The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

U.S. eyes $ 7b global market for Nigeria, others

The United States government has mounted a multimillion project to earn Nigeria, and four other countries more from the global cashew market size valued at $ 7 billion last year.

The market is expected to reach $10.5 billion by 2031.

The other countries include Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso and Ghana.

Speaking during the ongoing Second Regional Policy Workshop organised by the West Africa PRO-Cashew Project, the Chief of Party, Jean Francois Guay, stressed the need to develop the cashew value chains and strengthen its integration into global markets.

According to him, the West Africa PRO-Cashew Project, funded by USDA Food for Progress has big potential to generate inclusive rural employment through farming and industrialisation, thereby contributing to poverty reduction.

Read Also : ‘Why Nigerian products face challenge in global market’

Guay said: “This workshop is crucial for the growth of the cashew sector in West Africa. It enables stakeholders to collaborate, establish an information database, and develop effective policies to tackle sector challenges and foster a conducive environment for its expansion.”

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, who gave this indication, said United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) $47.3 million five-year West Africa Cashew Project would help Nigerian farmers boost competitiveness and earn foreign exchange from export trade.

The Minister, represented by, the Director, Federal Department of Agriculture, Mr. Bernard Chukwuemeka, noted that the cashew industry faces fierce competition from other countries, including some emerging ones.

To cope, he said the government was determined as part of the collaboration, to exchange information on various aspects of the cashew sector.

May 22, 2023
New navigation equipment for Lagos, Abuja airports

Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has concluded plans to install surface movement radar and ground control systems in Abuja and Lagos airports.

The navigation equipment, the agency said, is to is to enable air traffic controllers monitor aircraft and vehicular movement during low visibility or night time.

Speaking in Abuja during a site acceptance test on the equipment, the Acting Managing Director of NAMA, Matthew Lawrence Pwajok, said the exercise was in furtherance to agency’s quest to enhance the safety and efficiency of flight operations in Nigeria.

He sais the agency had embarked on the procurement of the surface movement radar due to its capability for detection, monitoring, and control of aircraft and vehicles on the ground for the purpose of preventing collision between aircraft, and between aircraft and vehicles as well as between aircraft and obstacles on the ground (runway, taxiway, and apron).

Read Also : N2.8bn fraud trial: Court quashes order for NAMA MD’s arrest

Pwajok said: “The surface movement radar which is a primary radar would provide surveillance for aircraft and vehicles on the ground for the air traffic controller rather than physically seeing or looking out on the runway, the apron, taxiway or parking gate. Presently, what obtains is that the ground control is manually done. Air traffic controllers at the tower look outside to see where the aircraft is, to separate it, clear it for takeoff, and landing, and direct it to taxi to the parking gate.

“But with surface movement radar, guidance on the ground is automated as every surface movement is displayed clearly on the console. So, the air traffic controller can clearly see the aircraft and guide it while taxiing on the ground from the departure gate to the runway for take-off, and once it takes off, he hands it over to the approach control.

“The surface movement radar can be used when aircraft land in poor weather conditions. In most cases the airport is shut down because pilots can’t see and can’t taxi so they would have to wait until there is weather improvement. But with the surface movement radar we can guide aircraft on landing, to the parking gate and, on departure, we can guide them from the parking gate to the runway for takeoff as everything is displayed on the console.’’

The same way the radar sees aircraft in the air, this one will see aircraft and vehicles as they are moving on the ground.”

Speaking further, the NAMA MD said the surface movement radar would greatly enhance safety as it would help prevent runway incursions, excursions, and confusion. “Sometimes an aircraft is given an instruction to a particular taxi link and it enters the wrong link. If visibility is very poor or the place is dark, the air traffic controller will not know. Surface movement radar would therefore enable the controller to see clearly that the aircraft is in the right link.

He said it would enhance safety on the ground by preventing collisions between aircraft.

“The issue of delaying aircraft by waiting for the weather to improve will be a thing of the past.”

Surface movement radar, according to Pwajok, would boost Category III Instrument Landing Systems operations because “with CAT III, aircraft can land at zero visibility while the surface movement radar would then enable the controllers even at zero visibility to separate and control aircraft to the gate as well as those taxiing from the gate to takeoff very efficiently. Surface movement radar can also detect conflicts. If two aircraft are going to converge at a point, it can give an alert to the controller to prevent a collision on the ground.”

He recalled that a similar site acceptance test was conducted successfully in Lagos on the equipment located at Runway 18 Right two weeks ago and that “every aspect of the equipment is working effectively. So, what we are doing now is landscaping and fencing the antennas to prevent future encroachment. In Lagos, we had a major challenge of the tower being blocked by the Legend Hotel, Executive Jet, and aviation terminal. And that necessitated the deployment of the surface movement radar. So, with this, that problem has been solved. It has reduced stress on the air traffic controller as he can now see everything from the console. In Abuja, the Chinese terminal also blocked the tower and controllers can neither see the international terminal nor the presidential wing. At the moment we are using the mobile tower to augment the view. But with surface movement radar, we won’t need the mobile tower there anymore as every part of the airport is visible from the console,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pwajok said the agency was working with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the airlines to ensure that all vehicles coming to the airside carry a transponder to enable the surface movement radar to identify them and the controller to communicate and control them.

On the training of personnel for the equipment, the NAMA boss said engineers had already been trained since last year while arrangements have been concluded for 12 air traffic controllers to proceed for training in a matter of days.

May 22, 2023
Revenue shortfall: Fed Govt begins crackdown on tax defaulters

The Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) will go after defaulters this week.

A team of tax enforcement officials have been formed, briefed and trained.

“High net worth individuals and businesses found to have defaulted in their tax obligations will start receiving visits from enforcement officials of the FIRS,” an official of the FIRS told The Nation.

Since 2018, when the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) programme was discontinued, the FIRS official lamented that “many Nigerians and businesses have returned to their old habit of evading taxes”.

The stated that “the amnesty window closed five years ago for tax defaulters, but over the years, the government has appealed and cajoled some high networth individuals and businesses to regularise their tax indebtedness to the government.

“However, the government’s gestures over the years have gone unrequited. Already, the Service has put its tax enforcement officials on standby in preparation for the drive to bring defaulters to book.

The Nation gathered from sources at the FIRS that about 3,000 individuals and businesses took advantage of the amnesty window between 2017 and 2018. A number the FIRS believes “falls short of tax paying entities expected to take advantage of the amnesty”.

The source at the FIRS confirmed that the drive to beat the N10 trillion tax harvest of last year might have triggered the Service to go after tax defaulters.

According to the FIRS official, “despite the appeals and extensions granted to tax defaulters to take advantage of several initiatives to encourage people and businesses to happily and voluntarily pay their taxes, many still shunned the initiatives, maybe believing that nothing will happen. Well something will happen this time around”.

Under Kemi Adeosun’s tenure as finance minister, the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) was initiated. Between then and now, many programmes have been introduced like Taxpro Max, issuing electronic Tax Clarence Certificates (TCCs) and decentralising tax assessment offices to make paying tax easy.

The FIRS official insisted that despite making these attempts to get people to pay their taxes and meeting resistance, “something would be done by FIRS management to speed up the level of compliance”.

“Last year we posted VAIDS review. In the next phase, we shall be concetrating on an enforcement drive. We will target those with highest liability as defaulters”.

“We didn’t get the kind of compliance we would have hoped for but we are not relenting”, he said.

Records from FIRS confirm that some tax prayers between 2010 and this year, had transactions running into trillions of naira and never paid any tax.

In 2017, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Joint Tax Board (JTB), in collaboration with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) launched the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) to grant amnesty to all who voluntarily declare their tax liability within allowed window time – July 2017 to June 2018.

The government intended to cash in on a tax amnesty programme to increase the taxpayer base, increase its revenue and regularise tax status of many Nigerians.

It targeted N350 billion revenue from VAIDS within two years when the scheme was in operation. However, the government was only able to raise about N70 billion as of 2020.

Successful applicants for VAIDS amnesty enjoyed tax reliefs like immunity from prosecution for tax offences and tax audit, waiver of interest and penalties and the option of spreading payment of outstanding liabilities over three years.

“When the FIRS stops pampering tax defaulters and moves against them, they will be made to pay in full: the principal sum, as well as pay penalties and interests that have accrued over time.

“They will be subjected to a comprehensive tax audit and earlier reliefs granted will be withdrawn,” the source added.

May 22, 2023
Indian firms invest $20billion in Nigeria
- Bilateral trade volumes hit $15b yearly
Indian companies have cumulatively invested $20billion into the Nigerian economy by way of setting manufacturing companies and creating jobs.

Its Consulate-General, Lagos, Mr Shri Chandramouli Kern, in an email note with The Nation, also said Nigeria is also the biggest trading partner of India with trading volumes hovering around $15billion yearly.

The envoy, who was at the Securex West Africa Exhibition held at Landmark Event Centre, Oniru, Lagos Island, when he visited the stand of Virdi Nigeria, said: “India is the biggest trading partner of Nigeria. Our bilateral trade hovers around $15 billion per year.The cumulative investment of Indian companies in Nigeria is to the tune of $20 billion.”

He said Indian companies are contributing positively to the growth of Nigeria’s economy, adding that the bilateral relation will continue to grow from strength to strength.

“Indian companies are doing good in several sectors. I was very much impressed with the presence of several Indian-led companies in Securex 2023, which is one of the biggest such exhibitions in Africa.

“Technology related to access control through biometrics and security through artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled cameras is mandatory in the present scenario. Companies like Virdi Nigeria and others are offering state of the art solutions for home and enterprises. Arvind Mills were also present with their fire retardant clothings which is essential in the oil and gas Industry,” he said.

India’s exports to Nigeria include mineral fuels, oils, distillation products, machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers, vehicles other than railway, tramway, pharmaceutical products, electrical, electronic equipment, and paper and paperboard.

Others are articles of pulp, paper and board, organic chemicals, Animal, vegetable fats and oils, cleavage products, articles of iron or steel, miscellaneous chemical products, Optical, photo, technical, medical apparatus, tanning, dyeing extracts, tannins, derivatives, pigments, iron and steel, inorganic chemicals, precious metal compound, isotope, They are also textile articles, sets, worn clothing, aluminum and many others including fish, crustaceans, molluscs, aquatics invertebrates, aircraft, and spacecraft
May 22, 2023
Why president-elect met with Kwankwaso, by Jibrin
- ‘Ganduje aware of parley’
President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu met last week in Paris, France with Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso for the sake of national unity, cohesion and development, Rep Abdulmumin Jibrin said yesterday.

Jibrin, former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, said there is no need for anybody to be jittery over Tinubu’s meeting with the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate for the February 25 poll.

He said Tinubu would not abandon those who supported him during his electioneering.

The lawmaker stated this in an audio message he sent to The Nation yesterday. The message is a further denouncement of an alleged leaked voice recording in which the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, was reported to have expressed displeasure over the meeting.

Kano State Government had on Saturday dismissed the audio clip as the handiwork of paid agents bent on causing disaffection between Tinubu and Ganduje.

Jibrin, who said in the audio message that Tinubu consulted with Ganduje before the Paris meeting, added that the governor and Kwankwaso were capable of sorting out whatever differences existed between them.

Read Also : What are Jubrin’s chances of emerging Senate president?

He said: “I don’t believe that the President-elect will abandon people who supported him for anything. Again, what is paramount to him is national unity, cohesion and development.

“Also, don’t forget that Kwankwaso and the President-Elect have come a very long way. This is something that many people should know and are aware of. They have been friends since 1992 when Kwankwaso was deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President-Elect was a Senator chairing the Committee on Finance and Appropriation.

“Likewise, they were governors in 1999 and they related very well. And again, they continued their relationship when Kwankwaso was a minister of Defence, the President-Elect was still the governor of Lagos State.

“The relationship continued until 2011 when Kwankwaso returned as a governor and Asiwaju was a leader in the opposition movement and both of them worked very closely to establish the APC(All Progressives Congress).”

“I think these are the parameters from which they want to peg their relationship and take it up from there.

Like every other Nigerian, I was very shocked when I listened to that audio. But I think the most important thing is to confirm to you that Governor Ganduje was consulted and he himself confirmed this to me.

“He (Ganduje) told me in clear words that the President-Elect invited him and told him that he is planning a meeting with Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso. He asked Ganduje if he has any objection to it and Ganduje told me that he told the President-Elect that he has no any objection to it.

“So it very unfair, very extremely unfair to the President-elect to be portrayed in bad light before the public by Governor Ganduje who knows very well that the President-elect consulted him before that meeting. He confirmed that to me clearly. It is very very unfair to the President-Elect.”

On the differences between Ganduje and Kwankwaso, Jibrin said: “ After confirming to me that the President-elect told him that he will be having a meeting with Kwankwaso whether he will object or not, of which he said he has no objection, he told me he has no any problem with Kwankwaso.

“He(Ganduje) said his only issue with Kwankwaso was just that lately Kwankwaso has been attacking him. Promptly, I also told him he is guilty of the same because he also at several fora has been attacking Kwankwaso.

“I said to him that well that I believe that as leaders that both of them can sort out themselves. I promised him that I would convey his message to Kwankwaso and that was how the conversation ended.”
May 22, 2023
Umahi’s ideas

Senator-elect and outgoing governor of Ebonyi State Dave Umahi, last week, gave an insight into his thoughts on the role of federal legislators and their tenure during an interview on Sunrise Daily, a breakfast show on Channels Television.

The two-term governor, who is leaving the position after eight years in the saddle, was reported to have argued for a review of the tenure of federal lawmakers, and proposed that senators and members of the House of Representatives should have a fixed three-term tenure of 12 years.

Under the constitution, their four-year term can be renewed through reelection, and there is no limit to how many times they can be reelected. Umahi wants a 12-year tenure made up of three four-year terms.

He said: “The tenures of the executives are fixed; the tenures of the legislators are not fixed. And you have to ask yourself, have we really benefited by not fixing the tenures of legislators?”

“But I will strongly suggest that the tenures of legislators should be fixed… You can give them three tenures, three tenures of four years.”

The president and governors have an initial four-year tenure, and can be reelected; but they cannot serve more than two terms, meaning their tenure is limited to eight years. Umahi’s exit as governor is based on this situation.

It is curious that he wants three terms for federal legislators. If two four-year terms are good enough for the executive branch of the federal government, why should that not be good enough for the legislative branch too?

Then there is the question of state governments. State governors are also limited to two four-year terms, but not so for state legislators who can be reelected without limit. Umahi’s proposal doesn’t address the tenure of state legislators – or does it? Does this mean that he thinks a review of legislative tenure is needed only at the federal level? Why does he suggest legislative tenure change at the federal level only?

In addition, he suggested that “there should also be age limits for legislators,” saying, “Age limit of 70 years will be good.” He offered no justification for his ageism. Is it justifiable?

It is unclear whether he will seek support for these proposals in the Senate, or whether he will get the backing of fellow senators regarding them. It will be interesting to see if his co-senators are on the same page with him. What will he think of next?

May 22, 2023
When Tinubu stopped Obasanjo

The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Forty Days and Forty Nights, that chronicles the life of Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong, and the national crisis that erupted in the Obasanjo years when six lawmakers impeached a governor in a gangster fashion. Lalong spent 40 days in OBJ’s gulag and it took the intervention of now President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu – then Lagos State governor – to plot his escape, underlining their long-drawn duel pitting his progressive forces against OBJ’s fascistic spirit. This excerpt begins in detention in Abuja by EFCC before Lalong ended up in Lagos.

“He gave us tea. We relaxed,” Lalong said. He was referring to himself and his deputy, Musa.

Later, Lamorde’s – EFCC’s operations director – men started interrogating them. But Lamorde said it was a political matter. “It is not us that brought you here,” Lamorde confessed. “It’s your political matter. Relax. Say what you want to say.”

They gave them papers to start writing statements. But they were still not comfortable with them. Magu became another pain in the neck.

“Do you know that at one point this Magu brought a plain sheet of paper for me to sign a specimen signature? Without a statement. That was when I abused him in that place.”

Again, Lamorde intervened when he heard the shouts and quarrels between them.

“I said, Look at this man. He said I should sign plain sheet. For what? I’m still speaker of the House ooo. I’m signing the destiny of Plateau State on a plain sheet for you? He said no, there were certain documents they wanted to verify. I said, bring those documents. If I am the one who signed I would tell you I signed. If it’s my signature, I would tell you it’s my signature. But I cannot sign my specimen signature on plain paper. I don’t know what you want to do with the people of Plateau.”

It was then that Lamorde told Magu, “No, you can’t do that.” Not long after, they played host to a few guests, including Solomon lar and Bishop Hassan Kukah. It was after that, they flew them to Lagos, and the man in charge again was Magu. They took them to the EFCC detention centre on Awolowo Road in Ikoyi, Lagos…

In detention were not only the two of them but at least 14, all members of the state house of assembly. Their mission was straightforward. They wanted Lalong, as speaker, to sign a draft impeachment notice. Who were those who drafted the document?

“A prominent SAN today was one of them. I was there when he did same to Fayose. Gani Fawehinmi was the consultant to the EFCC. So all of them, Gani and this other lawyer, were the ones drafting.”

Lalong said they were working together for their consultancy for the EFCC. He said he met the lawyer there. It was then that we got the information that they wanted to do the same to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was then the governor of Lagos. We were waiting to see if they would bring the Lagos House of Assembly. But they couldn’t because I think there were threats that if they tried it, they would bring the whole Lagos down. So, at the end of the day, they didn’t arrest anybody from Lagos. That was under Ribadu. Today, all of us are working for Asiwaju.”

Lalong remained there for 40 days because they could not coerce him to sign the impeachment notice.

It was Tinubu, who came to their rescue. The EFCC had said no bail was working because they said the people who brought land documents had fake evidence. So, it was Asiwaju who invited Fashola and Osinbajo. Osinbajo was the Attorney General of Lagos State. Fashola was the Chief of Staff. He asked them to process land documents, and they did in order to bail them out. They could not deny that land documents signed by Lagos State government were authentic.

“Any other person who brought land documents from Lagos, and brought it to us to bail us, they rejected it but accepted for others. They left me and two others. So, the day they came out, the day Lagos brought those documents, they seized the documents from Lagos State government. They now realized there was no way to keep me. Then, they said they’ll release me but bring me back there.”

Lalong was the last person they released. He had already signed to leave the jail. But when he was going downstairs, the EFCC was arranging for the judge to re-arrest him. But some persons, including policemen in the building, alerted him and asked him to take a way out before they got to him.

“They got me out of the place, put me in a taxi. So, when the taxi dropped me out, in less than ten minutes, EFCC came and raided the place for me. They didn’t see me, of course,” he recalled.

He said the fellows who organized his escape were his friends in the police and the SSS.

“They came and said, this thing is not fair and that my offence was that I refused to impeach Dariye,” he said.

They told him that the EFCC wanted to frustrate and leave him alone in detention and coerce him to sign the impeachment draft. They wanted to browbeat him to bow. They did not have the numbers. Out of 24 members, only eight of them signed the document. That was not even up to half of them, and so they did not have the numbers to impeach a governor.

So, before they realized, he entered the taxi. They sold a dummy. The EFCC thought he was heading for the airport, and they ran there to ambush him. The reason was that their wives were going to the airport to fly to Jos.

“So, they went to the airport to arrest us but they did not see us,” he narrated.

Rather the taxi took him to Ibadan through the express, disguised. From there, he kept on changing taxis until he reached Ondo and Akure in the wee hours of the morning. He said they slept in Akure. He recalled they got to Akure at about three in the morning. For food, they bought stuff along the way. They slept for a couple of hours in Akure before heading north by road. He was with a few others on the trip.

When they got to Lokoja, they (SSS) realised that he had escaped and heading towards Jos. It was then they hurriedly rallied six turncoats in the house from where they hid in Abuja to Jos to impeach Dariye. They pulled it off around 6 am. They entered the house premises and barricaded it. It was a melee that involved shooting, and two persons died from gunshot wounds at the Plateau Hospital. They were patients. People were firing bullets at them. They even shot a policeman in their car.

They came with soldiers as well. They performed the exercise and left.

“By the time we arrived Jos, there was news flash that Dariye had been impeached…by the time they had impeached Dariye, they didn’t look for us again.” Dariye himself had fled. He was in Makurdi for a while and later he went to Lagos and Asiwaju picked him and gave him shelter.”

Lalong mused that it was bad for conscience that the same Asiwaju was running for president, and Dariye was supporting Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

May 22, 2023
No special powers for NDDC chair, Ndoma-Egba tells Onochie

Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Governing Board has no special or executive powers, a former board chairman Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) said yesterday.

“The law does not have any powers attributed to the chairman,” he said amid reports of tension between the incumbent board chair, Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku.

Ndoma-Egba, who spoke in an interview at the weekend, said the law establishing the NDDC specified the powers of the board and the management.

He explained that the board is saddled with the responsibility of providing the policy direction, which the management implements.

Ndoma-Egba said: “Ordinarily, there shouldn’t be a problem because the powers are clearly defined. But you see, the problem is about the control of funds.

“The various laws – Fiscal Responsibility Act, and even the NDDC Act – make the chief executive officer the accounting officer, and in some cases, liability for infractions of those laws are personal to the chief executive.”

He said the chief executive officer could not spend outside the budget, which must be approved by the board.

He said: “So, all you need do is to exercise the powers that have been given to you in a very creative way that will check the board without necessarily impeding the running of the commission.

“The chairman is not an executive chairman; so, you cannot say as chairman, I have decreed A, B, C or D. You need the approval of the board.

“So, I think that what is confusing is a misapplication of the law establishing the NDDC or it hasn’t been properly read.

“The law does not have any powers attributed to the chairman. The powers of the chairman are the powers of the board and when we started, the first thing the board did was to donate their powers to me as chairman, to act in urgent cases.

“But you always came back to the board for them to ratify what you had done. So as chairman, you don’t have any special powers. The powers of the chairman are coterminous with the powers of the board.

“It is the managing director that for instance, is named as the chief accounting officer and by virtue of the extant laws, he is personally liable for the infraction of those laws.”

Regretting that the NDDC had not been allowed to grow, Ndoma-Egba said: “By now, apart from the law, we should have had an established tradition, because NDDC was established in the year 2000. That is long enough for certain things to be the tradition.

“But there is no board of NDDC that has survived its full term. So, those traditions haven’t been established, and then there is too much outside interference.”

He recalled that in 2006, then President Olusegun Obasanjo launched an elaborate regional development Master Plan, generated by Niger Delta stakeholders, state governments, oil companies, development partners and oil-producing communities.

He, however, lamented that the plan, envisaged to last for 15 years, was abandoned, leaving the region without a roadmap and wondered how the entire Niger Delta region could be developed without a plan.

Ndoma-Egba said: “The starting point was to either revalidate the initial masterplan which had a 15-year life span and had expired, or get a new master plan. So, we were in the process of developing that master plan.

“We were already talking with the government of Sao Tome, for them to deploy their excess internet capacity to the Niger Delta region because all the trunks that are coming from America and Europe meet in Sao Tome before they are distributed to different parts of Africa.

“Sao Tome is an Island nation with about 200,000 people, but the capacity they have is far more than what we have in Nigeria with 220 million people.

“So, we were in talks with them; in fact, they were willing to even give us their excess capacity plus their telecommunication companies. But it was at that point that the board was abruptly dissolved. We had already gotten approval in principle.”

He said the NDDC board under his leadership recognised that oil is a finite resource and that with time funding would become an issue.

He said: “We came up with the idea of a Niger Delta Development Bank and we got approval in principle, from the then Acting President, Yemi Osibanjo.

“We worked on the bank, a development bank that will take over all the mega projects so that their sustainability doesn’t depend on who was on the board.”

May 22, 2023
Sack fever grips aviation personnel

Fear fever has gripped senior officials in aviation agencies following reports on their likely reorganistion by the Aviation Ministry this week.

Sources within the aviation ministry hinted that the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, is shopping for replacement for the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). The agency has been without a substantive chief executive for more than a year.

It was learnt that the minister may bypass the acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Mathew Lawrence Pwajok, to deploy a senior official from the ministry to take over.

Besides NAMA, sources hinted that the job erasure will also spread to the National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), known formerly as the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).

It was unclear whether the sweeping changes will consume the office of the NCAA Director-General, whose tenure is granted by legislation and other international instruments.

The Nation learnt that last week’s resignation of the Director of Airworthiness Standards, Kayode Isiaka Ajiboye, has unsettled the sector.

Ajiboye resigned over the recruitment of unqualified safety inspectors into the sensitive unit of the NCAA.

The resignation will force the government to offload some personnel from the NCAA.

Captain Rabiu Yadudu was at the weekend relieved as the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) after the expiration of his tenure.

Seven out of the eight directors were also removed.

The development in FAAN has heightened anxiety among personnel in NAMA, NCAA, NSIB and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

Our source hinted that besides the Chief Executive Officers of the agencies, directors they were brought in a few years ago will he shown the way out.

The looming sack will affect a directorate in NCAA, which was recently embroiled in a N2 billion fraud on infractions bordering on duty tour allowances.

The EFCC invited and quizzed key personnel, including the Director of Finance and some general managers in the Accounts/Finance unit of the regulatory agency.

The NCAA will also be in the eye of the storm because of the circumstance surrounding the issuance of Air Operators’ Certificate (AOC), to shaky start up carrier – NG Eagle Airlines.

The carrier, which was packaged by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) , out of beleaguered Arik Air.

Sources hinted that the Ministry of Aviation is working behind the scene to use it to facilitate the controversial national carrier touted to take off before May 29, 2023.

Experts familiar with the processes of delivering a new airline say Nigeria Air is yet to secure operating aircraft, offices and workers for an airline billed to hit the skies before May 29, 2023.

Investigations reveal the NCAA does not have sufficient documentation on the carrier – in terms of the five stage process it requires to by airborne.

Last month, lawyer to indigenous carriers umbrella body -Airline Operator of Nigeria (AON): Nureini Jimoh Chambers wrote the regulator not to issue an AOC to promoters of Nigeria Air. The letter was signed by Abubakar Nuhu Ahmad.

Citing ongoing litigation, the AON said issuing the required certification to the carrier will not augur well for the country’s image.

The letter titled: “Notification of Court Orders”, hinted that it was putting NCAA on notice to save itself from available consequences of and disobedience of court orders.

Seven days to the expiration of the incumbent government, no aircraft branded in the livery of the proposed Nigeria Air has been sighted on the tarmac at any airport across the country.

May 22, 2023
Security beefed up ahead of May 29 inauguration

There has been a beef-up of security in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Bola Tinubu on May 29.

Top security sources told The Nation that beyond the physical deployment of operatives, emphasis was also placed on intelligence gathering.

Training of the police is ongoing, along with the military, to ensure the exercise is hitch-free.

Policemen from the Special Protection Unit have been deployed to safeguard public officials who have roles to play in the inauguration.

Security operatives guarding those with no role in the inauguration have been reduced.

Some of their guards were withdrawn and attached to those with vital roles to play.

Last Thursday, the Presidential Transition Council rolled out a programme for the inauguration.

Chairman of the Council and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, said foreign heads of state are expected.

Yesterday, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation said the adjoining areas to Eagle Square, the venue of the inauguration, would be cordoned off from 2 pm on Friday.

A circular by the Permanent Secretary, Permanent Welfare Office, Dr Ngozi Onwudiwe, reads: “The inauguration parade and swearing-in … will take place on Monday, 29th May 2023 at the Eagle Square, Central Business District, Abuja.

“In line with the security arrangements for the event, the Federal Secretariat Complexes Phases I, II, III and Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be cordoned off by security operatives from 2 pm on Friday to Monday.

“Accordingly, officers and intending visitors to the affected areas will not be allowed access till Tuesday when work will resume in earnest.”

A security source said: “There have been threats of interim governments by some dissident elements who feel aggrieved that they lost out.

“As I speak, intelligence operatives have been deployed across the FCT to gather information that would enable them to ensure a hitch-free inauguration. They are everywhere and are gathering the necessary information.

“I can tell you progress is being made. Besides, an influx of persons is expected in Abuja, hence the need to ensure the situation does not get out of hand.

“I can assure you no stone is being left unturned in ensuring the exercise is a success,” a source said.

The police yesterday said the warning by Inspector General Usman Alkali Baba remained applicable.

Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, a Chief Superintendent of Police, told our correspondent that there was nothing to add.

The IG had alleged a plot to derail the May 29 transfer of power.

He said those behind the plot are “political actors” and “subversive elements and their foot soldiers”.

The warning came on the heels of a previous one by the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) and the Department of State Services (DSS).

President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who won the February 25 poll, is billed to take office on May 29 as Nigeria’s fifth president of the Fourth Republic.

Three candidates are in court challenging his victory. Apart from the court action, many of those who felt aggrieved as a result of the loss of the preferred candidate have been making incendiary remarks on the outcome of the poll widely seen as the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s electoral history.

The IG said the police and the intelligence community cannot fold their hands and allow the subversive agenda, political radicalism and extremism to unleash tension and derail the orderly transfer of power.

The DSS had warned against a plot to set aside the constitution and install an interim government after May 29 by misguided elements.

Although he refrained from naming the plotters, DSS Spokesman Dr. Peter Afunanya, in a statement, warned those behind the conspiracy to thwart democracy to retrace their steps.

Alkali, who maintained that May 29 is sacrosanct, said those who are not satisfied with the outcome of the January 25 poll should stop heating up the polity.

He said: “Following the successful conclusion of the 2023 general elections, it has been observed that some major political actors that the outcome did not favour, have been issuing public threats that are directed at instigating actions to frustrate the presidential inauguration on May 29.

“The Nigeria Police and the national intelligence community have been closely monitoring the activities of these political elites as well as other elements who have formed themselves into unpatriotic brands whose only fantasy, in recent times, is to subvert our national security interests.

“In so doing, they seem to be bent on deploying extra-judicial and undemocratic means to truncate our democratic heritage in the advancement of their narrow personal political considerations.

“The 29th May 2023 date for the swearing-in ceremony of the President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and indeed, other inauguration ceremonies at national and state levels, are sacrosanct.”

May 22, 2023