The Nation Newspaper

Category: Open Forum

  • Sanwo-Olu: Giant strides of a performer

    Sanwo-Olu: Giant strides of a performer

    By Babajide Fadoju

    Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has, without doubt, taken governance to a whole new level; this is not mere hearsay or an exaggerated statement. This is a statement made out of facts. How did he successfully touch every sector within such a short time intentionally involving both young and old, while consistently encouraging women’s intervention in politics and growth?

    If any state was badly hit by Covid-19 and the aftermath of #EndSARS like Lagos, I can bet it would take years to recover. Sanwo-Olu did excellently well in managing the crisis without losing focus on delivering excellent results for Lagos.

    Many feared and anyone could have imagined a sporadic spread of the Covid-19 virus mainly because apart from the over 20 million residents the state, more than ten thousand people come in and out of Lagos State every day. Countries that had access to great medical facilities and equipment recorded a higher number of casualties and death rates and this became a reason to panic but Governor Sanwo-Olu did well by actively controlling the spread and also ensuring that those who had the virus were well attended to. As a result, the total number of deaths recorded was nothing compared to those of other countries. Through this singular act, Nigeria became the fourth best country in the world to have effectively and impressively curbed the spread of Covid-19 virus according to the World Health Organization.

    This man has impacted every sector of the state. Talk of the agricultural sector, the educational sector, transportation (rail, road, water), infrastructural development, job and wealth creation in form of grants to business owners, monthly payments to 4,000 unemployed youth, top-notch health care programs and facilities, 24-hour helpline for security and fire emergencies, cleaner environment as well as active involvement in the sports sector.

    In the agricultural sector, Governor Sanwo-Olu introduced the Agricultural Value Chain Enterprise Activation program with a major aim of proper sensitization of men and women of different age groups on the economic benefits of agriculture. Through this program, over 12,000 women and thousands of youths were trained in various agricultural practices which have positively impacted the lives of many youths thereby giving them a means of sustenance and livelihood.

    An administration that does not make a positive impact on the educational sector of its state can be said to have failed in its service to humanity as education is of paramount importance to the country as a whole and this cuts across every level of education, from pre-nursery to the university level. Here, the governor has transformed the state’s education policy which is why Lagos State’s education policy is second to none in the country to date. Governor Sanwo-Olu began the turn-around in this sector by successfully increasing the 2020 budgetary allocation by 65 percent and giving his full support to programs like the Eko-Excel initiative- Excellence in Child Education and learning tagged “Leave No Child Behind”. The administration constructed and upgraded facilities in the sector and has in the last 12 months donated over 80,000 chairs and tables to public schools in the state with more constructions still ongoing for further deliver across the state and won’t stop until every school is touched.

    In addition to this, the governor approved for employment into the state’s workforce 2,000 teachers for primary and 1,000 for the secondary arms. After employment, the teachers went through proper training and orientation to ensure that they perform their various duties efficiently and effectively once work begins. Also, grading instruments were instituted to increase the evaluation standard of schools and also improve the Education Quality Assurance Unit. He further gave out car refurbishment loans of N7.8 million to school teachers, housing loans of N3 million as well as the construction of teacher’s quarters within the school premises to encourage the teachers.

    During the Covid-19 pandemic, electronic learning and teaching platforms were created and students were taught through television, radio and internet media. This program was supported by corporates. The Eko-Excel program has achieved numerous goals over the years through investment in technology and arts, training and induction of teachers, reviewing and optimizing the curriculum, organizing and instituting good governance and administration, improving the capacity and welfare of students and school personnel and many more.

    Undisputedly, Governor Sanwo-Olu has made a major landmark in the world of creatives in the last four years. His inclusive approach in continually supporting creatives in and around Lagos has put him miles ahead of his contemporaries. Through the Ministry of Arts, Tourism, and Culture, Sanwo-Olu has embarked on major capacity building by collaborating with the private sector and leading industry giants with proven record. Through his support, over 3000 youths have been trained and empowered to contribute to the creative sector under partnerships with the Africa Film Academy and EbonyLife. 

    In the same vein, Governor Sanwo-Olu has released over N1 billion to support the creative sector in Lagos State aside from leading guests to 2022 Headies in Atlanta and hosting the Africa Movie Academy Awards on October 30.

    Over 51 major infrastructural projects have been constructed over in just two years. These projects include the Pen Cinema Fly-over, Lagos-Ogun Boundary roads, ramp and road networks, the Phase II, Lekki Oniru traffic circulation projects, network of roads in Ikoyi, Somolu, Ojokoro, construction and rehabilitation of 301 inner roads in the 20 local government areas and 37 Local Council Development areas, the Oshodi-Abike Egba BRT lane, the Eleko junction to Epe concrete pavement and many more.

    Has anyone seen the railway tracks and sophisticated trains in Lagos recently? If not, then one should take out time and take a ride on one of these machines. Blue line stations have been built at Festac, Alakija, Trade Fair, Volkswagen, LASU, Okokomaiko, Mile 2, Alaba, Iganmu, National Theatre, with a possible extension to Agbara in Ogun State and about seven stations concurrently being built. This will redefine mass transportation in Lagos State.

    The governor has continued to take the needs of people as paramount. He is ensuring that they have a conducive and healthy environment by donating 30 units of 12- cubic meter trucks, 60 units of 24-cubic meter trucks and 12 hook loaders to compliment the already existing 850 and more PSP compactor trucks to enhance efficient service delivery in all communities across the state. He has also continued to reach out to people with various incentives to help boost their standard of living. This he has done through payment of N40,000 monthly allowances to 4000 unemployed graduates as well as some direct grants to widows.

    Business owners are not left out as grants and MSMEs support fund are being made available to provide financial support and assistance to their various businesses.

    Without doubt, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has successfully made Lagos a modern mega city surrounded by 21st century infrastructure and social amenities. He is massively touching traffic management and transportation, education and technology, as well as health and environment sectors of the state within his first term. These achievements are quite impressive and a performance worthy of emulation by other governors.

  • Azuka Onwuka and the illusion of press freedom under siege

    Azuka Onwuka and the illusion of press freedom under siege

    By Ayo Olasoji Peters

    Mr. Azuka Onwuka, a usually perceptive columnist with The Punch newspaper on Tuesday, December 20, weighed in in his column on the recent media exchanges between the Boards of Editors of the THIS DAY/ARISE media group and two key media strategists of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. Dele Alake, Special Adviser on Strategic Communication and Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Director of Media and Publicity. It is surely within his rights to interrogate an issue understandably of interest to journalists and other members of the public. However, any analyst who decides to dissect the issues in contention and wants to be taken seriously has a responsibility to be dispassionate and objective and refrain from writing from a partisan prism indicating patent bias and prejudice.

    Luckily, the columnist rightly traces and affirms both Alake and Onanuga’s unblemished record of support for freedom of the speech and the press even at the cost of grave danger to their lives and livelihoods under vicious military dictatorships. They were key Actors in one of the most glorious hours of Nigerian journalism akin to the media’s role in the struggle against colonial rule that ushered in independence in 1960. It is thus astonishing that Onwuka would most cavalierly accuse the duo of now attacking press freedom, which they had earlier stoutly defended as practicing journalists, without the slightest shred of credible evidence to substantiate this grave allegation.

    In the first place, how can an ordinarily careful analyst like Onwuka so casually conflate the period of vicious military dictatorship with the liberal democracy we have been practicing for over two and a half decades now since 1999? What instances could he cite of Alake or Onanuga endangering or ‘attacking’ the press freedom they fought for under the military since the commencement of this dispensation? How could an admittedly avoidable disagreement between one media group and a presidential candidate’s campaign organization be framed as an attack on press freedom? This is particularly ridiculous when we consider that there are at least 100 media organizations, both traditional and online platforms, in the country. Yet, only one medium has claimed that the questioning of their mode of operation and what is perceived as blatant bias by the media group in question against their candidate constitutes an attack on press freedom. The misleading narrative that press freedom is under siege that Onwuka wants to sustain is dubious and mischievous.

    The only basis for Onwuka’s claim is the allegation by the THIS DAY/ARISE group management that some members of the APC PCC requested the sack of its journalists, Shaka Momodu and Rufai Oseni, for “unfavourable reportage” of Tinubu. Both Alake and Onanuga have vehemently denied this claim. They have requested the group to produce any evidence of such a demand. Such documentation has, to the best of my knowledge, not been presented for public scrutiny. It is therefore difficult to understand on what grounds Onwuka takes the claim of the THIS DAY/ARISE media group on Momodu and Oseni as gospel truth without critical scrutiny.

    When the APC campaign organization had a grouse against the professional conduct of the media group, which broadcast a forged press statement purportedly emanating from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a document disowned by the commission, Mr. Alake did not hesitate to petition the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which sanctioned the media group. The THIS DAY/ARISE group not only paid the imposed fine; it tendered a public apology to Tinubu. Why would the same campaign council then surreptitiously request for the sack of journalists in the organisation and that without even a formal letter documenting their perceived infractions? This allegation is simply ridiculous.

    A media outfit has the right to invite a candidate or any other individual for an interview or any other type of interaction. But that right does not extend to the candidate being forced to accept the invitation especially when the medium has been perceived rightly or wrongly as having taken a biased partisan position against the candidate or his party. If a media group insists that a candidate attend its event and resorts to what is difficult to differentiate from blackmail and harassment if such invitation is declined, it fuels suspicion that a hidden agenda is being pursued as the APC campaign has alleged. Each campaign organisation has the right to choose its communications strategy and no media group can force a strategy on any candidate or party.

    Tinubu has been active attending and participating in Town Hall meetings with selected stakeholders in the Nigerian society and economy. These events have been amply covered and reported in the media. If the APC campaign sees this as a more effective strategy to communicate with its desired publics and play on the strengths of its candidate, what has right anybody, be it an individual or group, to dictate or impose a different strategy on them? In the final analysis, it is the electorate who will determine the more effective strategy at the polls.

    Onwuka joins the company of those who have sought to discredit Tinubu’s outing at the Chatham House lecture in London because he assigned four of the eleven questions he was asked to members of his team to respond to. He argues that “If candidates for employment or examination come with people who will help them answer questions, then there is no need for examinations and interviews, as everyone can assemble a team to provide the required answers”. The comparative context is patently dissimilar and the analogy unsuitable. None of the four major presidential candidates is an unknown quantity and thus seeking to write fresh interviews for a job. A political campaign is not the equivalent of a written examination for a job. The record of the key contestants in public life over the last two decades is already in the public domain. Moreover, the presidential campaign is not just a contest between individuals; it is also a competition between parties and opposing teams.

    Onwuka is right that it is no crime for a presenter, columnist or medium to show preference for one candidate or the other. But in an atmosphere of rabid partisanship on the part of the media, many times with scant respect for the professional demands of adherence to factual accuracy and balance and the perpetration of outright ethical malpractices due to pervasive corruption, debates must be shielded from these ills by being more carefully and methodically organized with the involvement of all key stakeholders. This is the practice in the United States where one outfit does not just confer on itself the sole proprietorship of organizing debates or Town Hall events and railroading all others to play along with all the opportunity for racketeering and backroom deals the latter organisational mode presents.

     

    • Mr. Ayo Peters is an Abuja based public affairs analyst
  • Adedayo: The hatchet man on the march again

    Adedayo: The hatchet man on the march again

    After months of “tactical retreat”, Festus Adedayo has dramatically returned to his favourite sport: Tinubu-bashing.  When pent-up bitterness mixes with residual vengeful spirit, the amalgam can be quite toxic. It poisons the mind and beclouds reasoning. Adedayo’s own manifestation of such co-morbidities can easily be diagnosed in his latest piece with the title:  “Onanuga, Alake and Obaigbena At Thessalonica” published on Sunday (December 18, 2022).

    One, Adedayo set out on a clearly false premise which is conflating the present roles of Messrs Bayo Onanuga and Dele Alade as spokespersons of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, with their former jobs as media gurus. Relying on that patently rickety theoretical foundation, the author then proceeded on an elaborate voyage of twisting facts, citing beer-parlour fibs and embellishing conjectures in a manner that not only disgraces scholarship,  but, in fact, raises cogent questions on the integrity of a doctorate degree he claims to possess.

    Adedayo’s intervention was supposed to be against the backdrop of the sharp exchanges between the two spokesmen of the APC campaign and the promoter of THISDAY/Arise TV over the refusal of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to honour invitations sent by the latter. As key strategists of the APC campaign, both Onanuga and Alake argued that it was their prerogative to decide the most effective tactic their candidate adopts to reach the Nigerian voters, vowing not submit to the dictation of anyone.

    That essentially is the crux of the position of Onanuga and Alake. From both objective and subjective lens, it is a legitimate claim, especially when they claim they have strong evidence that an ambush was being laid for their principal. Only an analyst with deficient faculty will seek to demonize them for this, like Adedayo labored so hard to do.

    Well, those who follow Adedayo’s writings weekly are not unlikely to observe this rather obsessive worship of the minstrel of the lumpen chaste of Yoruba cultural establishment, popularly known as Ayinla Omowura. Hardly will he ever allow any opportunity to pass without inverting his local musical idol — amulets, incantations and all — into otherwise serious discussion. But that is precisely where Adedayo’s talent ends. His vacuous reading of events, the fickle comprehension of issues is often laid bare starkly whenever he veers outside the bucolic province of Apala music. Definitely, the skillset required to transliterate Ayinla Omoruwa’s Yoruba panegyrics is dissimilar to that needed for a nuanced dissection of a more substantive matter.

    For instance, Adedayo loaded his poorly conceived article with a bogus declaration that the APC presidential candidate is a drug baron in Chicago without backing that with cogent evidence, other than the hackneyed line from the gutter of social media. A true scholar does not make baseless claim or revel in retailing beer-parlour hear-says or rumor. In any case, the United States Government had through its Lagos embassy dispelled such a big lie as far back as 2003. Yet, Adedayo, a supposed senior journalist, continues to echo this lie. In another breath in the same article, Adedayo came close to certifying the APC candidate as a medical invalid, again without telling us if he had personally conducted a medical evaluation of Tinubu or if he was privy to his medical records. Such antics are hallmark of a pseudo-scholar or intellectual shaman.

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    Let it however, be noted that Adedayo’s reference to kerfuffle between APC spokespersons and THISDAY/Arise was a mere facade to execute a sinister agenda. A casual content analysis of the referenced piece will reveal it disproportionately tilts towards a most vile and virulent personal attack on Alake. As the Yoruba would say, “Kila gbe, kile ju” (attack is disproportionate to provocation). It is all in Adedayo’s desperation to resume his now well-known, long-running campaign of vendetta against Tinubu over his loss of a plum appointment offer as Special Adviser to the Senate President in 2019. So, to set the duo up for attack, vengeful Adedayo disingenuously resorted to framing their current assignments as an extension of the newsroom and conveniently concluded that not having their principal submit to any conceivable media invitation is, according to him, doing journalism grave damage. What a disjointed logic by a cluttered mind!

    The last time Adedayo reared his ugly head in this Tinubu-bashing, he was roundly exposed as a sulking brat still unable to overcome the shame and trauma of losing what he considered a “dream job” in 2019. It surely bespeaks poor breeding for Adedayo to resort to use of indecorous language on someone far more accomplished in journalism than him. Alake, one of those who had distinguished themselves as conscientious journalists and indeed, staked their lives in the popular struggle against military dictatorship in the 90s, left journalism in 1999 when he took up appointment as Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy. He has not looked back since. Unlike Adedayo whose evolution in the past two decades has been a perpetual oscillation between the newsroom and government appointments, forever hustling and touting for job at every election cycle.

    When Adedayo hypocritically pontificates on the values of public sector governance and the ethical journalism today, it is as if he was not the rabid “attack dog” recruited from Tribune in 2003 and clothed as “Chief Press Secretary” by then Governor Chimaroke Nnamani in Enugu State for eight unbroken years. Adedayo was the super-efficient megaphone, who penned several worshipful articles venerating Nnamani, too eager to justify the crumbs falling into his mouth and pockets from Nnamani’s buffet table. Jobless after Nnamani’s tenure ended, Adedayo returned to the newsroom and started using his “jeun jeun” (purchase-able) column to tout for job until Governor Abiola Ajimobi also invited him to Agodi Government House in Oyo State in 2011 to “come and eat”. But ever a treacherous person with deep character flaw to always bite the fingers that fed him and betray benefactors, Adedayo’s true colours soon became manifest to Ajimobi who had no option left than offload Adedayo at some point and pick someone else  as Media Adviser.

    So, for another four years, Adedayo was back to his habitual hustling for political attention with his pedantic column. Week in week out, he was unsparing of APC and its leaders. But it was all grandstanding. When an offer came from one of such APC leaders to become his media adviser in 2019, Adedayo, the sanctimonious, highly “principled public intellectual” jumped at it with the alacrity of a famished baboon thrust into a banana plantation. There were reports that his kith and kin in his native Akure had, in fact, chosen an “Aso Ebi” and made elaborate arrangement for a “night bus” to convey the clan to Abuja for his scheduled inauguration as Special Adviser to Dr. Ahmed Lawan, the Senate President only for a terse message to arrive at the eleventh hour that his appointment had been withdrawn.  Of course, Dr. Lawan’s action was precipitated by outrage expressed by APC youths in Abuja, stating that they could not understand why a man who habitually abused President Muhammadu Buhari, APC administration and its leaders would be shameless enough to now partake in the spoil of the party’s electoral victory.

    Again, when Adedayo deployed viciously derogatory words against Tinubu and media platforms promoted by him, many are left wondering if it is not the same Adedayo who was offered a senior editorial job in one of such outfits linked to Tinubu. For about four years, National Life and later, The Nation, provided a source of livelihood for Adedayo and his family. This was after he became jobless, following Nnamani’s exit in Enugu. Pray, what faith — whether Islam or Christianity — will permit someone descend so unconscionably low? Of course, only serpents and Judas behave that way. It is a measure of Adedayo’s true character.

     

    • Olorunyomi, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Ogun State.

     

  • Legality of restrictive compensation under Land Use Act

    Legality of restrictive compensation under Land Use Act

    The right to property is central to human existence and it is a fundamental pillar of all democratic societies. The rights of every citizen of Nigeria to own movable or immovable property in any part of the country is guaranteed under section 43 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended).

    Prior to the promulgation of the Land Use Act (LUA), there was trenchant public concern over the astronomically high cost of land in Nigeria.

    This posed tremendous difficulties not only to individuals but also to governments in need of land for sundry development purposes.

    Land ownership was relatively concentrated in the hands of few influential persons in the society who most often than not refuse to release these lands to the government for the purposes of providing infrastructural development that will benefit the public at large.

    Even when it is released to the government, it is released at a cost far above its market value.

    The gap between the rich and the poor continued to widen as land ownership is kept outside the reach of poor Nigerians.

    To resolve these lingering issues, the Land Use Act was promulgated on the 29th of March 1978 as Decree No. 6 of 1978. According to its preamble, the Land Use Act was enacted to assert and preserve the rights of all Nigerians to the land of Nigeria, to assure, protect and preserve the rights of all Nigerians, to the use and enjoyment of the land and the natural fruits thereof in sufficient quantity, and to enable them to provide for the sustenance of themselves and their families.

    With the promulgation of the Land Use Act, absolute ownership of land is no longer permissible since by virtue of Section 1 of the Act, all lands comprised in the territory of each state of the federation were vested in the governor of the state and such lands are held in trust and administered for the common benefits of all Nigeria.

    As a corollary to the ownership rights vested in the Governor, private rights were limited to a mere possessory right referred to as the “Right of Occupancy” usually granted for an ascertainable period.

    An inherent component of the Vesting Right and Right of Occupancy introduced under the Land Use Act, is the power of eminent domain (otherwise known as Power of Revocation, Compulsory Acquisition, Compulsory Purchase), which is the power the Governor to “Revoke” Rights of Occupancy issued to private persons/companies for overriding public interest, however subject to the prompt payment of compensation.

    The Constitution and the Land Use Act both mandate the prompt payment of compensation to person(s) whose right of occupancy was forcefully taken away for overriding public interest.

    The philosophical basis for the requirement of prompt payment of compensation is that the responsibility of satisfying public interest cannot be shouldered by one man.

    However, the Land Use Act limits payments of compensation to unexhausted improvements on the land only. In other words, owners of bare lands are not entitled to compensation.

    It is the opinion of this Writer that the provisions of the Land Use Act which limits the payment of compensation to improvements on lands only are repugnant to natural justice, equity and a good conscience and above all, unconstitutional.

    Compensation regime under the Constitution

    The rights of every Nigerian to own and acquire immovable properties in any part of Nigeria are guaranteed by section 43 of the Constitution.

    The same Constitution also recognized the powers of the Governor of a State to acquire and/or revoke private rights in land for overriding public interest but however subject to prompt payment of compensation.

    The Government’s powers to acquire lands compulsorily stems from Section 1 of the Land Use Act, 1978 which vests all lands in the Governor as Head Lessor.

    Thus, the Governor may in the overriding public interest acquire private land subject to the enabling statute and failure of which the acquisition will be rendered void.

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    The purpose of the government to compulsorily acquire lands is mainly to ensure that land is readily available when needed for essential infrastructure. Despite being a necessary governmental tool, the issue of compulsory acquisition has proved to be a source of worry and conflict in Nigeria between the acquiring authorities and the dispossessed landowners.

    Cases of loss of lives and property occasioned by the exercise of expropriation power are on the rise across the nooks and crannies of the country. Section 44 (1) provides as follows:

    “No moveable property or any interest in an immovable property shall be taken possession of compulsorily and no right over or interest in any such property shall be acquired compulsorily in any part of Nigeria except in the manner and for the purposes prescribed by law, among other things;

    • Requires the prompt payment of compensation, therefore;
    • Give to any person claiming such compensation a right of access for the determination of his interest in the property and the amount of compensation to a court of law or tribunal or body having jurisdiction in that part of Nigeria.”

    Flowing from the above provision of the Constitution, the government is mandated to pay prompt compensation for any interest in and over land compulsorily acquired from private individuals.

    The Constitution specifically used the words “immovable properties” which is described in Black’s Law Dictionary, Osbourne Concise Law Dictionary and Nigerian Law Dictionary, to include; land and property attached thereto.

    Consequently, by the provisions of the Constitution, compensation is payable in respect of all immovable properties (bare or developed lands).

    The Constitution further gives individuals whose rights were compulsorily acquired, the right of access to court of law or tribunal for the determination of their interest in the property and the amount of compensation payable to them.

    Compensation Regime under the Land Use Act

    Section 28 of the Land Use Act empowers the Governor of State to revoke private rights over land for overriding public interest.

    By the provision of Section 28 (7), the title of the holder of a right of occupancy shall be extinguished on receipt by him of a notice given under the hand of a public officer duly authorised on that behalf by the Governor or on a such later date as may be stated in the notice.

    Section 29 subsection (1) and (4) provides that the holder and the occupier shall be entitled to compensation for the value at the date of revocation of their unexhausted improvements; and compensation under subsection (1) of this section shall be, as assessed as follows – (1) the land; for an amount equal to the rent, if any, paid by the occupier during the year in which the right of occupancy was revoked.

    This provision only affects Occupiers of land and not the Holder of the Right of Occupancy.

    Consequently, if the Occupier occupies the land rent-free, he will not be entitled to compensation. (2) buildings, installation or improvement; for the amount of the replacement cost, less depreciation, together with interest at the bank rate for delayed payment of compensation; (3) crops on the land, for an amount equal to the value as prescribed and determined by the appropriate officer.

    Section 51 defined improvement or unexhausted improvements to mean anything of any quality permanently attached to the land, directly resulting from the expenditure of capital or labour by an occupier or any person acting on his behalf, and increasing the productive capacity, the utility or the amenity thereof and includes buildings, plantations of long-lived crops or trees, fencing, a well, roads and irrigation or reclamation works but does not include the result of ordinary cultivation other than growing produce.

    The purport of the above provisions of the Act is that payment of compensation is restricted to improvements on the land and therefore does not extend to bare land. We submit that this negates the provisions of section 44 of the constitution which mandates the payment of compensation on all immovable properties (bare and developed lands) forcefully acquired by the Government.

    For the determination of the quantum of compensation payable to persons whose rights were compulsorily acquired, section 2(2) of the Land Use Act, created an advisory body known as the Land Use Allocation Committee charged with the responsibility of advising the Governor on any matter connected to the management of land, resettlement of persons affected by the revocation and determining disputes as to the amount of compensation payable for improvement on land.

    By the provisions of section 47 of the Act, any decision reached by the Land Use Allocation Committee as to the quantum of compensation payable to an aggrieved person whose right of occupancy was compulsorily acquired is final.

     

     

    By Udenna Chukwulobe

  • Anti-laundering, terrorism laws: weapons against national scourges

    Anti-laundering, terrorism laws: weapons against national scourges

    Prof. Itse Sagay

    The scope of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 exceeds not only what we normally consider as money laundering, but also includes institutions and provisions not contained in the 2011 Act.

    For example, it creates a new body within the EFCC called The Special Control Unit for the effective implementation of money laundering provisions of the Act in relation to the designated non-financial businesses and professions.

    This emphasis on the inclusion of non-financial institutions within the operations of the Act is an acknowledgement of the significant financial activities of lawyers, and accountants particularly, who engage in the movement of money on behalf of their clients.

    Thus, the scope of this Act is very comprehensive and greatly exceeds what we normally consider money laundering.

    The standard meaning of Money Laundering is limited to laundering “dirty” money, i.e., investing money obtained by unlawful means into another business which obscures or obliterates the origins of the money invested.

    Blacks Law Dictionary (8th Edition) defines it as “The Act of transferring illegally obtained money through legitimate people or accounts so that its original source cannot be traced.” P. 843.

    It is for this reason I believe, that the draftsman did not include the definition of Money Laundering in the Act.

    It is a sweeping piece of legislation which covers every type of illegitimate financial transaction not only through the banks but also through non-financial bodies and even between individuals.

    Technically giving anyone a gift of money above five million naira, outside the banking system is an offence.

    Even if a transfer of funds is within the permitted limits, but is the proceed of a crime to the knowledge of a bank or of a non-financial institution, it must be reported to the EFCC.

    This clearly demonstrates the illegality of money spraying at parties, particularly when the sums sprayed exceeds N5 million or its equivalent in other currencies.

    It is clear that the new Act’s sweeping provisions are meant to guarantee that no unlawful financial transaction can go outside the ambit of the EFCC.

    This is most welcome in our present situation in which financial crimes proliferate so much that it is almost choking this country’s economy.

    The Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 also repeals the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 in order to expand the provisions of the earlier Act and to “Provide an Effective, Unified and Comprehensive Legal Regulatory and Institutional Frame Work for the Detection, Prevention, Prohibition, Prosecution and Punishment of Acts of (i) terrorism, (ii) terrorism financing, (iii) Proliferation of Terrorism and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Nigeria.”

    This Act was promulgated as part of international cooperation with the United Nations and its member States to suppress and eliminate acts of terrorism everywhere in the World.

    It gives Nigeria the power to proclaim a person or any entity as a terrorist or terrorist financier.

    It also gives Nigerian courts extra/territorial jurisdiction in relation to terrorism financing. It also contains provisions for freezing, search and seizure, confiscation and forfeiture of terrorist property.

    Unlike the Money Laundering Act, the Terrorism Act defines terrorism comprehensively in Section 2 in extremely wide terms. Thus, a person is guilty of terrorism under the following circumstances.

    “(3) In this Act, “act of terrorism” means an act wilfully performed to further an ideology, whether political, religious, racial, or ethnic, and which – (a) may seriously harm or damage a country or an international organisation; (b) unduly compels a government or an international organisation to perform or abstain from performing any act; (c) seriously intimidates a population; (d) seriously destabilises or destroys the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or an international organisation; (e) influences a government or an international organisation by intimidation or coercion; (f) violates the provisions of any international treaty or resolution to which Nigeria is a party, subject to the provisions of Section 12 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999; and (g) involves, causes, or results in –(i) attack on a person’s life, in the form of grievous bodily harm or death, (ii) kidnapping of a person, (iii) destruction of government or public facility, a transport system, an infrastructural facility, including national critical information infrastructure, a fixed platform located on the continental shelf, a public place or private property, which may likely endanger human life or result in major economic loss, (iv) the seizure of an aircraft, ship, or other means of public transport or conveying goods, or the diversion or use of such means of transportation or conveyance for the purposes of subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, (v) the manufacture, possession, acquisition, transportation, transfer, supply or use of weapons, including explosives or biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear weapons (BCRN weapons), as well as research into and development of BCRN weapons without lawful authority, an the receipt, possession, use, transfer, alteration, disposal or dispersal of nuclear or other radioactive material or devises, (vi) the release of dangerous substance, causing of fire, explosions or floods, the effect of which is to endanger human life, (vii) interference with or disruption of the supply of water, power, or any other fundamental natural resources, the effect of which is to endanger human life…

    There are altogether about 20 different situations constituting terrorism in the Act. Given the scourge of universal violence, nationwide, the Act can be described as containing provisions and punishments that are not only contemporary but also fit the gravity of the crime of terrorism.

    Nigeria is infested with terrorism. We have Boko Haram in the Northeast, Bandits and Kidnappers in the Northwest and Northcentral, Herdsmen terrorists in the Northcentral, Southwest and Southsouth, and deadly unknown gunmen in the South East.

    Before a person or group can be declared a terrorist, there must be a recommendation from a specially Constituted Body called the Sanction, Committee. Punishment for terrorism includes freezing and forfeiture of funds and imprisonment from 25 years to life imprisonment.

    It is encouraging that Nigeria has now engaged in more vigour in the war against our terrorists. The use of the Surkano Jets, drones and other weapons of suppression is beginning to bear fruits.

    There must be no quarter for terrorists, who constitute a blight on our individual and collective existence in Nigeria.

     

    • Sagay, an eminent professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, presented this paper at a parley in Abuja.
  • BATOCRACY: An effective governance model? (1)

    BATOCRACY: An effective governance model? (1)

    One striking impact our adversity, as a nation, has had on us as citizens of Nigeria is our unity and collective desire for a major shift. We are united by those things that have seemingly left us unadmiring to other nations of the world, and events in the past few months have shown a people in need of hope.

    More than ever, an increasing number of Nigerians have taken interest in the leadership process, including voting and being voted for.

    Once again, we are gradually reigniting the spirit of patriotism that once existed during the days of our heroes past.

    We have all agreed we are at our lowest ebb as a nation, and it will take a radical change in our approach through deliberate decision-making within a democratic ambience and not some forcible overthrow of our current social order to achieve true nationhood.

    After all, the worst of democratic rule is far more worthy of patronage than the best of military rule.

    While we groan and bemoan our current state as a nation, a period of despair, setback and quagmire is not uncommon in the history of nations.

    The 1780s, in the history of the United States of America(USA), were marred by economic downturn due to debts, inability to levy taxes, and significant inflation of the continental dollar, among others.

    But it took a man to fix all of these. George Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, as the President of the United States of America(USA), and his leadership unified the country and set the model for democratic executive leadership in the modern world that has become a template embraced globally. Where a man fails, it will take another man to rebuild the ruins. A man who will show that it is more important to build strong institutions than strong men.

    The government of the people, by the people and for the people empowers the citizen to review the state of their nation after a period of time, which further guides them to decide on whether there should be continuity of a particular style of government or a call for a complete departure from the status quo. This happens every four years as enshrined in our constitution as Nigerians. One of such opportunities is before us come February 2023.

    In the midst of the frenzies in the political and social space, a man must emerge who will steer the course of our nation as the Commander in Chief(C in C). It is instructive to acknowledge that what will guide us into making the best decision for our country and countrymen spread across the world is the understanding of what we need, which will help us know the kind of leader we need.

    To function as a nation, we need a model. We need a government model within our democratic system. A model wrapped in the tenets of good governance, as described by Indian sociologist, Dr. Surendra Munshi, as “…a participative manner of governing that functions in a responsible, accountable, and transparent manner based on the principles of efficiency, legitimacy, and consensus for the purpose of promoting the rights of individual citizens and the public interest.”

    This model has to be translated into the betterment of over 200 million Nigerians, including the over 10 million out-of-school children, the youth unemployment rate of 17.7 percent, and the inflation rate of 21.09 percent. It then has to be a tested model we can trust.

    To replicate this model, we need, first, a patriot, someone who is committed to Nigeria’s indivisibility, someone who is committed to building a nation bound in freedom, peace and unity, as expressed in the last line of our national anthem’s first stanza. For 2023 and beyond, it has to be a tested and trusted model. It has to be an election of “what I have done” and not “what I will do” for whoever sees fit to install this model. It will require a personality, Bold, Audacious and Tenacious (BAT) to replicate this system of government (CRACY)

    May 29, 2022, made it exactly fifteen years since Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu held a public position, either elected or appointed. In fact, that was the only office he has ever held, apart from being a senator during the short-lived Nigerian Third Republic in 1993. Consequently, he has not been part of the policy-making process or its implementation. Since handing over to Babatunde Fashola, SAN, who succeeded him as Governor, the closest he has come to being in power was his decision to jostle for the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stand a chance to be on the ballot for the number one seat in the country, which he successfully won.

    As stated earlier, 2023 would be an election of fact-checking antecedents and not some trial and error venture. Right before us, we have a man whose trajectory within our national discourse speaks of excellence and quality service delivery in the public interest.

    Agreeing with Dr. Surendra on the good governance model, it becomes a catalyst for reform processes, which has been exemplified by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the governor of Lagos State. Transformations were birthed through consistent political will and leadership; strategic visioning of development, a knowledge-based approach to planning, budget reform and its linkage with activities of government institutions; institutional reform for efficient service delivery, partnership building with popular participation, policy, legislative, and institutional reforms; resource mobilization, transparency, and accountability; application of information and communication technology and data in governance; pragmatic intervention, and sustainable urban planning.

    Asiwaju inherited a seemingly failed state when he became Lagos State Governor in 1999, after Sixteen (16) years of military dictatorship. As a reformer with foresight, he promoted a consistent pattern of reforms to promote development. Successive administrations of Babatunde Fashola, Akinwumi Ambode, and Babajide Sanwoolu have continued with the same consistent approach.

    Since year 2000, during Tinubu’s administration, Lagos State has always organised the Lagos State Economic Summit (Ehingbeti). This explains a government’s understanding of the essence of integrating and sharing knowledge within an organization. This knowledge-based approach to planning has provided a framework for public-private partnerships (PPPs) to support development. The latest edition of this idea in October this year brought no fewer than 25 speakers who are experts from different sectors of the nation’s economy, where a 30-year development plan was unveiled for the country’s commercial nerve centre.

    This kind of approach in times past led to the creation of the 16,500-hectare Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), which was developed as an international public-private partnership. Conceived as a hi-tech industrial zone, this economic powerhouse currently harbours $25 billion worth of investment, including Deep Sea Port, Dangote Refinery, Airport, fertiliser plant and over 200 other enterprises. The master plan of the LFTZ was initiated and prepared by Lagos State government under Asiwaju in 2006. One other far-reaching result of the PPP was the construction of the N43 Billion Lekki-Epe Expressway. Around this infrastructure lies iconic structures like Oriental Hotel, the Civic Centre, and the Boat Club along Ozumba Mbadiwe Way. This axis was a vast refuse dump as of 1999.

    Lagos State, under Asiwaju on August 1, 1999, was the first to break the sole monopoly of power generation and distribution from the then National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) with the Enron Power Project, which was an independent power project. This initiative was greeted with controversy, but the Federal Government acknowledged the wisdom of breaking the monopoly of NEPA. This demonstrated the capacity of some states to generate electricity, if the power to legislate on it is on the concurrent list.

    A major takeaway from this is the courage of a man who seeks to provide solutions through ideas that will promote good governance.

    When the Federal Government introduced a home-grown poverty reduction strategy, the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) in 2003, Lagos State formulated and adopted the LASEEDS (Lagos State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy) in 2005. This birthed reform through basic strategic planning techniques for stimulating sustainable development mainly through empowering people (human capital), developing the private sector (wealth creation), and reforming the government and its institutions (public sector reform). There has been the implementation of several institutional reforms through the creation of new agencies.

    Before 1999, the transport landscape in Lagos State used to be dominated by the notorious ‘molue’ buses as well as the unruly yellow ‘danfo’ buses. The former gradually extinct while the latter is methodically being phased out.

    The bill to establish Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) was signed by Bola Tinubu in 2002 to coordinate transport planning, policies and public transport infrastructure implementation in the Lagos metropolitan area. This innovation has produced the Lagos Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system and the Lagos State Strategic Transport Master Plan (LASSTMP) as well as the Lagos Rail Mass Transit system. Today, we hear of the Blue and the Red rail lines which are part of the “Seven Rail Line Vision” being implemented by the incumbent Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu who was also part of the committee that designed the plan in 2005.

    There was creation of Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Emergency Medical Services (LASEMS), Lagos State Microfinance Institution (LASMI), Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) among others.

    Sometimes in July this year, the United States announced that it is building its largest embassy in the world in Eko Atlantic City. This was a terrain that used to be washed by perennial flooding, and even forced the Federal Government and the state government to abandon their guest houses and liaison offices. The Federal Government annually spent billions of naira to pour sand into the ocean to prevent flooding but to no avail. But the Tinubu administration then requested the Federal Government to hand over the beach to Lagos State and the Bar Beach flood prevention line was first constructed. This challenge has now transformed into the ogling construction of the Eko Atlantic City, a brand new city emerging from the belly of the ocean.

    Re-engineering the State’s Board of internal Revenue and its revenue collection capacity led to aggressive resource mobilisation. Now renamed Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, the Tinubu administration reformed the tax administration process through the computerisation of the State’s tax assessment records and the introduction of electronic tax clearance card-a fraud-free, convenient method of keeping taxpayers record. The result? Internally-generated revenue of Lagos rose from about N600m per month in 1999 to an average of N5billion per month in 2006, with revenue peaking between N6.9bn and N8.1bn per month in March 2007.

    Lagos State became the first State to approach the capital market to raise development funds through the issuance of bonds which were successfully floated. A former Solicitor-General of the State and Commissioner for Lands in the Tinubu administration, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey, better put this in perspective in his 2012 essay on Tinubu’s exemplary developmental leadership where he said, “…the mix of Tinubu’s top-notch knowledge of financial systems with the legal and financial knowledge inherent in his team and among the civil servants in the finance and budget ministries and the debt Office, the fact that Asiwaju had ensured that there was an up-to-grade state finances audit report and with the input of external experts, we saw it through.”

    By the time Tinubu left office in 2007, the State’s reliance on statutory allocations from Federation Accounts had been reduced to about 25 percent that the state was unperturbed by the seizure of more than N23.6 billion by the President Olusegun Obasanjo-led federal government-an indication of its financial stability. Today, Lagos makes the greatest contribution to Nigeria’s leading economic indicators with industries, including manufacturing and service delivery, banking, and telecommunications services.

    The restructuring of the State’s Ministry of Works and Housing during Tinubu’s tenure, which involved the upgrading of the housing department into a full-fledged Ministry, marked the beginning of the reform in the Housing sector. Coordinated by the Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) and the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) for better management, the ministry was tasked with providing 500 housing units annually. Through this, the Michael Otedola Low Income Housing project was revived as well as others like the Abraham Adesanya Housing Estate, part of the Jubilee Housing Scheme, is a 1,300-unit complex for low-income people. The ministry itself took on the initiative of the project. The Oko Oba flats in Ikeja’s Oregun Estate, the Femi Okunnu Housing Estate in Lekki, and the Mile 2 Housing Estate in Lagos were also completed and delivered. Gbagada 1&2, Ibeshe, Ikeja 1, Ikeja 2, Oko Oba/Alaba, and Ewu Elepe were also targeted for development. To ensure improved governance at the grassroots, Tinubu created additional 37 local councils areas, bringing the total number of councils to 57, even against the refusal of the National Assembly to list the councils in the constitution.

    Beyond a presidential candidate, Nigeria needs a performer, a reformer, and a visioner who carries with him an institution made up of progressive ideologies, a proactive and highly resourceful individual who has committed to the work of advancing Nigeria.

    What the nation needs is a system of government built on the assemblage of quality men and women with the much required mentality and resources to push Nigeria forward, the ones that comes with the institution called BATOCRACY.

    Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo is the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and member representing Akoko North East/North West Federal Constituency and writes from Abuja

  • Role of judiciary in 2023 election

    Role of judiciary in 2023 election

    Nigeria has a chequered history of electoral malpractices such as rigging, violence, fraud and several other forms of illegal interference with the electoral process.

    The new Electoral Act was passed in February 2022 to regulate all future elections in Nigeria, except local government elections, and is the most progressive and innovative electoral enactment ever passed by the National Assembly.

    The Electoral Act 2022 represents the best attempt, so far, by the National Assembly at tackling the issues that have beguiled the electoral process in Nigeria for so long.

    It contains a lot of provisions that, if effectively implemented, would limit the occurrence of electoral malpractices, reduce election-related litigations and instil transparency and accountability in the electoral process.

    Notwithstanding the several laudable provisions of the Act, because the judiciary is the enforcer and interpreter of these provisions, the role of the Judiciary in the forthcoming 2023 general elections cannot be overemphasised.

    Perhaps, nowhere is the role of the judiciary better captured than under Section 65(2) of the Act which empowers the judiciary to review INEC’s decision after INEC reviews the declaration of an election result by a returning officer where it determines that the declaration was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the Law or Guidelines.

    This provision exemplifies the fact that the judiciary is the last line of defence against all attacks against the sanctity and transparency of the forthcoming 2023 general elections.

    There are several commentaries on the novel provisions of the Electoral Act 2022. These provisions cover aspects such as party primaries and pre-election matters, the financial independence of INEC, the inclusion of disabled voters, notices and timetables, and campaign funding.

    In this paper, I shall focus briefly on some of the notable provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 in relation to the upcoming 2023 general election, and the issues which the judiciary would encounter while determining election petitions filed after the 2023 general election.

    Review of declaration of results by INEC

    Pursuant to section 65(1) of the new Electoral Act, INEC is empowered to review the declaration of scores of candidates and the return of a candidate where it determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations, guidelines and manual for the election. INEC has seven days from the date of the declaration and return to conclude this review.

    Section 65(1) of the Electoral Act is aimed at addressing the issue of the declaration of results made under duress or intimidation. Such allegations are common in election petitions.

    Under section 68(1) of the old law, the decision of a Returning Officer on any question relating to the declaration of scores of candidates and the return of a candidate was final subject only to a review by a Court or Tribunal.

    As a result, some politicians took advantage of this by doing all they could to ensure that they are declared and returned as the winner of an election by Returning Officers so that the onerous burden of invalidating the election would shift to the candidate contesting an election before a Court or Tribunal.

    The enactment of section 65(1) would discourage candidates from intimidating or coercing INEC agents into tampering with election results because any declaration and return are subject to review by INEC.

    Consequently, this will reduce the number of petitions that are instituted based on allegations of coercion or intimidation of electoral officers, wrongful declaration results and wrongful return of candidates.

    Notwithstanding this laudable provision, the judiciary must be on guard to prevent its abuse.

    Desperate politicians who have lost an election and have had their opponents returned as the winner of the election by the returning officer may attempt to influence INEC to review the declaration and return of an election in their favour.

    Consequently, the judiciary must dutifully carry out its powers of judicial review of INEC’s decision whenever there is an application by a petitioner to exercise such powers.

    Use of technology in accreditation, voting

    Accreditation is the process of certifying, at the polling unit, that a person who intends to vote in an election is eligible to vote at that polling unit. This is done by ascertaining that a prospective voter’s name is in the register of voters in the polling unit where he intends to vote.

    Under Section 49 of the old Electoral Act, the process of accreditation was done by a prospective voter presenting his voter’s card to the Presiding Officer in charge of the polling unit who, if satisfied with the identity of the voter, issues him with a ballot paper and marks his name in the voter’s register.

    The Smart Card Reader was introduced by INEC in 2015 to bring transparency to the accreditation process. However, in cases such as Ikpeazu v Otti & Ors, Ogboru & Anor v Okowa & Ors, the Supreme Court held that the only legal, authentic and acceptable means of proving accreditation of voters is by producing the voters’ register and not the Smart Card Reader Reports.

    The reason was that the use of Smart Card Readers was a provision of the Manual for Election Officials and could not alter or annul the provision of section 49 of the Electoral Act, 2010 which prescribed the procedure for accreditation of voters.

    As a result, Smart Card Reader Reports were rendered useless for the purpose of proving the number of accredited voters and allegations of over-voting.

    Under section 47(2) of the new Electoral Act, the Smart Card Reader (SCR) or other technological device introduced by INEC has been clearly and expressly provided as the means of accreditation, verification and authentication of voters.

    Furthermore, there is no longer any provision for the manual mode of accreditation.

    This means that to prove over-voting, non-accreditation of voters, or the number of accredited voters in a polling unit a petitioner must tender the BVAS (Bimodal Voter Registration System) Report of the polling unit. Consequently, judges must quickly acclimatise themselves to the mode of operation of the BVAS machines, the format of the BVAS Reports and the admissibility issues that may arise from the BVAS Reports, vis-à-vis section 84 of the Evidence Act.

    The new Act also allows INEC to provide ballot boxes, electronic voting machines or other voting devices for the conduct of elections. This makes room for e-voting. However, INEC has not hinted at the possibility of e-voting in the upcoming 2023 general elections.

    Over voting

    In the old Electoral Act, over-voting was defined as a situation where the votes cast at an election in any polling unit exceed the number of registered voters in that polling unit.

    The problem with the definition of over-voting in the old law is that the number of persons who were accredited to vote in a polling unit on the day of election may be less than the number of registered voters in that polling unit.

    Consequently, even though more votes are recorded than the total number of accredited voters, such a situation does not amount to over-voting under the old law if the total number of votes recorded is less than the number of registered voters in the polling unit.

    However, under section 51(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, over-voting is defined as a situation where the number of votes cast at an election in any polling unit exceeds the number of accredited voters in that polling unit.

    The consequences of the difference in the definition of over-voting under the old and new law are twofold: first of all, the burden of proving over-voting has been lessened; secondly, the BVAS Report replaces the Voters’ Register as one of the documents to be relied on in proof of the allegation of over-voting.

    Transmission and collation of results

    Under section 50(2) of the new Electoral Act, INEC has been empowered to determine the mode of voting and transmission of results. Also, under section 60(5) of the Act, the presiding officer has a duty to transfer the result, including the total number of accredited voters and the result of the ballot, in a manner prescribed by the Commission.

    In the recent elections conducted following the enactment of the Electoral Act, 2022, polling unit results have been transmitted electronically from the polling units to INEC’s result viewing portal. It is expected that the results of the 2023 general election would also be transmitted electronically from the polling units.

    Although the new Electoral Act provides for electronic transmission of election results, the Act expressly prescribes manual collation of results.

    However, Section 64(4) of the Act states that before announcing the result of an election, a collation or returning officer must ensure that the number of accredited voters and votes stated on the collated result is consistent with the number of accredited voters and votes recorded and transmitted directly from polling units, respectively.

    Furthermore, section 64(6) provides that where, during the collation of results, there is a dispute regarding a collated result or the result of an election from any polling unit, the collation officer or returning officer shall use the original of the disputed collated result, accreditation data from the BVAS device, accreditation data recorded and transmitted from the polling unit where the election is disputed and the results transmitted directly from the polling unit to determine the correctness of the result.

    The duty imposed on returning and collation officers to ensure that the number of accredited voters and votes stated on the collated result is consistent with the number of accredited voters and votes recorded and transmitted directly from polling units is aimed at ensuring the accuracy of collated results and that collated results accurately reflect the polling unit results.

    Where a returning officer or collation officer fails to comply with section 64(4) of the Electoral Act, 2022 by ensuring that the number of accredited voters and votes stated on the collated result is consistent with the number of accredited voters and votes recorded and transmitted directly from polling units, such non-compliance with the Act might be a valid ground for questioning an election.

    Based on the duty imposed on returning and collation officers under section 64 of the new Electoral Act, and the decision of the Supreme Court in Uzodinma v. Ihedioha, where the Appellant contended that votes due to him from 388 polling units were excluded from the ward collation results, thereby leading to a wrong declaration, it would appear that a party alleging wrongful collation of election results at the ward level is not required to call witnesses from each of the polling units affected.

    It is my submission that where non-compliance with section 64 of the Electoral Act, 2022 is evident from the documentary evidence that has been tendered by a petitioner, the conduct of elections in the affected polling units is not in question, and the non-compliance substantially affects the result of the election, the Courts and Tribunals should be bold enough to follow the decision in Uzodinma v. Ihedioha by invalidating the return of any candidate based on the non-compliance with section 64.

    Unlawful exclusion

    An election may be questioned on the ground that a political party or its candidate in the election was validly nominated but was unlawfully excluded from the election by INEC.

    Exclusion from an election may take place where the name of a candidate was not included in the list of candidates eligible for election or where he was substituted by INEC from the election.

    A candidate may also be excluded from an election where the name of his political party or its acronym, symbol or logo was not included in the ballot paper thereby denying him the opportunity of being voted for in the election.

    The incidence of unlawful exclusion has been greatly reduced by the provision of section 42 of the new Electoral Act.

    Section 42(3) provides that not later than 20 days before an election, INEC shall invite a political party that nominated a candidate in the election to inspect its identity appearing on samples of relevant electoral materials proposed for the election and the party may state in writing within two days of being invited that it approves or disapproves of its identity on the samples.

    Any failure by a party to comply with INEC’s invitation or to disapprove of its identity within the stipulated timeframe precludes such a party from complaining of unlawful exclusion from the election in relation to its identity appearing on electoral materials used for the election.

    Following the enactment of section 42 of the Electoral Act, 2022, the number of allegations of unlawful exclusion in relation to the identity of a political party appearing on electoral materials used during an election is expected to reduce drastically.

    Qualification to contest election

    Section 134(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022 provides that a person’s election shall not be questioned on grounds of qualification if he meets the constitutional requirements for the particular election in question.

    Section 134(3) of the Act codifies the trite position of the law that qualification as a ground for questioning an election should be limited by the qualification and disqualification factors listed under the 1999 Constitution and it is only when the allegations in a petition fall within the ambit of the qualifying and disqualifying factors under the Constitution that a Tribunal or Court is conferred with jurisdiction to determine such a petition.

    It must be noted that sponsorship by a political party is a qualification factor under the Constitution and presentation of forged certificates to INEC is a disqualification factor under the Constitution.

    However, actions based on the nomination of candidates or submission of false certificates to INEC are within the purview of pre-election matters as defined by section 285(14) of the 1999 Constitution, and sections 29(5) and 84(9) of the Electoral Act, 2022 provide the mechanisms for instituting actions based on submission of false certificates to INEC or nomination of candidates.

    Nonetheless, the decision of the Supreme Court in cases such as Dangana v Usman and Tarzoor v Ioraer would suggest that issues of nomination, membership and sponsorship could be raised as a ground for questioning an election.

    However, following the 4th Alteration to the 1999 Constitution which prescribes 14 days as the time within which to institute a pre-election matter, it is my humble submission that those decisions no longer represent the current state of the law.

    Moreover, in more recent cases such as A.P.P. v. Obaseki , Atiku v. INEC and A.P.M. v. INEC, the Supreme Court has held that actions based on nomination of candidates or submission of false certificates to INEC are pre-election matters. Consequently, Tribunals and Courts should reject any invitation to assume jurisdiction over such matters.

    Validity of election

    Under section 73(2) of the new Electoral Act, an election shall be invalid if it is conducted without prior recording of the quantity, serial numbers and other particulars of results sheets, ballot papers and other sensitive election materials in the Forms prescribed by INEC.

    Section 73(2) of the new Electoral Act provides another ground for invalidating an election due to non-compliance with the provisions of the Act.

    However, in line with the trite principle of election proceedings that any non-compliance with the Act must substantially affect the result of an election, the declaration and return of a candidate cannot be invalidated merely because the election in a polling unit is invalid pursuant to section 73(2) of the Act if the invalidation of the polling unit result does not substantially affect the result of the election.

    Evidence

    Perhaps the most controversial provision of the Electoral Act, 2022, as it affects the role of the judiciary in determining election petitions is section 137 which states that:

    “It shall not be necessary for a party who alleges non-compliance with the provisions of this Act for the conduct of elections to call oral evidence if originals or certified true copies manifestly disclose the non-compliance alleged.”

    It is trite that at the trial of an election petition, the petitioner must call witnesses and lead credible evidence to prove the grounds and any material facts in the election petition necessary for him to succeed. Where a petitioner alleges that infractions occurred at the polling unit, he must call witnesses who witnessed the infractions at the polling unit and tender the documents evidencing the infractions.

    If a petitioner tenders the documents without calling oral evidence to speak to the documents, the petitioner would be deemed to have dumped the documents on the Tribunal or Court and the Tribunal or Court would be unable to evaluate the documents tendered.

    Section 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022 dispenses with calling of oral evidence and permits a party to rely solely on documentary evidence where it manifestly discloses the non-compliance alleged.

    A myriad of issues arise from the provision but I shall only explore a few. First of all, the judiciary would have to determine the inconsistency, or otherwise, of the provision with the Evidence Act.

    I humbly submit that pursuant to section 3 of the Evidence Act, admissibility of evidence is not governed exclusively by the provisions of the Evidence Act. Consequently, a piece of evidence may be excluded or made admissible either by the Evidence Act itself or by any other legislation validly made by the National Assembly.

    As the Electoral Act, 2022 is an Act made by the National Assembly; it is my humble submission that section 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022 is not inconsistent with the Evidence Act.

    Besides the issue of the inconsistency, or otherwise, of section 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022 with the Evidence Act, section 137 also raises the issue of the propriety of a Tribunal or Court to evaluate and examine documents that have been dumped on it.

    A Court or Tribunal cannot, on its own accord, conduct investigations as to the import of the contents of documents. That is an inquisition which has no room in our laws. However, it is yet to be seen how the Courts and Tribunal would resolve the issues emanating from section 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

    Conclusion

    The role of the judiciary in the 2023 election is limited to determining actions arising from the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

    The Act introduces several novel provisions that are aimed at reducing the menace of electoral malpractices such as over-voting, rigging and intimidation of INEC officials.

    The major role of the judiciary is to interpret these provisions consistently and in a manner that gives effect to the intention of the lawmakers.

    • OPEN FORUM – Akinlolu Timothy Kehinde

  • Gbajabiamila and his Parliamentary Diplomacy

    Gbajabiamila and his Parliamentary Diplomacy

    If there’s one impediment which has, in the last decades since independence, mitigated the deep entrenchment of democratic institutions in Nigeria, it will be the dearth of true, progressive and purposeful leadership.

    While the nation’s socio-political terrain has failed to produce many leaders who, in the true sense, can be defined as round pegs in round holes, it is not entirely a drab situation because we can boast of having seen the emergence and beautiful manifestation of certain individuals who have proven themselves to be thoroughbred public officers with the credibility and trajectory that rank them above others in the course of our national discourse.

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, CFR, deserves an honourable mention among those who can be regarded as the finest breeds of public officers that the country has ever produced. He is a gentleman whose personality exudes charisma, dignity and honour. Above all, he is arguably the most colourful Speaker of the post-Awolowo era, endowed with exceptional organizational skills, administrative aptitude, uncommon problem-solving skills, masterful logic, and foresight.

    Based on his trajectory, it can be objectively agreed that he is an outstanding national leader, who has profoundly shaped and dictated the pendulum of Nigerian politics from the hallowed corner of the Green Chamber.

    Apart from these numerous aforementioned qualities which endear many to him, Gbajabiamila has successfully used parliamentary diplomacy to build bridges, solidifying them as he continues to advocate the building of strong and functional institutions which would, in the long run, sustain the commonwealth of the people.

    In the last few years, he has created a niche for himself as a peacemaker, a mediator, an arbitrator and a leader across the Niger. After all, it takes a man of capacious versatility to sit as the Speaker of one of the largest parliaments in the world.

    This is a job that requires a top human management skill and Gbaja has not fallen short in that regard. His mantra, #NationBuilding, #AJointTask, prior to his election as the Speaker of the Ninth Assembly, has become an integral part of every step and move he makes. He has walked tall through murky situations unscathed and with lasting results and solutions. On numerous occasions, his timely interventions and diplomatic efforts have made the difference in helping sustain relationships between important sectors, individuals and strengthening the nation’s institutions.

    While it looked like academic activities may not resume on our campuses even as we round off the year, it took the intervention of the Speaker to give a scent of water to a situation that appears dead. For an uninterrupted eight months, students were made to sit at home but the popular ASUU strike was resolved once Gbaja stepped in. He took it upon himself to provide the missing piece that eventually solved the puzzle. His ability to bring all warring parties to a roundtable discussion finally brokered a compromise. Does his intervention mean every issue has been resolved? No! We only see a man bold enough to take the bull by the horn to address attendant issues.

    His efforts drew the praise of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) which extolled the patriotic efforts of speaker in resolving the strike. The NLC president, Ayuba Waba, reportedly wrote, “I must commend him for his significant contributions and important roles so that in the end it will be a win-win thing.

    “I commend the wisdom of the Speaker. There is no use in using cohesion or force in solving the problem but through the provision of dialogue that will comfort everybody.”

    Nigerians will not also forget in a hurry the efforts of Gbajabiamila in resolving the Nigeria-Ghana diplomatic row. Given the closeness of both countries and their shared history, it would be a pathetic situation if both nations were not diplomatically aligned with one another.

    The consequences would not only affect the economies of both countries, whose people enjoy working together, but would also have a negative impact on other West African countries that look up to both but who will take up this task? Gbajabiamila, in his wisdom, led delegates from Nigeria to Ghana, where he met his Ghanaian counterpart, Mike Oquaye. The intervention of Gbajabiamila was able to resolve the then growing diplomatic spat between both nations over some actions taken by the Ghanaian government against Nigerian traders and the demolition of part of the Nigerian high commission in Ghana.

    He also played a similar role in the crisis with China in 2020. During this period, evidence suggested the maltreatment of Nigerians in China, and it was to the relief of Nigerians that they had a figure who they could count on not only to mediate on their behalf but also fight for their cause. Gbajabiamila met with Zhou Pingjian, who is the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria. He advocated that Chinese should refrain from the maltreatment of Nigerians in China.

    Today, China is a nation known for its economic wits and it would have been counterproductive for Nigeria as a nation to have mismanaged the situation. The nation can boast of numerous infrastructures which were facilitated with loans obtained from China.

    Gbajabiamila deserves credit for keeping the relationship between the two countries on a diplomatic level when it was very important and difficult to do so.

    Should we also forget the diplomatic efforts of Gbaja that were brought to the fore of our national discourse as he was able to excellently avert a crisis which could have turned into a national embarrassment? The aviation sector crisis had caused significant inconvenience for many, with flight ticket prices skyrocketing and many airlines ceasing operations.

    Even though, crises are yet to be fully resolved, the speaker has continued to bridge the gap between the major stakeholders in the sector, facilitating the constructive process to reach an agreeable consensus. A few days ago, it was reported that he had scheduled a meeting with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, over the crisis in the aviation sector.

    It would be recalled that in the heat of the lockdown imposed by states and the Federal Government in response to COVID-19, the Gbajabiamila-led House of Representatives initiated a bill that would allow Nigerians to enjoy free electricity supply for a particular period.

    The lockdown, as it was anticipated, had grounded global economy and the least the government could do at that stage was to put some forms of alleviation in place, one of which would have been to take off the payment of electricity bills from the people throughout the period of the stay-at-home. How do we forget how the speaker, in the wake of the threats of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, committed 360 members to donate two-month salaries to the fight of the pandemic?

    Read Also: 2023: Gbajabiamila prepares next generation for leadership

    On numerous occasions, Gbaja has proven his worth as a true elder statesman. Based on his activities, it’s quite evident where his priorities lie. Isn’t presiding over a house filled with intellectuals, professionals, academics, and technocrats enough task? But Gbaja diligently carries this weight upon his shoulders so tirelessly as even maintaining cordial relationship with his colleagues. With this, he has earned the respect of colleagues and admiration of the people of Nigeria.

    Not forgetting his core duty as a legislator, Gbaja, by the end of his first year as the Speaker, had already sponsored 16 bills, making him the first Speaker in the current democratic dispensation to sponsor and debate this record number of bills in one year. He has gone ahead to sponsor so many other bills afterwards.

    The Gbajabiamila-led House of Representatives has sponsored far-reaching bills with issues bordering the ordinary Nigeria. The Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA 2020) signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2020 is an effort to address national economic challenges and improve the framework of doing business in Nigeria. It is basically a legislative tool to create a more friendly climate for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) 

    After suffering setbacks that lingered for about two decades, through his legislative Diplomacy, Gbajabiamila galvanised necessary support to see that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) came to reality in this present Assembly. After it enjoyed the accent of the President, the PIA has no doubt, redefined the Nigerian oil and gas landscape through impacting on various aspects of the economy including energy, banking and insurance, among others. This is a sheer display of his knack for achieving set goals away from the usual rhetoric that lacks political will. It was as though if the PIA didn’t pass, it never would have. 

    The Gbajabiamila speakership has seen the creation of enabling environment for startups through tax relief, Seed funding, trainings and capacity building, and regulatory assistance. The aforementioned would be taken care of by the recently signed Start-Up Act 2022 that inspired by the understanding of the role of technology in the socio-economic development of Nigeria. 

    Amidst doubts, opposition, disbelief, pressure and intimidation, the Electoral Act, 2020 has come to stay with the potential of sanitising our political space as well as instilling transparency and accountability in the electoral system. It takes courage, resilience and patriotism to have undertaken such a task as passing the Electoral Act even as a political officer seeking re-election. It was a venture that transcends personal gains and benefits to uphold our national creed of building the Nigeria of our dream.

    Today, Nigerians can vote and have assurance that their votes will count. Section 47 and 50 (2) of the Electoral Act empowers the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to electronically transmit election result. Today, voters with physical disabilities, special needs and vulnerable persons can be assisted at the polling unit thereby being part of the leadership selection process, all thanks to the Electoral Act 2020.

    Should we forget the Climate Change Act 2021 which is a legal framework that will drive Nigeria towards green recovery and sustainable development and also preserving mother earth? 

    Should we also forget the Speaker’s stance during the protest against brutality, popularly called the #EndSars protest? He didn’t just add his voice but went as far as insisting on not approving the proposed 2021 budget if adequate provision was not made for the compensation of those who had suffered violence and brutality by the police. 

    Should we also forget the National Security Summit convened by the House of Representatives in 2021 which deliberated on security issues and articulated recommendations and legislative action? Should we also forget how the current assembly has remained consistent in its promise to commit to the January to December budget circle?

      In the midst of his availability when occasions demand in mediating in national interest, he has given the people of Surulere Constituency I reasons to adore him more aside being an illustrious son. He’s facilitated projects that are ground-breaking and enduring, from infrastructure to education, empowerment to human capital development.

    He’s blazed the trails where younger generations can thrive bigger and better. He is preparing the next generation for public sector governance through his Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI). It takes a man willing to leave eternal legacy to understand that, “the quality of our decision-making in politics and governance will define the course of our country.

    Whether we achieve progress, prosperity, peace, and security for all our people depends entirely on the capacity and competence of our political leadership,” as submitted by the Speaker at the opening of the programme recently. 

    There are numerous instances where Gbajabiamila has risen to the occasion to provide much-needed diplomatic intervention, it is critical that we recognize the honorable contributions of a man who has risen against the odds to redefine patriotism, one who has exhibited exemplary leadership in a society that yearns for more purposeful leadership.

     It is the hope of many that the coming generation of change-makers and leaders will learn from the enigma, the icon, and the diplomatic maestro named Femi Gbajabiamila.

    •Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo is the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission and member representing Akoko North East/North West Federal Constituency, writes from Abuja

  • With Asiwaju’s ‘Renewed Hope 2023’, the debate now begins!

    With Asiwaju’s ‘Renewed Hope 2023’, the debate now begins!

    Just when a number of patriotic Nigerians were begining to express concerns about the ethno-religious nuances of the messaging in the 2023 campaigns, the Presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, launched the eighty five – page document envisioning the road map for governance if he and his running mate Kashim Shettima are elected.

    The document should help to fundamentally refocus discussions on the real issues about the future of Nigeria – economic prosperity, national security, infrastructural and social development.

    This , for me , is a welcome relief from the inane, emotive and the ephemeral, which the discussions surrounding the 2023 Presidential Election have been, especially in the social media.

    Immediately the document was released, I tried to get a feedback from some of my younger friends, one, a deputy director in a federal agency, another, a music artiste. Their reactions were the same. The one who is a public servant summarised the perspective of both of them, “Oga, eighty pages that is theory, let us talk practical things.”

    The reactions of these my friends who are both graduates summarises the prevailing anti –  intellectual culture in Nigeria among young people. I understand most young people do not want to read. I am usually counselled by my online advisors that any post longer than eight or ten lines runs  the risk of not being read. Short hilarious items suggesting sex or portraying nudity do better.

    I picked up issues with these my friends immediately, asking “what is wrong with theory?”

    I am yet to see any country in the world where the leaders promised a new society without laying a bold plan and a road map. Sometimes,  leaders exceed the target in the implementation of their plans and sometimes they underperform.

    When we talk about the French revolution, we talk about the several writings of French philosophers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu. We talk about the Federalist papers of leaders of the American revolution apart from inspirational works of writers like Thomas Paine. In Russia, we talk about V.I Lenin’s New Economic Plan (NEP), that transformed Tsarist Russia uncompetitiveness in Europe into a  modern state between (1918-1922). The nation on that foundation became  a Super power.

    In Nigeria, our Independence leaders such as Dr Nnamdi Azikwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello laid down several thousands of pages of documents on their dream for a great Nigeria, and they delivered on their plans with Nigeria becoming one of the leading countries of the third world, a step ahead in the club of Malaysia and Thailand. The superlative performance of the Nigerian independence leaders between the period of limited independence and early independence (1955 -1966), had boldly written programmes as guide to action.

    Read Also: Tinubu’ll restore Nigeria’s glory, says APC chieftain

    It was this culture of anchoring a political vision on a solid,  boldly written plan, programme, and action that Kingsley Moghalu and I ,  in our intervention in the  2019 Presidential campaigns ,  tried to re-awaken. Documenting a vision is a priceless practice in the scripture. “And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.” (Habakkuk 2:2).

     What Candidate Ahmed Tinubu has done is to plainly lay down his vision.

    Now to the document itself, I will only limit myself to a quick review of Tinubu’s Economic plans, some comments on national security and my expectation on the management of Nigeria’s diversity, due to space constraints. I would  be more detailed on the economy, because whatever promises anybody is making, if you do not have a plan of how to find the money, everything else is a joke !

    Here I have seen Tinubu’s profound grasp of Political Economy in a way equal or deeper than the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo. That should be expected as the Asiwaju lives in an era of more information.

    I start with his position on budgeting. Hear him: “Budgeting custom bases our annual budget and fiscal policies largely on the dollar value of projected oil receipts. Not only does this practice artificially restricts the Federal Government’s fiscal latitude, it also attracts the nation’s attention towards a single source of fiscal receipt to the detriment of others”

    Continuing, candidate Tinubu offers his solution “To achieve optimal growth in the long term we must wean ourselves from this limitation. A more efficient fiscal methodology would be to base our budgeting on the projected level of government spending which optimises growth and jobs without causing unacceptable inflation.”

    I cannot agree more. This is a radical departure from the Bretton Woods orthodoxy that has constrained growth since 1986 when IMF and World Bank succeeded in hijacking economic planning in Nigeria or better put, when Nigeria stopped economic planning.

    The proposed 10% economic growth target , promised by Tinubu , is achievable and , if the accompanying fiscal and monetary measures are vigorously implemented,  supassable given the country’s current massive infrastructural deficit of 20-25 % to GDP stock  compared to infrastructural stocks of middle income  economies in the range of 70% stock of GDP as well as the Nation’s high unemployment rate.

    The economic plan correctly singles out the digital economy as one low hanging fruit for foreign exchange earnings as well as job creation. Nigeria potential in this regard is even underestimated in the document. Nigeria is a latent cyber power, the 7th largest Internet user country in the world with over 104.4m users The Global outsourcing market in the digital space is over 500billion dollars. Nigeria has a big advantage, having a young, huge, fluent English –  speaking and writing population that is enthusiastic about coding and software development.

    To be added to the digital sector as low hanging fruit for the economy will be a programme of optimization of Nigeria’s competitiveness, and efficiency in oil and gas as one of the sources of immediate cash for a growth focused economic plan. The oil and gas sector was mentioned in passing in the Renewed Hope 2023 document because of an understandable bias for the next new economy. We just needed a few tweaking in structure and personnel as well as applicable fiscal regime in the oil and gas sector to harvest our natural advantages in the few remaining life of fossil fuel as an energy source.

    Candidate Tinubu’s Tax plan is superb, that is his turf. His industrial and manufacturing agenda are inspiring. His planned return of commodity boards is bold and welcomed. The commodities boards were technically agric insurance platforms, their absence in the past thirty something years as a result of the pressure of the IMF for them to be scrapped has seen Nigeria lost its competitive advantage in crops like cocoa, groundnuts, oil palm, cotton etc.

    In summary, the Tinubu Economic plan is core progressive policy platform that will return Nigeria to economic development, a path we traveled before in the First Republic and achieved phenomenal development. It is the path Malaysia, China, India, have walked recording  outstanding results. It is the path Samir Amin calls the path of Autocentric  National development, away from the path of arrested development of the past four decades.

    On the section on National Security, I have only seen basic and routine recommendations apart from the promise of an integrated database. I understand that you cannot be detailed in a published document on Security Plans.

    I have not also seen serious position on how Asiwaju intends to manage the diversity of the country at a time of great division. Renewed Hope 2023 did not show as much depth and detail as we saw in the management of the economy in this equally important  area. Perhaps this is a tactics to avoid difficult questions from his North West supporters that his campaign appears to be seriously cultivating for their potentially huge votes . He needs to pay serious attention to matter of inclusiveness and political balancing. Mobilising for economic growth will be a huge challenge in the absence of national cohesion, unity and peace.

    Aside from the salient issue of not being convincing on the question of politcal balancing, key question of devolution of powers and inclusivity, the Renewed Hope 2023 document is a welcome relief in a campaign season that has been clouded by inanities and the mundane.

    The former Vice President and candidate of the PDP, Waziri Abubakar Atiku(GCON), now has to show the nation his own document. In fairness to him, he presented something fairly robust in 2019 whether this will suffice now is a different matter.

    Mr Obi, a major  candidate on the platform of the Labour Party whose supporters have brought energy and enthusiasm which has seen an increase in youth participation in voters registration must now step forward. The nation will like to see and scrutinise his vision for a New Nigeria.

    The nation will like to see more depth from him than the short snippets from his very energetic and creative “obidients”.

    The bar has been raised by the launching of ‘Renewed Hope 2023’. Dwelling on APC  candidate’s health risks, a challenge faced by the PDP candidate also , will not be of any value to Obi, Sowore and the other younger candidates. Most Nigerians will rather follow frail looking  older men that are demonstrating grasp of issues and capacity rather than the younger candidates if all they can show is their physical fitness, emotive phrases, shallow monologues, a few unconvincing record of achievements and young enthusiastic followers with no coherent body of ideas.

    The real debate has started, let it continue!

    •Olawepo-Hashim is a 2009 Lord Max Beloff  Prize winner in Global Affairs and Presidential Candidate in the 2019 General Elections.

    Click to read more Tinubu-related stories:

    2023: Tinubu ‘ll deliver, say SWAGA leaders

    APC tackles PDP chieftain over remarks on Tinubu’s Action Plan

    APC blasts Dele Momodu over critique of Tinubu’s action plan

    APC Gov aspirants vow to deliver Plateau to Tinubu

    Traders walk for Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu

  • Role of professionals in curbing financial crimes

    Role of professionals in curbing financial crimes

    Lawyers, accountants, engineers, bankers, quantity surveyors, field surveyors, etc., all play major roles directly in the growth and health of the economy.

    They also play an even more significant role as critical vectors in the prevention or promotion of economic crimes as professional advisers and enablers of diverse persons and organisations engaged in money laundering, illicit financial flows and many other types of financial crimes engaged in by their clients.

    This capacity to apply professional skills in this negative fashion is the very opposite concept of utilising acquired professional skills and capacity to fight corruption in society.

    Consistent with the high moral standards expected of the members of our different professions, each profession has a disciplinary body dedicated to the investigation, trial and punishment of errant members.

    The fight against corruption cannot be won without the involvement of the professional sector.

    That is why the consistent engagement of the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) with PACAC has been so crucial in this struggle.

    All APBN member professions have stringent disciplinary rules dealing with the corrupt misconduct of their members.

    All the laws governing professions contain fundamental principles of each profession and the ethical standards drawn from them.

    These include integrity, objectivity, transparency, professional competence, confidentiality and professionalism as against random conduct.

    There is, therefore, a need to challenge the professional sector to implement global industry best practices in the legal, accounting, property, building and company services sectors.

    Read Also: Varsity unions’ prolonged strike luring Niger Delta students into crimes

    For example, the issue of transparency in the beneficial ownership of companies is a subject of great discussion.

    It is one we believe would be of great importance in the fight against corruption if properly implemented.

    The fight against corruption can neither be won nor sustained without the support of the professional sector.

    There is a need for members of the APBN to engage its members in this issue just as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) is doing.

    At a conference organised by PACAC and the APBN in June 2016, Mrs. Oshuwa Gbadebo, of the Convention on Business Integrity, called on all professional bodies to:

    • Ensure robust procedures are put in place by members to correctly flag and process transactions emanating from politically exposed persons and/or other high-risk sources;
    • Support its member organisations in defining and inculcating appropriate standards of behaviour, developing the right cultures and strengthening the ability to effectively sanction deviant behaviour;
    • Build collective action with civil society, business and regulatory partners to ensure there is no room for willful offenders to continue to perpetrate their corrupt deeds whilst still members of your institution.

    I completely concur with and endorse these suggestions.

    The fight against corruption is a collective one which needs the commitment of the business community and professional bodies if it is to succeed.

     

    •Sagay, an eminent professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC). He delivered this speech at a dialogue with the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria.