Second Republic vice president, Dr. Alex Ekwueme has accused the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the initial plan to transfer Boko Haram detainees to Aguata Prisons in Ekwulobia, Aguata Local Government Area, Local Government Area, of Anambra State, an idea which he said was resisted and protested by the people, causing the past administration to backtrack.
Addressing journalists at Aguluzigbo, Anaocha LGA of Anambra State during the end of tenure Thanksgiving Ceremony of Chief Victor Umeh as APGA Chairman, Chief Ekwueme said: “I am aware that the plan of bringing Boko Haram detainees to Aguata prisons in Ekwulobia came up a while ago and there was reasonable protest to the then President, Jonathan against it and he dropped the plan.
“I was out of the country when I heard that Boko Haram detainees were brought to Aguata Prisons in Ekwulobia, Anambra State. I started wondering how the idea of bringing them to the South East and my local government area came up again after the people thought the matter had been rested.
“I am sure the new President must have seen the records and proposal and decided to implement it, but since there was initial protest against the relocation of the detainees to the South East, I’m sure President Buhari will do something to assuage the feelings of the people of the South East.” [myad]
Two chieftains of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alaye Pedro and Dr. Okechukwu Ibeh have gone to court challenging the move by Senator Godswill Akpabio to clinch the position of Senate Minority Leader.
The plaintiffs in an ex-parte application, filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, sought an order restraining the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and members of the PDP caucus from the South-South from appointing the Senate Minority Leader.
The plaintiffs joined Saraki and Akpabio as the first and second respondents to the suit, which is marked FHC/ABJ/CS/602/2015. Other respondents are 16 PDP senators from the South South, which include Senators Nelson Effiong, Bassey Albert, Emmanuel Paulker, Ogola Foster, Ben Murray Bruce, John Enoh, Gershom Bassey, Rose Oko, James Manager and Peter Nwaoboshi.
They also joined Senators Ighoyota Amori, Clifford Ordia, Mathew Urhoghide, George Sekibo, Olaka Nwogu, and Osinakchukwu Ideozu as respondents. Pedro from Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers, and Ibeh from Umukegwu/Umuodia LGA of Imo State, want the restraining order to last till when their main suit is heard and determined.
According to them, Order 3 (2) of Senate Standing Orders 2015 (as amended) prohibits the appointment of a first-time Senator into any position of the Senate’s principal offices. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Senate Minority Leader has been zoned to the South-South geo-political zone and former Governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio, is aspiring for the position.
The PDP being the leading minority party in the Senate is in the position to present the Minority Leader of the Senate, but Akpabio of PDP, is a first-time senator. Mr Banji Akomolafe, the plaintiffs’ counsel who argued their ex-parte application on Monday contended that Akpabio had been tipped for the position of the Senate Minority Leader in breach of the rules.
He referred the judge to a newspaper report marked Exhibit D, which is part of the exhibits filed along with the ex-parte application and the main suit. The plaintiffs said: “The larger PDP caucus in the 8th National Assembly have concluded plans to subvert the mandatory provisions of Order 3(2) of the Senate Standing Orders.’’
“The PDP South-South caucus is bound to select or appoint the Minority Leader in strict compliance with Order 3(2) of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 (as amended) which emphasizes ranking as the basis for appointment of principal officers.’’
Akomolafe therefore urged the court to restrain the respondents from taking steps on the appointment of the Senate Majority Leader pending the determination of the suit. He also asked the court to grant an order of substituted service on the respondents through newspaper publications.
Akomolafe sought in the main suit, a declaration that Order 3(2) of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 (as amended) on the procedure for appointment of principal officers of the Senate should apply in the selection as it is mandatory.
He also prayed the court to grant a declaration that the appointment of the Minority Leader of the Senate in breach of Order 3(2) of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 (as amended) “is void’’.
The plaintiffs’ counsel further sought an order directing the respondents to comply with Order 3(2) of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 in the appointment of the Minority leader. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has made it clear that very soon, his government would beam its searchlight on the Nigerian monies stolen and stashed in various local and foreign banks by corrupt Nigerians, stressing that such Nigerians would be prosecuted for economic sabotage. Responding to questions from members of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) in the United States and Canada at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC on the third day of his visit, the President stressed that the accounts of individuals who stashed away ill-gotten oil money would eventually be traced, frozen and recovered for the development of the country. According to Buhari, the United States and other developed countries “are helping us to trace such accounts now. We will ask that such accounts be frozen and prosecute the persons. The amount involved is mind-boggling. “Some former ministers were selling about one million barrels per day. I assure you that we will trace and repatriate such money and use the documents to prosecute them. A lot of damage has been done to the integrity of Nigeria with individuals and institutions already compromised.” Citing the example of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), President Buhari said unlike what obtained during his tenure as Federal Commissioner for Petroleum under military regime when the NNPC had only two traceable accounts before paying oil proceeds into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), “now everybody is doing anyhow.” The President, who expressed skepticism on the existence of oil subsidy, said if subsidy is removed, transport, housing and food prices would go out of control and the average worker would suffer untold hardship. While agreeing that the “economy is in an extremely bad shape,” following 16 years of bad government by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which ran down the oil refineries and had the “treasury in their pockets,” he said the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration would fulfill its three-pronged campaign manifesto of providing security, turning around the economy with a major focus on youth employment and fighting corruption. The President lamented that “Corruption in Nigeria has virtually developed into a culture where honest people are abused.” The President expressed regret that 250,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude are being stolen and that the thieves sell the product and put the money into individual accounts. President Buhari said that agriculture and mining would receive priority attention as faster job-creation avenues for the teeming unemployed youth, adding that some foreign investors had agreed to take advantage of the immense business opportunities in Nigeria. President Buhari when asked if the Federal Government would agree to negotiate with the Boko Haram insurgent and terrorist organization to pave way for the release of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls, replied that the FG would only negotiate if genuine and confirmed leaders of the militant sect came forward and convinced the FG of the current conditions of the girls, their location and the sect’s willingness to negotiate. “Our objective is that we want the girls back, alive and returned to their families and rehabilitated. We are working with neighbouring countries if they will help.” On when he would form his cabinet, the President, observed jokingly that the question was chasing him around the world even to the point that at home he had been nicknamed, “Baba Go Slow!” He said that not even the PDP during all the years it ruled the country ever ever formed a cabinet within the first four months, adding: “I am going to go slow and steady.” He called for patience to allow the new administration “put some sense into governance and deal with corruption.” President Buhari promised that his administration would at the right time tap into the enormous talents available amongst members of NIDO, especially as consultants while their requests for voting right in 2019, a Diaspora Commission and opening of new consulates in parts of the United States and Canada would be looked into. The President had earlier met at the same venue with a group of young professionals in the United States and assured them of his government’s resolve to fight corruption, remain steadfast and invest heavily in education which he said was the answer to taking the youth out of poverty and ignorance. The youth in their huge numbers took turns to express their best wishes for the President and the country. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria arrived in the United States of America on Sunday to begin a four-day official visit to President Barak Obama in the White House. He inspects guard-of-honour mounted by the American soldiers on his arrival. [myad]
A recent interview allegedly granted by Kogi State Governor, Captain Idris Wada quoted him as saying that there is no marginalization of any group in his state. We would not want to believe that he said so. But if for any reason he did, we wish to serve this as a freshener. Perhaps, it is necessary to define marginalization and cite a few, among the innumerable and outrageous instances of abuse of power and office in the name of marginalization by Governor Wada and his predecessors in a series of nepotic Igala governance. By way of definition and education of all who cannot see happenings in Kogi State as marginalization, the Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary describes it as “the relegation to an unimportant position within a society or group.” In stating the entrenchment of a series of unforgivable marginalization in the state, we may have to make a comparative analysis of Wada’s government vis-a-vis that of the founding Governor Abubakar Audu (1991 – 1993 and 1999 – 2003) who we thought was himself not only despotic but a tribal warlord. In Kogi State, there are three senatorial districts – the East comprising Igala and minorities like Bassa-Komu; Bassange Egbira Mozum; the West with the Okuns, Nupes, Oworos, Egbira-Kotos, Bassa-Komu,Gukeri, Ganagana and Hausa; and the .Central – comprising Ebira-Okene, Ogori Magongo and Ajaokuta. The State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) stands at 7% East, 12% West; and 72% Central, yet the East has produced the governor of the state for 18-years, the life-span of democratic governance since the creation of Kogi State in1991. Audu’s six-year governance of two terms (1991 – 93 and 1999 – 2003) produced the following: 17 Commissioners out of which nine were from the East, while four each come from the West and Central respectively; 33 Permanent Secretaries with 18-from Kogi East, 10 from the West and 5 from Central. In the State’s Civil Service, of 33,000 workforce, the East had a lion share of 23,100, while 5,940 were from the West and 3,960 were from the Central. Here, one wonders whether it is the brilliance or competence of the Igalas in Benue State that had given them this advantage on arrival in Kogi. For those of us who were there at the inception of the state and knew the calibre of products that were moved from Benue State Civil Service to the new state of Kogi, we have our huge doubts. We denounced the fictitious figures and have been proved right by the recent audit that revealed the huge deposit of ghost workers. If Audu’s government was iniquitous, Ibrahim Idris’ and Wada’s are a glaring display of impunity. The figures below attest: Wada’s government has 18 Commissioners out of which nine are from the East, five West and four Central; 60 Special Advisers with a whopping 30 from his home area, the East while the West and Central have 20 and 10 respectively. Wada’s government has 83 Senior Special Assistants out of which 41 (50%) are from the East, 26 (31.1%) from the West and 16 (19.1%)from the Central. Of Gov. Wada’s 242 Special Assistants, 139 are from the East, 66 from the West and 37 from Central. Could this be somebody’s idea of justice, fairness and equitable distribution? Could this be the opposite of marginalization? Of the 32 Permanent Secretaries, 24 (75%) are from the East while the West and Central share 4 or 12.5% each. Again, one wonders if the civil service knowledge, skills and even experience are the exclusive preserve of the East. Here again, we reiterate in the negative. Indeed, the reverse should be the case because the reservoir of highly talented, experienced and skilled staff from the West and Central have been edged out by the nepotic system and replaced by the Igalas. The state has 25 Board Chairmen comprising 14 (56%) from the East, 8 (32%) from the West and 3 (12%) from Central. The present government of Kogi State headed by Capt Idris Wada has a Civil Service of 18,650 which breaks down as follows:10,393 (approx 56%) from the East; 4,977 (27%) from the West; and 3,280 (17%) from Central. On the distribution of road projects, the East has N39.3 billion for about 476.6 kilomretres, the West N21.9 billion for 209-kilometres, while Central has a paltry N3.3 billion for 62 kilometres. It is however an irony that despite these figures, one cannot see a translation of them in action. The litany of primitive imbalances is legion. If all these are not heartless instances of marginalization, we are not sure what else to call it. Perhaps, it may make better sense labeling it iniquitous voodoo governance. This must change. Kogi has all the potentials for a first class state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, considering its history, strategic location and boundless endowment. The time has come to flush out ineptitude and jungle inequity. It is time to redeem Kogi State by installing a civilized, just, fair and equitable government.
Dr. Adaba, OON, former DG NBC, writes from Abuja. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed that his government would not spare anybody, not even members of his All Progressives Congress (APC) when he begins his anti-corruption crusade to sanitize the country.
He stressed that no one who might has amassed wealth illegally, would be spared in his government’s anti-corruption crusade.
“It is not the issue of party member (APC). If you have stolen, no party member can escape justice,” the President said.
President Buhari, who is rounding off a four-day official visit to the US, said this while speaking during an interview with Christine Amanpour on CNN today in New York.
He said that his government is ready to negotiate with terror group, Boko Haram, if the talks will lead to the freedom of over 200 girls of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, who were kidnapped in the school over a year ago.
Boko Haram stormed the GSS, Chibok, on April 14, 2014, and abducted about 278 female students of the school, who were preparing for their final examinations. About 58 of the girls managed to escape at different times.
The President, who noted that people needed to be cautious about the credibility of various Boko Haram groups, however, declared that the government would embrace any process that would lead to the freedom of the girls.
“If we are convinced that we can have the girls, why not, we can negotiate. Our goal is to have the girls. We will ask them what they want and we can free the girls; return them to their school; unite them with their parents and rehabilitate them, so, they can live a normal life,” Buhari said.
The President, however, warned that the country needed to be cautious about the authenticity of claims of any group, calling for talks with the government.
“We have to be careful about the credibility of various Boko Haram groups. You need to be careful that you are talking to the right group,” he added.
He said he would be delighted if his host, US President Barack Obama, could “change his mind” and visit Nigeria in his upcoming visit to Africa. [myad]
Crisis rocking members of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House of Representatives has taken a different dimension as members loyal to the leadership of the party have dragged the speaker, Yakubu Dogara, and the deputy, Yusuf Lasun, to court over the allocation of key leadership positions in the house.
Two aggrieved lawmakers are asking a federal high court in Abuja to restrain Dogara from refusing to accept nominees sent by the party leadership as majority leader and deputy; and majority whip and deputy.
Dogara and his supporters were believed to have rejected the party’s nominees, citing federal character principle since the deputy speaker, Lasun, is from the south west.
In a bid to pressure Dogara to shift ground, two loyal APC leadership, Abubakar Abdullahi (Niger State), and Olajide Jimoh (Lagos State), asked the court to grant an order restraining the Messrs Dogara, Yusuf, Clerk of the House, Sani Omolori, from preventing the announcement of the APC’s nominees as principal officers.
The APC lawmakers asked the court to determine whether Section 14 of the Nigerian Constitution on federal character applies to the internal workings of the National Assembly and, in particular, the House of Representatives with respect to the appointment of principal officers and, in particular the positions of Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Majority Chief Whip, and Majority Deputy Chief Whip.
“It is an indisputable fact that the positions in question are party positions, that is, principal offices of the APC, albeit that they concomitantly are also principal positions within the House of Representatives,” they said.
“Consequently, the 1st and 2nd Defendants (Speaker and Deputy Speaker) shall in accordance with Article 9.2 of APC constitution, which states, ‘members of the party shall be obligated to affirm the party’s aims and objectives’, implement the party’s aims as contained in the party’s nomination letter”.
Besides, Gbajabiamila, the APC wants Alhassan Doguwa (North West) as Deputy Leader; Mohammed Monguno, (North East), as the House Whip; and Pally Iriase, (South South), as the Deputy Chief Whip. [myad]
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC), Ekpo Nta
The chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC), Ekpo Nta has made it clear that despite the immunity clause in the Nigerian constitution, public officers, including President and governors can be investigated.
Speaking on a Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme today, Mr. Nta said that immunity, which many Nigerians believe spares public officers from being investigated, has never been a safe haven for corrupt serving-public officers.
“Immunity does not cover or bring to an end a criminal investigation,” Mr. Nta said. “There is no act in existence today that says you cannot investigate anybody. What it is says is that you cannot prosecute some sitting officials at certain levels.”
Mr. Nta said that the major function of anti-corruption agencies and the police “is to get any accused into the law court with whatever evidence the commission has against them and for the law court to determine the merit of any such matter, so that we don’t become persecutors.”
On effectual monitoring of the implementation the national budget, the ICPC boss said there were efforts by the anti-graft agency to spur various ministries and MDAs to be accountable for whatever quota accrued to them.
He said for anyone to get a true picture, “it is from there that you monitor what is going on through their oversight functions, but we do have reports from the auditor general of the federation.”
He said the ICPC had been interfacing with the National Assembly committee to see those audited reports, adding: “we have been doing some of the investigations on those aspects, and we can see evidence that we are making some good gains,” he said.
The ICPC boss said that before now, at the end of the financial year, the agency used to go round all the MDAs to look at the left over funds which probably had not been sent back to government coffers
“We did a lot of recoveries,” he said. “Thank God, we now have the electronic platform which shows clearly that this fund is not there or it is here.”
Mr. Nta assessed the on-going bank verification number exercise and affirmed that it is the right step in the right direction, adding that the exercise is long overdue.
“I had said clearly that the on-going exercise of biometric capture of all bank customers would aid anti-corruption agencies in tracing fraudsters who use the banking sector to dupe innocent persons,” he said. “With the on-going exercise, when you tie that up with national identity card, the driver’s license, the voters’ registration, there is a strong likelihood that I should be able to trace who these fraudsters are.”
Mr. Nta pledged that the commission would take the fight against corruption to a new level. [myad]
The former Chief Security Officer (CSO), to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Gordon Obua, has debunked the rumour making the rounds that he was dead in the State Security Service (SSS) detention, saying that he was in the custody to give account of his six-year service to the former President. Many social media, yesterday published the news of the death of the former CSO in the SSS detention. But he was presented at an unscheduled press conference at the SSS headquarters in Abuja today, where he has been held since Thursday last week. Obua had embarked on hunger strike to protest his detention conditions and was reported to have fainted over the weekend. He is said to be suffering from hypertension and diabetes and was given medicare at an undisclosed facility and discharged today. Obua, who was given chance to speak to newsmen at today’s news briefing said that he was alive and well, assuring members of his family that he would be fine. He said that he was in SSS custody to give account of his 6-year posting as the Chief Security Officer to former President Jonathan. He made it clear that he is still an employee of the State Security Service. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the plan by the World Bank to spend about $2.1 billion in rebuilding the badly devastated North-eastern part of Nigeria in the past six years by the Boko Haram insurgency, saying that apart from rebuilding the region in terms of infrastructure, priority should also be given to the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs), who now number over one million. At a meeting in Washington today with representatives of the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Health Organization (WHO), President Buhari also asked the World Bank to send a team, which would work in concert with a team from the Federal Government, so that a proper assessment of needs could be done. The World Bank will spend the 2.1 billion dollars through its IDA (International Development Agency), which gives low interest rates loans to government. The first 10 years will be interest free, while an additional 30 years will be at lower than capital market rate. The World Bank is eager to move in quickly, give out the loans, and give succor to the people of North-east, long at the mercy of an insurgency that has claimed over 20,000 souls. WHO is also to invest 300 million dollars on immunization against malaria in Nigeria, while the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will collaborate with Dangote Foundation to ensure that the country maintains its zero polio case record of the past one year. If the effort is sustained for another two years, Nigeria will be declared fully free of polio. [myad]
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When Governor Wada Turned Marginalisation Concept On Its Head, By Dr. Tom Adaba
A recent interview allegedly granted by Kogi State Governor, Captain Idris Wada quoted him as saying that there is no marginalization of any group in his state. We would not want to believe that he said so. But if for any reason he did, we wish to serve this as a freshener.
Perhaps, it is necessary to define marginalization and cite a few, among the innumerable and outrageous instances of abuse of power and office in the name of marginalization by Governor Wada and his predecessors in a series of nepotic Igala governance.
By way of definition and education of all who cannot see happenings in Kogi State as marginalization, the Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary describes it as “the relegation to an unimportant position within a society or group.”
In stating the entrenchment of a series of unforgivable marginalization in the state, we may have to make a comparative analysis of Wada’s government vis-a-vis that of the founding Governor Abubakar Audu (1991 – 1993 and 1999 – 2003) who we thought was himself not only despotic but a tribal warlord.
In Kogi State, there are three senatorial districts – the East comprising Igala and minorities like Bassa-Komu; Bassange Egbira Mozum; the West with the Okuns, Nupes, Oworos, Egbira-Kotos, Bassa-Komu,Gukeri, Ganagana and Hausa; and the .Central – comprising Ebira-Okene, Ogori Magongo and Ajaokuta.
The State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) stands at 7% East, 12% West; and 72% Central, yet the East has produced the governor of the state for 18-years, the life-span of democratic governance since the creation of Kogi State in1991.
Audu’s six-year governance of two terms (1991 – 93 and 1999 – 2003) produced the following: 17 Commissioners out of which nine were from the East, while four each come from the West and Central respectively; 33 Permanent Secretaries with 18-from Kogi East, 10 from the West and 5 from Central.
In the State’s Civil Service, of 33,000 workforce, the East had a lion share of 23,100, while 5,940 were from the West and 3,960 were from the Central. Here, one wonders whether it is the brilliance or competence of the Igalas in Benue State that had given them this advantage on arrival in Kogi. For those of us who were there at the inception of the state and knew the calibre of products that were moved from Benue State Civil Service to the new state of Kogi, we have our huge doubts. We denounced the fictitious figures and have been proved right by the recent audit that revealed the huge deposit of ghost workers.
If Audu’s government was iniquitous, Ibrahim Idris’ and Wada’s are a glaring display of impunity. The figures below attest: Wada’s government has 18 Commissioners out of which nine are from the East, five West and four Central; 60 Special Advisers with a whopping 30 from his home area, the East while the West and Central have 20 and 10 respectively.
Wada’s government has 83 Senior Special Assistants out of which 41 (50%) are from the East, 26 (31.1%) from the West and 16 (19.1%)from the Central.
Of Gov. Wada’s 242 Special Assistants, 139 are from the East, 66 from the West and 37 from Central.
Could this be somebody’s idea of justice, fairness and equitable distribution? Could this be the opposite of marginalization?
Of the 32 Permanent Secretaries, 24 (75%) are from the East while the West and Central share 4 or 12.5% each. Again, one wonders if the civil service knowledge, skills and even experience are the exclusive preserve of the East. Here again, we reiterate in the negative.
Indeed, the reverse should be the case because the reservoir of highly talented, experienced and skilled staff from the West and Central have been edged out by the nepotic system and replaced by the Igalas.
The state has 25 Board Chairmen comprising 14 (56%) from the East, 8 (32%) from the West and 3 (12%) from Central.
The present government of Kogi State headed by Capt Idris Wada has a Civil Service of 18,650 which breaks down as follows:10,393 (approx 56%) from the East; 4,977 (27%) from the West; and 3,280 (17%) from Central.
On the distribution of road projects, the East has N39.3 billion for about 476.6 kilomretres, the West N21.9 billion for 209-kilometres, while Central has a paltry N3.3 billion for 62 kilometres. It is however an irony that despite these figures, one cannot see a translation of them in action.
The litany of primitive imbalances is legion.
If all these are not heartless instances of marginalization, we are not sure what else to call it. Perhaps, it may make better sense labeling it iniquitous voodoo governance.
This must change. Kogi has all the potentials for a first class state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, considering its history, strategic location and boundless endowment. The time has come to flush out ineptitude and jungle inequity. It is time to redeem Kogi State by installing a civilized, just, fair and equitable government.
Dr. Adaba, OON, former DG NBC, writes from Abuja. [myad]