₦airaland Forum

Tolexander: [size=20pt]RED HERRING![/size]
face the topic, leave lagos state alone.

This is a national issue not a state. No matter how big a state is in the nation, it can never be equated to the nation!

LEKKI-EPE EXPRESSWAY CONCESSIONINIG/'UN'CONCESSIONING FRAUD

Smoothest FRAUD in this country's history. Period...

A road that is suppossed to cost #50bn (already abnormally costly at #1bn per km, sm would say) to be constructed by d Concessionaires who are then expected to recoup their costs AFTER they must have finished construction tru tolling. After 7 years the road is no where near completion, yet d Concessionaires started collecting tolls illegally in d last 3 years (at an average of #4.2billion annually according to results from Survey conducted by the Concessionaire in 2011). Suddenly, in stead of d LASG terminating d contract Or, at least pressuring d Concessionaire to implement their own terms of d contract, the Govt is amazingly paying them #15bn to 'buy back' this failed Concession, #6.8bn and #3.5bn to pay the Debts and 3rd party liabilities incurred by the failed Concessionaire (yes, LASG is willing to even pay these people's debt!!!) ie more than #25bn in total.

This is apart from d #5bn the Govt initiali paid to d Concessionaires at d start of d scheme. And, WAIT for it: LASG also intends borrowing #87.7bn by raising a bond to then build d road itself . That is more than #103bn in total. This is from a project that was suppossed to cost #50bn (which was considered even too expensive at this figure then)!!! And to make d whole mata worse, d LASG wud still retain this same failed Concessaire, and apparently STILL PAY THEM either to collect tolls on d road or continuing building d road!!!.


THE QUESTION IS: WHO IS BEHIND THIS LCC CONCESSIONAIRE?? Who is chopping these humongous money from Lagos State Tax payers, with impunity? And why the UNIMAGINABLE Hypocritical SILENCE from peeps?

http://www.tellng.com/business/question-over-lekki-concession-buy-back

http://allafrica.com/stories/201308300319.html

UPDATE:

#sorry, the total amount that wud eventuali be spent is more than #130bn, and not even the #103bn I initiali thought: #15bn to 'buy back' d FAILED Concession; #6.8bn and #3.5bn to pay the Debts incurred by the FAILED Concessionaire; #5bn initiali paid by d LASG to d Concessionaire at d start of d project; and of course, d #87.7bn the LASG wud borrow tru placing Bonds to 'complete' d road. Adding all these, plus the monies the Concessionaires have collected since 2011 as Tolls, shld begin to give d fuller extent of d amount involved in this Fraud!!!....

Oh! Shiit: I also forgot to add d #35bn d Concessionaires said they already spent on the largely unfinished road. Adding everything will lead to a total of bw #170- #180bn spent on a 49km Road.
Also, at an Interest rate of bw 10%-15% that the LASG would have to pay (annually?) in order to access the original Principal Bond sum of #87.7billion, the total cost that would be spent to construct this fraud of a road would then certainly cross the #200billion-mark!

I feel SICK in the stomach right now embarassed embarassed embarassed

ballabriggs: Close your mouth you deceitful being. It is the practice to have cars imported for a government event with zero import tariff. Import using our waiver, lend us the car for our event and at the end of the event you have your car back.

Instead of we paying you cash to hire vehicles from you, you get benefits from the tariff free import. Simple!

We saw the partnership between LUBOAN and COJA. We saw same between the rogue Coscharis and CHOGM.

The buses were never bought by COJA, it was owned by LUBOAN.

ballabriggs: Rather, he disclosed that “on June 23, 2012, the Lagos State Government applied for Waiver of Destination Inspection Charges and Duty Exemptions for Coscharis Motors Nigeria Ltd, the official Automobile Partner for the National Sports Festival (“EKO 2012”), to purchase 300 vehicles on its behalf for the event. Since the Lagos State Government met the laid down criteria, the waiver was granted.”

Source

hercules07: Thisday is partisaan, but, we will not dismiss the allegation, let them show us the documents just as Sahara Reporters did.

“Respondent produced only copies of deposit slips and customer receipts from 21 March 2003 through 7 June 2006, monthly bank statements from 1 August 2003 through 31 May 2006, and disbursed checks from 25 April 2003 through 22 May 2006 related to the trust account. Respondent never produced any requested billing statements, ledger cards, or accounting of funds that she received, maintained, and disbursed from her trust account during this period.


“Respondent claimed to have received several deposits, totaling $110,493, in her attorney trust account slated to be transferred to the Ngige campaign, but she failed to provide an accounting reflecting these deposits. The record shows that, on 29 August 2005, she deposited a $120,000 personal check for which Judge Dugan found she offered again no logical or coherent accounting.


“Respondent also transferred $50,000 into her attorney trust account in September 2005, funds which she claimed belonged to Ngige. From 2002 to 2006, Respondent disbursed from the account a total of $134,312.85 prior to making deposits necessary to fund those disbursements. When asked by Bar Counsel to explain several specific instances of this practice, Respondent replied to each inquiry that each premature disbursement was due to an "administrative glitch."

austinkenneth: This road is clearly the most expensive road per km in recent times in Nigeria.
It is fully laden with corruption
If GEJ or any Nigerian president, were to do this today, he would have been crucified by the opposition
This kind of thing is happening in a lot of states
With the exception of this article,
the opposition in Lagos seems to be in a very deep sleep.
I'm sure the Lagos APC can't believe what they are getting in terms of the clueless, low quality opposition at the state and national level.

Any body who crafted this master game of complex transactions and processes, which the average Nigerian cannot follow up with, with the grand intention of defrauding Nigerians can do worse things if given the oppourtunity.

I still can't believe that this kind of thing has happened and is happening in alot of states, and everybody is keeping quiet and just focusing on criticizing the centre and talking about 2015

egift: The falsehood they manufactured on the "Catholic Priest being slapped", was even more articulate than this garbage - Yet even that one was busted and plated in your face.

Abeg modify the publication, the deception is not sticking

theoctopus: Does it matter whether you are convinced or not? The police recruits using it are more than convinced. They are most grateful and their lives are better now. That is all that is important. Some of you think too highly of yourselves. It is not about you. It is about those whose lives have improved.

Osahon7: Dr. ONI OJO a Physics lecturer is among the list

The Chief Stores Officer of the Niger state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and three other civil servants in the state, have been arrested for diverting free instructional and learning materials, including textbooks meant for public schools in the state to Onitsha Market in Anambra state.

Blueprint learnt that the Chief store officer, who is an Assistant Director, two of his staff and another man working with the House of Assembly, were picked last week by the operatives of the Department of State Security Service (DSS) following a tip from a trader arrested in Onitsha with the UBEB textbooks coded for Niger state by the Universal Basic Education Commission in Abuja.

The trader reportedly disclosed that he got the supply of the books from the SUBEB staff in Minna before leading security operatives to pick up the suspects.

It was learnt that the man working with the House of Assembly acted as the contact person between the Onitsha Market trader and the SUBEB staff in the channel of distribution of the free textbooks.

Chairman of SUBEB, Alhaji Uba Hassan Kuta, confirmed to Blueprint that the affected staff were under interrogation by security agents.

He said the state Head of Service (HOS), Alhaji Ibrahim Matane, had also directed administrative probe into the matter in accordance with the civil service rules of the state.

He explained that the diversion of the free textbooks to the market was not peculiar to Niger state as many other states had complained that such books were being sold in local markets.

A mother, who simply identified herself as Maureen, disclosed that she was given a list of books to buy for her children and paid N1,100 to acquire “Pupil Book 1 UBE Edition Learn Mathematics for Primary Schools.”

take dat: Mr. President, no theft is little. Losing between N1.08billion and N1.45billion a day is Monumental. N1.08billion in 365days is N394.2billion in a year. Its more than enough to assuage the stricking lecturers and increase funding to some critical sectors starved of funds. The 60000-80000bpd loss will definitely affect the budget since the budget is premised on 2.5millionbpd or is it the shutdown of oil facilities that have reduced the revenue accruing to the derivation account? It thus mean that we will have to borrow more to balance our book.


Little thieves vandalize pipelines, the real theft occurs at the terminals. Those whom you issued oil lifting licenses to, are the real thieves who have high grade vessels and connection, many of them your cronies and political associates that is why your government have not been able to bring any of those big fish to book. There is what is known as 'Topping', when you give allocation to the oil lifting companies, most of their vessels leave the terminals with more than their allocation. An example is a company awarded a 20000bpd oil lifting contract, but his vessel leaves the terminal with 25000bpd reasons because we operate a faulty metering system. The 5000barrels is crude oil theft! When the Ribadu task force report recommended that automated metering system be installed at terminals and well heads, your government ridiculed the report.

moscobabs: The same old wine in new bottle

The EMS is therefore, to take over the responsibilities of some non-core professional and subsidiary services of the defunct PHCN and its successor companies. Its mandate includes providing all needed ancillary and support services to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI). These services include engineering laboratory, meter test stations, central stores system, testing and certification of major electrical power equipment. Other activities will include providing the platform for standardization in the industry, arching the power sector data and information management.

He told the 10-man management team: “What this means is that your mandated functions is to respond to the need for sustenance and improvement of power supply and service delivery. At the same time, you must ensure quality and standardization of materials, equipment and machines used for electricity generation, transmission and distribution networks in Nigeria.

ALAKE_OF_EGBA: All I see around the Jonathan Presidency is monumental corruption and unbridled aquisition of primitive wealth by those in governement...


Obviously GEJ has no political nor moral strength to fight the epidermic of corruption.

take dat: The Nigerian Government ordered for those phones, and GEJ leads the government.

It is not a must that GEJ signs all purchases made by the government but he solely appointed the ministers who head the ministries. He shares in the blame of any minister's misdemeanor.

There is budgetary provision for every expenditure, and GEJ signed the appropriation bill into law. Why did he not strike it out before he assented to the bill?

Fo0l defending a foolish government's folly!

taharqa: Na wa.....na wetin dem want do with d iphones? Na gift??

Afam4eva: Na waoo...So, it has gotten to this level where we beg Kenya for visa?

Former Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji, is the founder of Geometric Power Limited, the first indigenously owned private sector Power Company in Nigeria. In conjunction with Renatech, the company, in 2001, designed and built an emergency power plant in Abuja, supplying electricity to the Nigerian Electric Power Authority. It has also completed a $450 million Integrated Power Project (IPP) in Aba, which would be officially commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan on October 3. In this interview with Abuja Bureau Chief, Madu Onuorah, and Emeka Anuforo, Nnaji speaks on the Aba Power Project, his firm’s partnership with GE to generate another 1000MWs, the cabals in the power sector and how to resolve the challenges of gas supply. Excerpts:

How do you feel, especially now that this dream has eventually materialised?

We are very proud that the Aba Power Project is finally coming to the completion stage. We have laboured in the trenches for years and have gone through many challenges, especially during the period of global financial meltdown’ yet, we completed the project. Even though we broke the ground in November of 2007, two things need to be noted: One is that we are still faster than a number of the National Integrated Power Projects. Two is that we are still the first independent power company to complete, except, of course, the oil companies and government projects. We are very proud of that.

What were the specific teething challenges; are there new challenges, especially now that the project is on stream?

You have to understand that, when we started the project, the country did not really have any reform programme for the power sector; the programme wasn’t really in full stream. The fact that we started this project at that time meant that the regulatory regime wasn’t in place.

Now, we talk about the Bulk Trader — that is an organisation of government that could sign power purchase agreement creditably and with the credit support of the Federal Government. Those things were not in existence. Most of the things that we needed to make the sector work were not there.

They actually came within this government now. Indeed, we faced tremendous challenges: The banks were not lending to the power sector (only a couple of them had the courage and the vision to do it at the time). One can understand, because the whole environment was opaque.

Again, policies of government, at a time, had flip-flops. For example, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission was suspended in whole at a time without the people who operated government recognising that it would hurt investment. And so, investors that we had lined up began to backtrack once they saw that the regulator was suspended. What it meant is that you could not count on government, because it wasn’t enshrined in any regulatory framework. There are many issues at the time.

What about the cooperation you had with the then Ministry of Power, government agencies and establishments?

We had a good relationship with the government, which led to the agreement. The government structure supported it.

The President at that time, the ministry of power, the then NEPA were all in support to do the agreement. So, it was a very well thought out agreement.

Even the World Bank supported the Federal Government in devising the payment that would come from the ring fence. It was a leasing of Aba Ring fence, that is, the ring fencing of Aba and leasing the ring fence to Aba Power. So, Aba Power would annually pay a fee to the Federal Government.

But determining what that fee would be required a lot of work. They spent almost nine months developing it with the cooperation of the World Bank, because there was nothing there.

You can see when we talk about challenges; we had challenges of no precedence. Everything we were doing had to be with setting precedence. For example, asset valuation had to be done in Aba. We have done asset for the privatization now. But it had to be done at that time for Aba.

Interestingly, the values came to be about the same now, which means that it was well done. That value was used by the World Bank to do the calculation of fee to be paid to the government. There was challenge associated with fuel supply agreement, because the fuel was being supplied to PHCN companies at about 10 cents per unit and it was clear that there was no private company that would be able to get fuel to generate electricity at that rate, because the oil companies just won’t supply.

So, we had to now go for something that amounted to more than 10 times the price that PHCN was paying. That became the very first commercial agreement in the sector, very first commercial agreement, and that first commercial agreement helped to show how gas supply agreement would work. It took us two years to negotiate this. It was an agreement between NNPC, Shell, Agip and Total ‘— a joint venture of those four.

We also tried to get transportation agreement. If you are getting money from a bank, you cannot go on what is called best endeavour. That is if we are able to, we give it to you. If we are not, you don’t get. You cannot say electricity should be on best endeavour. Electricity should be stable. You must deliver reliable electricity to the people. We had to build our own pipeline. We built a 27 Kilometer pipeline. We saw that Aba infrastructure, even though we were leasing PHCN infrastructure, that there were only three sub stations. And that even if you had all the power for Aba, that you would not be able to get the power to the people, because the substations limited the amount of power you could sell to the people.

We had to build four brand new sub-stations, in addition to the existing ones, and refurbished the three existing ones. We also had to do all of those.

We now had to build new lines, 33KV lines. There is no place in Nigeria you would find the sort of poles that we have in Aba. We built them to last quite a longer time. These are some of the things we have had to do.

What then is the relationship between the distribution company, the one for the South East and Aba?

The relationship is a neighbour-to-neighbour one. Aba is ring-fenced and the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company is there. If you look at the Enugu Distribution Company, including Aba, you would have 14 units. Aba has two business units. This leaves the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company with the remaining 12. If you are going towards Port Harcourt from Umuahia, the boundary of Umuahia and Aba is where Aba Electricity Distribution Company starts, all the way to the boundary of Abia State and Port Harcourt. The same way if you are going from Aba to Owerri, by Owerrenta, is where the boundary is.

Now that this experiment has worked and the Aba Power Project is now on-stream, would a Nigerian have this confidence that, one day, in the nearest future, he or she would have uninterrupted power?

I am confident that we can achieve reliable electricity in certain areas soon. It is imminent that we would have reliable electricity for the entire metropolis of Aba. When I say metropolis, I mean the city and the environment.

Similarly, it can be done in Ikeja. You can also have it in Kano. You can do it in Onitsha and it can be done in Nnewi.

You can pick out certain areas that can stimulate the economy of Nigeria and channel power there, either by building captive power for that particular area within the ring fence. By the way, when you say building power for an area, you don’t actually have to build it in there. You can build the power plant and send the power to that location. It is dedicated power. It is about dedicated power for a particular area. So, this can happen in a number of places, and it is almost like if you make a circle and you begin to have drops of water. The water would be spreading. That is what an Aba kind of thing does.

In various places, it will begin to spread; reliable electricity will begin to spread until the entire place is covered, and it won’t take so long.

With the privatisation of the distribution companies, each one should have capacity to do it, but it has to have investment capacity to actually improve electricity distribution within the environment. I would say, if you come to Lagos, the distribution company that owns Agbara Estate could simply carve out that area and say it is an economic area, and that it is going to ensure that power would be available 24/7. They can do it.

Yakubu Gowon Airport, Jos, Plateau State, has constructed Security Watch Tower at about 5.1 m high at the Runway-28 end for the Police Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), the first ever erected in any Airport across the country.

Unveiling the tower before newsmen in the presence of the Regional Manager (North-central) of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Pastor Chris Bature, the Jos Airport Manager, Mr Jim Opotu said the tower was erected in accordance with the directives of the National Security Adviser’s office to enable security personnel keep watch over the runway during flight operations.

Bature, who doubles as the Manager of the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport, Abuja, scored Opotu and his management team high over the tower and indeed other developmental projects locally executed by the management. He described the manager as “clever and intelligent”, charging the other airports managers to borrow a leaf from him.

[b]He said aside from the good pace of the remodelling work going on at the airport, which would increase the capacity of the airport to 730 per hour, “general renovation and furnishing of the airport Police post to provide conducive working environment for the Police officers, and the building of canopies at 5.4m high at the access and Apron gates by the Opotu team, were commendable.”

Bature also noted that the renovation of offices, conference room and conveniences of airport Rescue and Fire Fighting Services (ARFFS), and the production of sign posts at strategic locations for proper identification and direction of airport users, and many other projects “must have been a result of Opotu’s prudent management of funds released to the airport.”

Other projects executed by the Jos Airport management include the ongoing construction work on the permanent site of Airport Staff School, and five hydrants strategically located at various locations of the airport to replenish water supply in the event of fire outbreak.[/b]

Elated by the good works, Bature, while promising to contribute his quota to support Jos Airport, noted that FAAN was doing everything to ensure that staff welfare, in terms of allowances, accommodation, healthcare services, and education, were not taken for granted, adding that their welfare was currently under review

AFTER 10 years of closure, the management of Arewa Textiles Limited may, in a few weeks time, reopen its Kaduna plant for production, following the decision by the company to settle all outstanding obligations to creditors and pay workers salaries, estimated at about N1 billion.

The reopening of production at the facility may signal the long awaited revival of the nation’s ailing textile manufacturing sub-sector.

Already, the company has opened a refinancing deal with the Bank of Industry (BoI), for higher garment production profile at the moribund facility.

Respite came to the distressed Arewa Textiles Workers when the officials of the National Union of Textiles Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria

(NUTGTWN) held a rally in Kaduna, saying that all outstanding salaries and other entitlements of the workers would soon be paid before the textiles factory reopened for production.

The news of the scheduled reopening of the company was received with jubilation by hundreds of workers who defied the heavy rainfall to attend the rally, held at the plant’s main entrance.

The Deputy Secretary-General of the Textiles Workers Union, Chimeize Sylvester, who addressed the workers on the decision to re-tool the comatose factory, said that the daughter of the sole owner of the company, Dr.

Nemile Achimugu, has already opened discussions with the Receiver to the

textiles company- Union Bank Plc and Labour on the plans to reopen the factory for production.

According to him, on Wednesday, 21st August, 2013, Achimugu called a meeting of all departmental managers, supervisors, senior staff union executives, and junior staff union executives to discuss the plans to revive the Textiles Company”, pointing out that “it was announced to the workers that the Management of Arewa has signed an agreement with the receiver (Union Bank) to reclaim their assets and all security documents with the bank within six months.

“The management and the bank officials will enter the premises within two weeks to jointly take inventory of what remains of the company, after high level of vandalization that took place there”.

Sylvester explained that “within these six-month period, the company will settle its debts to the bank and commence payment of workers’ entitlements”.

However, he added that “according to her (Adimugu), the company intends to go into massive garment production as negotiations with Bank of Industry has reached advanced stage. She further announced that Arewa will happily celebrate her 50 years of existence in the company by next year.

“We are hopeful that with the ongoing efforts and commitment of Achimugu, workers entitlements would be settled as soon as possible and Arewa Textiles brought back to operation.

The union remains committed and willing to cooperate with the board of directors of Arewa Textiles with a view to ensuring the settlement of the outstanding benefits of the workers and revival of the company”.

It would be recalled that on January 5, 2005, the management of Arewa Textiles Plc shut down “the company without adherence to laid down procedures”.

Before the closure, Sylvester noted that “workers salaries, allowances, gratuities and other entitlements of workers amounting to N1 billion were not paid” adding that “the Union dues and other levies running into several millions, which management deducted from workers salaries, were not remitted to the union.”

“Prior to the closure, management on Monday April 14, 2003 unilaterally terminated the appointment of about 342 workers while 481 were summarily dismissed for protesting the non-payment of backlog of salaries owed them by the company.

“The union promptly condemned and frowned at this action of management and subsequently sent a protest to the management. In order to ensure a peaceful resolution of the impasse, the Union held several meetings with the Management of Arewa Textiles plc all to no avail.

“Due to the relentless pressure, management eventually called for a meeting of stakeholders (Stakeholders Forum of Arewa Textiles Plc.) on Monday July 26, 2004, comprising members of the board of directors, including the late Vice Chairman of the Board, Chief P.S. Aisha, management staff, senior staff association and workers’ representatives to resolve the issue”.

“Several meetings of management, union, Labour Ministry and security agencies were held and all agreements reached and signed were either turned down or not implemented by Arewa Textiles.”

About 25,000 jobs have been created in the last few months through the Textile and Garment Intervention Fund, the General Manager, Operation, Bank of Industry (BoI) Joseph Babatunde has said.
He told The Nation that about 52 textile firms that were closed for many years have been revived through the grants, adding that these firms were able to meet the bank’s requirements to access the facility.
He said the revival scheme has started yielding results as it has revived some other jobs that were lost as a result of the closure. “So far, 52 firms have benefited from the fund and this has gone a long way in revitalising some of the textile firms that had closed down,” he said.
Babatunde said over 60 per cent of the N100billion Textile Revival Fund being managed by the bank has been disbursed, raising the hope that the once vibrant sector will soon bounce back.
He said the scope of the fund has also been extended to cover manufacturing in the sector, including garments, cotton production, spinning, processing and printing, adding that the fund has also sustained some textile businesses which otherwise would have been closed by now.
On how the funds could be accessed by operators, he said: “You don’t need insider connection. The entrepreneur should have a well-packaged bankable proposal before seeking funding from the bank. The bank insists on collateral for big loans because the money is not free. It belongs to Nigerians. And if you don’t pay back, we will use the collateral to recover the loan.”
He said the industry is bouncing back, adding that Nigeria, like other African countries, is facing challenges of infrastructure deficit.
“By the time we address the challenges of infrastructure such as power and transportation, you will see the rate at which we will be moving.
“The railways have started, and government is also addressing power, so in a no distance future, we will start seeing the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) fully back in place and moving.
“Majority of the SMEs face challenges in their quest to secure loans for their businesses because many of them approach the bank not equipped with the necessary information required to enable them secure the loans while others do not know the mandate and limit of the bank,” he said.
On the recapitalisation of the bank, he confirmed that the Federal Government has given approval for its recapitalisation.

Delafruita: first,almost every concession agreement has a buy back option.pray tell when it became fraud to take advantage of a valid clause in a valid agreement.

secondly,OP either doesnt know what a bond is or he is deliberately playing to the gallery.he stated clearly within his post that the LASG intends to issues bonds to raise funds for the buy back and within the same post he claims the buy back will be a burden on taxpayers as if the tax funds will be used to finance the buy back.which is it?

solomon111: The NAF never mentioned aradu or an air-craft carrier.
The OP sensationalized the report.