Buhari Talks Tough On Corruption At Passing Out Of EFCC’s Detective Inspectors In Kaduna

February 18, 2020

President Muhammadu Buhari has spoken strongly on his government’s various reform agenda that will soon be implemented to ensure that all government financial transactions are done in the open.

Speaking today, February 18 at the Passing Out Parade of Detective Inspector Course Five, of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the President said: “my resolve is to ensure that the reforms are deepened such that there will be no hiding place for corrupt persons and proceeds of corruption. My aim is to ensure that no government financial transaction is done in secret and all are subjected to public scrutiny.

“The objective of this administration is to institute a level of transparency in governance through mainly information technology platforms. Just as advanced democracies and some developing countries, I am determined that within a short period, citizens would be able to follow core government operations on line.

“Our government has reached advanced stage in Fiscal Transparency. The Appropriation Bill is placed online within hours of its presentation in National Assembly. The Budget Office of the Federation has been engaging interest groups in the budget cycle. A pilot scheme of 10 MDAs has been test running online display of their budgets and expenditure movements.

“Our commitment to online disclosure of Beneficial Owners of Companies generally within the framework of the Corporate Affairs Commission and in the extractive industries through Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) is on course. I am aware the portals are ready but owners of companies are unwilling to comply with all disclosure requirements. May I use this opportunity to urge all well-meaning Nigerians to fully comply.”

President Buhari stressed that the various national reforms and collaborative efforts with international organisations are designed to institutionally strengthen Anti-Corruption agencies in Nigeria.

“We have been working within the frameworks of National Action Plan for Open Government Partnership (OGP), National Anti-Corruption Strategy which is an adaptation of United Nations Convention Against Corruption and the Global Forum for Asset Recovery (GFAR). Several of the reforms have been effective for several years with great impact on revenue and expenditure management. These include; the Government Integrated, Financial and Management Information System (GIFMIS), Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), Single Treasury Account, and Bank Verification Number (BVN).

“Executive Orders, such as Preservation of Suspicious Assets Connected with Corruption (Executive Order 6), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) Act 2018; and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 2018 have been operating for a few years and effectively limiting system opportunities for corrupt practices.

“This administration, right from the inception, aligned with the Open Governance Partnership and Global Forum for Asset Recovery in addition to existing commitments to African Union and Economic Community of West African States’ Conventions Against Corruption, and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). These frameworks focus significantly on systems reforms in order to prevent corruption. Nigeria’s active participation in these global anti-corruption platforms means that the country is subjecting itself to periodic review of its progress in implementing the articles of conventions thus the fight against corruption.”

President Buhari said that the administration’s war against corruption is also attracting international endorsements.

“Our fight against corruption is being recognized by the international community as real and effective. The face of the country abroad is also changing as the international community is beginning to see Nigeria making substantial progress in the enthronement of transparency, accountability and good governance.

“The President of the 7th Session of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) had this to say when announcing Nigeria as Vice-Chairman of Conference of State Parties: ‘It is an election well deserved. Nigeria has demonstrated remarkable determination in the fight against corruption.’ Nigeria retained the position of Vice Chair of the 8th Session. During the 10th Session of the Conference of State Parties, the Implementation Review Group Report also noted the high number of Asset Recovery cases successfully initiated by Nigeria in cooperation with other countries under the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) framework.”

The President praised efforts of EFCC in making the war against corruption effective, saying: “I have listened attentively to the report in the speech presented by the Chairman of EFCC.

“The report is an attestation that the right policies have been put in place to fight corruption and the fight is becoming much more effective. I make bold to say that Nigeria is winning the war against corruption. I congratulate the EFCC on its good work and I urge that the current level of success be sustained and accelerated.”

The President expressed his happiness that EFCC is making steady progress by the recruitment, training and deployment of a special force of 665 cadets to its zonal offices within the past two years.

He congratulated the Cadets “for persevering through the one year of intensive training. As law enforcement officers, I expect that you have attained high endurance level and the intellectual capacity to investigate and facilitate EFCC’s prosecutorial powers. I have great confidence in you.”

Christians, Muslims Are Children Of Abraham And Must Not Be Divided By Boko Haram – Buhari

Editorial staff

February 18, 2020

President Muhammadu Buhari has cautioned Muslims and Christians in Nigeria against allowing Boko Haram insurgents and other forms of terrorists to divide them as they are all children of Abraham.
In a statement he personally signed on February 17 marking the second anniversary of the abduction of 110 innocent children from the town of Dapchi In Borno State, Buhari vowed that his government would continue to seek to secure the release of all children and captives of terrorists, adding: “and we do so regardless of their creed or the name of their creator.”
The President who recalled that 107 survived the ordeal and have since returned to their families, except Leah Sharibu, noted that she is still in the hands of the terrorists who refused to release her because she would not renounce her Christian faith.
“We say, as the government for and of all Nigerians, that no person has the right to force another to change their faith against their will and that all life is sacred.
“As we as redouble our efforts for Leah’s return, we can never allow the terrorists to divide us – Christian against Muslim, Muslim against Christian. We are all Sons of Abraham. And all Nigerians have the same worth and rights before the law, and before God.”

Real Change In The North Will Come From Those Considered As Mad – Kano Emir

Editorial staff

February 17, 2020

“The real change in the north will come from those who are considered mad people, because you look around and say if this is the way we have been doing things, and this is where we have ended up, maybe we need to do things differently. ”

“If we have populated the government with middle-aged men, maybe we need to try younger people, maybe we need to try women. If we have spent our money and time on physical structures, maybe we need to invest more in the education of our children. Maybe we need to invest more in nutrition. Maybe we need to invest more in primary healthcare.”
These were the thoughts of the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, at the 60th birthday celebration of the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir Ahmed el-Rufai today, February 17.
He said that with myriad of challenges facing the North, no leader in the region should be happy, adding that just last week, someone asked him, “are you happy? And I said I am not.
“The person was surprised. Nobody who is a leader in Northern Nigeria today can afford to be happy. You cannot be happy that about 87 percent of poverty in Nigeria is in the north.
“You can’t be happy with millions of Northern children out of school. You can’t be happy that nine states in the North contribute almost 50 percent of the entire malnutrition burden in the country.
“You can’t be happy with the drug problem, you can’t be happy with the Boko Haram problem. You can’t be happy with political thuggery. You can’t be happy with all the issues; the Almajiri problem that we have.
“So, we wish Nasir a happy birthday. But we do not want him to be happy as a leader. Because you are happy when you think you have reached a state of delivering and taking your people to where you want them to be.
“Now, because of the condition of Northern Nigeria, it is almost correct now to say that, if you are seen as normal, if you are a governor in the North or a leader in the North, and you are seen as normal in the sense that you continue to do what your predecessors have been doing, doing the same thing, which has been normalised, then, there is something wrong with you. You are part of the problem.”
Muhammad Sanusi however commended Governor Nasir el-Rafai for what he is doing on education in Kaduna, saying that with 40 percent of his budget in education, that is the only thing that is going to save the North.
The Emir ended by saying: “I know that when we say these things, they don’t go down well.”

CBN Gov Pledges To Support Self-Sufficiency Efforts Of State Governments, Boost Dairy Industry In FCT

Editorial staff

February 17, 2020

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has pledged the support of the apex bank to state governments, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for their self-sufficiency efforts.

Speaking when he paid a visit on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory along with representatives of major diary companies today, February 27, Emefiele rolled out some key initiatives of the apex bank that will help boost job creation as well as fast-track the processes leading to the allocation of land in the capital territory to the three companies that had requested for land to establish dairy processing plants.

The companies are FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc and L& Z.

The CBN Governor expressed confidence that the establishment of the companies in the FCT would drive industrialization, stimulate local production of milk and the development of the local dairy sector.

He said that the move would also boost employment generation, facilitate linkages along the dairy sector in Nigeria and conserve huge foreign exchange for the country.

He said that the collaborative effort by the CBN and the private sector, particularly under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) and the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS), has started to yield significant results with deliberate measures by the companies to embrace the backward integration and boost job creation.

Emefiele cited the Bobi Grazing Reserve in Niger State, where 31,000 hectares of land had been allocated by the State Government to dairy companies, adding that local dairy breeds would enhance milk collection and integrate the local pastoralist as well as curb the farmers-herders clashes.

The Governor said that the bank is working closely with other stakeholders to ensure that products are taken off farmers at an agreed price with the farmers, and that the bank is making effort to revamp the Abuja Commodity Exchange to ensure standardization of prices.

In his remarks, the Minister of the FCT, Alhaji Muhmmad Musa Bello commended Emefiele for his passion in revamping the Nigerian economy, saying that the intervention policies of the bank under the Muhammadu Buhari administration had worked.

He called for the establishment of a price stabilizing mechanism to guarantee prices for farmers to encourage them to always return to farm, with the assurance of their products being taken off them at harvest.

Musa Bello pledged to facilitate the provision of land to the companies to enable them to establish their processing factories within a short period of time, even as he disclosed that the FCT masterplan envisaged four grazing reserves in Bwari, Karshi, Gwagwalada and Rubochi.

Court Orders Arrest Of Ex Customs Boss, Dikko, For Alleged Contempt

Editorial staff

February 17, 2020

A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of former Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Abdullahi Inde Dikko over his continued failure to attend court to answer to a charge of fraud brought against him and two others by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).

Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, while ordering Dikko’s arrest today, February 17, said that his lawyer, Solomon Akuma (SAN) who, on the last adjourned date, undertook to ensure that his client attend court today, only turned around to present a medical report, claiming Dikko was critically ill and on admission in London.
Justice Ojukwu noted that Dikko’s address, as shown on the medical report – No: N6 Amhed Musa Crescent Jabi, Abuja – did not support his lawyer’s claim that Dikko was on admission in a London hospital.
The judge however noted that should the prosecution, in executing the bench warrant discovers that Dikko is actually on admission in a London hospital, the execution shall be suspended.
The judge added that otherwise, the prosecution should arrest Dikko and produce him in court on March 16, 2020 which is the next adjourned date for arraignment.
In the charge marked: “FHC/ABJ/CR/21/2019, Dikko is named with two others – a former Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Finance, Administration and Technical Services, Garba Makarfi and Umar Hussaini, a lawyer and owner of Capital Law firm – as defendants.
Dikko, Makarfi and Hussaini are, among others, accused of inducing the Managing Director of Cambial Limited, Yemi Obadeyi, to pay N1.1 billion (N1,100, 952,380.96) into the account of Capital Law Office as a refundable “completion security deposit” for the purchase of 120 units of duplexes as residential accommodation for officers of the Nigeria Customs Service.
Hussaini was said to have distributed the money into various other bank accounts and for his part in the deal, he was rewarded with the sum of $3 million.

Ex Minister Diezani Stole Over $2.5 Billion, Being Protected From Extradition From UK – EFCC Boss

Editorial staff

February 17, 2020

Acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu has alleged that Diezani Allison-Madueke, Minister of Petroleum Resources under the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan stole over $2.5 billion from the nation’s coffers, even as he said that she is currently being protected from being extradited from the United Kingdom.

Speaking at a press conference in Kaduna today, February 17, Magu said: “I was in London this year, we did investigation together with the UK team, and anywhere I go I always call for extradition of corrupt Nigerians to return the money.

“This woman has stolen so much, not less than 2.5 billion dollars, but unfortunately she has generation of looters who are supporting her. This is not good.

“We are in touch with the international community, she is under protective custody, otherwise, we would have arrested her, returned her to Nigeria.

“We will not allow corruption to work here in Nigeria because it is destructive and disastrous. We blocked several accounts.”

In 2017, a federal high court in Lagos ordered the forfeiture of N7.6 billion allegedly linked to her to the federal government.

A federal high court in Abuja had later threatened to strike out fraud charges brought against Alison-Madueke over the continued absence of the accused.

How To Beat Malevolent Minds Flying Fake News – Presidency

Editorial staff

February 17, 2020

The Presidency has cautioned Nigerians against the flood of fake news that have been flying around the country in various social and some conventional media.

The Presidency has therefore offered solutions on “how we can all collectively beat the malevolent minds at their pernicious games.”

In a statement today, February 17, titled: Beware of Merchants of the Fake News on the Prowl, special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, said that purveyors of fake and concocted Information are currently on overdrive, “and Nigerians are urged to be careful what they consume as news, and also share with others, particularly from the social media.”

Adesina said that an unfounded information has been making the rounds that President Muhammadu Buhari is billed to travel to the United Kingdom for 20 days, and from there proceed to Saudi Arabia, and then Austria.

“Fake. It is nothing but falsehood from mischievous minds.

“Members of the First Family, Ministers, top government officials, the military, and other key institutions, are equally objects of this orchestrated falsehood, coming from enemies of national cohesion.

“We urge Nigerians to be discriminatory about what they accept as credible information, and restrain themselves from sharing what they have not authenticated as genuine.”

Alleged Corruption: Buhari Orders Suspension Of Broadcasting Commission Boss

Editorial staff

February 15, 2020

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the immediate suspension of Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Modibbo Kawu.
The suspension is coming months after an ongoing prosecution of Kawu by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) for alleged corruption.
Information reaching us said that the most senior Director in the Commission has been directed to take over from the suspended DG.
A source in the NBC confirmed that Armstrong Idachaba, Director, Broadcast Monitoring has been given the nod to act pending the outcome of the case.
The anti-graft agency had urged the federal government to suspend Kawu and 32 other public officers/civil servants undergoing corruption trial at the time.
ICPC is prosecuting Mr Kawu for “using (his) position to confer corruption advantage.”
The Commission on May 2 arraigned Kawu and two others, Dipo Onifade and Lucky Omoluwa, over alleged N2.5 billion fraud.
They are being prosecuted on 12-count charges, allegedly conspired with each other to use the position of Mr Kawu to confer a corrupt advantage on Mr Omoluwa, his friend and associate.
The trio pleaded not guilty and were granted bail.
The anti-graft also agency charged Kawu for allegedly ‘deceiving’ Mr Mohammed to sign the deal.
Kawu allegedly asked Mohammed to approve payment of N2.5 billion to Pinnacle Communications Ltd owned by Mr Omoluwa as “Seed Grant” under the Digital Switch-Over Programme of the federal government.

Saudi Fighter Jet Crashes In Yemen, Rebels Take Responsibility

Editorial staff

February 15, 2020

A Saudi fighter jet crashed in conflict-torn Yemen, the Riyadh-led military coalition supporting the government announced Saturday, as the Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they downed the plane.
The Tornado aircraft came down on Friday in northern Al-Jawf province during an operation to assist Yemeni government forces, the coalition said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
It did not specify the fate of the crew or the cause of the crash.
The Huthis’ Al-Masirah television said the jet was downed by the rebels using an “advanced surface-to-air missile”.
The insurgents reported multiple coalition air strikes on Saturday in the Huthi-controlled area where the plane went down as local residents gathered near the wreckage, according to Al-Masirah.
The bombing raids left “dozens” of people dead or wounded, Al-Masirah added, a claim that could not be immediately verified by local aid workers.
The coalition intervened against the Huthis in 2015, first with air and naval forces and later with ground forces as well.
The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians, and sparked what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The coalition has been widely criticised for the high civilian death toll from its bombing campaign, which has prompted some Western governments to cut arms deliveries to the countries taking part.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have purchased billions of dollars’ worth of weapons from the United States, France and Britain.
On Wednesday, the coalition said it would put on trial military personnel suspected of being behind deadly air strikes on Yemeni civilians.
The cases being investigated include a 2018 air strike on a school bus in the northern region of Dahyan that killed at least 40 children, Saudi-based Arab News said.

Source: AFP.

Presidency Accuses PDP Of Moves To Embarrass Buhari’s Govt, Cautions Media Against Being Used As Tool

Editorial staff

February 15, 2020

The Presidency has accused the main opposition political party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and a section of the political class of moves they have been making to embarrass the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The presidency also cautioned the media against being used by such political class to carry misleading stories meant to incite Nigerians to stage protests against the heads of military institutions.

In a statement today, February 15, senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu said that there have been reports that about two thousand men and women have been hired to demonstrate against Nigeria’s service chiefs on Monday, February 17.

“This imminent gathering is the latest in a series of demonstrations orchestrated by the opposition to embarrass the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“As part of this overall scheme, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, with its belligerent politics, has been marching from one embassy to the other in protest against the Buhari administration and the nation’s highest court of justice, the Supreme Court. They are keen to give the impression that Nigerians are in support of them as they take to the streets, and they will go to any length to promote this false narrative.

“The recent incident in Maiduguri, Borno State, where an overwhelmingly cheering crowd gathered to welcome President Buhari, while a handful were recorded booing him, is a part this elaborate scheme. It is misleading, as some analysts have tried to do, to read this as verdict against President Buhari, who emerged winner with 94 per cent of the votes cast in the Presidential election in the state in February last year.

“This was clearly a hired few, but the news was promoted by the opposition who had of course positioned themselves to record the booing – all just to embarrass the President.

We urge the media to remain unbiased and discerning in their reporting, instead of becoming unwitting tools in the hands of the opposition.

“A group of politicians and beneficiaries of the Boko Haram insurgency is right now paying for people to join their planned protest against our country’s service chiefs, and they will no doubt seek the media’s collaboration on this as usual.

“But there is news and there is promoted content – two very different things, one of which should never make the headlines as these recent fake protests have done.”

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