The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has lamented the high level of money laundering by 10 Nigerian commercial banks whose names he did not mentioned.

The EFCC Chief, who spoke today, Friday in Lagos during a round table meeting with managing directors of financial institutions in Nigeria: “it is worrisome to note that in 2018, statistics available to the EFCC shows that out of about 28 commercial banks in Nigeria, 10 banks evacuated out of Nigeria through Travelex Nigeria Limited the sums of GBP- 50,832,560; USD-8,057,756; EURO-39,986,560 and RAND-7,500,000. The reasons for these evacuations are still sketchy. We must note that the impact of illicit financial flows from the country undermine the stability and integrity of the financial institutions.”

The EFCC boss also expressed concern that the culture of large cash transactions is still being allowed in some banks, adding that there was no commensurate reporting of those transactions to the relevant agencies.

According to him, the banks still operate accounts without Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), and have remained complacent in reporting those accounts to the relevant authorities, or freeze the accounts in accordance with the CBN policy.

“The banks are rather complacent in dealing with Crypto-currency or bitcoins as the case may be and have not taken measure to monitor such transactions or put adequate surveillance on such accounts. The banks are observed to still hold customers accounts in their suspense accounts, making it difficult for law enforcement agencies to trace and have access to those funds.”

Magu said that intelligence reports have shown that banks are aiding their customers to receive foreign financial inflows to their accounts in neighbouring countries, where they have branches like Ghana, Republic of Niger and other West African countries.

“The money is then couriered into Nigeria through the land borders to circumvent declaration and reporting.”

He said that banks had the habit of under-reporting transactions in some cases while carrying out defensive filing of transactions after they had been consummated.

Describing them as “gatekeepers,” Magu said no country could control illicit financial flows without the cooperation of financial institutions.

He, therefore, charged the managing directors to join hands with the Commission to save the country from being hijacked by criminals.

Magu, who spoke on the theme: “Roles and Obligations of Managing Directors of Banks in Nigeria in Curbing Vote Buying During an Election, Illicit Financial Flows and Other Related Matters in Nigeria.”

The EFCC Chairman, in his address, recalled that the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, during a meeting with Bankers’ Committee sometime in September 2018, made a commitment to work with the EFCC and the banks to curb this menace.

He said illicit financial flows would reduce the amount of resources available to the government to provide critical social services to the citizenry.

According to the anti-graft czar, vote buying during elections would prevent credible candidates from running for political offices, adding that “in Nigeria, vote buying has reached an alarming proportion to the extent that politicians have now spread their tentacles to election officials, security agencies, election observers and even the media”.

Magu, however, lamented that the illicit financial flows out of the country was on the increase and that politicians were still “perpetrating and trying to finalise their acts of vote buying.”

“It is also worthy of note that illicit financial flows during election are a common denominator and can be tied to vote buying. Politicians either bring in money to further their cause or try to export money to their cohorts outside the country to get them to influence the elections in one way or the other.”

President Muhammadu Buhari has called on the youths across the country not to allow themselves to be used by desperate politicians to violate the sanctity of the ballot and endanger our country.

“Let us remember that elections will come and go, but we need a country in which to live. I am appealing to our youths: do not allow yourselves to be used by desperate politicians to violate the sanctity of the ballot and endanger our country. I assure you that the security agencies will protect you as you go out to vote without fear of violence or molestation.”

President Buhari, who spoke today, Friday at the public presentation of a book on the achievements of his government, titled: “Nigeria on Firmer Ground, Towards Lasting Peace and Progress,” advised all Nigerians to exercise their civic duty in an atmosphere of peace and security as the nation prepares for the elections next week.

He commended the Presidential Media Team, the Buhari Media Organization and other stakeholders for helping Nigerians to understand more of what his administration has done by producing the book, and presenting it to the public.

From the accounts of all the earlier speakers and what can be gleaned from the book, supported by verifiable facts and figures on projects and programmes implemented in almost every State of the Federation, it is clear that our administration has delivered substantially on our campaign promises.

Buhari said that he is convinced that his government has made real progress and is poised to do more by taking Nigeria to the next level of development, prosperity, peace and stability.

“We are also poised to make life – changing progress in infrastructure, agriculture, social investments, and much more.

“From returning the economy to sustainable growth, degrading Boko Haram terrorists, boldly confronting the monster called corruption, history will remember this Administration as one that did what it promised and charted the path for a future of which we can all be proud.

“Going round the country in the past weeks on our campaign stops, I believe that our message emphasizing the need to stick to the winning team and not risk returning our country to irresponsible leadership, at any level of government, has resonated with the people.

“Their stock-in-trade is the avaricious plunder of our national assets and resources, and ordinary Nigerians are quite aware of their conduct in government.

“Our simple message to the Nigerian electorate is to give us four more years to build and consolidate on the foundations we have painstakingly laid so that we shall all reap the benefits of what we have planted in all sectors of our society.

“We have proved better managers of our national assets and the limited resources available to us than past administrations, and we are committed to entrenching higher levels of accountability and transparency in the years ahead.”

The leadership of the Nigeria university lecturers, under the canopy of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has suspended its three month old nationwide industrial action.

National President of the union, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, who announced this today, Thursday at a news briefing at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) complex in Abuja said that the lecturers took the decision after a meeting with representatives of the Federal Government led by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige.

The meeting came hours before Professor Ogunyemi announced the decision of ASUU to suspend the strike. It had in attendance leaders of the union and government representatives such as the permanent secretaries at the ministries of Education, as well as Labour and Employment, and some directors from the ministries.

According to the ASUU President, the government has demonstrated a commitment by meeting some of their demands.

He added that the government has signed a new agreement that would fast-track the revitalisation of universities, one of the critical demands of ASUU which led to the protracted industrial action.

ASUU suspended its industrial action three months since the lecturers went on strike in early November 2018.

The union went on strike following an emergency meeting of its leaders at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, the Ondo State capital.

The lecturers had accused the government of failing to address its demands.

They also raised concerns over the poor funding of Nigerian Universities, the alleged plot to increase students’ fees, introduction of an education bank, as well as non-implementation of previous agreements, among other issues.

The government, on its part, said it was worried about the action of the union which has paralised academic activities in universities where ASUU has a presence across the country.

This prompted the call by individuals and groups to the government to ensure the students return to school without any further delay.

Meanwhile, the government has held several discussions with the union leaders, in its bid to end the industrial action.

Signs of hope began to emerge on Friday last week following a meeting between the government and the union.

The minister and the ASUU President had told reporters at the end of the meeting that they were making progress to address the issues raised by the striking lecturers.

Although they did not give any specific detail, they had promised to address a press conference at the end of today’s meeting which resulted in the suspension of the strike.

Read the full statement issued by the ASUU President below;

ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF UNIVERSITIES (ASUU), NATIONAL SECRETARIAT. TEXT OF A PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF UNIVERSITIES (ASUU), THURSDAY, 7TH FEBRUARY, 2019, AT NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS HEADQUARTERS, PASCAL BAFYAU HOUSE, ABUJA

Protocol

Friends and compatriots of the Press, On Sunday, 4th November, 2018, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) resumed its strike action which was conditionally suspended on 14th September, 2017.

The action of 2017 was suspended following the signing of a Memorandum of Action (MoA) in which the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) promised to address the contentious issues within a timeline that was to end in October 2017.

While announcing the suspension of the nationwide action, however, our Union made it categorically clear that “ASUU will not hesitate to review its position should government renege on the signed Memorandum of Action”.

Predictably, Government implemented the MoA in the breach, thereby forcing ASUU to resume the suspended strike action.

Comrades and compatriots, as we have always argued, the last thing ASUU members love doing is to cause disruption in smooth intellectual engagements with colleagues, friends and students right on our university campuses.

This has nothing to do with the dubious advertorial of “non-disruption of academic calendar” by proprietors and administrators of some cash-and-carry universities and other self-styled enemies of ASUU.

Rather, it is about deep-seated pains members of the Union undergo to prevent strike actions and the equally painful consequences strike situations bring to all who are genuinely averse to the mercantile disposition to university education.

Why Strike Action? The question has been asked time and time again: Why does ASUU like embarking on strike action that causes disruption and dislocation in the universities?

However, ASUU is strongly convinced that if academics fail to fight the cause of university education, the fate that befell public primary and secondary schools would soon become the lot of the public university system in Nigeria.

ASUU’s advocacy on the need to stem the continued slide into rot and decay in public universities since the 1980s has fallen on deaf ears. Our experience, as a trade union, shows that successive governments in Nigeria always entered into negotiated agreements only to placate those pleading the cause – be it education, health, transportation, employment or any other issue of meaningful living.

This proclivity of the Nigerian ruling class, irrespective of which wing of the insensitive stock they belong, must be continually be tracked, engaged and resisted by all people of goodwill.

ASUU ‘s action strike, which started on 4th November, 2018, was situated in the context of accumulated records of indifference and lackadaisical attitude of Government to negotiated agreements with the Union.

At our media interaction in University of Lagos on 23rd  December, 2018, we highlighted the outstanding issues in the crisis to include the following:

– Funding for the revitalization of Public Universities based on the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2012, 2013 and the MoA  of 2017

– Reconstitution of the current Government Team to allow for a leader and Chairman of the FG-ASUU Renegotiating team who has the interest of the nation and the people at heart.

– Release of the forensic audit report on Earned Academic allowances (EAA), offsetting the outstanding balance of the EAA and mainstreaming of same into the 2018 budget.

– Payment of all arrears of shortfall in all universities that have met the verification requirements of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA)

– Provision of a platform by the federal government for ASUU to engage Governors on the proliferation of universities, underfunding of university education and undue interference in the affairs of the universities

– Release of PFA operational license to NUPEMCO

– Payment of EAA to loyal ASUU members at the University of Ilorin A new Memorandum of Action and Our Resolution To date, ASUU has had a total of ten (10) interactive meetings with representatives of FGN which have culminated into a Memorandum of Action of

2019.

Highlights of the MoA include the following:

1. In addition to the N20 billion for 2018, the sum of N25 billion only would be released in April/May 2019, after which government would resume full implementation of the MoU of 2013.
2. Part-payment of the outstanding arrears of the earned academic allowances; defraying the balance up to 2018 in 4 tranches within 36 months; andmainstreaming further payments of EAA into the annual budgets beginning from 2019 budget.
3. PICA verification and the release of the arrears of salary shortfall at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, not later than 15th February 2019.
4. Strengthening the Consultative Committee on State-owned Universities (CCSOU), inaugurated on Monday, 28th January,2019 to look into the issues of proliferation, underfunding and governance to consistently deliver on its mandate.
5. Payment of the outstanding EAA arrears of all eligible staff in the University of Ilorin, especially the loyal ASUU members whose appointments were illegally terminated by today, 7th February,
6. Acknowledgementand appreciation of Government for facilitating the release of the final letter of approval for the granting of operational license to NUPEMCO.
7. Visitation to all Federal Universities would commence tentatively by 11th March,
8. Provision of documented guidelines on procedures and roles of parties in the process of renegotiating FGN-ASUU Agreement of 2009 which would commence not later than 18th February 2019 and end by Friday 29th March 2019.

Based on the initial proposals from Government, the Union made extensive consultations through its various organs. The final level of consultation was the meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) which took place 6th-7th February 2019.

NEC resolved that: Following a careful review of the report of engagements with the Federal Government on proposals for addressing all outstanding in the 2013 MoU and 2017 MoA, NEC resolved that the current strike action by the Union should be suspended conditionally with effect from 12.01 a.m on Friday 8th February 2019.

However, should Government fail to fulfill its part of the agreement as reflected in the 2019 Memorandum of Action, ASUU shall resume its suspended strike action as the Union deems necessary.

Conclusion

ASUU notes, with serious concern, the covert and overt roles of some vice-chancellors in the management and application of funds attracted by our Union to Nigeria’s public universities.

Consequently, we condemn, in the strongest terms, Vice-Chancellors who have made efforts to undermine and, in some cases, attempted to break our patriotic struggles for the revitalisation of public universities in Nigeria.

ASUU will not shy away from taking headlong those Vice-Chancellors who are reputed for acts of impunity, nepotism and other forms of conduct which are antithetic to university culture and the progressive development of our universities.

Our union will compile all their shenanigans and forward them to relevant authorities for further action.

Finally, ASUU acknowledges the understanding and support demonstrated by patriotic Nigerian students and their parents all through the strike period.

We equally appreciate the comradely assistance from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), represented by the newly re-elected President, Comrade Ayuba Waba, who has stood by us throughout the struggle.

We also acknowledge the solidarity of the civil society organisations, especially the Joint Action Front (JAF) and the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), and members of the progressive wing of the media who have consistently partnered with us in our mission to rescue Nigerian public universities from imminent collapse.

While we put a closure to this phase of the struggle, it is our hope and desire that the Nigerian governments (Federal and State) will play the roles expected of them in order to make the new Memorandum work.

We shall never abandon our obligation to ensure the survival of a sound university system.

For ASUU, the struggle certainly continues!

Thank you for listening.

Biodun Ogunyemi

President

7th February 2018.

Former Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, retired Lt-General Alani Akinrinade, has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as “this irritable man” even as he advised that he should be kept where he belongs – dust bin of history.

In an advertorial that was published on page 35 of The PUNCH today, Thursday, General Akinrinade said: “the Nigerian media appear to have forgotten they are indeed the fourth estate of the realm. They are gatekeepers. They owe Nigeria the responsibility of keeping this irritable man where he belongs- the waste bin of history.

“Like his daughter, Iyabo, reminded him in her letter, Nigeria does not belong to him. He should allow Nigerians choose who they want and stop goading the citizenry for his own selfish interests.”

The retired army general asked Nigerians to ignore Obasanjo’s call for the election of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, saying that Obasanjo’s modus operandi is to support a new candidate at almost every election cycle and once the person is elected, he would begin to criticize the new President.

He accused Obasanjo of always acting in defence of his own selfish interest, adding: “Olusegun Obasanjo asking Nigerians to vote for Atiku Abubakar is an insult to our collective intelligence. With the benefit of hindsight, can anyone truly say Obasanjo’s sense of judgment in choosing leaders can be trusted?

“Take a good look at history. Through the clandestine manoeuvres in 1979, he foisted on Nigeria a reluctant Shehu Shagari at the expense of the cerebral Obafemi Awolowo or Nnamdi Azikiwe. “After his second coming, he so manipulated the electoral system that he fraudulently installed an unhealthy Umaru Yar’Adua as President alongside another reluctant character in the person of Goodluck Jonathan as the deputy.

“He denied every interested member of his party while employing all sorts of machination including threat and blackmail. Then came 2015; he told Nigerians Muhammadu Buhari is the best man for the job. As he has done to every Presidential candidate he installed or supported, a few years down the line, he says Buhari is unfit for the job again.”

The former Chief of Army Staff said that it is shameful of Obasanjo to have endorsed Atiku after calling him all sorts of names in the past, adding that it is funny that the same Obasanjo who publicly tore his Peoples Democratic Party membership card could return to his vomit.

“The Bible says something about such people- a double-minded man is unstable in his ways, James 1:8. Obasanjo is not a man whose judgement can be trusted.”

Source: Punch