A foundation member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and former member of the party’s Board of Trustees, Sena­tor Joseph Waku has asked the former chairman of the party’s BoT, Chief Tony Anenih and Alhaji Tanko Yakasai to apologize to Nigerians for the shameless role they played in the $2.1 Billion meant for the procurement of arms for soldiers in the North East which the former National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki allegedly diverted

While describing arms scandal as a shame of a nation, Waku who is a lead­er of the pro-North Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) expressed disgust at the caliber of people involved in the scam.

“What does Anenih want again at his age? What does Yakasai want again at his age? It is a big shame on these two men referred to as elder statesmen, to be involved in alleged sharing and looting of funds meant to purchase arms for our troops to fight Boko Haram. These two old men should not only apologize to Nigerians, they and others that par­took in the sharing should refund the money to the national treasury,” Waku who is now a top chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) also spoke on other issues in this interview with TUNDE THOMAS. Excerpts:

What is your reaction to the alleged looting and sharing of the $2.1 dollars arms fund by some top political leaders in a scandal that has come to be dubbed Dasukigate?

It is very shocking and disgraceful, most especially when you look at the caliber of people involved. Look at the names that Dasuki has been mention­ing as beneficiaries of the loot. These are people that Nigerians until now look up to with respect. Tanko Yakassai, Tony Anenih, Haliru Bello, people who are supposed to be role models, now turning into looters. It is a big shame. I’m highly disappointed with these people.

What still baffles me is this, what constitutional power did Dasuki have to withdraw and disburse public mon­ey to few individuals? Dasuki is not an official or treasurer of PDP. Even in his role as the National Security Adviser, he lacked the power to share and dis­tribute the money the way he did.

What Dasuki did was not only crim­inal, but it is also illegal. I’m surprised that former President Goodluck Jona­than has chosen to keep quiet. Please he should be told that in this case, si­lence is not golden for him at all. It is even unfair that up till now nobody has deemed it fit to ask Jonathan questions including security agencies.

Is Jonathan bigger than Nigeria?

But some are saying that being a former President, it should not be seen as if Jona­than is being humiliated by asking him questions or inter­rogating him?

Rubbish. That is one of the big­gest problems confronting Nigeria. The big man syndrome culture of the untouchables, that is one of the things killing us. Is Jonathan bigger than Ni­geria? Will Jonathan be the first former president to be investigated or quizzed over corruption? We should be able to draw a line between sentimentalism and patriotism. To me, asking Jonathan to speak out or being quizzed is an act of patriotism. Asking that he should be left alone is sentimentalism.

How can they leave Jonathan alone? He is a central and key figure in this scam. Dasuki has been mentioning his name repeatedly, and let’s look at it this way, can Dasuki do anything on his own without the consent and approval of the president and the commander-in-chief? It is very unfair to detain Dasu­ki, while Jonathan remains a free man.

Jonathan should be arrested now. He should be quizzed and if he is found culpable let him be put on trial. If he is eventually found guilty, he should be sent to prison. Yes, Jona­than should be sent to prison if his hands are not clean, heaven will not fall if he is jailed. He will not be the first former president to be jailed. There are several other examples and instances across the world.

For those Jonathan’s apologists who keep on saying that we leave the man alone because he handed over power to Buhari peacefully, what is the big deal in that? I ask again, what is the favour Jonathan has done Nige­ria by handing over to Buhari? Was Jonathan not defeated at the polls? Did he not admit defeat? If Jonathan had stubbornly refused to hand over power after he lost the election, he would have ended up in shame, he would have been disgraced like the former leader of Cote d’Ivoire, Lau­rent Gbagbo who refused to quit after he lost to Alassane Quattara, where is Gbagbo and his wife now, they are both in prison in The Hague, Neth­erlands. Both of them fell from grace to grass, that would have been Jona­than’s lot if he had tried to play funny games.

I’m not saying Jonathan is guilty in this arms fund scandal issue, but if his hands are clean let him come out and clear his own name. Nigerians are waiting for him to speak out.

But some of those men­tioned by Dasuki as benefi­ciaries are saying that they don’t know the source of the money, and that they just col­lected it?

That is a fake explanation. That explanation is not acceptable. They are all liars – Is Dasuki the National Treasurer of PDP that they all should be collecting money from him? They should have asked Dasuki questions, but they didn’t, and they accepted the money. They have case to answer.

I expected that people like Anenih, Yakassai, Haliru Bello, and Bafarawa to have raised alarm when the money was being paid into their accounts by Dasuki.

The only exceptional cases to me are Falae and Ladoja. Sine they got the money from Tony Anenih and not directly from Dasuki, they may not have any reason to suspect foul play. They may have sincerely thought that the money was clean money meant for election purpose to support Jonathan’s re-election bid.

But some of these people are insisting that they will not refund the money they col­lected?

They are jokers, and this is why I’m making this appeal to President Buhari that this issue of war against corruption should not be treated with kid gloves. These looters should not be under-esti­mated. They have money to fight back, but government should not succumb.

Dasuki, Anenih, Bello, Yakassai, Bafarawa and others should have even been charged with treason because they stole money meant to procure arms to fight Boko Haram insurgents. There should be no going back on the prosecution of these people and if they are found guilty, let them go to jail.

I know that Anenih, Yakassai, Bello, these are people that are over 70 years and 80 years but if through their own action they committed crimes that culminate into their being handed jail sentences, so be it. Old men includ­ing retired Generals are sent to prison in other parts of the world. Nobody is above the law, it is what you sow that you reap.

What do you think should be done with money being recovered from looters?

It is public money which should be put into use for public good. The money should be used to provide in­frastructural facilities, like good roads, state of the art health facilities, modern rail system and other utilities that will serve public interests. Looted funds be­ing recovered should not be re-looted. I even have confidence in the man in charge, President Buhari is a no-non­sense man that will deal with any sabo­teur or greedy official that attempts to tamper with recovered loot.

Being a foundation mem­ber of PDP, how do you feel by the unfolding development in your former party?

I left PDP when the party was still in control of the federal government. I left PDP to join the then opposition party, APC because some of us were not happy with the way things were being done then. A lot of things were going wrong then in PDP and as elders we tried to intervene and restore sanity but they didn’t listen to us.

We saw the rot in PDP and we tried to correct the ills in the party but we were shouted down and even called names. I was number 11 on the list of founding fathers of PDP but I had to leave the party for the then opposi­tion APC because I didn’t want to be associated with a lot of rubbish going on in PDP.

16 years of PDP in power was years of waste. It was years of the locust. We thank God that Nigeria now has a purposeful leadership under President Muhammadu Buhari.

What is your take on allega­tion that Buhari’s war against corruption is selective?

People saying that are apologists of PDP and they should not be taken seri­ous. PDP was in control of the federal government for 16 years, so it is natural that more of the party’s members who held one public position or the other are the ones who have questions to an­swer. But even at that, any APC mem­ber that is found wanting should also not be spared. The president has even declared himself that he is for nobody but for all. Buhari is on course with his anti-corruption war. He should not be distracted by PDP apologists.

What is your candid assess­ment of President Buhari, es­pecially his ability to deliver because some people are saying that nothing has really changed in the last 7 months since he assumed office?

Forget what his political opponents are saying, Buhari has been fantastic in the last 7 months. Under his dynamic leadership so many things are chang­ing in Nigeria. For the first time in sev­eral decades, looters of public funds are being openly exposed and loots stolen are being recovered.

I believe we should give Buhari chance to perform so far he has been very fantastic. If there is anybody that can sanitise Nigeria, it is the man Bu­hari, the incorruptible. This is a man that was a former Head of State, former state governor and former minister for Petroleum Resources, yet he doesn’t own a filling station. No, that wealth or ill-gotten fund has been traced to him. This is a man that has shown rare courage in making a big difference as Nigerian leader, we should give him a chance to work.

My only advice to Buhari is on the issue of court orders being disobeyed in some cases like that of Dasuki. I advise President Buhari and those in charge of publicity around him to en­sure that members of the public are well informed as to reasons why some court orders are not being obeyed. It is for security reason or state interests, they should let members of the public know.

On the issue of recent mass defection of some PDP mem­bers to APC, how do you see the development?

I advise APC leadership to be very careful because most of the defectors are not doing so out of genuine inten­tion. Why are they now crossing over to APC after the party had won power? Some of these people do not have any electoral value, they are also coming to pollute APC.

Source: The Sun. [myad]

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has made it clear that the current war against corruption being waged by President Muhammadu Buhari must not fail.

He told members of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) in Lagos today that the current war against corruption “is not Buhari’s war. This is not APC’s war. This is Nigeria’s war and failure is not an option.”
Lai Mohammed who said he had earlier met with other stakeholders in the information dissemination outfits across the country emphasized that if the corruption is not fought to a stand-still “nothing, not even the 2016 budget, will succeed. As President Muhammadu Buhari has aptly said, if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill us. President Buhari is leading the war against corruption right from the front, and we implore all Nigerians to support him. We appeal to you, online publishers, to support this war by ensuring that Nigerians are well informed about the evils of corruption.”

Part of the speech he delivered at the meeting goes thus:

On Thursday, that is yesterday, I met with Newspaper Columnists and today it is the turn of Online Publishers.
Gentlemen, you occupy a very unique place in the new information architecture called the
New Media, or the Social Media if you like. You serve the news hot and fresh, and as it breaks. In other words, unlike in the past when we all had to wait for the next day to pick up the newspapers, or to wait for the next radio and television broadcast, in order to keep abreast of the latest news, your own publications are always available, always fresh with the news, pictures of events, cartoons, illustrations, etc.  Some of you even deliver the news to us via emails, meaning we don’t even have to visit your websites to get the latest information. While this provides a good opportunity for people to keep up with the news, it also demands a lot of responsibility from you to ensure the accuracy of your facts and figures. I can say that most of you have acquitted yourselves creditably, and I congratulate you.
Since it is relatively easier to set up an online publication, compared to the establishment of traditional newspapers, and because of the citizens’ increasing hunger for information, the number of online publications has increased astronomically in recent times. In fact, some traditional newspapers and other publications have jettisoned the old format and are now exclusively publishing online. The growth of the online publications is a healthy development.
Let me assure you all that the Federal Government has no intention whatsoever to regulate online publications. We believe that you, the publishers, are responsible enough to self-regulate in order to ensure your continued survival. If the online publications suffer credibility problems, they stand the risk of losing the confidence of their audience and the advertisers who provide the lifeblood for the publications’ survival. On the other hand, if they maintain their credibility, their survival guaranteed. In other words, credibility is at the very core of your survival. My hunch is that we will see more growth in the number of online publications in the days ahead, but only the credible ones will continue to enjoy patronage – either from the readers or from the advertisers.
On our part, as a government, it is in our interest that online publications continue to grow in leaps and bounds, This is because the more the number of such online publications, the easier it becomes to bridge the information gap between the government and the governed, and the easier it becomes for the government to carry the citizens along in the formulation and implementation of policies that touch on their lives. Let me assure you that we will do our own bit to ensure your survival, especially by ensuring that online publications are also given a chunk of available advertisements. All we ask for, in return, is that you provide accurate information to the people, and avoid sensationalism and partisanship.
May I use this opportunity to thank you all for the generous play you have been giving to our press releases and pictures in your various publications. This has gone a long way in ensuring a free flow of information from the government to the people, and also in deepening national discourse.
Gentlemen, we are also using this platform to seek your cooperation with us to ensure the success of the various campaigns that we have launched or are planning to launch. The National Security Awareness Campaign, aimed at rallying the support of Nigerians for the war on terror, is ongoing. Also, the National Sensitization Campaign against Corruption was formally launched in Abuja on Monday, and it is aimed at rallying Nigerians against the canker-worm of corruption which has eaten deep into the fabric of our society. We are also preparing to launch a National Re-orientation Campaign, which is tagged ‘CHANGE BEGINS WITH ME’, to achieve a paradigm shift in the way we do things. At the heart of this campaign is the belief that the change you all yearn for begins with you!
Talking about the war against corruption, you are very much aware that this is one of the cardinal programmes of the Buhari Administration. Some have said the government is dwelling too much on the war against corruption to the detriment of other areas of governance. Our response to that is that indeed, there is nothing like dwelling too much on this war, which is a war of survival for our nation. The situation is grim, very grim indeed, as far as corruption is concerned. That is why the Federal Government is embarking on this sensitization Campaign Our approach is not to vilify anyone but to use facts and figures to give Nigerians a sense of the cost of corruption.
When the money meant to construct roads are embezzled or misappropriated, the end results are that the roads are not built and the people suffer and even die in avoidable road accidents. When the money meant for education is looted, we are unable to provide quality education for our children. When the money meant to fight terrorism is looted or diverted for prayers, publicity, purchase of land for maritime university or simply to rally support for a political party, soldiers die needlessly, hordes of widows emerge and people are pushed from their communities to IDP camps. These, in stark reality, are the costs of corruption. We must give a face to corruption and stop talking about it in the abstract. Nigerians must know that when they celebrate corrupt people, they are celebrating their own deprivations, the denial of the dividends of democracy and the endemic poverty in our society.
It is not an accident that whereas our national budget has grown from just over 900 billion Naira in 1999 to over 6 trillion Naira in 2016, poverty has also grown almost in direct proportion. The simple reason is that appropriated funds have ended up in the pockets of a few. Our disclosure on Monday, that 55 people are alleged to have stolen 1.34 trillion Naira of public funds between 2006 and 2013 have elicited strong reactions. But those figures are real, and those involved are currently before the courts. They know themselves, even if some of them have chosen to play to the gallery, as they are wont to do. The details, including the names of those involved, the prosecutors, the specific charges and the amount allegedly stolen by the individuals, are in the public domain for anyone who cares to search for them.
In announcing the figures last Monday, we did say that if we could get back into the system just one third of the allegedly stolen funds, we would be able to construct 635 kilometres of dual-carriage roads, educate 3,974 children from primary to tertiary level at the cost of 25.24 million per child, build 20,062 units of 2-bedroom housing units, build one ultra modern hospital in each of the 36 states of the Federation and build 183 schools. These figures were not concocted. They were arrived at, using World Bank rates and costs. They represent the costs of corruption.
In pursuance of our new strategy of putting emphasis on the cost of corruption, let me give you more to chew on today. Let us do a comparative analysis of the number of Dasukigate beneficiaries and amount they collected from the office of the National Security Adviser in 2015 on one hand, and the list of projects and amount across the nation in the Zonal Intervention project of 2015 appropriation act.
Whereas the sum of 51.829 billion Naira was appropriated for 1,278 projects in the Zonal Intervention Projects for 2015, a total of 21 individuals and companies benefited from the Dasukigate to the tune of 54.659 billion Naira as we know so far. The implication, therefore, is that the amount received by 21 individuals and companies is more than the 2015 Zonal Intervention Project budget by 2.829 billion Naira! Furthermore, the value of what beneficiaries of Dasukigate contributed to development is zero, compared to how the lives of Nigerians would have been transformed, poverty reduced and livelihoods improved by the Zonal Intervention Projects which – as we have shown – would have cost 2.829 billion Naira less than Dasukigate. This is another huge cost of corruption. For those who will want to know the source of our information, I say the data on the 2015 budget and zonal intervention appropriations can be found on the National Budget Office website.
Gentlemen, this is the stark reality about the level of corruption we face in our country today. Nothing, not even the 2016 budget, will succeed if we do not tackle corruption. As President Muhammadu Buhari has aptly said, if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill us. President Buhari is leading the war against corruption right from the front, and we implore all Nigerians to support him. We appeal to you, online publishers, to support this war by ensuring that Nigerians are well informed about the evils of corruption. This is not Buhari’s war. This is not APC’s war. This is Nigeria’s war and failure is not an option.
Once again, I thank you all for honouring our invitation. I will now take your questions.
. Being a speech by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at his meeting with Online Publishers in Lagos on January 22, 2016.
Why we won’t gag the social media, by Lai Mohammed
Good morning gentlemen, and thank you for honouring our invitation to this meeting, which is in continuation of my consultation with key stakeholders in the Information and Culture sector. Since assuming office last November, I have met with a number of stakeholders including the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Nigerian Association of Women Journalists, Radio, Television and Theatre Arts Workers Union as well as Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The meetings are aimed at ensuring that all stakeholders are carried along in the formulation and implementation of relevant policies, and to also bridge the information gap between the government and the people. On Thursday, that is yesterday, I met with Newspaper Columnists and today it is the turn of Online Publishers.
Gentlemen, you occupy a very unique place in the new information architecture called the
New Media, or the Social Media if you like. You serve the news hot and fresh, and as it breaks. In other words, unlike in the past when we all had to wait for the next day to pick up the newspapers, or to wait for the next radio and television broadcast, in order to keep abreast of the latest news, your own publications are always available, always fresh wih the news, pictures of events, cartoons, illustrations, etc.  Some of you even deliver the news to us via emails, meaning we don’t even have to visit your websites to get the latest information. While this provides a good opportunity for people to keep up with the news, it also demands a lot of responsibility from you to ensure the accuracy of your facts and figures. I can say that most of you have acquitted yourselves creditably, and I congratulate you.
Since it is relatively easier to set up an online publication, compared to the establishment of traditional newspapers, and because of the citizens’ increasing hunger for information, the number of online publications has increased astronomically in recent times. In fact, some traditional newspapers and other publications have jettisoned the old format and are now exclusively publishing online. The growth of the online publications is a healthy development.
Let me assure you all that the Federal Government has no intention whatsoever to regulate online publications. We believe that you, the publishers, are responsible enough to self-regulate in order to ensure your continued survival. If the online publications suffer credibility problems, they stand the risk of losing the confidence of their audience and the advertisers who provide the lifeblood for the publications’ survival. On the other hand, if they maintain their credibility, their survival guaranteed. In other words, credibility is at the very core of your survival. My hunch is that we will see more growth in the number of online publications in the days ahead, but only the credible ones will continue to enjoy patronage – either from the readers or from the advertisers.
On our part, as a government, it is in our interest that online publications continue to grow in leaps and bounds, This is because the more the number of such online publications, the easier it becomes to bridge the information gap between the government and the governed, and the easier it becomes for the government to carry the citizens along in the formulation and implementation of policies that touch on their lives. Let me assure you that we will do our own bit to ensure your survival, especially by ensuring that online publications are also given a chunk of available advertisements. All we ask for, in return, is that you provide accurate information to the people, and avoid sensationalism and partisanship.
May I use this opportunity to thank you all for the generous play you have been giving to our press releases and pictures in your various publications. This has gone a long way in ensuring a free flow of information from the government to the people, and also in deepening national discourse.
Gentlemen, we are also using this platform to seek your cooperation with us to ensure the success of the various campaigns that we have launched or are planning to launch. The National Security Awareness Campaign, aimed at rallying the support of Nigerians for the war on terror, is ongoing. Also, the National Sensitization Campaign against Corruption was formally launched in Abuja on Monday, and it is aimed at rallying Nigerians against the cankerworm of corruption which has eaten deep into the fabric of our society. We are also preparing to launch a National Re-orientation Campaign, which is tagged ‘CHANGE BEGINS WITH ME’, to achieve a paradigm shift in the way we do things. At the heart of this campaign is the belief that the change you all yearn for begins with you!
Talking about the war against corruption, you are very much aware that this is one of the cardinal programmes of the Buhari Administration. Some have said the government is dwelling too much on the war against corruption to the detriment of other areas of governance. Our response to that is that indeed, there is nothing like dwelling too much on this war, which is a war of survival for our nation. The situation is grim, very grim indeed, as far as corruption is concerned. That is why the Federal Government is embarking on this sensitization Campaign Our approach is not to vilify anyone but to use facts and figures to give Nigerians a sense of the cost of corruption.
When the money meant to construct roads are embezzled or misappropriated, the end results are that the roads are not built and the people suffer and even die in avoidable road accidents. When the money meant for education is looted, we are unable to provide quality education for our children. When the money meant to fight terrorism is looted or diverted for prayers, publicity, purchase of land for maritime university or simply to rally support for a political party, soldiers die needlessly, hordes of widows emerge and people are pushed from their communities to IDP camps. These, in stark reality, are the costs of corruption. We must give a face to corruption and stop talking about it in the abstract. Nigerians must know that when they celebrate corrupt people, they are celebrating their own deprivations, the denial of the dividends of democracy and the endemic poverty in our society.
It is not an accident that whereas our national budget has grown from just over 900 billion Naira in 1999 to over 6 trillion Naira in 2016, poverty has also grown almost in direct proportion. The simple reason is that appropriated funds have ended up in the pockets of a few. Our disclosure on Monday, that 55 people are alleged to have stolen 1.34 trillion Naira of public funds between 2006 and 2013 have elicited strong reactions. But those figures are real, and those involved are currently before the courts. They know themselves, even if some of them have chosen to play to the gallery, as they are wont to do. The details, including the names of those involved, the prosecutors, the specific charges and the amount allegedly stolen by the indivuduals, are in the public domain for anyone who cares to search for them.
In announcing the figures last Monday, we did say that if we could get back into the system just one third of the allegedly stolen funds, we would be able to construct 635 kilometres of dual-carriage roads, educate 3,974 children from primary to tertiary level at the cost of 25.24 million per child, build 20,062 units of 2-bedroom housing units, build one ultra modern hospital in each of the 36 states of the Federation and build 183 schools. These figures were not concocted. They were arrived at, using World Bank rates and costs. They represent the costs of corruption.
In pursuance of our new strategy of putting emphasis on the cost of corruption, let me give you more to chew on today. Let us do a comparative analysis of the number of Dasukigate beneficiaries and amount they collected from the office of the National Security Adviser in 2015 on one hand, and the list of projects and amount across the nation in the Zonal Intervention project of 2015 appropriation act.
Whereas the sum of 51.829 billion Naira was appropriated for 1,278 projects in the Zonal Intervention Projects for 2015, a total of 21 individuals and companies benefited from the Dasukigate to the tune of 54.659 billion Naira as we know so far. The implication, therefore, is that the amount received by 21 individuals and companies is more than the 2015 Zonal Intervention Project budget by 2.829 billion Naira! Furthermore, the value of what beneficiaries of Dasukigate contributed to development is zero, compared to how the lives of Nigerians would have been transformed, poverty reduced and livelihoods improved by the Zonal Intervention Projects which – as we have shown – would have cost 2.829 billion Naira less than Dasukigate. This is another huge cost of corruption. For those who will want to know the source of our information, I say the data on the 2015 budget and zonal intervention appropriations can be found on the National Budget Office website.
Gentlemen, this is the stark reality about the level of corruption we face in our country today. Nothing, not even the 2016 budget, will succeed if we do not tackle corruption. As President Muhammadu Buhari has aptly said, if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill us. President Buhari is leading the war against corruption right from the front, and we implore all Nigerians to support him. We appeal to you, online publishers, to support this war by ensuring that Nigerians are well informed about the evils of corruption. This is not Buhari’s war. This is not APC’s war. This is Nigeria’s war and failure is not an option.
Once again, I thank you all for honouring our invitation. [myad]