The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Acting Chairman

  • Ebonyi APC suspends acting chairman

    A faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State yesterday said it had suspended indefinitely the factional Acing Chairman of the party, Mr. Eze Nwachukwu Eze, for allegedly conniving with some party chieftains to tamper with the party’s guidelines for tomorrow’s state congress.

    Rising from a meeting of the party’s factional State Executive Council (SEC) in Abakaliki, the state capital, the Ben Nwaobasi-led faction said the suspension of Nwachukwu became inevitable to bring peace to the state APC.

    It warned the public to henceforth be mindful of dealings with Nwachukwu and his co-party chieftains.

    Ebonyi State APC had been factionalised since 2014 when the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, pulled out from the party to set up an office with some SEC members

    The SEC members, led by Nwachukwu, who was then Nwaobasi’s Vice Chairman, purportedly announced the impeachment of Nwaobasi.

    But the erstwhile chairman’s group, with the support of Senator Julius Ucha, a former governorship candidate under the defunct All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), faulted the impeachment for not following due process.

    The factionalisation continued till the last ward and local government congresses, where both factions held parallel congresses.

    Nwachukwu and some SWC members, last Monday, adopted as a working document a report presented to it by a three-man committee, led by Onu, which proposed a new zoning arrangement for Saturday’s state congress of the party.

     

     

  • EFCC grants NFIU autonomy

    EFCC grants NFIU autonomy

    Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu Wednesday told the Senate that the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has been granted autonomy.

    Magu who appeared before the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes to defend the performance of 2017 budget of his agency promised to submit details of recovered loots by the agency to the committee.

    He told the committee that starting from January 1, 2018, NFIU would begin operation as independent organization.

    The Egmont Group suspended Nigeria as a result of alleged interference of the EFCC in the workings of the NFIU.

    It asked the country to amend its law establishing the NFIU to make it independent or be prepared to be expelled by January 2018.

    Magu told the committee that the agency has a separate budget from that of the EFCC.

    He said, “We have allowed NFIU to go. They are operationally autonomy independent of EFCC.  They will be independent of EFCC. We have given them financial autonomy. N800 million was proposed for the agency in 2018 budget.

    Chairman of the Committee, Senator Chukwuka Utazi said that the N800 million proposed for NFIU is not enough for the body to conduct it work.

    Utazi noted that “N800 million cannot go anywhere if you want them to work, they need to be properly funded and equipped.”

    He also requested for pay roll of the 96 workers under the NFIU from the head of the agency.

    Utazi insisted that his committee need to know the work force of NFIU.

  • It’s cheaper to prevent corruption than fight it – Magu

    It’s cheaper to prevent corruption than fight it – Magu

    Mr Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it is cheaper to prevent corruption than to fight it.

    Magu said this on Thursday during the Anti-Corruption Sensitisation Programme organised for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Aviation Sector Workers Abuja.

    He said that section six of the EFCC Act required the commission to, in addition to its enforcement responsibilities, take measures to prevent economic and financial crimes.

    Magu explained that part of such preventive measures was an aggressive sensitisation campaign, public enlightenment and education in both public and private sectors.

    The essence, according to him, is to improve workplace consciousness of corruption and its corrosive effects and encourage workers to embrace them.

    “The EFCC alone couldn’t fight and win the war against corruption in Nigeria.

    “I would like to seize this opportunity to remind us that, corruption affects all of us.

    “We must resolve to fight it to a standstill in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s admonition to us that, “If we don`t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.

    “We must not allow that to happen, for the sake of our children and the unborn generation.’’

    Magu said that the airport, as the most important gateway into the country, was strategic in many ways.

    He said that since airport was foreigners’ first contact with Nigeria, the impression they formed about the country would be largely informed by the conduct of aviation professionals.

    According to Magu, this is why the conduct of aviation professionals is key to the efforts at national rebirth, especially the critical economic mandate of attracting foreign direct investment into the economy.

    He enjoined aviation workers to erase practices, attitudes and behaviours that could cast a slur on the nation’s reputation, thereby making Nigeria an unattractive destination for both tourists and investors.

    The EFCC boss called on the management of FAAN to put screening and monitoring systems in place to ensure that airport staff delivered service to the best international practices.

    “As things stand, except we delude ourselves, we cannot deny that the twin evil of corruption and poor infrastructure have blighted our aviation industry.

    “Our presence here today is to bring the message of anti-corruption to the management and staff of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other aviation workers.

    “In recent times, many cases of corruption have been reported in the sector, ranging from misuse of funds, bribery, extortion to abuse of authority by officials at the airports.

    “The implication of this is the compelling need to strengthen our key integrity systems by consciously eliminating practices that promote corrupt tendencies in the public sectors.

    “It is gratifying that FAAN has inaugurated its Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) to ensure transparency, accountability and good ethical practices,’’ he said.

    Magu, while commending the management of FAAN for the steps taken to prevent corruption, also advised the staff to familiarise themselves with the EFCC Act and other laws affecting their duties.

    He said that the Commission was determined more than ever before to rid all government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs of all forms of fraudulent activities.

    According to him, FAAN in collaboration with the EFCC can fight corruption effectively.

    The Managing Director of FAAN, Mr Saleh Dunoma, commended EFCC for the initiative to take anti-corruption campaign to the airport, saying that the airport was the best choice.

    Dunoma said that FAAN was determined to collaborate with EFCC in the fight against corruption especially in the aviation sector.

    He also called on the agency to sustain the sensitisation campaign by ensuring that all the airports in the country were covered as well as training of intelligence unit of aviation security on anti-corruption.

    Dunoma urged the participants to pay attention to the presentation by the EFCC to help equip them to support actively in the fight against corruption.

  • Men more corrupt than women – Magu

    Men more corrupt than women – Magu

    Mr Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has said that corrupt tendencies were more pronounced among males than females.

    “Looking at the number of people that have been apprehended by the commission, the number of men involved outnumbers the women,” Magu said on Friday, in Abuja,

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Magu made the statement when the executive committee of the National Council of Women Society (NCWS), paid him a courtesy visit.

    He said, however, that women were not pure or immune to greed, but that were only less corrupt.

    Magu described women as nation builders, stressing that their roles in ensuring the right societal values could never be over-emphasized.

    The EFCC boss stressed the need for collaboration between the commission and NCWS in the fight against corruption.

    He explained that the commission had never undermined the rule of law in its anti-graft fight, adding that the EFCC, aside tackling economic crimes, was working hard to put an end to political corruption.

    “We respect the independence of the judiciary and auditing bodies in our efforts to ensure that the corrupt are prosecuted, while stolen assets are returned,” he said.

    Magu craved women’s support in the fight against corruption, and disclosed that the Lagos zone of the “Women Against Corruption” would be launched on Feb. 22, 2016 to enlist that support in the battle to rid Nigeria of the menace.

    Earlier, Dr. Gloria Shoda, President, NCWS, had said that achieving developmental goals would only be possible when resources in public trusts were properly utilized.

    “Such misuse of resources has always been the problem in the country,” she declared.

    Shoda commended President Muhammadu Buhari’s consistency in the fight against corruption, saying that it had raised the benchmark in public service.

    According to her, the behavioural changes have become evident while compliance to the rules of due process are encouraging.

    She said that EFCC had proved effective in government’s bid to arrest the tide, and expressed readiness to partner with Buhari and EFCC toward restoring Nigeria to the path of dignity and glory.

    The NCWS official challenged the Federal Government to extend the vigour put into fighting corruption, to sectors like education, roads, healthcare and security.

    “We want a Nigeria where our agricultural sector is functional and ranked among the best in the world, not just for the sake of economic diversification,” she said.