The National Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress has expelled the Bayelsa State Chairman of the party, Chief Tiwei Orunimighe, his deputy, Eddy Julius, and the state Secretary, Marlin Daniel, from the party.
The expulsion came amid a lingering crisis between factions loyal to the party leader and former governor of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva and that of Orunimighe.
The APC national headquarters, in a letter signed by the General Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, said the party’s NEC upheld the August 3, 2017 recommendation of the National Working Committee for Orunimighe and the others to be suspended and expelled over anti-party activities.
The expulsion letter dated August 4, 2017 with reference number APC/NDQ/552/31/017/002, also ordered Orunimighe to hand over the party property in his possession to the party’s vice-chairman of the Bayelsa State Central Senatorial District.
The letter, headlined, ‘Expulsion from the Party’, read, “On behalf of the National Executive Committee of our party, the All Progressives Congress, the National Working Committee at its 23rd regular meeting of Thursday, August 3, 2017, adopted the recommendation of the APC South-South Zonal Executive Committee which deliberated on the report of the Disciplinary Committee that investigated your (Orunimighe’s) anti-party activities in Bayelsa State to the effect that you be suspended and ultimately expelled from the party.
“Consequently, subject to ratification, you are to step aside immediately by way of suspension from the office of the Chairman of Bayelsa State chapter of the APC.
“As a consequence of the above, you are to hand over all party property in your possession to the Zonal Vice-Chairman, Bayelsa Central Senatorial District with immediate effect, while the National Vice-Chairman, South-South, shall coordinate the state chapter of the party.’’
Reacting to the development on Sunday, the Elders and Political Leaders of the APC in Bayelsa has defended the deployment of security operatives party’s secretariat following the suspension and expulsion of the three principal officers of the party.
It said security operatives were immediately deployed by the Nigeria Police and the Department of State Services to safeguard peace among the contending factions while waiting for an official letter from the National Headquarters of the Party.
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Google found itself at the center of controversy Sunday after an employee in a leaked internal document claimed “biological causes” explained the lack of women in tech industry leadership roles.
The screed — dubbed “sexist” by US media — went viral, reviving the simmering debate over a culture of sexism and lack of diversity in tech sectors.
“I’m simply stating that the distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and that these differences may explain why we don’t see equal representation of women in tech and leadership,” read the 3,000-word fulmination by an anonymous male software engineer.
According to the author, natural aptitudes of men allow them to become better computer programmers. Women, he said, have more “openness directed towards feelings and aesthetics rather than ideas” — meaning they “prefer jobs in social or artistic areas.”
In response to the leaked memo, Danielle Brown, Google’s new vice president of diversity, told employees in an email that “it’s not a viewpoint that I or this company endorses, promotes or encourages.”
“I found that it advanced incorrect assumptions about gender.” she said. “We are unequivocal in our belief that diversity and inclusion are critical to our success as a company, and we’ll continue to stand for that and be committed to it for the long haul.”
“Changing a culture is hard, and it’s often uncomfortable.”
Brown added, however, that “part of building an open, inclusive environment means fostering a culture in which those with alternative views, including different political views, feel safe sharing their opinions.”
– ‘Harmful assumptions’ –
It was unclear whether the memo’s author would face disciplinary action.
Ari Balogh, a Google engineering executive, said in an internal memo obtained by AFP that “questioning our assumptions and sharing different perspectives is an important part of our culture.”
“But, in the process of doing that, we cannot allow stereotyping and harmful assumptions to play any part,” he said. “One of the aspects of the post that troubled me deeply was the bias inherent in suggesting that most women, or men, feel or act a certain way.”
“That is stereotyping, and it is harmful.”
Currently some 69 percent of Google’s employees are men, according to the company’s latest figures, a proportion that rises to 80 percent when it comes to technology jobs.
In 2016 at Facebook just 27 percent of senior executives were women. At Apple, around 30 percent of total employees are women.
The controversy comes as increasing numbers of women are going public with complaints of gender-based discrimination in Silicon Valley.
Uber’s embattled chief executive Travis Kalanick resigned earlier this year under pressure from investors seeking to clean up the company’s allegedly toxic corporate culture.
His departure capped a rocky period for the global ridesharing giant, which has been roiled by disturbing reports of cutthroat workplace conditions, harassment and discrimination.
June also saw venture capitalist Justin Caldbeck take an indefinite leave of absence from Binary Capital in Silicon Valley, over allegations he made sexual advances towards female entrepreneurs interested in funding.
A few days later, tech sector investor Dave McClure confessed to being “a creep” for making “advances towards multiple women in work-related situations, where it was clearly inappropriate.”
These cases came to light three years after Ellen Pao became symbolic of the debate over Silicon Valley’s allegedly sexist culture.
She sued her former employee, a prominent venture capital firm, for gender discrimination — charges ultimately rejected — in a case seen as a proxy trial of the tech industry’s sex bias.
A four-man gang suspected to have snatched a brand new Qlink 150 motorcycle at gunpoint from one Uchenna Ikpendu has been arrested by police operatives attached to the Omoba Division in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area.
It was learnt that the suspects identified as Chisom Chimezie, Ogbonna Onyeka, Kingsley Onyemuru and Chinonso Madugba were arrested following a distress call by some residents of Nkwoudara Ovungwu village, who reported the presence of some strange people in the area to police.
It was gathered that one locally-made pistol with two live cartridges, two jackknives, four ATM cards, a wallet and six identity cards were recovered from the suspects.
A police source hinted that the owner of the stolen motorcycle had identified the suspects as the hoodlums that snatched his bike on gunpoint.
Also in the Police net is one Olochukwu Onuoha, who was arrested for allegedly robbing the duo of Mercy Akobundu and Ndu Azu at Ubani Ibeku community in Umuahia.
The police source said one dagger used in the robbery, a wrap of weeds suspected to be cannabis and some amount of money stolen from his victim were recovered from the suspect.
The Commissioner of Police in Abia State, Mr. Adeleye Oyebade, confirmed the arrest of the suspects.
He said efforts towards arresting fleeing accomplices to the crimes were ongoing while the suspects in police net would soon be charged to court.
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THE alarm sounded recently by the Central Bank of Nigeria on the economy effectively poured cold water on earlier optimism that the country was poised to emerge from recession to significant growth. Like the apex bank, the International Monetary Fund has also passed a less optimistic verdict on the economy. In its latest report, the Bretton Woods institution says that at 0.8 per cent (Gross Domestic Product), growth in 2017 will not be sufficient to make a dent in reducing unemployment and poverty. Unless a realistic stimulus plan is immediately implemented, the bank warned, a worse cycle of recession is imminent. But will the government heed this latest alert or allow the economic meltdown to continue?
Going by current form, one needs a lot of optimism to expect a quick response from the Muhammadu Buhari government, which, two years into its four-year term, has not been exemplary in managing an economy in a tailspin. Inheriting a battered ship headlined by crashing global oil prices, it failed to produce an emergency stimulus plan, which allowed the economy to slip into recession by the first quarter of 2016. But the government has run out of options: it must come up with a robust short-term stimulus and medium-to-long-term reform plans to turn the economy around, reboot the productive sectors and reverse the explosive unemployment rate. The CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee put it starkly: though the International Monetary Fund had forecast Nigeria emerging from recession in the third quarter of this year, the 0.5 per cent contraction in GDP in the first quarter of 2017 reported by the National Bureau of Statistics fell slightly short of predictions. Recovery at that rate, the MPC said, is fragile and is expected to remain that way by the time data from the second quarter of 2017 is reported. Growth at this rate, the IMF said, would not reduce unemployment and poverty.
The CBN has now publicly acknowledged the absence of a well-coordinated economic plan to tackle the dysfunctional contraption this government inherited. Acting President Yemi Osinbajo should get to work post-haste to address the bank’s complaint of dire risks posed by weak financial intermediation poorly targeted fiscal stimulus and absence of structural programme implementation.
The urgent need for stronger fiscal and monetary policies is obvious. Oil prices that account for over 90 per cent of our export earnings have failed to rebound to pre-August 2014 levels of $90-$100 per barrel, hovering in the last few months at between $40 and $55 per barrel; this translates to keeping foreign reserves down as well as other fiscal buffers like the Excess Crude Account and the Sovereign Wealth Fund that stood at $2.29 billion and $2.9 billion respectively by May. The economy is still running on a meagre 4,000 megawatts of power, crippling industry and social services, while the national currency has been battered.
When confronted with recession, responsive governments opt for short-term stimulus – deployment of monetary and fiscal policy changes to kick-start growth – with the preservation of jobs and stimulating production as priorities. So far, the administration has taken the standard steps of borrowing and injecting funds into the foreign exchange market to stabilise the naira; it has plugged some leakages through the Treasury Single Account policy that draws revenues accruing to public agencies into government’s account at the CBN rather than the previous practice that allowed sharp practices, including outright theft, while saving over N200 billion by shaving off tens of thousands of fictitious names from the payroll in 2016 alone.
But China’s more robust response to the global financial crisis in 2007-08 was a hefty $586 billion stimulus plan; America’s $152 billion stimulus in 2008 targeted tax rebates, stimulating business investments and boosting consumer spending. Spain’s economic stimulus plan in 2008 featured €8 billion component in new infrastructure spending that allowed the country to exit recession by early 2010.
This economy is floundering because government has not been able to produce a coherent, workable stimulus and a reform programme to cut dependence on oil revenues and prices, boost production and exports and reverse unemployment that rose to 14.2 per cent by the fourth quarter of 2016 and underemployment to 21 per cent, up from 13.9 per cent and 19.7 per cent respectively in the preceding quarter.
We do have disparate programmes like the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, CBN’s Investor and Exporter forex windows and tax holidays for select industries, but these have not been effectively strung together nor has there been a serious effort to harmonise fiscal with monetary policy. The United Nations Development Programme argues that financial crisis offers emerging economies an opportunity to redirect the economy towards a sustainable path and eliminate the distortions that entrench poverty and deter investments and job creation.
Strangely, this administration carries on at a leisurely pace as if it has all the time in the world, perhaps hinging all its hopes on rebounding on oil prices. The UNDP, however, recommends an urgent fiscal stimulus plan to finance investments in mining, manufacturing, agriculture, small businesses and start-ups. Labour-intensive investments in infrastructure should be targeted and the UNDP said this strategy helped Ukraine, while social protection schemes and safety nets assisted Cambodia and Malawi through funding small holder farmers and artisanal production. Privatisation of commercial state assets is another profitable road not taken.
Nigeria should stop advertising itself as a primitive enclave by mistaking drawing down from the ECA and refunds of debt repayment overpayments for stimulus; unbudgeted funds deployed by fiscally reckless state governors to pay salary arrears and fund extravagance cannot reinvigorate the economy. The National Assembly should stop slashing funding for critical infrastructure in favour of self-enriching trivia.
In the short term, the Buhari government will need to do more to right the economy, through an aggressive policy on stable electricity supply and job creation targeted fiscal stimulus. Fiscal measures that will complement monetary policy and bring down lending rates from today’s prohibitive 17-28 per cent and stimulate exports should be rolled out. Japan has brought interest rates to the floor at 0.5-1 per cent. Economic recovery success should be measured primarily by reversing job losses that cumulatively totalled 4.5 million between 2015 and late 2016, according to quarterly reports from the NBS, while 272 member firms of the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria were shut down. In the long run, this failed political structure that is dragging back the country’s economic potential needs to be turned into a workable and productive machine.
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The Enugu State Police Command has arrested three suspected robbers in the Gariki Ugwuoba area of the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the spokesman for the command, SP Ebere Amaraizu, in a statement on Sunday, said the suspects had been a thorn in the flesh of motorists on Awka-Ugwuoba-Oji-River Road and its environs.
He explained that the suspects were arrested on Saturday in their hideout by police operatives acting on an intelligence report.
He gave the names of the suspects as Sale Haruna, Emmanuel Ephraim and Uduku Sampson.
“The Enugu State Police Command has renewed its onslaught against crime to ensure a safe and secured environment in the state.
“On August 5, operatives of the command, in a coordinated raid of a suspected criminal hideout in Oji River Division, rounded up three identified members of a robbery gang.
“The gang had been a thorn in the flesh of motorists along Ugwuoba/Awka/Oji River Road; Enugu-Onitsha Expressway by Ugwuoba area and Oji River general area.
“The suspects had been on the list of the police for a long time. Members of the gang had robbed and inflicted machete and dagger injuries on motorists and commuters,’’ he said.
Amaraizu noted that the suspects were assisting the police with investigations.
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One is of the opinion that we have reached a stage in the democratic history of our nation when improving on the constitution, via amendments, should be reserved to the good judgement of elected politicians. This is not to say that they cannot benefit from input from third parties as well as expert opinions. In fact, bills can emanate from private individuals seeking the introduction of new laws or the amendment of existing ones. The elected politicians represent various constituencies and carry along with them the sentiments and aspirations of those they represent.
We have had too many constitutions and constitutional conferences in the relatively short history of our nation. Britain does not have a written constitution, yet, it is one of the best administered nations in the world with a history of having managed colonies of which Nigeria was one. The Connecticut Convention of 1787 heralded the American Constitution which came into effect in 1789, and there has hardly been any other constitutional jamboree ever since. The privilege to improve on their historic federal constitution has been the exclusive preserve of The Congress and state governments.
In conceding the right of lawmaking and constitution amendment to elected politicians, what we must continue to demand of them is patriotism and the primacy of the national interest in whatever they do. Processes can be slow, especially in a nation with our type of diversities. Not-too-straight forward issues can be controversial, demanding bargaining and compromise in the collective interest of all.
In the recent exercise at constitution amendment by our federal legislators, one issue of great controversy has been that of the devolution of powers to the states. Understandably, the bill on that important subject was not popular with legislators who represent states that are not so economically endowed to carry out additional responsibilities. The need to diversify the economy cannot be more urgent. Citizens have a reciprocal obligation to pay tax to their respective state governments, something they have not been doing since the emergence of oil money. To successfully sell the idea of devolution of more powers to the states, important as it is if we must have a true federal nation, the issue of allocation of resources must be neatly sorted out.
In a true federal nation, semblances gradually creeping into our system are that laws may vary from one state to another. In America, for instance, it is not inconceivable that even speed limit changes as one approaches one state from another. A state may choose to have capital punishment for a category of offences while another may not. There is hardly anything like a national minimum wage in America, as states pay wages that they can afford, taking the cost of living in such states into consideration. The minimum wage in New York, as of 2016, was 15 dollars per hour, while that of Georgia was a mere five dollars per hour.
Not unrelated to the devolution of powers is the idea of local government autonomy which was overwhelmingly supported by legislators in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the American constitution and practice we borrowed from, local governments are the creations of state governments. The central government and the state governments constitute the federating units. The military introduced the idea of local government autonomy, not least because of a history of irresponsibility on the part of politicians who starved local councils of funds, but it is one idea state governments must now reverse in order to assert Nigeria as a true federal nation.
One must concede that our federal legislators seemed to have learnt from the experience of former President Goodluck Jonathan who, in 2010, succeeded a President who was unable to complete his term of office because of death. He won the 2011 election on his own merit. However, there were those of us who argued that the constitution did not address the situation Jonathan found himself in and that he could be exceeding the eight years limit stipulated by the constitution if he were to re-contest and win the 2015 election. The legislators have agreed to restrict a person who was sworn in as President or governor to complete the term of the elected President or governor from contesting for the same office for more than one term, irrespective of the stage at which such a succession had taken place.
Dr Anthony Akinola, Oxford, United Kingdom
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A 78 year-old man, Alhaji Isa Musa, has blamed hunger and poverty for his decision to engage in buying and selling stolen motorcycles.
Speaking to Northern City News while being paraded before newsmen at the Police headquarters in Bauchi on Friday, Musa said he started the illegal business in 2011.
The resident of Bakin Kura of Bauchi metropolis said he had operated a provision store at the Muda Laval market but the business became distressed and he could no longer feed his large family of three wives, 35 children and 18 grandchildren.
“I had a provision shop in Mud Laval market but all the goods got finished because I used the proceeds to feed my family.
“I started buying and selling stolen motorcycles because of hunger and poverty,” he said.
Asked if he had no mature offspring to support him, he said none of his children could support him because they were not buoyant.
The suspect said he gave a motorcycle to one of his children to transport himself to school.
The Septuagenarian expressed regrets over his action and pleaded with the authorities to pardon him, saying he was diabetic.
He said, “I am suffering from diabetes and I need to treat myself, I beg the police authorities to pardon me.
“Although, I’ve been doing this illegal business for six years now, if they pardon me, I promise and assure them that this will be my last.”
Musa also confessed to have sold Indian hemp in the past six years “but I stopped dealing in drugs about four years ago.”
He warned those engaged in such illegal business to desist and repent.
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The Sunday attack by some gunmen on St. Philips Catholic Church, Ozubulu, in the Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State, during which no fewer than 11 worshippers were killed, has attracted strong condemnation from Nigerians and groups.
President Muhammadu Buhari, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State; the All Progressives Congress; the Peoples Democratic Party; and the South-East Governors’ Forum said the act was sacrilegious, calling for prompt action to bring the culprits to book.
The gunmen attacked St. Philips Catholic Church at about 6am.
No fewer than 11 persons were said to have been killed, while over 18 people were reportedly injured.
Our correspondents gathered that two sons of the community, who were based in South Africa, had a business transaction that went sour.
One of them was said to have built two churches for the community, including the one that was attacked on Sunday.
A police source said about six gunmen came to the church, while one entered into the building.
He said, “We received reports that over 30 Ozubulu indigenes based in South Africa had been killed over a disagreement between a man, identified as bishop, and his fellow Ozobulu indigene. It was said that the feud concerned a failed business deal.
“We understand that some gunmen had been after bishop and his men in South Africa and about seven of bishop’s men had been killed.
“At about 6am this morning (Sunday), some men invaded St. Philip Catholic Church.
“As of 9am, 11 persons were already dead, including the father of the man that allegedly built the church.
“The men killed the father since the son is elusive.”
Another source told one of our correspondents that the gunmen identified a particular car parked on the church premises and concluded that their target was in the church.
The Catholic Church where unknown gunmen killed 11 persons and injured 18 others at Ozubulu, Ekwusigo L.G.A of Anambra State… on Sunday. Photo: NAN
“They arrived at the church during the first mass and one of them went inside; he started shooting towards the direction he believed the father was seated. He shot indiscriminately and many bullets hit innocent members of the congregation. He also hit their target – bishop’s father.
“No fewer than 18 worshippers were injured; and I am sure that about 11 persons were killed.”
He said the injured worshippers were rushed to the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, while corpses were taken to a “nearby mortuary.”
He said the six gunmen left the church unchallenged.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Garba Umar, said the command would bring the attackers to justice.
Umar, who spoke at a news conference in Awka on Sunday, said the police had a record of 11 deaths, while 18 persons were injured.
He ruled out the possibility of a terror attack, adding that the command had invited some suspects.
He said, “The intelligence report and preliminary investigation showed that the incident was as a result of a feud between two individuals from the same community living outside Nigeria.
“One of the individuals built the church where the shooting occurred; it is not a terrorist attack.”
The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, Anambra State, said the attack was regrettable.
The church in a statement by the Director of Communications for the Diocese, Rev. Hygi Aghaulor, said the Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Jude Onwuaso, escaped unhurt.
It read in part, “What on earth would make people open fire on innocent unarmed worshippers, including children and women, on a Sunday morning?
“We condemn this ungodly act in its totality. For the parishioners, we call on them not to be discouraged in their practice of faith.”
The Anambra State governor, who visited the church, described the act as a sacrilege and unacceptable.
Obiano promised to offset the medical bills of injured victims, adding that the government would find ways to mitigate the pains of those who lost their beloved ones.
He said, “The Anambra State will not rest until the perpetrators of the killings are brought to justice.
“Intelligence report linked the shooting to an existing feud between some members of Umuezekwe Ofufe Amakwa community living abroad.
“It is an isolated case and I urge residents to go about their normal activities.”
He also said 50 doctors had been mobilised to the hospital to assist in providing medical care.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the governor also visited Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Cathedral, Nnewi, where he addressed a congregation of worshippers.
The Parish Priest of St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Rev. Fr. Jude Onwuaso, told NAN that the attack took place at about 6.30am.
He said, “An unidentified man came into the church, shot at a man, Chief Akunwafor Ikegwuonwu, before shooting indiscriminately at other worshippers.”
It’s unspeakable sacrilege –Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday condemned the Anambra Catholic church attack.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President described the incident as “an appalling crime against humanity and unspeakable sacrilege.
“This kind of atrocity plumbs the depth of depravity and extreme cruelty of the kind that words cannot adequately express.”
According to the President, there is no religion that does not lay constant emphasis on the sanctity of life, adding that “all Nigerians must rise up and speak with one voice against these remorseless evil men.”
One of our correspondents reports that Buhari spoke on Sunday on the telephone with Obiano.
Shehu disclosed this in another statement.
“The President has just finished speaking to Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, in the course of which he commiserated with him, the families of the victims and the citizens of the state,” the statement said.
Saraki, Ekweremadu lament killings
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said the act was evil.
Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, said killing of the worshippers represented “the purest kind of evil.”
He said, “This brutal act of attacking innocent worshippers represents the purest kind of evil.
“Our security forces must not stop until those involved in execution of the massacre are brought to book.’’
Ekweremadu, in a separate statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Uche Anichukwu, said the attack was “beastly and sacrilegious.”
While describing the day as a black Sunday, the Deputy Senate President called on security agencies to fish out the killers.
He said, “However, this dastardly act brings to the fore, once again, the need to reengineer our security system, to arrest the rising wave of violent crimes in the country.”
Insecurity reducing Nigeria to the state of nature –Dogara
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, described the attack as abominable and the height of wickedness.
In a statement by the Speaker’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, Dogara said, “Have we lost our humanity? Where is the place of sanctity of life and sacredness of worship places in our society? What offence did the worshippers commit to warrant their massacre by wicked souls and heartless men?”
The Speaker reiterated his call for the overhaul of Nigeria’s policing architecture that would lead to reform of the police force, adding that equipping the police with modern gadgets would allow them to discharge their duties of protecting lives and property effectively.
Mindless attack taken too far–Okowa
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State described the attack as mindless.
Okowa said it was condemnable for anyone to take his anger on a church which was supposed to be a place of refuge.
A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Charles Aniagwu, noted that the tragic incident was unwarranted.
The statement said the attack was a desecration of the temple of God, adding that the Church should be a place of refuge and devoid of attacks even in war.
He said, “This unwarranted attack and mindless bloodletting is not only wicked, but barbaric and must be condemned by all good men of conscience.”
PDP condemns killings
The Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday said it was in shock over the attack.
The party, in a statement by its spokesman, Dayo Adeyeye, described the invasion as barbaric and a serious indication that “our society is fast degenerating into a state of anomie with total moral collapse and utter disregard for the sanctity of human life.”
Adeyeye said the killings was a call for moral rearmament by all and sundry, adding that it was a wake-up call for the government to do more in the area of protection of lives and property.
It is barbaric, says APC
The All Progressives Congress said on Sunday that the attack was barbaric.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, called on security agencies to ensure that the perpetrators “of this heinous crime are brought to justice.’’
“The APC condemns the barbarism displayed by the callous attackers who gunned down defenceless people while they worshiped,” the statement added.
Abdullahi also called on security agents in Anambra, as well as other parts of the country to provide adequate security in places of worship to forestall a repeat of “this unfortunate incident.”
S/East govs forum demands probe
The South-East Governors Forum on Sunday demanded a “proper investigation” into the attack on the Catholic Church.
The Chairman of the forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, in a statement said a proper investigation must be conducted to unravel the true cause of the carnage.
He said, “I, on behalf of the South-East Governors Forum, condemn the killings recorded in the church, It shows how wicked our generation is. I call on security agencies to unravel the true cause of the carnage.”
Address proliferation of arms –CAN
The Christian Association of Nigeria also condemned the killings.
CAN President, Dr Supo Ayokunle, said the attack was unwarranted and urged security agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Ayokunle in a statement, said, “I urge the Federal Government, through the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to address the issue of proliferation of arms and ammunition to make our world safer.
“The perpetrators of this ungodly act must be brought to book without delay.”
Also, the youth wing of CAN blamed the attack on lapses in security.
The National President of YOWICAN, Daniel Kadzai, in a statement, said, “This attack was made possible as a result of what we consider a deliberate shirking of responsibilities by the state security agencies.
“We demand the arrest of perpetrators of this terrorist-style crime within the next 48 hours. If the state security apparatuses do not stand up to this challenge, YOWICAN will have no choice but to take up this matter using a much strenuous approach.’’
Anambra people condemn killings
Some residents and indigenes of Anambra State have condemned the attack.
NAN reports that Chief Osita Chidoka, a former Minister of Aviation, said he was saddened by the incident.
He said, “This is tragic; the church is a place of refuge to anyone who runs into it. This attack shows that something has gone wrong on our psyche.”
A former Secretary to the Anambra Government, Mr. Oseloka Obaze, said the attack “dehumanised the society.”
In his reaction, Dr Victor Oye, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, said that no amount of provocation could justify the killing of innocent people in a church.
Chief Jude Emecheta, who hails from Ozubulu and was an eye witness, told NAN that “a dark cloud has befallen my peaceful town”.
Emecheta, who is the Managing Director of Anambra Signage and Advertisement Agency, said, “There was pandemonium and in the midst of the confusion, I just lay down on the floor. The officiating priest and the Mass servers quickly left the altar and the Mass came to an abrupt end.
“Those of us who were to say the prayers of the faithful had just assembled at the altar. Suddenly, I saw someone who put on a cap shooting indiscriminately inside the church. I counted 11 dead people and many were wounded.”
a letter to Gen. Abacha, calling for his release.”
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The Presidency is not losing sleep over protests being planned by a coalition of five civil society organisations against the continued absence of President Muhammadu Buhari from office, The PUNCH has learnt.
The indefinite protests are scheduled to start on Monday (today) in Nigeria and London, United Kingdom.
Mr. Charles Oputa popularly called Charlie Boy and other prominent Nigerians will be leading the protest at the Unity Fountain Abuja by 10am while the London protest is scheduled to hold at the Abuja House, London by 11am (UK time).
The protesters will be demanding the return or resignation of Buhari who has been receiving medical attention in London since May 7.
When contacted on Sunday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said it was part of Nigerians’ democratic rights to protest.
Adesina said the present administration would not take any step to abridge the rights of Nigerians which included the right to participate in peaceful protests.
“Protests are legitimate in a democracy. It is part of democratic rights of the people. This is not a government that will abridge the democratic rights of anybody,” the presidential spokesman said.
The protests are being promoted by the National Coordinator, Foundation For True Freedom and Good Leadership, Deji Adeyanju; Publicity Secretary, #OurMumuDonDo Movement, Adebayo Raphael; Convener, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution, Ariyo-Dare Atoye; and Secretary of Concerned Nigerians, John Danfulani.
Adeyanju was quoted to have said the protests would be sustained till ‘the Presidency offers explanation on the true state of health of the President’ who has spent over 90 days outside the country.
Buhari had on May 7 embarked on his second medical trip of the year shortly after receiving the 82 Chibok girls who were released by their captors the previous day.
Adesina, had announced shortly before the President left the country that the duration of his stay in London would be determined by his doctors.
He added that the President had written to the National Assembly in compliance with Section 145 (1) of the 1999 Constitution
The statement read, “President Muhammadu Buhari proceeds to London tonight for follow-up medical consultation with his doctors. He had planned to leave on Sunday afternoon, but decided to tarry a bit, due to the arrival of 82 Chibok girls who arrived in Abuja earlier in the day.
“The President wishes to assure all Nigerians that there is no cause for worry. He is very grateful for the prayers and good wishes of the people, and hopes they would continue to pray for the peace and unity of the nation.
“The length of the President’s stay in London will be determined by the doctors. Government will continue to function normally under the able leadership of the Vice-President.
“President Buhari has transmitted letters about the trip to the Senate and the House of Representatives, in compliance with Section 145 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.”
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A widow, Ursula Egege, has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to give the family justice after the murder of her husband, Udochukwu, by suspected land speculators in Igbo-Etche community, Rivers State.
She alleged that her husband was killed by one Anelle and his gang on November 11, 2016, adding that the police had refused to arrest the suspects.
Ursula, in a petition to the IG, dated August 3, 2017, noted that two police officers assigned to investigate the case did not make any arrest despite extorting money from her as mobilisation fee in January 2017.
Narrating the events that led to the death of her husband, Ursula said Udochukwu had purchased a piece of land from Anelle in 2015, but could not possess the plot due to some issues.
She said a year after, Anelle invited her husband to Igbo-Etche community to see alternative parcels of land, adding that Udochukwu, oblivious of the plot to kill him, went to meet the vendor where he was shot dead.
The petition, written by the widow’s lawyers, David-West & Associates, read in part, “Our client (Ursula) after sometime called her husband’s two lines, but surprisingly, none was going through. She became apprehensive and went to check on him.
“On getting to Igbo-Etche community in company with some police officers, she saw her husband dead in a pool of blood, with bullet holes on his body, while several men, including a one-legged amputee with clutches, surrounded his corpse.
“But surprisingly, the police officers did not arrest any of the people at the scene of crime, at least for questioning.”
Ursula said several weeks after the incident, no investigation was carried out by the police despite assurances by the Umuebulu Divisional Police Officer that the killers would be arrested.
“When the case was transferred to the SCIID Port Harcourt, two investigating officers, Inspectors Eze Umah and Doris Allen, were detailed to investigate the case, but they did not arrest any suspect despite collecting N90,000 under the guise of mobilisation,” the widow alleged in the petition.
She said she was invited for an interview by a new officer who took over the homicide section, noting that on the day of the interview, she observed that a strange name was used to open the case file at the police division instead of hers.
Ursala explained that she later learnt the new name, Nkemakolum Nwauo, was that of the amputee she saw at the scene of the crime.
The widow said she became suspicious of Nwauo’s roles in the death of her husband, adding that the head of the homicide section then directed that the suspect should be invited.
“On the day of the interview, Nwauo confessed to the officer in-charge after gruelling interrogation that he knew the killers and that one of them was his boy. He said it was Anelle who lured my husband to the bush where he was killed; he promised to produce the killers within two days,” she stated.
When Nwauo failed to produce the suspected killers after many weeks, the mother of three said she petitioned the IG and the case was assigned to the IGP Monitoring Unit for investigation.
She explained that a signal was sent to Allen in Port Harcourt, to come to Abuja with the case file and Nwauo, adding that only the officer showed up on July 18, 2017.
“Allen confessed to officers in Abuja that the police in Port Harcourt cannot arrest Nwauo because he is a notorious leader of criminal gangs operating in Igbo-Etche and its environs,” Ursula said.
The petitioner disclosed that officers of the IGP Monitoring Team were planning to arrest Nwauo in Rivers State when she learnt that he was visiting the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department in Abuja over a petition against her.
Ursula said she informed her lawyer and they both attended the interview where they pleaded with DIG Hycent Dagala of FCIID to detain the suspect and hand him over to the IGP Monitoring Team to explain his roles in the murder case.
“When the officers came for Nwauo’s arrest, the DIG refused to release him and allowed him to go on bail that night; we were shocked that a murder suspect could be released without qualms by a DIG,” the petitioner stated.
She disclosed that the investigating police officers subsequently arrested the suspect the next day as he made to board a cab to the airport.
She claimed that Nwauo did not deny the confessional statement he earlier made to the police in Port Harcourt and boasted that the matter would be sent to the DIG.
The petitioner said true to the boats, Dagala on August 2 sent a signal directing the IPOs to immediately transfer the case file and the suspect to his office.
“I heard the suspect was released last Friday by DIG Dagala and that is why I am crying to the IG to secure justice for me.
I believe the suspect must have compromised the DIG because he told policemen that he had given plots of land to Dagala and that the case would go nowhere,” Ursula told our correspondent on Friday in Abuja.
Dagala did not respond to the allegations when he was contacted by our correspondent on Sunday.
He cut off his call after listening to the inquiries and failed to respond to subsequent calls and a text message.
Umah could not be reached for reaction as calls to his phone indicated it was switched off.
But Allen denied extorting money from the widow.
“God is my witness, I didn’t collect any money from her,” she said on the telephone on Sunday. Copyright PUNCH. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Over 200 members of the House of Representatives have taken delivery of brand new exotic cars, though all 360 lawmakers have yet to receive their July salaries.
The PUNCH learnt that the non-payment of their salaries and other benefits had left most of the members without enough funds in the last one week.
But, on Sunday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, disclosed that over 200 members had been given Peugeot 508 series for “utility services.”
Namdas stated that by the plan of the House, all 360 lawmakers would have taken delivery of their cars by December 31.
Each of the vehicles cost N17m and will consume a total of N6.1bn to supply all 360 units.
Namdas spoke further, “Over 200 have been supplied out of 360 and we are still getting more.
“Every member will get a car by the end of this year. The issue is that the payment and supply of the vehicle is being done in instalments.
“The House and the company (Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited) agreed to this arrangement of paying and supplying in instalments.
“Naturally, not all the members can get their cars at the same time and we have explained to them why this cannot be possible.”
The PUNCH had reported exclusively on July 1 that contracts for the automobiles were awarded late 2015.
However, owing to delivery delays and insufficient budgetary releases to the House, the majority of lawmakers were unable to get their cars in close to two years.
About 223 of the 360 members were “freshers,” who first came to the National Assembly in 2015.
The new members are said to be most pained as they have had to fuel personal cars for work since June, 2015.
Findings indicated that the delayed supply had led to grumbling by the members, who sought explanations from the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, on why only 175 members could get their vehicles in two years.
At a meeting before proceeding on recess on July 27, lawmakers had reportedly put Dogara on the spot by demanding the sacking of the Chairman, Committee on House Services, Mr. Nasiru Baballe-Ila.
Baballe-Ila’s offence was that he “practically forced” the House to go for Peugeot 508 as against the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado or Camry, which the majority of lawmakers preferred.
Investigations showed that in the last few days, more supplies of the Peugeot 508 had been received, raising the number to “over 200.”
Asked to comment more on the issue, Namdas said part of the problem was funding challenges.
For example, he said some funding for the cars was included in the 2017 budget.
“You know that we have not started the implementation of the 2017 budget fully.
“You will appreciate the fact that payment for these cars will come from the budget. So, that issue too is there,” he added.
The PUNCH gathered that the supply of the 200 cars still did not address the problem of the non-payment of lawmakers, who are without their July salaries.
Lawmakers take a salaries of between N690,000 and N1.1m monthly, depending on how much deductions are made from a member’s pay to settle debts and other facilities.
In addition, they receive a quarterly allocation of between N27.9m and N33m.
But, a dip in flow of funds to the legislature in recent months and delays have led to cuts, affecting the pockets of the majority of members.
Investigations revealed that most of the members had stayed back in Abuja, one week after the National Assembly adjourned for six weeks.
They are said not to be in a hurry to visit their constituencies for now due to the cash crunch.
One Peoples Democratic Party member from Edo State, Mr. Johnson Agbonayinma, and a member of the All Progressives Congress from Kano State, Mr. Bashir Baballe, confirmed to The PUNCH that the lawmakers were owed salaries.
Agbonayinma stated, “I don’t know what else to say. We are suffering. Nigerians are suffering.
“The National Assembly is treated with levity; they don’t take our case seriously.
“The people in the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, they tell you the same story every day.
“If there is no money, are those in the Executive not running their services? That is why I have been praying that President Muhammadu Buhari should get well fast and return home.
“So much is not going on well and we need a system that is not stagnated but working properly.”
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Suspected members of the Badoo cult disguised as worshippers on Saturday to attack the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Okin Parish, Igbo Agbowa, Ibeshe, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that a woman, who had attended a vigil in the church, was injured after her head was smashed with a stone.
It was gathered that three Badoo suspects had mingled with the congregation during the vigil, which ended around 3am on Saturday.
Shortly after the members slept off, the assailants reportedly struck, smashing the stone on the head of the woman whose name had yet to be ascertained.
Our correspondent was told that the victim raised the alarm, which woke up other church members and residents of the area.
A resident, who gave his name only as Joseph, said the crowd gave the suspects a chase and one of them was apprehended.
He added that the woman had been admitted to a hospital.
He said, “After his arrest, he told us that they were three that attended the vigil. They pretended to be members of the church. People were exhausted after the service and slept off inside the church. During that period, they attacked the woman. She was seriously injured in the head.
“Two of them fled, but the third suspect was apprehended and taken to the Ipakodo Police Station. Some youths wanted to lynch him, but they were stopped.”
An elder in the community, who spoke on condition of anonymity, urged the police to conduct adequate investigation on the suspect with a view to arresting other fleeing members and their sponsors.
“The woman is in a critical condition at the hospital. It took the intervention and assurances from elderly members of the community that justice would be done before the youths agreed to hand over the suspect to the police.
“We have witnessed a situation where a suspect was caught like this and handed over to the police, but nothing came out of it. The police should ensure diligent investigation and prosecution. If justice is done, people will stop jungle justice,” he added.
An executive member of the Ibeshe Community Development Association, who did not want his name in print, said many residents had relocated from the area following the killing of a couple and their two children last Sunday in the Oke-Ota community.
He called on the police to extend night patrol to inner streets, adding that panic had gripped the neighbourhood.
He said, “The security situation in the community is still bad. People are packing out en masse from Oke-Ota and the community is becoming scanty. I know of about 20 people who have moved out.
“Police patrol is the same old way of blaring sirens on the road. They don’t come to the inner parts of the community. The major security work lies on vigilantes.”
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who confirmed the incident, said the command did not want to disclose details of the suspect so as not to jeopardise investigations.
The CP said, “We don’t want those ones that ran away to have an inkling of what we are doing. We have been looking for how to get them. If we blow this open, others may go into hiding.”
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The controversy over former President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign funds cropped up on Monday when a nominee to the board of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, Hajia Maimuna Aliyu, denied allegations levelled against her.
Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, had on Sunday dropped Aliyu and another nominee, Mr. Sa’ad Alanamu, on the grounds that they were being investigated by the ICPC.
But Aliyu, in a statement in Abuja attributed her predicament to a petition she wrote to anti-graft agencies, where she exposed the alleged fraud at the Aso Savings and Loans Plc.
She said Aso Savings and Loans Plc sold the land at Jahi, Abuja as part of efforts to recover N1bn donated to Jonathan’s campaign funds.
Aliyu stated that on June 21, 2017, she submitted the petition to the Department of State Services; the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria as well as the ICPC and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
She said that nothing was done about the petition and those she accused were quick to go to the press to deny her of an appointment.
Aliyu stated, “No matter how long it takes; the real truth about the plundering and looting of Aso Savings and Loans Plc will be made open irrespective of the threat to my life and my family.
“I have been harassed and openly embarrassed as a result of this but I am resolute that the truth will vindicate me. It is important to note that being investigated does not amount to being guilty or culpable of the issues of investigation.
“Even when there are issues to clear, the final destination is the court of competent jurisdiction before any verdict can be passed on anyone. I find it ridiculous that whereas I had written a petition alerting the appropriate authorities of the financial malfeasances at Aso Savings and Loans, rather than take the necessary action against the company and the persons so identified, I am being maligned and my name being dragged to the mud for flimsy reasons.”
Aliyu said she was surprised that the Police that had shown unwillingness to commence investigation into her petition, were quick to allegedly issue a report concerning their previous investigation about her.
She said, “While thanking the Presidency for the opportunity of the nomination in the first place, I will pray that proper independent investigation be carried out by the Acting President to fathom out the real situation of things. That is the only way that proper justice would be seen to have been done. I will personally be happy to see that those who plundered Aso Savings and Loans are brought to book.”
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Troops of the Nigerian Army under Operation Lafiya Dole have killed 12 Boko Haram terrorists in an ambush operation along Miyanti-Banki Road in Borno State.
This was just as the army lost two soldiers to Improvised Explosive Devices buried by the insurgents in another ambush operation on Dukje-Mada Road near Gulumba Gana village, Borno.
In the Dujke-Mada incident, the army said the troops also killed an unconfirmed number of the Boko Haram terrorists.
Our correspondent learnt that troops of 151 Battalion, 21 Brigade, sprang the ambush along Miyanti-Banki Junction, during which they killed the 12 Boko Haram fighters.
The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman, said items recovered after the ambush were “18 bicycles, 30 bags of flour, 14 packets of insecticide, one keg of groundnut oil, a bag of pepper, a sum of N4,000, among others.
“Troops of 81 Task Force Battalion of 22 Brigade cleared a Boko Haram terrorists’ ambush along Dukje-Mada Road near Gulumba Gana Village. The troops neutralised quite a number of the terrorists’ ambush party and recovered weapons.
“Unfortunately, two soldiers lost their lives when their vehicle stepped on an IED buried along the road, while four others sustained varying degrees of injury. The remains of the two soldiers have been evacuated to Maiduguri.”
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Aisha, the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, has returned to London, United Kingdom where her husband has been receiving medical attention since May 7.
Our correspondent learnt that Mrs. Buhari returned to the British capital on Sunday barely three days after she returned to the country.
She returned to the country last Thursday from London where she has been since July 4 and proceeded to Owerri, the Imo State capital, where she attended the annual August Meeting organised by the wife of the state governor.
When contacted on the telephone, Mrs. Buhari’s spokesperson, Bisi Olumide-Ajayi, confirmed the trip to our correspondent.
She, however, said there was no cause for alarm on the latest trip of the President’s wife.
“Yes, Her Excellency travelled back to London yesterday (on Sunday). I can assure you that it was not as if she was quickly called to return to London. I think she came back to the country because she had some things to do,” she said.
The Sunday trip was the third time Mrs. Buhari would be visiting her ailing husband since he embarked on his second medical vacation of the year.
The Director of Information to the Wife of the President, Suleiman Haruna, had announced her second trip in a statement on July 2.
The statement read, “Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari left for London, United Kingdom on Sunday, July 2, 2017, to visit her husband who is on medical vacation.
“She will convey to the President the best wishes of Nigerians and their fervent prayers for his quick recovery.
“She is expected to stop over at Addis Ababa, to make a symbolic appearance at the meeting of the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS on Monday, July 3 2017.
“She will join other members to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the organisation, and use the opportunity to reiterate the voting rights of Nigeria in the upcoming elections of the organisation.
“She will continue her journey to the United Kingdom on Tuesday, July 4, 2017.”
The first time Mrs. Buhari travelled to meet her husband was on May 30.
She returned to the country in the early hours of June 6 after spending one week in London.
The President’s wife, on arrival at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja conveyed the President’s appreciation to Nigerians for their constant prayers.
She said Buhari would soon return to join Nigerians as, according to her, he was recuperating fast.
Mrs. Buhari had also called on Nigerians to continue to be strong in the face of challenges and to support the Federal Government in implementing the agenda for which the present administration was elected.
“Mr. President thanked the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, for his loyalty and called on Nigerians to continue to support the acting President in his effort to actualise the mandate of the All Progressives Congress,” Mrs. Buhari was further quoted as saying on her arrival during the first trip.
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Gunmen suspected to be cult members have killed two persons and injured the traditional ruler of Abak Obong village in the Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
Residents said on Monday that the gunmen, numbering about 10, stormed the village on Saturday and attacked the palace of the village head, Chief Bassey Ikpaisong, who sustained gunshot injuries.
A source told our correspondent that the village head’s brother, Mr. Fred Ikpaisong, and a youth, Mr. Udotim Essien, were shot dead by the assailants.
The latest killings in Etim Ekpo came two days after a similar attack left four people dead and some houses burnt in the neighbouring Udianga Enem village.
“Right now, our village head is hospitalised because of the attack and it is not known whether he will survive the gunshot injuries because he could not talk to people who visited him at the hospital,” the source said.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Chukwu Ikechukwu, confirmed the incident, adding that the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area had intervened and brought the matter under control.
“When I contacted the DPO, he told me that immediately he heard of the matter, he rushed down with his men and calmed the situation,” he said.
The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, who expressed worry over the killings, called on the church to wade in.
The governor, who worshipped in one of the churches in the troubled area on Sunday, solicited prayers and God’s intervention for peace to return to Ukanafun and Etim Ekpo councils.
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The recent replacement of the ineffectual head of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission came two years late, reflecting the disarticulation of a government that won election with a clear mandate to crush corruption but often stumbles in execution. While the Muhammadu Buhari administration, by its inexplicable dithering, hobbled its own headline programme, corruption has been fighting back furiously and the ICPC has been one of the weakest links in the arsenal. High hopes are now pinned on Bolaji Owasanoye, the new helmsman, to reposition the anti-graft agency for efficiency.
A professor of law and, until now, executive secretary of the seven-member Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Owasanoye comes to the new post with a track record in civil rights, anti-corruption and good governance advocacy. On him, Nigerians now repose high hopes of invigorating an agency whose performance since its debut has ranged from lacklustre to downright inefficient.
In the 17 years since the creation of the ICPC as a specialised law enforcement agency with sweeping powers to investigate graft, prosecute offenders and engage in public enlightenment, corruption has grown exponentially and brought the country to its knees. Corruption, the illegitimate use of power to benefit a private interest, has, according to Transparency International, the global watchdog, defined Nigeria’s politics, economy and social life. In 2000, TI ranked Nigeria the most corrupt out of 90 countries it surveyed; our ranking of 32nd most corrupt in 2015 out of 168 countries and 40th most corrupt out of 176 surveyed in 2016 demonstrates how little progress the country has made in curbing sleaze.
The ICPC story demonstrates a baffling incoherence by the Muhammadu Buhari government and a lack of strategic thinking. It won the 2015 presidential election with a clear mandate to clean up the rot left behind by the departing Goodluck Jonathan government under which the most egregious corruption flourished. Everyone expected Buhari to hit the ground running immediately he was inaugurated on May 29, 2015. Instead, he left the heads of the ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on whose watch public and private sector officials had plundered the till with unprecedented impunity, in place.
But while Ibrahim Lamorde was dropped as chairman of the EFCC in November 2015, it remains a mystery why Ekpo Nta, who once agreed with the then president that “stealing is not corruption” and whose five-year term also expired that month, was allowed to continue until his redeployment last week to head the National Salaries and Wages Commission. This is not a result-oriented template. To drive its storied anti-corruption campaign, Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, cast his net wide and poached locals and foreigners to run and advise on key agencies.
Even in the belated reconstitution of the ICPC, the administration stumbled again, naming two persons, now dropped, Saad Alanamu and Maimuna Ali, who are said to be under investigation for alleged corrupt practices. Other tainted nominees to the board should be dropped immediately.
For a government with strategic vision, and to send a signal change, Nta should have been promptly shoved aside on the strength of having served a thoroughly corrupt regime and the dismal performance of the ICPC. While the EFCC could boast of 340 convictions in the first six months of 2017, and 140 convictions in 2016, the ICPC claimed to be “currently prosecuting 303 cases” but secured only 11 convictions. Taking advantage of the novel whistle-blower policy, the EFCC recently recovered N521.81 million, $33 million, £192,890 and €547,730; this is apart from the sensational $43 million, N23 million and £27,000 it found in a luxury apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos in April.
The ICPC needs a massive shake-up: Owasanoye should leverage the confidence reposed in him by Buhari and Osinbajo to root out inefficiency, corruption and indolence, and transform it into a nimble and effective law enforcement agency. The critical factor that has been missing is passion, a virtue that is very much in evidence in the acting chair of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, who, like the pioneer head, Nuhu Ribadu, applies himself to the job with zeal. He sorely needs a formidable back-up as the push-back gathers momentum and high profile accused persons continue to walk free helped by the complicit bar and bench and backed by the political class.
The anti-corruption war urgently needs a formidable strategy. It is said that Singapore’s anti-corruption strategy focuses on four pillars: effective anti-corruption law; effective adjudication to punish and deter those who are prone to corruption; effective administration to reduce opportunities for corruption; and effective enforcement agency. The Buhari government should back the antigraft war with strong political will by providing adequate funds and granting operational autonomy to the main anti-graft agencies. Political appointees must be thoroughly screened to ensure that only those candidates without any taint of corruption or misconduct are allowed to serve.
Owasanoye should promptly forge very close collaboration with the EFCC especially; the Police Special Fraud Unit, now headed by Lamorde; the State Security Service; the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation. Rivalry among these agencies has denied them the crucial intelligence-sharing input and damaged the war on graft as attested to by a recent US State Department report. Osinbajo should knock heads and compel them to cooperate: the intransigent should be sacked.
The ICPC and the EFCC should demarcate their lines of operations to free each to concentrate on agreed categories rather than duplicate efforts. Owasanoye, for instance, can position ICPC to focus on corruption in the civil service, which Osinbajo once described as “the greatest tragedy that a nation can experience.”
Like Ribadu, Magu and the late Dora Akunyili who, at National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, brought passion and integrity to make the difference, Owasanoye has an opportunity to join the pantheon of patriots. He should not fail.
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A former Vice-President and Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has urged the Federal Government to fish out those behind a song disparaging people of Igbo extraction and ensure they are punished.
In a statement in Abuja on Monday, Atiku recalled that the Rwandan genocide was ignited by a song, titled ‘I hate Hutus’, sung by a popular musician, Simon Bikindi.
The former Vice-President called on men and women of goodwill to rise up against what he described as evil.
He said those who thought they could treat their fellow citizens unjustly, through a song, should also know that there were mechanisms within and outside Nigeria to ensure that they answer for their crimes.
The statement read in part, “It has come to my attention that a song disparaging people of Igbo origin, and which wishes them dead, is circulating in some parts of the nation.
“I totally and unequivocally condemn this development, and I call on all men of goodwill to rise up against this evil.
“This song is reminiscent of the beginnings of the Rwanda genocide. Nigerians need to be aware that the Rwandan genocide was believed to have been ignited by a song titled Nanga Abahutu (I hate Hutus), sung by Rwanda’s then most popular musician, Simon Bikindi.”
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The Ogun State Government on Monday explained why it approached the World Bank to secure a $350m loan.
Addressing a joint press conference at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mrs. Adenrele Adesina, said the House Committee on Loans/Aids/Debt Management did not reject the proposal for the loan request.
Adesina was flanked by her counterparts in the ministries of Education, Science and Technology, Health, Works and Infrastructure, Commerce and Industry and Urban and Physical Planning, at the briefing.
The representatives of the Ogun State Government led by Adesina had on Wednesday sought the approval of the National Assembly as part of the requirements for granting the loan.
Adesina said the state started processing the loan in 2014 because of its “phenomenal infrastructural development that has made it an attractive bride” to the World Bank.
She said, “The World Bank considers states that have demonstrated ability to perform and partners such states in development.”
The commissioner explained that any serious government desirous of development should take advantage of such facility, which she described as a concessionary loan, offered at two per cent interest rate.
Adesina said, “The loan attracts just two per cent interest as against the 22 per cent obtainable in the normal financial market. The loan is also payable over a period of 25 years with a five-year moratorium, which means that we have about 30 years to pay back. It will be foolhardy for any government to reject such an attractive offer.”
The commissioner noted that the loan was different from the conventional loan where the full amount being sought would be disbursed at once.
She stated that disbursement would be made in tranches based on performance.
Adesina added that the highest that the present administration in the state could get was a maximum of 25 per cent.
She added, “This is a loan mainly for the future, as the subsequent administrations in the state stand to benefit more, as more tranches are disbursed in the course of time. It will therefore be misleading to claim that the loan is meant just for the present administration.”
The commissioner said if granted, the loan would be used to further boost its transformational programme in the agricultural, educational and industrial sectors, among others.
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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has put the cash call arrears owed oil companies for the development of joint venture assets at $6.6bn (N2.01tn).
The Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed this on Monday at the inauguration of the reconstituted NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee in Abuja, according to a statement.
He also said the four major investments the NNPC recently embarked upon with key upstream JV partners were capable of providing incremental revenue to the national treasury by over $30bn within the next 10 years.
He said the investments, which attracted close to $3.8bn in foreign direct investments, would serve as a vehicle to fast-track the prevailing post cash-call exit era.
Baru listed the JV alternative financing upstream investments to include the $1.2bn multi-year drilling for 36 offshore/onshore oil wells under the NNPC/Chevron Nigeria Limited, and the NNPC/First E&P JV and Schlumberger tripartite $800m alternative funding agreement for the development of the Anyalu and Madu fields in the Niger Delta.
Others were the agreements executed in London last week for the $1bn NNPC/SPDC JV Project Santolina and the NNPC/Chevron $780m Project Falcon on Sonam, hitherto financed through the JV cash call.
He said, “These four projects alone are going to raise incremental revenues to Nigeria of over $30bn over the life of the projects in less than 10 years. They will also serve as part of the vehicle for exiting the JV cash calls.
“We have to pay our arrears of about $6bn incurred pre-2016 and we are also paying up a tranche of about $1bn 2016 arrears. We started in April 2017 with the payment of $400m and we will pay the balance before the anniversary of the first payment.”
According to the GMD of the NNPC, the arrangement will allow the corporation to subsequently operate from the production revenue less the first line charge to the government, which is the royalties and petroleum profit tax.
He said the profit would be remitted to the government after deduction of production cost.
Baru traced the NNPC’s involvement in the anti-corruption campaign to the year 2000 when the Federal Government directed all its ministries, departments and agencies to establish in-house anti-corruption committees.
He described the NNPC as the first to put a committee in place within a month, precisely in October 2000, with him as the chairman then.
He noted that since then, the NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee had consistently carried out its mission of eradicating corruption in the NNPC through organising sensitisation campaigns, workshops, seminars and the Federal Government’s publications on issues concerning corruption and economic crimes.
The new committee is headed by Mr. Mike Stanley Balami, a group general manager in the finance and account directorate.
Meanwhile, crude oil production in Nigeria dropped to 656.80 million barrels last year compared to a high of 860.28 million barrels in 2012, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.
The NBS, in a new report entitled: ‘Selected petroleum statistics: Oil and gas production, drilling and development,’ said the nation’s oil output stood at 777.49 million barrels in 2015.
It said a total of 2.71 trillion standard cubic feet of gas was produced in 2016 as against three trillion scf of gas produced in 2015 while 2.40Tscf of gas was utilised in 2016 as against 2,67Tscf utilised in 2015.
The NBS said it verified and validated the data supplied by the ministry of petroleum resources.
The nation’s average oil production including condensates, increased marginally to 2.06 million barrels per day in July, according to the petroleum ministry, Platts reported on Monday.
The ministry said the country’s crude output stood at 2.06 million bpd in July, up from 2.05 million bpd in June, and a sharp increase over the 1.6 million bpd output a year ago when production facilities were hit by attacks from Niger Delta militants. Copyright PUNCH. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
