Nigerian stock market which has seen some bullish trends in recent days may also be negatively impacted. With this announcement it is likely that this may hurt the confidence of foreign investors which make up about 45 to 50% of transactions in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. If they decide to exit the market because of this then the market may just be primed for another long bearish run.

Devaluation
If this situation is not handled properly it may also trigger another massive devaluation. This could be caused by foreign investors who have had enough and will now use this decision by JPM as a reason to pull out their funds. Pulling out their funds creates demand pressure on forex and may result in a devaluation of some sort.

We have already seen the effect of the dumping of the bond from $11bn in January to $3bn now and it cannot get worse than this. They can leave, if they so want. The effect will even be nil for now, because many of he investments are already under weight, as reported by Financial Times.

The economy of Nigeria has always been known to be very resilient and it defile all economic laws and this shall not be another exception. With the way stealing is now corruption, repatriation of stolen fund, blocking of leakages and efficient and effective allocation of government resources, things can only get better.

This is also a golden opportunity for the Asians -- Chinese, Arabs majorly, to come on board once more. It is the American investor's loss.

Surely, we shall pay he price in the short run, but we shall reap the benefits in the medium to long term run.

mescapee:
Who are the "we"?

Do you even have an inkling of what is about to happen?

The signs have been for long. What proactive measures have "we" taken? As always "we" tend to be reactive rather than proactive and "we" are always late.

What is about to happen?

Elucidate it and let us discuss it.

The worst case scenario is capital flight or repatriation of investors fund which has been happening since January. What else?

EdCure:
Thuogh it is good to clear certain controversy and dounts, what this country needs at this moment is more industrialization for job creation and economic growth. It doesn't matter who owns what.

This would have been acceptable if the Ijaws have not kicked against the siting of the project in Bad angry, provided it was owned by NLNG.

Aregbe is just a clown.

Dokubo should do same by investing on his forefather's soil rather than investing in Benin Republic.

The Chairman, Badagry Ship Repair and Maritime Engineering Company (BSMEC), Dr. Taiwo Afolabi said yesterday that the $1.5 billion dockyard project in Badagry, Lagos, is owned by the company and not the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited.

Afolabi, who doubles as chairman of a participating company that formed the consortium comprising Sifax Logistics and Marine Services Limited, was responding to the ongoing controversy trailing its recent decision to site a $1.5 billion dockyard project in Lagos State.

Speaking in Lagos on behalf of the consortium, Afolabi said: “BSMEC is the sole owner of the Badagry Dry Dock Project and no one else. BSMEC is made up of five different successful Nigerian companies who came together as core investors to form Badagry Ship Repair and Maritime Engineering Company, which is a joint venture between Sifax Logistics and Marine Services Limited, Energy Nature Limited, GMT Energy Services Limited, Japaul Oil and Maritime Services plc, and SIVC Infrastructure DMCC (Sahara Group Limited).
“Nigeria LNG is not a part of the consortium and is not an investor in the construction of the dry dock project.

To be clear, the Badagry Dry Dock will be used for the maintenance of a wide range of oil and gas related vessels, including very large crude carriers (VLCCs), offshore drilling rigs, offshore support vessels, in addition to large LNG carriers.”

The dockyard is also planned to be a hub to be used for dry docking vessels from other West Africa countries, he affirmed, saying the choice of location was made on a purely business interest basis, taking into account several factors considered important to investors.

The project is in line with the government’s drive for Nigerian content and will create capacity for Nigeria and help address capital flight, he said.

Source-- Vanguard.

Trailblazer1:
you sound more hopeful than even Buhari
what is the secret

It is a cycle which seems to be in the downward swinging now. Definitely, the upward swing will surely come.

Mark it.

We shall weather the storm.

We will emerge stronger.

China did not participate in the derivatives market for years. They were driven by need to curb corruption and do things that only benefits their country.

That is the right way to go. It gives us the opportunity to strengthen our bond with more local content than foreign investors that can easily call back their funds at any point in time. Thereby immunising our economy from capital flight and sabotage.

We will only do things that will benefit our people and country. They will come back to beg us.

Make them target practice for Nigeria Army.

They will also send the SEAL Team to assist you , like they did in 1966.

Bunch of clowns.

They have been shouting marginalisation for almost a century now and here they are in 2015 still screaming same.

Like Grandfathers like fathers and like sons.