Facts emerged on how the Director General of the National Pensions Commission (Pencom), Chinelo Anohu-Amazu has turned the company into a family affair.
It was gathered that the DG has transferred the funds of an active pension fund administrator to another firm, known as Premium Pension Limited in which her family has interest.
The firm, according to insiders, is a family business in which the DG`s mother, Mrs. Virgy Anohu-Amazu served two full terms of five years each (10 years), which is the maximum allowed under Pencom regulations years. The DG`s mother was said to have been replaced on the Premium Pension Board by her elder brother.
It was learnt that the sacked Managing Director, whose case was the basis for the regulator`s intervention, was appointed and remains the Chief Executive Officer of the Premium Pension Limited, a firm in which the DG`s family has substantial interests.
It would be recalled that Justice D. U. Okorowo of the Federal High Court in Abuja had on August 11, 2011, gave an injunction, restraining the DG from taking any action based on the spurious Draft Report but that she went on defy the Court Order and that she also ignored a letter of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, directing Pencom to obey the Court order.
The subsequent judgments of 10 July and 18 July 2012, by justices Okechukwu Okeke and Okorowo, respectively, asking Pencom to reverse the unlawful actions it had taken in defiance of a subsisting Court Order and restraining its agents and collaborators, including the EFCC and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), from taking further actions on the matter, were also ignored by the DG. [myad]
“We have got the leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain… Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world,” UK Prime Minister David Cameron was caught on tape telling the Queen ahead of the anti-corruption summit organized by the UK Government, this week, which was attended by Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari. This diplomatic gaffe rubbed many Nigerians on the wrong side, but most of the responses, coloured by overtly emotional love of country and a certain defensiveness is downright hypocritical.
We all know that indeed Nigeria is “fantastically corrupt”, and that is why the most profound reaction, the most honest also, is the statement by President Muhammadu Buhari who admitted that indeed Nigerians are “fantastically corrupt” and that Cameron is right, but the clincher was the rider added by President Buhari, when he said he would not ask for an apology but he would be glad if Great Britain can release all the stolen loot in its custody. I know President Buhari is often criticized for condemning his own people offshore, but no one can fault his sharp honesty, certainly not in the present instance. His reply to the Cameron statement is absolutely brilliant, diplomatic and loaded with a meaningful sarcasm that is yet to be properly defined.
Nigeria is “fantastically corrupt.” Yes, our President says. The dictionary defines the word fantastic to mean something so extreme as to be unbelievable, strange, most unlikely, extra-ordinary. Can any Nigerian in good conscience really claim that this is not true? We are probably one of the few countries in the world where corruption is the reality we grapple with, from cradle to grave. You go and try to have a baby delivered in a Nigerian hospital. You can’t escape the nurses, matrons and the security men at the gate who upon hearing that your wife had been delivered of a baby would start greeting you: “Oga we go wash am oh.” The really smart ones among them will even poke your ego a little: “Oga, this one wey Madam deliver bom boy, na big celebration. Oga you sef na sharp shooter. You just do am, hit am, commot bom boy.”
You’d be in serious trouble if your wife is fertile enough to give birth to twins. Meanwhile, this has nothing to do with your hospital bills, and the aggressive solicitation is beyond culture. Where else in the world do people have to pay bribe just because their wives have given birth? If giving birth invites corruption, dying has even become more expensive around here. If you have to bury anyone in Nigeria, there must be a special budget for officials and sympathizers whose palms have to be greased.
I attended a funeral recently where a dignified beggar insisted that since the deceased was his benefactor, he would really love to die too, and jump into the grave, but everyone at the funeral would do well to keep him alive by putting something in his pocket. People laughed and obliged. Every funeral in Nigeria is a source of income for all kinds of scammers and no matter how sad you may be, you are not expected to complain. When you go for a funeral in Nigeria, you have to hold your pockets, monitor your phones, and even watch yourself, otherwise your personal items could be stolen and you may yourself be kidnapped. The children of the deceased are usually special targets. What kind of human beings would go to a birthplace or a funeral only to add to the burden of the people involved. Fantastic? Of course, Mr. Cameron is right.
Between birth and death is a significant polarity. When you live in Nigeria or you visit, or you have anything to do with Nigeria, including something as harmless as just passing through, you would feel the air of corruption. You will be touched by it. And if you stay long enough, you will imbibe it. There is corruption in other parts of the world, of course. Corruption is an English word, not so? And it defines all human beings, doesn’t it? But in Nigeria and some other countries, there have been very fantastic manifestations.
Every foreigner or traveller who has walked through any Nigerian port in the last, say 40 years, would most certainly have been asked for a bribe, not clandestinely, but openly and frontally: “Oga wey the dollar for the boys? Oyinbo, correct oyinbo, we dey here for you oh. Anything. Nigeria na your own. If you wan be Governor sef, just call us, or this my oga.” If the visitor is one of those difficult ones who do not know that a passport in Nigeria is supposed to be a sandwich at the point of entry and he is busy claiming that he has one funny visa, before he knows it, he will be detained. Uniformed officials will ask him: who is this bomboclat who is trying to teach us our job? Such officials don’t allow stingy bomboclats to cross the border, any border at all.
Bomboclats can’t access government institutions either. You have to bribe every government official in sight: to move a file, to get anything done, to have your rights respected. And you can’t hold government positions. You are expected to steal government funds and make returns to the community otherwise you are considered a bad or stupid person, who can’t eat national cake. Fantastic? Yes. America knows. David Cameron knows. Public and private Nigerian institutions are fully compromised. Petty corruption is encountered in ordinary places on a daily basis, grand corruption has also badly affected Nigeria as a state, country, and nation. President Buhari wants to deal with the latter, but he is overlooking the former.
Right under his watch, that other sphere is thriving. But the challenge of corruption is not just about grand corruption: the big money that is stolen, the mad men and women who turn elections into opportunities for theft and primitive accumulation, the greedy officials who manipulate the books big time and run away with the national patrimony or the civil servants who help to cook the books and later play holier-than-thou; it is certainly not about one particular administration, it is not about making examples and demonizing some people while bigger thieves prosper within and outside the system. What is it about? It is about the Nigerian reality in which everyone is involved from servants to lords. It is the reason why Nigerians, living in an oil producing country now have to buy fuel at a “minimum” pump price of N145 per litre. It is about the collapse of institutions and societal values.
President Buhari has declared a zero tolerance for corruption. How does he define and secure that legacy? His strategists don’t seem to understand the implications of that question: that is what this is also all about. And it is why almost one year after President Buhari assumed office, David Cameron, the Prime Minister of Britain, would still say Nigeria is “fantastically corrupt”. It wasn’t an innocent remark, it may be wrong to describe it as a gaffe. And I also don’t think the leakage of that privileged and classified conversation with the Queen was innocent or accidental either. I imagine that Prime Minister Cameron despite the subsequent diplomatic fine-tuning was passing across a message. It should be noted that it was also at that supposedly confidential meeting that Her Majesty made a snide remark about the Chinese, our good friends, the Chinese whose economic expertise is supposed to help Nigeria, and who President Buhari visited recently.
International diplomacy is a game. It is high wire politics. The President’s team must step back from the recent trip to the anti-corruption summit in London and properly decode the signals. One signal is that Britain is probably not too pleased with the projected long-term impact of President Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign, and there may well be a lot that they know that they are not talking about in the open. Note the timing of that “caught-on-camera” comment. Note also that it is coming close to the first anniversary of the administration. The Archbishop of Canterbury reportedly smuggled in an aside in President Buhari’s favour but did either the Queen or the Prime Minister respond to that priestly, consolatory aside? The only response by Speaker John Bercow was even worse: “They are coming at their expense, one assumes?” Classic Britishism! Every nuance, every gesture, every inflection in diplomacy is to be taken seriously – what is said, or mentioned often has deeper meanings than what is not said. If it is not important, the subject will not be broached at all.
But I commend President Buhari for his confidence. He got the message from Cameron. Old age and experience can be an advantage sometimes. And he gave it back to the Prime Minister in full measure. Rather than accuse our President of putting his own country down, Nigerians should actually applaud his understanding of the game of international intrigue. By telling Britain to return the stolen loot hidden in Britain and its tax havens, President Buhari was actually asking Cameron to shut up and walk the talk. In other words, Britain cannot organize an anti-corruption summit and spend time bad-mouthing other countries whereas it is a principal destination for stolen funds. It is a trite point in law that the receiver of stolen goods is also a thief. Nigerians are fantastically corrupt, yes, but they take the proceeds to countries like Britain where they are fantastically, and corruptly received.
The onus is on Prime Minister David Cameron who has not shown enough commitment to ridding Britain of stolen wealth, to take concrete steps to help fight international corruption. We do not expect that he will lie to the Queen, the sovereign whose Government he heads. He knows certainly that there is so much Nigerian wealth inside Britain, money stolen from both the government and the private sector and translated into acquisitions in Britain. Nigerians own some of the most expensive houses in London and elsewhere in Britain, on the best streets even; they also have fat bank accounts and they have investments that are fantastically alarming. But Britain and its Prime Minister cannot just laugh over that when they too are complicit in an “ole gbe, ole gba(you thief am, I collect, help you keep am) arrangement. Prime Minister Cameron has all the records of our stolen wealth and all the Nigerian thieves hiding in Great Britain. Let him listen to our President and begin to show, beyond condescending gossip at the palace, and the rhetoric of talk shops, that Britain is indeed committed to the ideals of transparency, integrity and accountability. [myad]
Former Nigeria’s information minister and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Jerry Gana has described the current leadership of the party, led by Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff as a bunch of hoodlums and gangsters.
Speaking at the party’s stakeholder’s forum today, Thursday in Abuja, Professor Gana, in apparent reference to Modu Sheriff, said the PDP had been hijacked by hoodlums and gangsters who are bent on destroying the party. He accused the Sheriff-led National Working Committee (NWC) of impunity and reckless imposition of candidates in the just concluded ward and state congresses across the federation.
“To save the PDP from imminent collapse, we need excellent and competent leaders to run the party; not incompetent persons without dignity of purpose parading themselves as leaders.
“The Southern part of the country should produce the next national chairman because the North had produced seven national chairmen since the birth of the PDP in 1998.
“The Southwest geopolitical zone has never produced the national chairman in the 16 years of the existence of the PDP”.
Professor Gana, leading other prominent members of the party, also described the planned amendment to the PDP constitution, championed by Sheriff as illegal and insisted that the national convention slated for May 21 be put on hold.
In a prompt reaction to Professor Gana’s remarks, Modu Sheriff vowed to go ahead with the amendment of the constitution and national convention even as he threatened to hand him (Gana) over to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for alleged financial fraud amounting to N500 Million.
Sheriff, through his media aide, Inuwa Bwala, alleged that Gana unilaterally took a N500 Million loan from a second generation bank on behalf of the PDP, without getting approval from the leadership of the party.
Though Modu Sheriff did not state the time Gana allegedly obtained the said loan, he said Gana lacked the credibility to criticise Sheriff even as he vowed that the national convention of the party will certainly hold in Port Harcourt on May 21 if the world does not end before that date.
“The group headed by Professor Gana and similar others are not known to the party. They should take their grievances to the convention if they have any. If they choose to leave the PDP, it would be good riddance.
“It would be foolhardy for the PDP chairman to involve the same people who led the PDP to failure in the 2015 general elections in rebuilding the party. These are the same people that played ignoble roles in squandering the resources of the party.
“Let it be known to Prof. Gana and members of his group that they don’t have the monopoly of mudslinging. If we are forced to open up on them, we will not hesitate to do so.
Modu Sheriff also accused Gana and members of his group of having approached him for one favour or the other, only to turn around to attack the chairman when they failed to have their way. In a communiqué issued at the end of the Gana-led stakeholders forum, the group announced a 21-member steering committee to run the affairs of the party and work with the Board of Trustees to conduct the national convention. The communique also said, “We enjoin all our party faithful not to despair. The new steering committee will soon embark on a nationwide tour, to address and resolve all issues and areas of conflict in every state of the federation. “We call on the governors elected under the PDP, who are our leading beacons of light, our able senators, House of Representatives and state Assembly members to take up the gauntlet and support this noble cause.
“We need to come together as a family, to fight the cancer of impunity that has eaten deep into the tissues of our party”.
The communique was jointly signed by a former Education Minister, Prof. Tunde Adeniran; a former Deputy Senate President, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu; and Chief Raymond Dokpesi.
Those that attended the meeting included Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Okwesilieze Nwodo, Chief Bode George, Wilberforce Juta, Dr. Shettima Mustapha, Senator Bala Mohammed, Ibrahim Bunu, Senator Grace Bent, Adamu Maina Waziri among others. [myad]
A Lagos based human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has described the sudden withdrawal of fuel subsidy by the government of Muhammadu Buhari as policy somersault.
In a statement he issued today, Thursday, Falana expressed fear that President Buhari, by accepting to reverse his earlier stand that he would not remove the subsidy on fuel, might have been high jacked by what he called “neo-liberal ideologues,” with intent to punish the people
Falana said that the removal of subsidy and subsequent increase in the price of fuel is not only immoral, illegal, but also insensitive, coming at a time Nigerians are going through difficult times.
The human right warrior drew attention to another subsisting court order barring the Federal Government from deregulating the downstream sector,. He said that case was filed by the late lawyer, Bamidele Aturu.
“In total defiance of the said order of the federal high court, the federal government has deregulated the downstream sector of the petroleum industry. In justifying the illegal policy, Dr. Kachikwu claimed that “PPPRA has informed me that it will be announcing a new price band effective today, 11th May, 2016 and that the new price for PMS will not be above N145 per litre.”
Falana wondered what has gone wrong in government calculations on the cost of fuel when in January, it reduced the pump price to N86, with the Minister of state for petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu boasting that the country had done away with the spectre of fuel subsidy and was now saving $1billion monthly.
The lawyer said that the increase of the price to N145 was illegal in view of the fact that the PPPRA board has not been constituted.
“The unilateral decision of the Executive Secretary of the body to fix the pump price at N145 per litre is ultra vires and illegal in every material particular. In view of the illegality, insensitivity and immorality of the price increase the federal government should cancel it, revert to the status quo and consult widely with all relevant stakeholders in the society.”
The full statement of Falana is reproduced here:
The illegality, immorality and insensitivity of fuel price increase
During the campaign last year, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Mohammadu Buhari pledged that if elected as President by the Nigerian people his administration would not remove fuel subsidy. Since he won the election last year President Buhari has consistently resisted pressures from the neo-liberal characters in the government to remove fuel subsidy and increase the price of petrol. On January 18, 2016 the federal government allayed the fear of Nigerians when the price of petrol was reduced to N86.50k per litre. In justifying the decision to the people the federal government claimed that the reduction was due to an implementation of the revised component of the Petroleum Products Pricing Template for PMS and household kerosene.
It would be recalled that following the popular agitation against the removal of fuel subsidy in 2012, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources had announced the decision of the Goodluck Jonathan administration to set up 30 green field refineries in the country. Shortly thereafter, the policy was jettisoned due to pressure from the cabal of local fuel importers. In 2013, the Jonathan administration secured a loan of $1.6 billion for the maintenance of the country’s four refineries. At the end of the repairs the refineries could only refine about 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day instead of 445,000 barrels earmarked for domestic consumption. The Buhari administration has also spent millions of dollars for the so called turn around maintenance of the refineries.
Barely a month ago, Dr. Kachikwu had announced that fuel subsidy had been removed through his ingenuity. In celebrating the “success” recorded by him in the management of the petroleum industry he disclosed that Nigeria was saving $1 billion in subsidy removal and $1 billion in fuel importation. He also stated that “for the first time, our refineries are ready to work now. crude has been pumped from Brass to Port Harcourt. Pipeline is being used for the first time in 10 years for the first time in six years. For the first time we are able to pump to Ilorin, we have not done that in 10 years.” (Nigerian Tribune, March 16, 2016). Curiously, Dr. Kachikwu’s “giant strides” in the petroleum industry appear to have collapsed completely before our very eyes!
Hence, without any public debate or consultation with relevant stakeholders whatsoever the federal government took the Nigerian people by surprise yesterday when it decided to increase the pump price of petrol from N86.50k to N145 per litre. Not too long ago, the federal government had supported the imposition of higher tariffs paid on epileptic supply of electricity by consumers.
In sentencing the Nigerian people to excruciating economic agony the Ministry of Power defied a court order which had restrained the government from giving effect to the proposed electricity tariff. In the same vein, the decision to increase the price of petrol is also illegal and contemptuous. In the case of Bamidele Aturu versus Attorney-General of the Federation (unreported suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/591/2009) the Federal High Court declared illegal and unconstitutional the policy decision of the federal government to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry contrary to the combined effect of the provisions of the Price Control Act and the Petroleum Act.
In total defiance of the said order of the federal high court the federal government has deregulated the downstream sector of the petroleum industry. In justifying the illegal policy, Dr. Kachikwu claimed that “PPPRA has informed me that it will be announcing a new price band effective today, 11th May, 2016 and that the new price for PMS will not be above N145 per litre.”
Since the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) which is statutorily empowered to recommend the price of petroleum products has not been reconstituted the unilateral decision of the Executive Secretary of the body to fix the pump price at N145 per litre is ultra vires and illegal in every material particular. In view of the illegality, insensitivity and immorality of the price increase the federal government should cancel it, revert to the status quo and consult widely with all relevant stakeholders in the society.
However, due to the ongoing fuel crisis in the country the Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) recently invited fresh bids for the setting up modular refineries. At the end of the screening exercise sometime in March this year the DPR announced that it had awarded 22 licences for modular refineries with combined capacities to refine 1.429 million barrels of crude oil per day. If the policy is genuinely pursued the construction of the refineries ought to be completed within the 9-12 months. If such refineries are established in the country the importation of fuel and the fraud associated with it will stop. In the interim, instead of importing oil from Europe and the United States the NNPC should refine crude oil for domestic consumption in neighbouring countries which have functional refineries. After all, Nigeria refines 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day in Cote d’ivoire which is not an oil producing nation.
If subsidy had been removed over a month ago and the country has been saving $2 billion (from fuel importation and subsidy removal) while the refineries are now working at full capacity Dr. Kachikwu should tell Nigerians the justification for the new removal of fuel subsidy announced by him yesterday. The cost elements that make up the N145 are provocative. If the total landing cost of a litre and other charges are fixed at N138 what is the basis of fixing the price at N145? For goodness sake, why should motorists be made to pay NPA/NIMASA charges, demurrage within and without /storage/ bridging charges etc?
At this stage President Buhari ought to prevent neo-liberal ideologues from hijacking the administration for the purpose of punishing the Nigerian people for the looting of the treasury and mismanagement of the national economy. Contrary to the position of the parasitic ruling class that prices of goods and services be fixed by market forces the federal government has a legal obligation to protect the people from exploitation. For instance, the virtual collapse of electricity supply has forced many corporate bodies and individuals to invest heavily in generators and diesel throughout the country. Although the price of diesel has crashed all over the world it has continued to increase in Nigeria due to manipulation. The federal government should, as a matter of urgency, abolish the monopoly in the importation and sale of diesel. There is no justification for the monopolistic control of goods and services under a free market economy! [myad]
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has sealed off the NICON Luxury Hotel and NICON Insurance over unpaid tax. The companies are owned by a billionaire, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim.
The team, led by Miss Ruth Mandeun gave the management of the companies over one hour to do the payment before executing the distrait warrant on them.
The first point of call for the team was the popular NICON LUXURY Hotel located in Garki, Area 11, Tafawa Balewa Way, Abuja. The hotel, according to a Warrant of Distrait used by the FIRS team to seal it off, was owing about N392, 623,765.00 in unpaid tax liabilities.
The amount was made up of unpaid/unremitted liabilities of the hotel in Company Income Tax, Education Tax, Withholding Tax and Value Added Tax between 2009 and 2013.
The management of the hotel, led by Mrs. Ogunlusi Abimbola initially insisted that the company does not owe government any such tax liability and put the tax arrears of the company at N24 million for which he said the company has paid the sum of N6 million.
But when the enforcement team insisted, she agreed that the Hotel is aware of the tax liability, but is disputing it. She claimed that a tax consultant to the company had written the Chairman of FIRS to complain about the liability and that the hotel is already discussing with the Service on how to resolve the dispute.
When she couldn’t produce copies of her correspondence with the FIRS when she was asked to, the leader of the team insisted that nothing else than payment of the full tax liabilities will stop the execution of the Distrait Warrant.
The enforcement team then proceeded to seal and close down operations of the hotel. This even as an attempt by the team to force the hotel to close business through the shutting down of its generator failed as the technician in charge disappeared from the premises.
The hotel was ordered to discharge its guests and some of the guests who learnt of the development quickly checked out. The sealing of the hotel by the FIRS team led to the closure of the other offices and three bank’s branches located within its premises.
Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) holding a stakeholders’ meeting in one of the halls in the hotels were forced to park their vehicles outside the premises as the enforcement team locked up the gates while workers of the hotel instantly closed for the day.
The team left a part of the entrance to the hotel opened for guests who may not be in when the warrant was executed and may return to pick their properties later.
Miss Mandeun warned the security officer that no business should be allowed to take place inside the premises until the payment of the tax liability.
The next point of call for the team was NICON Insurance which according to the Distrait Warrant was owing N182,685, 036 million in unremitted Withholding Tax and VAT from 2008 to 2012.
The team sealed off the 3rd, 4th and 9th floor of the building being used by NICON insurance.
This followed appeals by other occupants, including Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation that the sin of the owner should not be visited on the other occupants. [myad]
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has assured that price of fuel might tumble down to surprised low level within six months of operating the increase in the product to N145 per litre.
He said that Nigerians will be amazed at what will become of the price of fuel in the next six months following the removal of fuel subsidy.
Kachikwu, who spoke on Channels Television’s programme: the Sunrise Daily today, Thursday, said that the market dynamics would take hold fast “because there are a lot of Nigerians who are very active, very bullish, and very talented in doing this, they just have been prevented by government intrusions.
“As it gets better and it gets to a point where we find that the market has stabilized in terms of supply, we will begin to pull back a bit in terms of determinants for pricing.”
He said that by opening up the space for people to perform, to practice their trade, “you will be amazed at what will happen to your N145 price because it will go downwards.”
Kachikwu said that the removal of subsidy had become necessary in order put an end to fuel scarcity in the country, adding that if the government did not take the step it took, massive subsidy would continue and that there was no foreign exchange for importation.
According to the minister, as a result of the decline in government earnings from oil, it could no longer provide foreign exchange for the importation of fuel. [myad]
A group known as the Concerned PDP Stakeholders, has asked the Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose to stop his attacks on President Muhammadu Buhari’s policies, saying: “we would like Fayose to stop ridiculing himself in his efforts to attack Buhari.
In a statement by its patron, Professor T Akinyemi , the group said that by repeatedly condemning President Buhari policies, Fayose is making a mockery of himself because the President had good intentions for Nigeria.
“Buhari has good intentions and he is a man we all respect, irrespective of his political affiliation. Moreover, the office of the President deserves the respect of all Nigerians. God is the one who puts people in power.
“We condemn Fayose’s unguided, repeated attacks on Buhari. It is better to keep shut if you have nothing to say.”
The group also demanded that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), probe the governorship candidate of the PDP in Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje, over reported diversion of government funds for campaign purpose.
The group called for the dissolution of the present Board of Trustees of the party, even as it said that it is only Senator Bode Olajumoke that is credible enough to lead South-west PDP. [myad]
Former civilian governor of Kaduna state, Alhaji Balarabe Musa has called on the Federal Government to reverse the N145 new fuel pump price that was introduced yesterday, Wednesday even as the Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) said that the over 40 million Nigerian students would re-enact the Occupy Nigeria protest against the removal of subsidy from petroleum product next week.
Balarabe Musa, who is also a national leader of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) today, Thursday in Kaduna, said that the government’s action would inflict more pains on Nigerians.
“We are in trouble; the already bad situation will get worse and it will worsen the poverty level of Nigerians.”
The politician said that he would support the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) planned mass protest to compel the Federal Government to reverse the decision.
He said the proceeds from the new price of the product would only benefit some persons and caucuses within government even as he asked Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and well-meaning Nigerians to join in imploring the government to reverse the decision for the sake of the masses.
The National President of NANs, Comrade Tijani Shehu, who spoke today, Thursday in Abuja, at a protest rally where the association called for the removal of the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, said that NANS is already mobilizing Nigerian students to resist the new N145 per litre pump price of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol.
“A directive has been issued to all tertiary institutions to shut down all campuses on Tuesday and Wednesday, next week. After that, they will all converge on Abuja for a mass protest.
”On behalf of NANS and the whole 40.1 million Nigeria students, we condemn the new fuel price and by Tuesday or Wednesday, the whole Nigeria student would occupy Nigeria. So the Federal Government should look into this before NANS mobilize the entire Nigeria students to occupy Nigeria.”
This was even as an All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator representing Kaduna central, Shehu Sani said that the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s decision to increase the pump price of petroleum products is “insensitive and punitive.”
Senator Shehu Sani, who is the chairman Senate committee on Foreign and Domestic debt, said in a statement that the decision was “most unfortunate.”
“At a time when poor Nigerians are facing enormous economic hardships and are being asked to be more patient all the NNPC can do is to add to their suffering,” he said.
“It’s utterly irrational and illogical to further impoverish the people in order to achieve liberal self-serving economic aspirations.
“It’s all evident that capitalist forces are holding the FG hostage and are blackmailing it to implement its inimical version of economic reforms.
“It makes no sense if everyone must perish in order to revamp the economy.
“Economic reforms are necessary but it must be done with a human face and human heart if it’s made in the interest of human beings.
“Outrageous increase in pump price is a social provocation.
“It’s possible to reform the oil sector without necessarily incinerating the country.
“We must not take the patience, the sacrifice and the good will of Nigerians for granted.
“I stand opposed to the increase in pump price and I call on PMB to weigh in on the NNPC to rescind the decision.” [myad]
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed the governorship election in Edo state for November 26 this year.
In a timetable released today, Thursday, the electoral umpire also fixed November 26 for the similar governorship poll in Ondo state.
According to INEC, June 12 is the date scheduled for the commencement of campaigns by political parties participating in the Edo State governorship election, while July 2 to 4, has been set aside for the conduct of party primaries, including resolution of disputes arising from the primaries. The Commission has scheduled August 11, for publication of official Register of Voters for the election, while submission of names of party agents for the election to the Electoral Officers of the Local Government Areas has been fixed for August 27. September 8 is the last day for campaigns for the Edo State governorship election. Similarly, INEC has scheduled August 28 for commencement of campaign by political parties in the Ondo State governorship election. The Commission has scheduled August 22 to 26 for collection of forms by political parties at INEC Headquarters, while conduct of party primaries, including resolution of disputes arising from the primaries will hold between September 18 and 19. The publication of official Register of Voters for the election will be done on October 27, while submission of names of party agents for the election to the Electoral Officer of the Local Government Areas is slated for November 19. The last day for campaigns for the Ondo State governorship election is November 24. [myad]
“When it comes to tackling corruption, the international community has unfortunately looked away for too long. We need to step up and tackle this evil together. That is why we have gathered here today.” President Muhammadu Buhari made these remarks today, Thursday, in London at the opening of the Anti-Corruption Summit hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain. According to President Buhari: “corruption creates a system where resources are shared by a small elite while the majority wallows in poverty. Corruption also undermines the ability of countries to finance development.” He therefore called on the world leaders to urgently create anti-corruption infrastructure and a strategic action plan to facilitate the speedy recovery and repatriation of stolen funds hidden in secret bank accounts abroad. He said that new measures against corruption that will be adopted by the summit should include mechanisms that will assist countries like Nigeria to combat illegal activities such as crude oil theft to which, he said, Nigeria loses about $7 Billion annually. Buhari recalled the landmark achieved by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the 3rd International Conference on Finance for Development held in January this year. “A prominent feature of that global framework is the recognition that good governance and measures to combat corruption and curb illicit financial flows will be integral to the effort to attain sustainable development globally by the year 2050. “It is for this reason that my Government is determined to address illicit financial outflows which have served as a major impediment to progress in our country. “I wish to reiterate our demand that the global community must come up with mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for stolen funds and facilitate the return of stolen assets to their countries of origina.” In his opening remarks at the summit, Prime Minister Cameron applauded President Buhari’s vigorous efforts to curb corruption in Nigeria. Other speakers at the opening session included the President of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Yong Kim and the United States Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry. [myad]
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Facts emerged on how the Director General of the National Pensions Commission (Pencom), Chinelo Anohu-Amazu has turned the company into a family affair.
