A prominent Ebonyi lawyer, Chief Amos Ogbonnaya, has sued Governor Dave Umahi at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria over his unpaid allowances as the coordinator of Anuagata Development Centre in the Ohaozara Local Government Area.

He is asking the court to order the government to pay him N20.6mmillion being his accumulated imprest, duty allowances and security vote for the 53 months (between 2015 and 2020) he served as coordinator.

He explained that the sum is different from his entitled transport allowances for trips he embarked on within the state in the course of attending all government functions he was invited to as a coordinator.

According to him, he was unable to put a sum to the trips because the office of the Permanent Secretary and Protocol Unit had deliberately refused to provide him with the manifests despite his written requests.

The former coordinator gave a breakdown of the unpaid entitlements as Imprest and Security vote, N16.6m; Duty Tour Allowance, N3.5m, and travel claim of N80,000 for four days trip outside the state.

Listed as defendants in the suit are Governor Umahi, Ebonyi State Joint Local Government Allocation Committee; Commissioner For Local Government, Chieftaincy Matters and Rural Development; Attorney-General and Justice Commissioner and Permanent Secretary, Government, Mr. Austin Udude, who also heads the Protocol Unit.

In the suit marked NICN/EN/07/2021, Ogbonnaya narrated how the government deprived him the entitlements as a coordinator before he was removed from office for refusing  to “obey an unlawful order from the office of His Excellency, the Governor, to attack unarmed (#EndSARS) protesters in the development centre.”

Among the reliefs sought are: “An order of directing the defendants, jointly and severally, to pay him N16,560,000 only being unpaid arrears of  monthly imprest and security vote as a  former Coordinator of Anuagata DC;

“An order directing the defendants to pay to him N3,456,000 as arrears of Duty Tour Allowances for attending 192 official government functions within the state;

“An order  directing the defendants to pay him  N80,000  being total arrears of Approved Transport Claims for attending four official government functions outside the state from the period of  February 2016 to December 2018; and

“An order directing Mr Udude to release forthwith, the Certified True Copies (CTC) of all governor’s manifest by which the petitioner, with other government functionaries, were invited to government functions within and outside the state from September 2015 to October 2020.”

Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt; Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba; Bassey Anthony, Uyo; Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

 

Niger Delta-based groups and lawyers at the weekend kicked against the continued payment of billions of naira to governors of the oil-rich region as security votes.

The groups and the lawyers wondered why they should be receiving security votes when the security situation in the nine states of the region is not improving.

While some  argued that security vote has no place in law, others advised that the budget for security received monthly by the governors were not properly utilised and therefore should be halted.

The lawyers- Aluzu Ebikebuna and  Oghenejabor Ikimi –   spoke to The Nation against the backdrop of a report by an online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, which showed   that  eight of the nine Niger Delta governors receive about N9bn monthly as security votes.

The groups that also reacted to the report are Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU),  Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND) and  Policy Alert.

Wikipedia had in the  report described security votes as a huge amount of money allocated to the 36 states in Nigeria for the sole purpose of security services.

Based on Wikipedia figures on Niger Delta states, Delta State governor receives the highest of N2bn monthly followed by Akwa Ibom State with N1.8bn and Rivers State with N1.5bn.

Imo governor receives the lowest with N333.3 million monthly while his counterparts in     Abia get N700m; Edo, N900m; Cross River, N500m and Ondo, N600m.

The monthly figure for Bayelsa State Governor was reportedly shrouded in secrecy, though unconfirmed sources put it at over N1bn.

It was gathered that the governors are  expected to use the “outrageous” amount of money estimated at over N108bn yearly to tackle security threats such as kidnapping, pipeline vandalism, among others in their domain.

But there has been rising insecurity in the region with the governors most times absolving themselves and blaming  security challenges in  their states on the Federal Government.

Ebikebuna, a Bayelsa State-based lawyer, said the governors had no justification to keep receiving such huge amount of money in the name of security votes. He described the practice as unconstitutional.

Aluzu said there was no place in the constitution for security votes, adding that the law only made provisions for a contingency fund in Section 83 of the Constitution.

His words: “The difference is that, unlike contingency fund, security vote does not need the sanction of the Assembly to be withdrawn from. In a constitutional democracy like Nigeria, its practice is illegal and unconstitutional.

“This illegality is heightened by the fact that its utilisation is outside the normal budgetary process in most cases as the funds are unaccounted for. The funds disbursed from security votes are not audited by the Auditor-General contrary to section 125 of the Constitution.

“Governors have continued to use the security situation of their state to hew huge amount of money under security vote. It is almost like a catalyst for security problem in states.”

Ikimi, who is also the   Coordinator of  Centre for the Vulnerable and Underprivileged (CENTREP), said security votes was illegal as it lacked constitutional backing.

He said payment of security votes to governors should be stopped forthwith because it is a precursor of corruption.

“In the past when there was no security votes, the level of insecurity was tolerable but now that we have security votes, insecurity is at its highest level. Security vote have not come to check insecurity but to worsen it”, Ikimi added.

A  faction of UPU, the  apex Urhobo socio-cultural organisation,  urged the Federal Government to order the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to compel the  Niger Delta governors to give account of their security votes.

Its  leader, Olorogun Joe Omene,  accused governors in the region of siphoning security votes for personal use, warning  that ” many days are for the thief but one day for the owner of the house.”

He said collection of  security votes is akin to “stealing of public funds by trick.  Such funds, according to him,  could be channeled into tackling the huge infrastructure challenges and poverty in the region.

He said: “The present government at the centre should use  the EFCC to compel state governors to account for the use of the money. We understand that governors just collect the money and nobody questions its use.

“This is grossly unfair. Look at our roads in Delta, but we blame the Federal Government whereas the money can be used for the development of the state.

“The irony is that if there is a major security breach, people will point fingers at the Federal Government whereas state governments are collecting humongous sums in the name of security votes. What do the Niger-Delta governors do with it.

“How can one man collect so much yet people are  kidnapped and killed  on a regular basis?”

National President of MOSIEND, Mr. Kennedy Tom-West, said if the governors should be allowed to keep receiving such money, there must be constitutional backing for it.

Tom-West advised  that such vote should be made to pass through the National Assembly for legal and constitutional backing to remove the veil covering it.

He  regretted that security vote, a  brainchild of military regimes in the country to illegally and unconstitutionally siphon public fund,  found its way into  democratic government.

He rationalised that successive governments in the 36 states had considered security vote as a legitimate window and conduits to “drain, misappropriate and embezzle unimaginable amount of state resources.”

A non-governmental Organisation, Policy Alert, demanded the abrogation of security votes.

Its Executive Director  , Mr. Tijah Bolton Akpan, said governors of the  Niger Delta had not properly deployed the “humongous security votes” in a transparent and accountable manner.

According to him, the state chief executives have “corruptly used the money to fund their political machinery and ambitions rather than use it to adequately support the police and other security agencies.”

He said: ”If they(the governors) were getting all that money then we have to look at it from two angles. First is its  accountability and transparency. Second is the actual deployment of the security votes.

”Now at the level of accountability and transparency there is very little that the governors do to ensure that the people know what they use these resources for because when you go to the budget it is provided as lump sum. People cannot know if it is used for buying guns, bullets or vehicles.

”At the level of actual implementation you see the very poor number of security vehicles governors donate to police formations in their states. This tells us that they pay lip service to the issue of security.

Some months ago,  you saw what happened. We saw   people taking to  the streets robbing in broad daylight and killing and maiming at will.

”It shows something is lacking. Security is not all about providing the hardware. It is also about the intelligence which the government could help  the police with.”.

Chinyere Okoroafor

Businessman and good governance advocate, Uba Michael has described as barbaric the killing that took place in Evwreni during the conduct of the Delta State local government election last weekend.

One person was said to have been shot dead while others sustained different degrees of injuries when armed thugs allegedly attacked voters in Evwreni town in Ughelli North Local Government.

Uba called for calm, stating that it is high time we moved past do-or-die politics mentality and accept whoever the choice of voters is, as that is what true democracy is all about.

He said politicians must accept that voters want leaders that are accountable and responsible and would not mind voting against anyone who does not possess those qualities.

His words: “Killing of a fellow human being for the sake of power is preposterous. I condemn the killing of Muvi Unaghe in the strongest possible language. I call on warring parties to work together in bipartisanship, peace is non-negotiable.

“The security apparatus in Delta State must also swing into action to ensure that justice is done. As a business owner and as a member of this community, I am a stakeholder, and I can tell you that violence of such nature can never lead to any benefit for us as a people and for our politics.

“I believe that whatever our political differences, let us fight via the ballot and not via fisticuffs. The votes must also be allowed to count, and whoever wins, must reach the other party to build bridges.

Read Also: Police confirm killing of Sen. Suswam’s elder brother

“Such acts of electoral violence speaks of desperation to clinch power, and I opine that desperation must no longer be rewarded in our politics. Africa has continued to reward desperate politicians with political power, and that’s why we’re not progressing. We must reward only those who seek to serve and who qualify based on verifiable antecedents.”

“I am appealing to all warring factions to please, sheath their swords, and let us continue to live in harmony.
According to an eyewitness account, thugs invaded a drinking spot where voters were gathered and started shooting, killing one Muvi Unaghe on the spot while others scampered for safety with injuries.

The eye-witness said, “I was with my friends in a bar drinking and having fun when we saw a group of people coming towards us with guns. Before we knew what was happening, they started shooting at us and shot one Muvi Unaghe dead. Three of our vehicles were destroyed in the process.

“We have gone to Ughelli police station to lay a complaint and they promised to arrest the suspects but up till now, nothing has been done. I ran away from the community because they are after my life while others being targeted are still at large.

When contacted, acting Police Public Relations Officer for State Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe said, “We are seriously on the trail of the suspects”.

Ebonyi Governor Dave Umahi has been dragged before another anti-graft agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged fresh financial malfeasance.

Those behind a petition received by the ICPC in Abuja on March 2 are the set of his former aides under the aegis of G64 Former Coordinators’ Forum.

The petitioners are asking the anti-corruption body to investigate the alleged non-remittance of one percent statutory monthly deductions from Local Government Areas allocations since May 2015 till date to the state Civil Service Commission.

According to the former aides, the one percent deductions running into hundreds of millions are statutorily meant for the training of council workers.

The petition was dated March 1 and signed by their lawyer, Chief Amos Ogbonnaya of Amos Ogbonnaya and Co Legal Practitioners.

It also contains the major areas the former coordinators had listed in their January 2021 petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as the conduits through which Umahi and some of his cronies had allegedly siphoned N6.76 billion belonging to the councils.

The areas are agric loans, purchase of Sports Utility Vehicles, Ebonyi First Lady’s to LGAs, concrete road projects, land, shops, non-remittance 10 percent of the state’s Internally Generated Revenue to the LGAs and near-total deprivation of their monthly imprest while in office as coordinators.

On the non-remittance of the training fund, the petitioner wrote: “Another major fraud committed by Ebonyi State Government against the people of the state is the issue of the statutory one per cent Local Government Training Fund deductible from the monthly local government allocations of the 13 Local Government Councils of Ebonyi State.

“Section 5.7.2 (i) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Handbook on Local Government Administration, 1999, clearly provides that one of the functions of the Local Government Service Commission shall be, ‘to keep the 1% Local Government Training Fund for the training of members of the Unified (Local Government) staff.’

“The Ebonyi State Local Government Law No. 003 of 1999 (Law to make Provisions for the Establishment, Structure, Position, Finance and Functions of Local Government Councils in Ebonyi State) makes similar provision.”

The former coordinators claimed that their investigation revealed the one percent fund is deducted monthly and kept in a secret account without remittance to the state civil service commission.

They prayed the ICPC to, among others, carry out “discreet and thorough investigation of the misappropriation, embezzlement, or mismanagement of all statutory allocations of the 13 Local Government Councils of Ebonyi State for the period of June 2015 to December 2020.”

The former aides also asked the commission to arrest and prosecute “all those found to have misappropriated in part or in whole, the accrued Local Government allocations within the period under review.”

In the case of the governor, they said his arrest and prosecution be in June when his second tenure in office would have expired.

READ ALSO: Dave Umahi and brinkmanship in Ebonyi

Bu reacting Commissioner for Information, Uchenna Orji, said the petition is a complete fabrication.

He said: “The allegations are absolutely irresponsible, without foundation and mischievously intended to soil the reputation of the divine mandate administration of Governor David Umahi”.

“The motive of the petitioners is to blackmail Ebonyi State government for the singular reason of not being reappointed as coordinators.

“Ebonyi State government has national acclaim and recognition by integrity organisations such as EFCC as a very transparent, prudent, and people-oriented government whose sense of probity and accountability is not questionable.

“Ebonyi State government does post its financial transactions monthly in the state government’s websites.

“We, therefore, invite them to know the principle of law that says that he who asserts must prove but if they have decided out of self-inflicted frustration to be dirty, we wish them good luck.

“It must be noted that they are being pushed by enemies of this administration. Unfortunately, they have met a crossroad because they are turning back to pay evil for good done to them by a man whom God has raised to bring economic salvation to Ebonyi.”

By Chike Chukwunyelum

Faced with the reality of excruciating poverty in the country, occasioned by youth unemployment, social inequality, dwindling revenue and other related issues, President Muhammadu Buhari had, in his welfarist inclination, adopted short and medium-term intervention mechanisms, to cushion the accompanying biting effects.

To demonstrate his passion towards the suffering poor, vulnerable and Franz Fanon’s “the wretched of the earth”, the President initiated social investment programmes (SIPs) such as N-Power, Conditional Cash Transfer Program (CCT), Government Enterprise and Empowerment Program (GEEP), Home Grown School Feeding Program (HGSF), as well as the Conditional Cash Transfer.

In continuation of his avowed commitment to poverty alleviation as well as entrenching an egalitarian society, Mr. President caused to be created the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD), to drive home his people-centred agenda.

Notwithstanding this, it will be safe to point out that President Buhari had, in many past policy actions, played into the hands of his ardent critics, who conceived him in the mould of a sectional leader who, they claim – rightly or wrongly – promotes a certain agenda that is inimical to national unity and peace.

Being an introvert, Buhari’s seeming slow approach to addressing issues of national concerns – regardless of the closed-door attention – naturally emboldened the critics, some of whom are described by many as “arm-chair”. That is, however, an argument for another day, what with the diametrically opposed position that Nigerians assume these days.

As a matter of fact, many have continued to hold the view that the President nursed what they considered as “pathological hatred” for South Easterners, who are better addressed as the Igbo, also fondly referred to as Biafrans.

Alas, the President seemed to have recalled the evergreen saying of the great Usman Dan Fodio, captured as follows: “Conscience is an open wound, and only truth can heal it”. No doubt, the Daura-born Democrat was determined to rewrite history, in a manner that will sound a death knell on the perception, which had become a potential threat to reality.

Apart from establishing the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development – an interventionist platform – the highly-misunderstood and mis-construed Buhari, according to insiders, chose to appoint a woman of stellar qualities and means, Hajiya Sadiyya Umar-Farouk – to bridge the communication gap, through spot-on, evidence-based projects in the southeast; the fall guy that has continued to sustain an otherwise false narrative.

In the face of this development, however, there is light at the end of the tunnel for the hitherto suffering masses of the South East, as the honourable minister – described by many as the new face of ‘one Nigeria’, has deployed state officials in the five states that constitute the southeast geo-political zone of the country.

This writer, the staunchest of critics of this administration witnessed, first-hand, the presence of N-Power officials, who have arrived the states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, to deliver the dividend of democracy to the Igbo who, until recently, could be said to be an experimental guinea pig in the comity of nation-building – literally speaking.

From feelers at the disposal of prominent Igbo sons and daughters – home and abroad – the federal government team will empower thousands of unemployed youths with six weeks of vocational skills/empowerment items, sensitisation programmes, and other interventions that will give Ndigbo a sense of inclusion.

As if that is not enough, the Umar-Farouq-led intervention further hopes to create N-Power clubs in secondary schools in 45 local governments across the 15 Senatorial Districts in the South East with a total of five states – the geo-political zone with the least number of the local council.

For the fact that this government hardly advertises its achievements thus the near lack of information about NPOWER programme has accomplished among the youths in the South East, deliberate efforts are being made to bring these to public knowledge. Without a doubt, many Igbo youths have benefitted from the programme. This is contrary to the negative narrative of being left out in the ongoing National Social Investment Programmes(NSIPs) of the Buhari-led administration.

Five Focal Persons, appointed by the individual South East governments, to monitor, evaluate and report the presence of the much-talked-about projects, said they were “overwhelmed” by the positive impacts the N-Power initiative of the interventionist ministry had made in the southeast zone, “that have gone unnoticed”.

Little wonder the FMHADMSD also assembled its own team known as “Independent Monitors”, charged with the responsibility of following-up on ongoing NSIPs across the country, in a bid to produce reports that are outcomes of near-faultless assessments.

READ ALSO: FG engages 5000 independent monitors for N-Power, Cash transfer programme, others

There are some fundamental questions that need to be answered in the scheme of these N-Power interventions to wit: how come an estimated 109, 823 beneficiaries of the N-Power project from batches A and B have since been provided enhancement tools, and have become employers of labour, yet it seems like nothing was being done salvage the youth-unemployment conundrum?

Again, men and women of Goodwill are wont to ask why the N-Power project, among other SIPs, has received the kind of near-unbearable bashings, in spite of the said tremendous benefits?

An official, who volunteered to answer some of the nagging posers, said: “The objective of the FG’s deployment is to actively engage the target publics by way of information dissemination, education and persuasion with relevant messages tailored towards the different segments of the audience;

Highlight, showcase and publicise the success stories of impact and transformation, while also extensively communicating and sensitising the different publics and different stakeholders on the various activities designed to disengage and transit batch A and B and the enrollment process of batch c.

The take-home lesson here, to all intents and purposes, is to seek evidence-based knowledge, in total adherence to the admonition of the great physicist, Albert Einstein, who warned that: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”.

Chike Chukwunyelum is an Enugu State-based researcher with a deep interest in Igbo history and culture.

By Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

Coalition of Igbo Youths Vanguard Worldwide has commenced push for the South-East region to produce the next president.

The group called on other regions to look beyond sentiments and support the zone.

It added that Nigeria should not treat any section as “second class” just the way many people from South East zone are feeling.

In a statement by its National President, Dr. Hope Amadi and National Secretary, Barr Uju Kalu, they called on prominent Ndigbo, including politicians, businessmen and women, religious leaders, traditional rulers and other stakeholders, to close ranks, against any act of saboteurs.

They further denounced activities of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, pledging unflinching loyalty to Nigeria and called on the Federal Government, to deploy maximum force to tame IPOB.

In addition, they commended Afenifere Leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, for consistently supporting the emergence of a president of Igbo extraction, noting his endorsement was a demonstration of selflessness and unparalleled patriotism.

“In times of difficulty, where many leaders fail to live up to the billing, we send our appreciation to a pan-Nigerian and chieftain of Yoruba socio-political and cultural group, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, for his consistent support for the presidency to shift to the South East come 2023.

“We note, with the greatest respect, the fact that, apart from making a case for the Igbo to have a feel of the presidency, Pa Adebanjo has never shied away from speaking truth to power, a disposition that has earned him a special place in history.

“We also commend other well-meaning Nigerians across board, who have continued to add their voices of reason to that of our elder statesman, to bequeath a nation founded of equity and justice to the next generation.

“No doubt, the time for Igbo presidency is now, and to achieve it, all hands must be on deck, especially among Ndigbo – home and in the diaspora.

“There shall be no room for sabotage of any kind, bearing in mind the stereotypes that have defined us among people from other parts of the country.

“It is a given that we cannot achieve this dream alone, as we need the support of our brothers and sisters from other parts of the country, who are enjoined to allow reason and valued judgement assume a better part of them, rather than sentiments.”

They added: “We reject IPOB and all they stand for, as their violent activities are not a true reflection of who Ndigbo are, and what the stand for, or profess.

“We cannot conclude without calling on Igbo sons and daughters, home and abroad, to declare total and irrevocable support for one united, indivisible and prosperous nation, where peace and justice reign.”