The Nation Newspaper

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  • $12.4b oil windfall suit: Court to deliver judgment on Nov 23

    The Federal High Court, Abuja has fixed November 23 for judgment in a suit seeking public disclosure of how the Federal Government expended the $12.4 billion oil windfall earned during the regime of former military president Ibrahim Babangida.

    Justice Gabriel Kolawole chose the date after parties re-argued and re-adopted their written addresses.

    The suit, initiated by the Registered Trustees of Socio-Economic and Accountability Project (SERAP) and five other rights groups is urging the court to make an order compelling the apex bank and the AGF to publish detailed accounts on the spending of huge amount of money between 1988 and 1994.

    They also sought for an order of the court compelling the respondents to diligently and effectively bring to justice anyone suspected of corruption and mismanagement of the $12.4 billion oil windfall.

    They prayed for an order directing the respondents to provide adequate reparation, which may take the form of restitution, compensation, satisfaction or guarantees of non-repetition to millions of Nigerians that have been denied their human rights as a result of the respondents’ failure and/or negligence to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of $12.4 billion oil windfall between 1988 and 1994.

    The suit has the Attorney- General of the Federation (AGF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as defendants.

    SERAP’s Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni said in a statement that the new date was communicated to him by Sola Egbeyinka of the Falana and Falana Chambers.

    He said the Federal Government, in its argument insisted that the enactment of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009 by the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Idris Kutigi “exceeded his constitutional powers by liberalising the rules on locus standi, permitting public impact litigation, and allowing the inclusion of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the Rules.”

  • ‘It’s our turn to produce president in 2015’

    The Middle Belt Youth Leaders’ Forum (MYLF) has urged politicians and political parties to focus on the Middle Belt geo-political zone in the search for the president in 2015.

    In a communiqué issued after a Consultative Assembly of the MYLF, the group said the choice of a president from the region would help to end the North-South controversy that is tearing the country apart.

    The communiqué, which was signed by Mallam Hamid Usman, Comrade Philip Agbese and Mr. Jonah Nabut, said it is time for Nigerians to reward the political maturity, generosity and sportsmanship of the Middle Belt since the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999.

    The group said the political parties in Nigeria have enjoyed a fair share of patronage and goodwill across the Middle Belt and should consider fielding a candidate from the region in the next presidential election.

    The communiqué noted that the group’s call should not be equated with supporting mediocrity, as qualified persons from the Middle Belt would submit to a national scrutiny before contesting election.

    It said, in addition to finding a middle ground in the nation’s troubled polity, the other geo-political zones would be acting in a just manner by allowing Middle Belt to produce a democratically-elected leader for the country.

  • Residents cry out over bad road

    Residents of Egbelu in Amaimo Autonomous Community in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State have cried out to Governor Rochas Okorocha to prevail on the contractor handling the Nkwo Amaimo-Egbelu-Ihitte Road to complete it quickly without compromising quality.

    President-General of the town Chief Joseph Ugwulebo, made the call while commenting on the awful state of the road at Egbelu Town Hall.

    He said that the road popularly called Ama Egbelu which had been maintained by the community for so many years, has been rendered impassable by the contractor. The contractor, he disclosed to Newsextra, started work on the road but disappeared after doing much damage to it.

    “I have called the contractor several times on phone demanding an explanation to why he abandoned the road. He kept promising that he would complete the job soon. The road is in a pitiable condition. The people have been completely cut off from their neighbouring towns. The people get to their town through Umuri Autonomous Community as Egbelu Road has become impassable as well as a death trap.

    “We implore the Chairman, Transition Committee of Ikeduru Local Government Area and the task force on infrastructural development to look into the construction of that road with a view of re-awarding it to a competent contractor for a more durable work. If they don’t, the consequences would be so grave,” he said.

    Continuing, Chief Ugwu said: “I personally spoke with the site engineer on the need for the contractor to officially introduce himself and his firm to leaders of Egbelu Town to avoid any problem. I also urged him to ensure that they do quality job.

    On the drainage system, the President-General noted that it is far below standard, describing it as the type individuals construct in their homes to channel waste water off.

    He also condemned the quality of the rods which the contractor is using in constructing the drainage system, adding that the size of the rod is comparable to that of barb wire. He further quoted the contractor as saying that the contract was awarded to him without any provision for drainage system; that he was only providing drainage system at that particular spot because of the marshy nature of the road at the Nkwaraka axis of the road.

    Also commenting on the state of the road, the President-General of Amaimo Autonomous Community Chief Vitalis Osuji, a lawyer, wondered why the contractor handling the Nkwo Amaimo-Egbelu-Ihitte Road should do such a shoddy job when compared with other road projects being handled by other contractors in other neighbouring communities.

    Chief Osuji specifically mentioned road projects being constructed in Umuri Autonomous Community which shares common boundary with Egbelu community.

    He disclosed that the quality of job done on the roads in that community is high, noting that the drainage system is wide and standard. He commended the contractor handling the Umuri roads Messrs Vitex Interbiz Agency for their sense of quality it brought to bear on the jobs as specified by the state government.

    He pleaded with the state government, the Chairman Transition Committee of Ikeduru Local Government Area and the task force on infrastructural development, and the lawmaker representing Ikeduru Local Government at the Imo State House of Assembly to prevail on the contractor handling the Nkwo Amaimo-Egbelu-Ihitte Road to expedite action on the road and ensure that quality job is done.

    Contacted on the telephone, the lawmaker representing Ikeduru in the Imo State House of Assembly, Hon. Anyanwu Samuel spoke about his efforts to ensure that roads within his jurisdiction are in very good condition.

    On the Nkwo Amaimo-Egbelu-Ihitte Road, he disclosed that it is a constituency project and that he has personal interest in the road because of its strategic importance.

    He told Newsextra that work on the road had begun but was stalled by the heavy rains. He promised that once the rains subside, work on the project would begin in earnest.

  • Firm builds police station in Calabar

    Firm builds police station in Calabar

    As part of its corporate social responsibility, the NorthWest Petroleum and Gas company has built and equipped a police station in the Ikot Omin community in Calabar Municipality, Cross River State.

    Also donated to the police station was a Toyota Hilux pick-up van fully equipped with modern communication gadgets, three motorcycles and a power generating set.

    Speaking at the inauguration of the station in Ikot Omin, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer  of the company, Mrs Winifred Akpani, said the police station was built to help the police function better and consequently protect the lives and property in the community as well and the adjoining St Augustine Primary School.

    She called on the community to cooperate with the law enforcenment officers, saying if they are encouraged, they will do more.

    Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar thanked the company for the gesture and urged the community to work with the police to serve them better.

    Abubakar, who was represented by the Assistant Inspector General of Police of Zone 6, Ibrahim Mukhtar, called on the community to help the police with information to expose the bad elements in their midst.

    Chairman of Calabar Municipality, Eta Mbora, said such a partnership between government and the private sector goes a long way in delivering the dividends of democracy to the people.

    Mbora called on other firms to emulate the gesture of NorthWest Petroleum and Gas.

  • Policeman to die by hanging for murder

    Lagos High Court, sitting in Ikeja, yesterday sentenced to death by hanging Police Corporal, Ikechukwu Nwabueze, who shot dead three-year-old Kafusarat Murtala two and half years ago.

    Justice Olabisi Akinlade held that there was no justification for Nwabueze to fire the shot that killed the girl.

    The girl’s death on April 5, 2009, at a check-point in Alapere, Ketu, a Lagos suburb, sparked a riot.

    Her parents held on to the police, demanding that their child be brought back to life.

    Reviewing the trial, which started on June 15, 2010, following Nwabueze’s arraignment, Justice Akinlade declared that the “weight of evidence showed that he had the intention to kill.”

    “The only statutory punishment for murder is the death penalty. Accordingly, the sentence of the court upon you, Ikechukwu Nwabueze, is that you be hanged by the neck until you breathe your last and may the Lord have mercy on your soul,” Justice Akinlade said.

    Nwabueze, who was dismissed from the Police, is formerly attached to Alapere Police Station. He was arraigned on a one-count charge.

    The late Kafusara died on the lap of her mother in the car she was travelling with her father and other siblings when she was hit by the bullet fired from an AK 47.

    The offence, according to the prosecution, was committed in front of Mr. Biggs at Obanlearo, Alapere, Ketu.

    The offence, according to the prosecutor, contravened Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code Cap 32, Vol. 2, Laws of Lagos State 1994.

    Justice Akinlade noted that Nwabueze in his extra-judicial statement, confessed that he fired the shot that killed Kafusarat.

    She said the Corporal later retracted the statement for another, which he claimed was drafted for him to sign by Inspector Raphael.

    Nwabueze insisted during the trial that he was coerced to make the confessional statement by the police officer who investigated the case.

    He also claimed that he was not the only one that fired shots into the air. Other members of his team did, he added, contrary to his earlier statement.

    But Justice Akinlade upheld the evidence of the prosecution witnesses; the father of the deceased, Sergeant Adeboye James, of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, Professor John Oladapo, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on the deceased and Atunbi Jeremiah, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), who is a ballistician.

    Justice Akinlade, who noted some inconsistencies in Nwabueze’s testimony, held that a recanted confessional statement does not necessarily cancel its relevance.

    She said: “It is trite law that the confessional statement of a defendant is relevant regardless of the fact that it is recanted. It is also trite that a person can be convicted on the basis of the confessional statement. It is my opinion that the evidence of PW1 is consistent with the testimonies of PW 2 and PW 3.”

    The judge said the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses were not discredited during cross-examination.

    She said Nwabueze had stated that “by his training as a police officer, he (Nwabueze) cannot claim ignorance of the probable consequences of shooting at the vehicle.”

  • ‘Babangida, others destroyed the civil service’

    The Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF), Alhaji Isa Bello Sali, has blamed the regime of former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), for laying the foundations of the rot that currently permeates the nation’s civil service.

    Sali said the reforms carried out between 1985 and 1988 were largely responsible for the dearth of professionals and committed public officers in the public service.

    The Head of Service made the allegations in a paper he at the delivered opening session of the 36th Annual Conference of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSAN), in Abuja, yesterday.

    He explained that the implementation of the Professor Dotun Philip’s report and subsequent promulgation of Decree 43 to give legal backing to the implementation of the recommendations of the report largely eroded the vitality, standard of performance and cohesion of the public service.

    He said: “The subsequent reforms of 1985-88 which arose from the recommendations of the Dotun Philip report was given legal effect through Decree 43 of 1988. The legislation paved the way for all comers into the top echelon of the civil service.”

  • 70 Kwara communities taken over by floods

    Floods, occasioned by the overflow of Rivers Niger and Kaduna, have displaced residents of 70 communities at Patigi in Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State.

    This happened just as the government announced that flood has rendered 4,700 people homeless in Edu Local Government.

    At Patigi, houses, farmlands and property worth several millions of Naira were submerged.

    The Managing Director of the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, Ilorin, Abubakar Aduragba, said the flood swept away over 3, 200 hectares of rice plantation.

    The plantation is under the Tada-Shonga Irrigation Scheme in Edu Local Government.

    He urged the Federal Government to release fund for the completion of the 32,000 hectares in Tada-Shonga Irrigation Project, which was started by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

    Aduragba said the project is located on the fertile plains of the River Niger between Tada and Shonga in Edu Local Government.

    He said the objective of the Tada-Shonga Irrigation Scheme was to increase the nation’s rice production through large scale rice plantation.

    According to him, the benefits of the project include production of 53, 000 metric tones of rice annually through double cropping with market value in excess of over N3 billion.

    The Chairman of Patigi Local Government, Alhaji Taoheed Makun Lata, described the flood as a disaster that had wreaked havoc on his people.

    The Special Adviser on Emergency and Relief Services to the Governor, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi, during an assessment tour of the flooded areas in Edu Local Government, assured the people of government’s support to cushion the effect of the flood.

  • Landslide cuts off Imo communities

    Landslide cuts off Imo communities

    Imo state government has commenced palliative measures to reconnect Umuchima and Mgbee communities in Ideato South Council Area of the state after a major landslide washed away the roads connecting the affected communities and the rest of the state.

    The ravaging erosion which left a 50-meter-deep gully that cut the Federal Government road connecting Anambra and Imo states into two, has brought untold social and economic hardship on the people of the zone.

    Although the state government has awarded contracted for the construction of alternative routes to ensure that the people of Orlu Senatorial zone were not totally cut off from major commercial cities, the people and comm. Utters alike have continued to groan under the new challenges occasioned by the landslide that has totally damaged the trunk A road.

    Narrating their ordeal, one of the community leaders, Chief Micheal Dikeocha, who spoke with Newsextra, lamented that the burden of travelling from the communities to major markets in the state is becoming unbearable, adding that despite the efforts of the state government, the erosion has continued to eat away the road.

    Dikeocha described how a commercial motorcyclist narrowly escaped death when a part of the the road caved in under him.

    He said the landslide has grounded major economic activities in the area, putting the residents in grave danger.

    “The day the road finally collapsed, an okada rider was lucky to be rescued from the gully but his motorcycle was completely buried and has not been recovered till date,” Dikeocha said.

    “If nothing is done to arrest the situation, it may eat into the community and sink the entire village.

    “Our greatest challenge is that as farmers, we sell our produce in big markets in the city but with this landslide that has cut off the road, we cannot access the markets, schools, hospitals and other social amenities. Our pregnant women and children are the worst affected as they cannot easily travel out of the villages.”

    In Mgbee community, the worst hit by the landslide, young men now do brisk business ferrying the aged and little children across the deep gully for a fee of N100, depending on the weight and size of the traveller.

     Recounting their ordeal, some of the commuters who ply the route, said that the road has deteriorated to the extent that a journey that was made within one hour before, now takes close to eight hours.

    A driver who spoke on the condition of anonymity, appealed to the government to impress it on the relevant authorities to come to the aid of the villagers.

    He said: “We are threatened by the gully and the condition worsens everyday with the rains; our children can no longer go to school in the cities because the only connecting road has been completely cut off by the erosion”.

    The state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, who doubles as the state Commissioner for Works, toured the area to ascertain the level of damage and initiate remedial action pending a permanent repair work by the Federal Government.   Speaking at one of the sites, the governor described the situation as horrible and agonising, insisting that stringent measures should be adopted by federal authorities to address the menace before the safety of the people of the zone is further threatened.

    Okorocha said: “This is a very important Federal Government road that links Anambra and Imo states and we have made every effort to stop this gully before it got worse; this is not the only site in the state and I want the Federal Government to see it as an emergency that must be given urgent attention.”

    “We are doing what we can to correct the ugly situation just to make sure that the people can travel. The gully is about 50 meters deep and that is why I am appealing to the Federal Government to come to the aid of this part of the country immediately before it is totally cut away from the rest of the public. These are not the only erosion sites in the state; there are about seven sites on this road. I want the people to be patient as we are doing everything to connect them back.”

    Also speaking during the tour, the Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso, said that the state government has visited the erosion sites with the management of the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) to ascertain the extent of the erosion, adding that the problem is beyond NEMA.

  • Woman, 65, held for cocaine trafficking

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), yesterday arrested a 65-year-old grandmother, Hassan Fatimat Abike also known as Chika Okoye, for allegedly trying to smuggle 1.740Kilogramms of substance suspected to be cocaine on board of British Airways flight to London, in a herbal syrup.

    According to a statement, she was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to board a British Airways flight by NDLEA, it was not the first time the suspect was travelling to London. The drug, the agency said, was cleverly packed in balloons and inserted in 10 plastic containers of herbal syrup.

    According to the Airport Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, the suspect has two international passports bearing Hassan Fatimat Abike with passport numbers A03348648 and A3771781A.

    “She was caught during the screening of British Airways passengers to London. The cocaine found in her possession was packed in balloons and prepared into the shape of the plastic bottles. It was also wrapped in black polythene inside 10 plastic bottles of local herbal mixtures. Each bottle was neatly sealed to avoid suspicion,” Hamza said.

    Preliminary investigation, according to Hamza, revealed that she is also known as Chika Okoye. He said: “She speaks Ibo and Yoruba fluently. Her father is a native of Abeokuta, Ogun State while her mother hails from Owerri, Imo State. Hassan Fatimat Abike also known as Chika Okoye, has six children and many grandchildren. She currently lives alone in Owerri and sells clothes to earn a living. The drug found in her bag tested positive for cocaine and weighed 1.740kg.”

    In her statement, the suspect claimed ownership of the drug, saying that it was given to her by a friend. She said: “I live at Owerri alone because my children are grown up and now have their families. I sell clothes to take care of myself. I met an old friend two weeks ago and during our discussion, I told him I will soon be travelling to London.

    “He asked me to deliver some herbal medicine to his sick relative in London. I was only trying to assist an old friend. I blame myself for everything, because I should have turned down his request. The drug was detected during a search at the airport.”

    Chairman, Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, said the agency is investigating her claim. “The case is under investigation to ascertain her role. This is very worrisome, considering the fact that she is a grandmother,” Giade stated.

  • Adeosun: Nigeria has lost another patriotic man

    Prominent Nigerians gathered yesterday at Our Saviour’s Church for the Commendation Service held in honour of the Chairman of National Pension Commission, Chief Oluwole Alani Adeosun, who died on September 14 in India.

    The church’s vicar, Ven. Igein Isemede, said “Baba was a member of the 11’o clock service, which he attended promptly.”

    Many spoke about the late Adeosun’s patriotism and industrial spirit that propelled him to the top echelon of Nigeria’s financial sector.

    The vicar said the league of patriotic Nigerians was diminishing.

    At the Service of Songs held for the former President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi joined hundreds others to honour the deceased.

    As a former First Bank Managing Director credited with the bank’s auspicious period, it was not surprising the gathering was fairly a First Bank community, as many officials of the bank, led by the Managing Director, Bisi Onasanya, converged, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island to honour him.

    A former First Bank official, Rev. Akpoghene Okoro of Our Saviours Church, who delivered the brief but poignant homily, reminded the congregation of their mortality.