The Nation Newspaper

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  • ‘N300m stolen daily at Police Pension office’

    ‘N300m stolen daily at Police Pension office’

    • Recovered N36bn remitted to Federation Account

    About N300million is looted daily from the Police Pension funds, the Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Force, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, has said .

    The task force has already remitted N36billion of the recovered funds to the Federation Account.

    Maina while on a courtesy visit to the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr. Ekpo Nta, said 120 properties acquired with money stolen from the funds have also been seized.

    The commission’s Head of Media, Mr. Folu Olamiti, in a statement, said: “The Reform Task Team said it had covered some grounds in the fight against Pension Funds thieves. It disclosed that it was able to uncover a fraud to the tune of N36 billion within the Police Pension Funds Office, alone.

    “It said it had remitted the whole sum to the purse of the federation, while seizing about 120 properties allegedly acquired with stolen pension funds by the cabals.

    Maina said investigations by members of his team had revealed that the cabals in the Police Pension Office were in the habit of stealing up to N300 million on a daily basis through fictitious cheques prepared in the names of fake pensioners.

    “He said investigations into the Police Pension Office were still ongoing, disclosing that his team had covered 40 percent of investigations into the pension funds scam.

    “A member of the Pension Task Team, who is also a former member of the House of Representatives, Ngozika Ihuoma, told ICPC about similar fraud with Local Government Pension Funds, disclosing that from 1976 till date, a total of N3.3 trillion had been deducted from the funds without proper accountability.”

    The breakthrough recorded by the Pension Task Team on recovery of stolen pension funds is said to have started attracting the attention of the Presidency following a formal invitation extended to the Chairman by the Economic Management Team for special briefing.

    Mr.Olamiti said: “According to Maina, President Jonathan had personally invited the Pension Task Team to brief the Economic Management Team on its achievements so far, most especially the e-pension model the Team had developed to reduce stealing of pension funds across the country.

    “Maina thanked President Goodluck Jonathan and the ICPC for the support both have been throwing behind the Task Team, just as he appealed for further support from the government of Nigeria on how to rid the pension departments in Nigeria of fraudulent cabals.

    “He disclosed that he has continued to receive death threats from those he suspected as Pension funds cabals, recalling the recent mail sent to him, threatening to bomb the office of the Pension Reform Task Team.”

    The ICPC chairman, Nta, said the consistent pilfering of pension funds by officials of government could cause a major national disaster.

    According to the statement, Nta said “since pensioners were in every home in the country, the idea of denying them their rights and entitlements through stealing of their pension could put pressure on the national economy.

    “He observed that the stealing of pension funds easily attracted irreversible curses on perpetrators.

    “He assured the Pension Task Team of preparedness by ICPC to support the fight against stealing of pension funds in Nigeria, promising to partner with the National Television Authority (NTA) and the Africa Independent Television (AIT) in a Special Forum on Pension Funds.”

  • FG votes N23.6bn for Niger Delta militants

    • Reneges on judgement debt

    The coming year is looking good for the former Niger Delta militants with the Federal Government earmarking N23.6billion for their stipends. Thirty thousand of them are expected to share the amount.

    Another N35.4billion will be spent on what government calls re-integration of transformed ex-militants and N3.699billion for the presidential amnesty programme.

    Government is also going back on its promise not to settle judgement debts after the 2012 fiscal year.

    It plans to spend N7billion next year to settle such debts.

    The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had vowed that Federal Government would not settle judgment debts beyond this year because they usually eat deep into public funds.

    In 2012, the National Assembly appropriated N11 billion for the settlement of judgment debts, N1billion less than government’s request.

    Under the consolidated revenue funds charges for 2013, the executive arm is asking for N13 billion to settle external financial obligations, N15 billion for job creation, N23.6 billion as stipends and allowances for 30,000 Niger Delta ex-militants, N35.4 billion for reintegration of transformed ex-militants and N3.699 billion as operational cost for the presidential amnesty programme.

    Next year, the federal government has budgeted N5.1 billion for recurrent adjustments N1.9 billion to settle arrears of monetisation, N2.5 billion to insure sensitive assets and youth corps members, N2.3 billion to settle the entitlements of former presidents, heads of state, vice presidents and chiefs of general staff, and N2.599 billion as benefits of retired heads of the civil service of the federation and federal permanent secretaries and N11 billion as group life insurance for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    To settle domestic debts, government is asking for N38 billion to settle local contractors’ debts, N75 billion is proposed to be spent on the payment of maturing domestic debts bonds, another N25 billion to be paid into the sinking fund for retiring future matured bonds, N8 billion for gas revolution initiative, and N5.7 billion to compensate victims of the 2011 election violence and civil disturbances (damage done to public properties and places of worship).

    In addition, government is proposing to spend N45 billion on the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), N20 billion to be refunded to states for the rehabilitation of federal roads.

  • Former Muammar Gaddafi spokesman captured

    Former Muammar Gaddafi spokesman captured

    A British-educated Libyan who became the public face of the Col Muammer Gaddafi’s regime during its final months has been captured in or near the loyalist town of Bani Walid, Libya’s caretaker deputy premier and military figures announced on Saturday.

    Musa Ibrahim, said to be a member of Col Gaddafi’s clan, was among the most curious characters that emerged during the conflict between the deposed regime and Nato-backed rebels now dominating the oil-rich country.

    Militiamen from the city of Misurata say he was captured exactly a year to the date after Col Gaddafi’s capture and death. Mr Ibrahim’s capture, if confirmed, could further embolden militiamen who have ignored the weak civilian leadership in Tripoli and a launched a multi-pronged attack on Bani Walid to rid it of alleged Gaddafi loyalists to avenge the death of one of their own.

    The capture, first posted to a Facebook news page used by Misurata rebels, attributed news of the capture to Lotfi Amin, described as a Libyan army official. Caretaker deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur later confirmed the capture on his

    Mr Ibrahim was alleged caught while trying to escape from Bani Walid to Tarhouna another nearby loyalist stronghold. A report later said he had been transferred to Mitiga air base in Tripoli.

    Previous reports of Mr Ibrahim’s capture turned out to be false. But a Libyan television channel said it would soon air images of the captive

    During the civil war last year, Mr Ibrahim appeared frequently on television to defend the regime while staying at the luxury Tripoli hotel that housed many international journalists.

    Sporting a crisp British accent, he voiced a hard line against the rebels, often adopting the rhetoric of Col Gaddafi in referring to the rebel fighters as “gangs” and criminals.

    He could often be seen in the lobby and cafés of the Rixos Hotel, hobnobbing with journalists or strolling with his German wife and infant son, who accompanied him to Libya during his stint as the regime’s most public face.

    He disappeared following the August 2011 collapse of Gaddafi’s rule in Tripoli but later posted defiant messages and audio footage.

     

    His reported capture comes as militiamen continue a full-scale assault on the city of Bani Walid, a stronghold of the Wurfulla tribe that is Libya’s largest. Fighters from the city of Misurata initiated the attack following the death of Omar Shabaan, a key figure in the capture of Col Gaddafi who later allegedly died as a result of wounds he sustained while in the custody of Bani Walid residents.

    Young fighters from Misurata and Tripoli rejected calls for negotiations by senior politicians and tribal elders in launching the attack, which has resulted in at least 10 deaths.

  • UNIPORT: JTF guns down students killer

    UNIPORT: JTF guns down students killer

    • Arrests three others
    • Identities of victims revealed by JTF

    The Joint Task Force (JTF) in Rivers State yesterday shot dead one of the alleged brains behind Thursday’s killing of a student of the University of Port Harcourt and two others at Rumuchakara, Choba, a host community of the institution.

    Operatives of the JTF, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, also arrested three others suspected to have taken part in the killing of the 300 level female undergraduate identified as Bere Aghagha; a member of Batch “C” National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Gabriel Akinbayo, who passed out in Port Harcourt earlier that day and Kennedy Okodhi.

    Two other members of the gang reportedly escaped with gunshot wounds.

    The hoodlums opened fire on their victims at about 9:45 pm on Thursday soon after celebrating Akinbayo’s completion of his national service.

    It was gathered that the security outfit which launched an immediate manhunt for the killers tracked them to their hideout at Choba at 1:45 am and intercepted their operational vehicle, a Toyota Avalon, with registration number Kano: AG 320 MDB.

    A gun battle soon ensued resulting in the death of one of the hoodlums and the arrest of another.

    The Public Relations Officer of the 2 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt, Major Michael Etete, paraded the suspects yesterday.

    Etete stated that after the shoot-out, two young men suspected to be members of the gang, came on rescue mission in another Toyota Avalon car, with registration number Rivers: AU 207 PHC, but were arrested at Choba Junction bringing the number of arrested killers to three.

    The army PRO pledged that efforts were being intensified to apprehend the two fleeing gunmen.

    Items recovered from the hoodlums included two Toyota Avalon cars, four AK-47 rifles, 16 magazines, and many rounds of live ammunition, six mobile telephone handsets and three driver’s licences.

    Thursday’s killings happened barely two weeks after four undergraduates of UNIPORT were murdered at Omuokiri-Aluu, Ikwerre LGA, another host community of the university.

    Thirteen persons arrested in connection with the lynching have been charged to court

    The Vice-Chancellor of UNIPORT, Prof. Joseph Ajienka, stated that only justice would satisfy the bereaved families and members of the public that watched the October 5 gory lynching of four students of the university, while pleading for calm.

    Ajienka said: “We want to be sure that our students and staff, who live in the host communities, would be guaranteed of their safety and harmonious relationship with their landlords, as used to be the case.

    “Many of our staff and students no longer feel safe in the Aluu neighbourhood. I have a responsibility to all of them. In a society that is governed by the rule of law, we all expect that everybody that is directly or remotely connected with the heinous murder of our students will be speedily brought to book, to serve as a deterrent to others, who may wish to follow such unacceptable conduct.”

  • Boko Haram: Security agencies grill sect commander, probe Senator

    Boko Haram: Security agencies grill sect commander, probe Senator

    • Suspect was not arrested in my residence but he is my nephew, says Senator

    Security agencies yesterday in Abuja began the interrogation of a Boko Haram Commander, Shuaibu Mohammed Bama, who was allegedly arrested in the house of a serving Senator, Ahmed Khalifa Zanna, on Thursday in Maiduguri.

    The agencies are also probing the activities of the Senator on his relationship with the Boko Haram Commander.

    But Senator Zanna said the Commander was not arrested at his residence, contrary to the claim of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno State.

    The Boko Haram leader was picked up on Thursday in a house on Damboa in Maiduguri.

    A source said: “We have started interrogating the sect Commander and so far he has given useful information to security agencies.

    “When some operatives of the JTF stormed the Senator’s residence, some members of his immediate family confirmed that Bama is a relation of the Senator.”

    The source however claimed that despite the denial of the Senator, his activities are being probed.

    He said: “The ongoing probe will determine the level of his culpability. We will then be able to determine whether we should arrest him or not. But so far, we are looking at the activities of the Senator.

    “For a while, the Senator, from Borno Central, had been placed under surveillance following repeated security reports of his alleged link with one of the Boko Haram leaders.

    “As a matter of fact, a former Commissioner of Police in Borno once claimed that some of the loyalists of the Senator had links with Boko Haram.

    “But security agencies became curious when the Senator was persistently speaking to BBC, VOA and other international media calling for the withdrawal of soldiers from Borno State.”

    Responding to a question, the source added: “No one is declaring the Senator guilty but certainly for a Boko Haram Commander to be linked to him, security agencies cannot gloss over it.

    “When we finish preliminary findings, the public will be briefed accordingly. But so far, the latest arrest confirmed our suspicion that the Boko Haram menace had insider’s knowledge.”

    Senator Zanna only confirmed that the Boko Haram Commander is his nephew.

    He denied that the suspect was in his house.

    He said: “They said they arrested the man in the house of a lawmaker in Damboa Road, and there is no any lawmaker in Damboa Road except me.

    “They did not arrest him in my house, they went to my house but did not find him, and instead they arrested children in my house and put them inside the hot sun and started beating them. And they asked them whether they knew Shuaibu Bama, and one of the boys answered yes. He then took them to where they arrested Shuaibu Bama.

    “Shuaibu Bama is a son of my sister. But the lie is what they are saying that they arrested him in my house, which is a lie. And we cannot hide or harbour a Boko Haram sect member.

    “And since he was not arrested in my house, they should go and investigate his relationship with people they arrested him in their house. I don’t know anything about it and just heard yesterday.”

     

  • Fashola, Tinubu, others win NUJ Award

    LAGOS State governor, Babatunde Fashola, and wife of the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Senator (Mrs.) Oluremi Tinubu, yesterday bagged political leadership award from the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Information Chapel of the state’s Ministry of Information and Strategy.

    Also recognised and awarded along were Senator Olugbenga Barewu Ashafa, and former commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele.

    Receiving the award, Fashola who was represented by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, urged journalists to remain steadfast and be committed to the sacred obligation of informing the people.

     

  • Nigeria gets new regulations to combat environmental disasters

    THE National Environmental Standards Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has introduced four regulations to combat the menace of flooding ravaging several parts of the country.

    They were rolled out at the Annual Regulatory Dialogue held in Abuja.

    The Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Mailafia, attributed the menace of flooding disaster to non-compliance with set regulations.

    She said: “The environment functions as source of raw materials and energy, a provider of services such as maintenance of climatic system and ecological cycle and a sink for waste, unfortunately, the functions of the ecosystem are under threat arising particularly from disregard for environmental laws and regulations.’’

    She explained the new regulations include: National Environmental (Quarrying and blasting species) regulations, 2012; National Environmental (pulp and paper, wood and wood products) regulations 2012; National Environmental (Motor vehicle assembly and miscellaneous assembly) regulations, 2012 and National Environmental (alien and invasive species) regulations.

    Mailafia, who was represented by Dr. Modupe Odubela, described environmental regulations as a body of rules that ensures sustainable use of resources and for the social and economic development of the society.

    According to her, environmental protection flows from a principle of a moral and ethical belief that citizens should protect the air, water and land.

    “Environmental governance is not all about government. As citizens of this country, we have a key role to play in promoting environmental governance and in ensuring a cleaner and healthier environment,’’ she added.

    The Director General of NESREA, Mrs. Ngeri Benebo, stated that the laws are to ensure full compliance with environmental regulations.

    She called for collective efforts, stressing that the guideline will place all stakeholders on the same page as individuals, government, academia, and corporate body.

     

  • Flood: MDGs to scale up cash transfer scheme

    THE Senior Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Dr. Precious Gbeneol, has said that conditional cash transfer scheme to cushion the effect of flood disaster in the country would be scaled up.

    Gbeneol spoke at the Saint Joseph flood camp in Aguleri, Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State on Friday, when she visited the state to sympathise with the victims.

    She was accompanied by Governor Obi and members of the state committee on flooding.

    Gbeneol presented relief materials worth over N7m to them, including 300 bags of rice, disinfectants, 200 cartons of tomatoes, milk, to mention but a few.

    She said that MDGs office also planned to reach out to more than 56,000 households across the country.

    Gbeneol announced that Anambra State was one of the states that would benefit from the conditional cash transfer scheme.

    She added that MDG will collaborate with Obi and the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) to mobilise health resources as a precautionary measure in view of the health hazards that could follow the situation.

    Obi said that he would shock the people of Anambra State when the flood recedes.

    He assured his administration will speedily rehabilitate all those affected by the flood, promising to also involve civil society groups in the programme.

     

  • IPMAN executive jailed in Saudi for drug trafficking

    AUTHORITIES of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have sentenced a Nigerian and executive member of the Kwara State Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to six months in prison for cocaine trafficking.

    The embattled petroleum marketer (name withheld) went on lesser hajj last August with his wife en route Kano.

    He allegedly hid the suspected substance inside the yam flour neatly packaged in his travelling bag.

    But Saudi security officials allegedly fished out the substance from where it was stuck.

    When interrogated by security personnel, the IPMAN executive was said to have owned up while his wife was instantly set free.

    He was said to have been convicted immediately according to Saudi laws.

    It was gathered the development automatically prevented him from performing the lesser hajj.

    Friends and relations could not ascertain his whereabouts until the wife was said to have contacted them on the development.

    It was also gathered authorities of the Saudi Arabia government had communicated the decision to the leadership of IPMAN in Kwara state.

    Not a few members of the association have expressed dismay over the development, describing it as unfortunate.

    A member of the state executive of IPMAN, who craved anonymity, confirmed the development.

    He said zonal and national offices of IPMAN had taken steps to fill the vacant seat.

    A member of the executives said it is morally wrong for the association to allow an ex-convict to return to office.

    The source said, “the move for his replacement would serve as a lesson to the people, particularly the members.”

    It was gathered he had commenced serving the jail term, which ends in December, since August.

  • Why Nigeria is economically stagnant, by Daniel

    Why Nigeria is economically stagnant, by Daniel

    FORMER Ogun State governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has traced the dwindling fortunes of the nation’s economy to the many leakages that give room for wastages and poor management.

    Daniel, who spoke in Abuja on Friday night when he was honoured as a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Economists, also noted that the nation’s accountants should share part of the blame.

    He argued they have failed to give proper advice that could make the economy grow.

    Also honoured at the event were Prof Ajagbe Toriola of the Lead University, Ibadan and Otunba Obey Akinlaja of the Nigeria Agip Oil Company, Ogun State.

    Daniel said: “When I was informed that I’ve been invited to chair the occasion, I couldn’t understand why because I’m not an economist, a serving governor or holding any current public position.

    “The bane of our challenge as a nation, despite 52 years of our independence, is because our economy hasn’t been properly managed.

    “As governor for eight years, I saw wastage in government circles. I have no doubt in my mind that until professional economists are given their pride of place, the country will not move forward. The question is why then do we not have professional economists in key government circles?”

    He went on: “I have always said that until we economically manage our resources, the resources will never go round. If we have 160million people and the national budget is judiciously used, I’m sure Nigeria will solve her problems. If we manage our resources well, Nigeria shouldn’t be a poor country.

    “We heard, sometimes ago, that they wanted to extend the runway in the international airport. The amount which was N60billion they budgeted was alarming.

    ‘’If this is the way contracts are run as a country, we will not make progress. As economists, these are some of the issues you must look at.’’

    Describing accountants as major impediments to the nation’s economic growth, he said: “”If I were in a position of authority to take certain decisions, I would have fired some of those accountants and bankers. Economists must come to the rescue and salvage the situation”.