The Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mr. Waziri Adio has declared his assets with N3.8million and $821 US in his account.
His assets and that of his spouse are however worth N99,417,894.
He said he has closed his foreign accounts which he operated at different times as a student or a fellow in the United States.
Adio, who made the disclosures in a statement on his Assets Declaration Form, said he opted for a public declaration of his assets in order to practice what he preaches.
He said he believes that “Public Officers should declare their assets publicly”
The statement said: “After 23 years of working in the media, in an international development agency, and as a consultant and an entrepreneur, I own the following assets declared in my Form CCB 1:
“As at 30 March 2016, I had a total of N3, 810, 206 in accounts with Access Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and United Bank for Africa.
• As at 30 March 2016, I had a total of $821 in domiciliary accounts in Access Bank and UBA.
“The foreign accounts I operated at different times as a student or a fellow in the US are all closed.
“One unit of a 3-Bedrooom bungalow in an estate in a suburb of Abuja bought in 2011 at N17.5m, renovated and currently valued at N25m;
” Two units of 3-bedroom flats built over 13 years (between 2000 and 2013) in Lambe, Ogun State, currently valued at N12m.
” Two plots together measuring 1000 sqm demarcated by a dwarf fence in Iwo, my hometown in Osun State, bought in 2013, valued at N700, 000;
“Yet-to-be-located 600 sqm in a disputed estate in Sabon-Lugbe, Abuja bought in 2011 at N750, 000.
“I have beneficial interests in the following private companies that I co-founded: Think Tank Consult Limited; SW4 Media Limited, Publishers of Metropole Magazine; Elan-Metro Foods Limited and the Cable Newspaper Limited, Publishers of TheCable online newspaper
“I also have equity in two non-operational companies: Papyrus Media Limited
• Bamisoro Media Limited
“My vehicles are VW Passat bought new in 2011 at N5.8m and BMW X5 2008 Model bought second hand in February 2016 at N3.3m
“Household Furniture/Items: 9 KVA Hyundai Diesel Generator bought at N850, 000; 3 KVA Sunkam Inverter bought at N450, 000 and other household furniture, electronics, exercise equipment, artworks and others valued at N3.5m
“Shares in Publicly Quoted Companies: “I have shares in Skye Bank, Sterling Bank and Staco Insurance, bought in 2008 at N2.5m now presently valued at N296, 610.
“Assets of Spouse and Children: My wife runs two businesses: a salon and a bakery, with equipment and distribution vehicles all valued at N28.5m.
“We have three children under 18 and they do not own any assets.”
The NEITI Executive Secretary explained why he decided to declare his assets publicly.
He said: “As required by paragraph 11 of the 5th Schedule of the 1999 Constitution and Section 15 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, I have submitted Form CCB 1. My Declarant ID is FGAO: 000512. Form CCB 1 is the Assets Declaration Form for Public Officers, which all elected and appointed public officers are mandated to submit to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) on assumption of and departure from office. The CCB is empowered to verify the claims made in this form.
“In the main, this is to ensure that public officers do not anticipatorily over-declare their assets and that they do not use public office to corruptly enrich themselves.
“Asset declaration is thus not designed to be another perfunctory, box-ticking exercise. It is primarily a transparency and accountability instrument.
“This is a potentially powerful sunshine mechanism that could help, in very practical ways, limit the incidence of corruption, one of the major challenges of our country. “However, the potency of this tool is gravely diminished, in my view, by the fact that asset declaration is made a secret affair and the public, on behalf of whom people are elected or appointed to hold public offices, is not given a viable role in the verification of the assets declared and is denied the fundamental right to know. This is another case of the ‘missing public.’ And it needs fixing.
“Therefore, as we rightly seek new beginnings for our country, we need to reinsert and reassert the public in this transparency and accountability process by lifting the veil of secrecy from the declared assets of our public officers.
“This I believe: all public officers should be made to declare their assets publicly; otherwise the impact of the assets declaration exercise is successfully neutered.”
Adio said he also chose to emulate President Muhammadu Buhari, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi.
He added: ” Following the notable examples of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, Dr. Kayode Fayemi (as governor of Ekiti State), Senator Shehu Sani, Dr. Joe Abah (the DG of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms) and Dr. Chidi Anslem Odinkalu (former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission), I have chosen to release the highlights of my assets declaration form for four reasons.
“One: though public declaration of assets is not mandatory, there is nothing in the Constitution or the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act that criminalises or disallows or forbids public officers from publicly disclosing their assets.
“Two: I have stated on record many times that public officials not publicly disclosing their declared assets turns the assets declaration exercise into a hollow ritual, most recently through an article I wrote as a columnist on the back-page of THISDAY on 7 September 2015, titled “Issues around Assets Declaration.” It is time to practice what I preach(ed).
“Three: I believe, following in the immortal words of Mahatma Ghandi, that we should be the change we seek and, when called upon, we should strive to lead others by leading ourselves first, through the powerful force of personal example. “And four: as someone appointed to head NEITI, an organization saddled with the weighty responsibility of promoting transparency and accountability in our extractive sector, I and my colleagues need to demonstrate that we are not protected from the searchlight that we beam on others, that we are not excused from the standards that we hold others to.
“We must be ready to push the boundaries of transparency and accountability, even and especially with ourselves. And we must be ready to embody and model the values that give meaning to and legitimize our important and necessary work of shining light in dark places and holding others to account,” Adio stated.
Tag: assets
-
NEITI boss declares assets, says I have N3.8m in my account
-
IGI gets NAICOM’s nod to restructure long-term assets
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has approved plans by the Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) PLC to convert part of its long-term assets to liquidity.
The company made this known in a statement signed by its Head, Corporate Communications, Steve Ilo in Lagos.
He said with the approval, IGI can restructure its investment in real estate and subsidiaries, worth billions of naira, by offering them for sale and ploughing back the proceeds into its operations.
He also said IGI was opting for the restructuring as part of measures to raise liquidity for the repositioning of the company in the core business of insurance.
The statement said: “We launched a strategic transformation policy in 2014, which is running well with great expectations for the future. The company needs money to boost its liquidity and enhance its capacity to meet all obligations promptly, including payment of claims.”
“Already, the company has concluded plans to divest from under-performing subsidiaries anywhere they are, with a view to concentrating fully on insurance business in Nigeria.
“IGI remains the most endowed insurer in asset base and we want to leverage that strength to restore our leadership in industry. Some of the properties are already up for sale,” the statement added.
The company, which paid over N3 billion claims to policyholders between 2014 and last year, listed its priorities as meeting obligations promptly, maintaining corporate integrity and delighting the customer and other stakeholders.
-
EFCC seeks court’s order to seize Tompolo’s assets
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Thursday asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to make an order empowering it to seize all assets belonging to a former Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo).
It sought an order authorising it to attach the properties belonging to Tompolo by seizure pending his arrest or appearance in court for arraignment.
The commission said since the court ordered Tompolo’s arrest, the combined team of the police and the military have been combing the creeks in search of him to no avail.
The property, as listed by EFCC, include 1, Chief Agbamu Close DDPA Extension Warri (Effurun), Delta State; properties of Mieka Dive Ltd and Mieka Dive Training Institute Ltd at No. 77, Lioth Street, ODPA Ugborikoko, Uvwie Local Government Area, Delta State, and all properties of Global West Vessel Specialist Ltd.
Others are all properties of Muhaabix Global Services Ltd, a River Crew Change Boat named MUHA – 15, property known as “Tompolo Dockyard” by the end of Enerhen Road, Effurun, Warri, and property known as “Tompolo Yard”, at the end of Chevron Clinic Road, next to Next Oil, Edjeba, Warri.
The rest are the Diving School at Kurutie, at Escravos River, property known as “Tompolo House” at Oporaza Town, opposite the Palace, as well as any other property discovered by EFCC, moveable and immoveable, belonging to Tompolo.
The application, filed by EFCC lawyer Festus Keyamo, is dated February 18.
EFCC said rather than present himself to the court, Tompolo engaged the services of Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), who sought to quash the order of arrest.
“Since the order for the arrest of the first accused person (Tompolo), the combined team of the Nigerian police and the military has been combing the creeks and the entire nation for the arrest of the 1st accused person, but he continues to abscond and conceal himself,” EFCC said.
The commission said its operatives carried out investigation and received intelligence report that the properties belong to Tompolo.
Justice Ibrahim Buba had on January 14 ordered Tompolo’s arrest. He renewed the order on February 8.
He later dismissed Tompolo’s application seeking to quash the warrant of arrest.
EFCC, in the 40-count, said 47-year-old Tompolo is wanted in a case of conspiracy, illegal diversion of N34 billion and N11.9 billion belonging to the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
The money, the prosecution said, accrued from the public private partnership agreement between NIMASA and Global West Vessel Specialist Limited.
The alleged offence contravenes Section 15 (1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.
EFCC said since the issuance of the warrant of arrest, Tompolo “has absconded and concealed himself from all security forces in the country to frustrate the execution of the warrant of arrest.”
The case comes up Friday.
-
‘Customs’ assets declaration order legal’
The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has said the directive given by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to its officers to declare their assets is consistent with the law.
Last week, the Comptroller- General of the NCS, Col. Hammed Alli (rtd) gave his officers a two-week deadline to declare their assets or face sanctions and this move has been commended by the National President of CDHR, Malachy Ugwummadu.
In a letter made available to The Nation, Ugwummadu said: “This is a welcome development which can promote the culture of transparency and accountability and also institutionalise the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
“Such measure pursued by the Nigerian Customs will certainly secure the integrity of the organisation which is pivotal in the revenue generation strategy of Nigeria.
“The directive as issued by the Comptroller enjoys full legal backing pursuant to the Bank Employees (Declaration of Assets) Act CAP B1 Laws of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria 2004 and will certainly boost the anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria.‘’
The CDHR urged the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the heads of other parastatals and agencies of the Federal Government to direct their employees to declare their assets, just like the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) did.
Ugwummadu said this would be “a concerted effort to deepen transparency and accountability in Nigeria”.
He continued: “This is clearly the purpose of Section 12(2) of the Act which empowers the Nigerian president to direct by an instrument published in the Federal Gazette that the provision of this Act be applied to any other person, class, employees, institution or bodies either in the private or public sector of the Nigerian economy.
“You would recall that the on-going trial of CBN staff at Ibadan for fraudulently converting billions of naira meant to be disposed as “disuse” became possible partly due to the non-implementation of this Act.”
The CDHR said it would mobilise the Nigeria people towards compliance with this demand and also “monitor the punishment of offenders under Section 8(1) of the Act, particularly the forfeiture of assets not declared pursuant to Section 8(2) of the Act”.
‘’It is hopeful that such initiative development when properly practised will set the tone needed to invigorate the fight against corruption in Nigeria,’’ he added.
-
Asset declaration: Customs officers rush to beat deadline
Customs officers across the country are rushing to beat the 14 day deadline given them to declare their assets, The Nation gathered on Friday.
The Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Wale Adeniyi confirmed that officers and men were already declaring their assets as directed by the Comptroller- General of the NCS, Retired Col. Hammed Alli last week.
He said the asset declaration forms are being deposited with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) for appropriate action.
He referred The Nation to the bureau for further information, saying: “the best place to find out is the Code of Conduct. They (officers) don’t fill the form and bring it back to Customs. It is an individual action.
“There are those who filled it earlier in the year; there are those who fill it regularly.
“It is the Code of Conduct Bureau that can say the rate of compliance. The Code of Conduct Bureau office is all over the federation but the responsibility of filling the form rest with the officers. But left for me, I have collected the form, I have filled it and I have submitted. They (the officers) all have the obligation of and filling the forms”, Adeniyi said by phone.
The Comptroller- General of the NCS, Retired Col. Hammed Alli had last week directed the officers to declare their assets within two weeks.”
An officer that spoke with our Abuja correspondent on the condition of anonymity said that asset declaration is not a pleasant exercise that one would expect them to do with relish.
He likened the exercise to salaries that people would hardly disclose to their loved ones and associates.
Speaking with The Nation, another female officer said “journalist, who will happily disclose how much he has in his account to you? Who will happily declare the number of houses he owns in this country when the outcome is not for any reward but a punishment?
“Please, don’t ask me how I feel declaring my asset. It is like asking me how I feel when I am doing something forcefully.”
Asked whether their colleagues were complying with the directive, a female officer said, “We have no choice. We must comply to retain our jobs. But nobody will show you the details of his asset declaration form.”
-
Of ministers, assets, smoke and the kitchen
Following upon last week’s article here about ministers and assets declaration, a reader who feels quite strongly about the matter has weighed in with this piece coming on the heels of the inauguration of the cabinet on Wednesday. His intervention is the main article published below, while the boxed piece (PMB’s cabinet: More pains for Ndigbo) is EXPRESSO’s.
IT is a well-known fact that corruption is a major factor hindering the development of Nigeria, and unless a ruthless war is waged against it, we shall continue to wallow in the cesspool of poverty and underdevelopment.
Although the term corruption encompasses many vices, for the purpose of this article which deals with the declaration of assets, we shall limit the term to stealing of public funds and fraudulent acquisition of material property by using one’s exalted public office. This article in the main is in support of PUBLIC declaration of assets by Buhari’s ministers as espoused by one of The Nation newspaper’s most forthright and incisive columnists – Steve Osuji in his column of Friday, November 6, under the title Ministers: Of baron politicians and assets declaration. Corruption in the form of looting of public treasury by public office holders is so endemic and adamantine that unless and until corruption and thieving public office holders are ruthlessly dealt with, there is certainly no hope of salvaging this country for the present generation of Nigerians, let alone for future ones. No matter how good development projects are on paper, unless there are transparently honest public officers to execute such laudable programmes, funds meant for such projects would ultimately be stolen.
It is a globally received wisdom that corruption has almost grown to the status of a state policy in Nigeria, especially in the recent past. Therefore no method – no matter how seemingly unorthodox – should be spared in waging a relentless war against this cancerous monster – corruption – which will inexorably lead to the demise of this country if left unchecked in its destructive path of festering metastasis.
Ministers and similar public office holders should declare their assets PUBLICLY. Yes, the constitution may not expressly say assets should be declared publicly. However, a constitutional requirement is often the irreducible minimum. What parents would advise their children to strive for minimum cut-off point of 200 in UTME for university admission? Of course, 200 is the irreducible minimum which we all know is almost certainly not good enough for admission into most universities. Similarly, our public office holders should not be content with just the irreducible minimum moral requirement, but should aim at several notches above the minimum requirement. That is precisely is the wisdom in what President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have done. The ministers, if they are truly on the same page with the president and vice president in the fight against corruption, should also move several notches above the irreducible minimum in the scale of morality by declaring their assets PUBLICLY, if indeed they have nothing to hide. Any minister who can stand to account for every kobo in his or her current assets, or is not planning anticipatory acquisition of assets during his or her ministerial tenure, should have no problem whatsoever in declaring his or her assets PUBLICLY NOW.
It is against the background of the current indescribable and unexampled level of corruption that the call for public officers to declare their assets PUBLICLY, ought to be seen as a welcome policy. Such declaration of assets should be published BEFORE the assumption and at the EXPIRATION of the tenure of public office holders.
All potential appointees for public offices must be required to declare their assets publicly. Any potential appointees who are opposed to their assets being published publicly should be dropped even before their names are submitted to the security agencies for clearance. Public declaration of assets by political appointees is an effective deterrent against corrupt or corrupt-minded individuals seeking public offices. As has been noted, public declaration of assets should be before the commencement and at the end of the tenure of political appointees. The reason for declaring their assets publicly TWICE is to enable the citizens whom they earlier swore to serve selflessly and honestly to assess their stewardship by comparing their assets at the end of their tenure with what they were at the commencement.
It should be emphasised that all public declaration of assets before the commencement and at the expiration of a public assignment should include assets owned by the wife or wives as well as the children of the public office appointees, provided such children are either still in their minority or existentially dependent on such political office appointees. These measures should not be considered too stringent because there is a level at which the life of a public officer can no longer be considered private. In any case, anyone who considers these measures too intrusive of his or her privacy could simply decline to serve; public office is neither a birthright nor military assignment. Is it not said that he who cannot stand the smoke must never venture into the kitchen?
Since CHANGE is the ideological battle cry of the APC and ‘difference’ is inherently embedded in CHANGE, the newly sworn-in ministers should set this ‘difference’ in motion. How? By declaring their assets PUBLICLY for a change, thereby raising the standard of public morality beyond the irreducible minimum standard of declaring their assets privately before the Code of Conduct Bureau. Nigeria now needs leaders not of middling moral quotient, but leaders who are prepared to exceed minimum moral requirements.
I strongly recommend that a clause be inserted in the constitution, making public declaration of assets a sine qua non for appointments into public offices such as president, vice president, governors, deputy governors, cabinet positions (ministers, SGF, chief of staff, etc), INEC chairman, state commissioners, headship of NNPC, Customs and such other positions that may be deemed sensitive and susceptible to looting of public treasury. Such a clause in the constitution should not only be devoid of encryption in legal obfuscation, but be simple, decipherable and idiot – proof without any ambiguity or equivocation.
In conclusion, may I humbly but resolutely advise the ministers to choose the path of rectitude, follow the example of President Buhari by declaring their assets PUBLICLY, thereby heralding the birth of a new national ethos of public morality. God bless Nigeria.
UGBEBOR, a consulting engineer, contributes this piece from Ibadan.
-
Ministers: Of baron politicians and assets declaration
Two leading front page reports of the Saturday Punch (October 31, 2015) are quite paradoxical and telling about the current epoch of Nigeria’s political development. The prime headline rendered in perhaps, the boldest of letters available screams: “NIGERIA BROKE, CAN’T PAY MINISTERS – Buhari”.
But a less striking headline below the one quoted above reads: “Nigerians demand public asset declaration from Buhari’s ministers” while the ministers-designate are reported to have retorted that they would not make a public declaration of their assets. Even the bold cover photo on this page lends an epic corroboration to today’s thesis. It is the picture of a failed portion of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. It is an unsightly picture of vehicle wading through a deep, water-logged trough right in the middle of the road. It is a picture of abjection, stagnation and soulless dereliction seen only in extreme war conditions and failed states.
Did you ever hear of the failure of a portion of highways anywhere else in this age? Let us take the liberty to point out a few more grisly stories highlighted on this front page: “South Africa to return seized $9 million currency to Nigeria on November 30,” it says. This is the story of Nigeria’s ‘raw’ cash, ignominiously caught-up in the middle of an official money-laundering heist last year under the guise of trying to purchase arms. And one more: “Customs retires three ACGs and 26 others.” Here about 40 senior officers of the Nigeria Customs Service were swept out of office just by a wave of the hand. If they were found guilty of abusing their high positions and gouging themselves with revenues accruable to the nation’s treasury, we were not told. Whether they had tainted the high offices bestowed on them, it did not matter. They were just shuffled out. No points made, no lessons learned, highly trained top officers just flushed out: perhaps to go and enjoy their ‘good fortune’.
But we digress. Today is actually about our ministers-designate and the question of public assets declaration. Some of the screened men and women who would handle some of the most important jobs in the land soon were asked if they would declare their assets following in the footsteps of their boss, President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB), but the majority of them had promptly objected to such prospect.
According to the report, a good number of those called up on the phone noted pointedly that they were not constitutionally bound to make their declarations public. They did not have to follow in the footsteps of the president and his deputy, some of them said. Recall that President Buhari and his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, recently set the example of making their assets public.
Some ministers-designate indicating they would not let the people they would serve know what they are worth, immediately reminds one of America’s 19th century ‘robber baron’ businessmen, who deviously amassed wealth and became very affluent and powerful; often beyond the control of the state. But while those were businessmen who deployed rough and untoward tactics to corner the commonwealth, most of our politicians of today can easily pass for baron politicians or robber public officials who hijack premium political positions and offices and convert same to personal estates.
Since independence and particularly in the last 16 years, having acquired a huge chunk of the state, they go on to begin to subvert the state and all her institutions or tinker with them to suit their purposes.
Buhari’s Sisyphean huddles Over the years, Nigeria’s political robber barons have grown unchallenged and set in their ways. They had become the very bane of the country; growing in means, growing in number and making Nigeria a banana republic where the rule of law had taken flight. Now for Buhari, tackling this ugly phenomenon would be akin to Sisyphus the storied King of Corinth condemned pushing this giant rock up a hill and each time, being trolled back to the base.
For the first time since independence, Nigeria’s political robber barons are facing a modicum of scrutiny with the advent of the Buhari presidency and it seems now or never to break that killer mould. Does the president have the resilience, capacity and the ruthlessness to extirpate this monster?
The matter of political robber baronage is exemplified by the current dilemma about making assets public. This is one huge test of his ability to crack the skull of this monster. Most of his new men cannot and indeed, would not dare to make full public disclosures of their net-worth. It would amount to the option of either the country going up in flames or the ‘culprits’ being set alight.
One would wager that very few politically-exposed Nigerians today would be comfortable showing what they have to Nigerians. How would Nigerians react if they woke up one day to find on a minister’s assets sheets, a total worth of about N50 billion or more. Many are wealthier than their states or even a few states combined. That is why they cannot be brought to book. They can hire all the SANs in Nigeria to frustrate a cause.
Now what would he do with these set of barons; some of whom he had nominated for the big jobs. When asked recently about the nature of some of his nominees, he had spoken candidly that: “This is a teamwork… there are people (nominees) I accepted from other people in our team that I trust without even knowing them… may be the one that had problem in the National Assembly, I doubt if I have ever met him in my life.”
How far can he go if compromises such as he noted above have been made already. But the obverse is that how far could he have gone if he did not make such compromises in the first place. Let’s call the task ahead of the president the devil’s alternative. Meanwhile, Nigeria is broke according to the president, yet it is being run by some of the richest people in the world, who would not dare make public their assets.
-
Premium Pension grows assets to over N380b
Premium Pension Limited has grown its pension assets to over N380 billion, its Managing Director, Wilson Ideva, has said.
Ideva, who made this known while speaking with reporters in Abuja, said the company has in 10 years paid out at least N81 billion in terms of retirement benefits in monthly withdrawal.
He also said the company has funded Retirement Savings Account (RSAs) of over 400,000, noting that the registration is well over 500,000.
He added that in terms of retirement, the company is managing over 16,000 retirees and pays them as and when due, on the 19th of every month, to be precise.
He said: “We have funded RSA of over 400,000 and so far, we are in all the states of the federation. We have what we call approved branches, which are in about nine locations and we have recently opened up six branches awaiting the approval of our regulator, the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
“We also have what we call Pension Centres, which are all over the 36 states of the federation and in some states we have more than one or two Centres. “
He said the idea is that they have to be widespread because they are dealing with both the public and private sectors and they don’t want clients to be looking for them.
“Anywhere we are, we want our clients to see us. The issue of pension is a very serious issue. It is highly emotive. Our past in Nigeria with regard to pension management, has not been pleasant. But I will beg to say that we are determined to let the world know that Nigerians can do it and we can do better and that is why you will see that money and time have been spent on this corporate headquarters in terms of structure and working technology.
“In line with the Pension Reform Act 2004, all the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) were licensed by PenCom and Premium Pension was one of the very few that were licensed in 2004. We are in our 10th year as PFAs. But I will say that in the last 10 years, we have been able to distinguish ourselves in the pack of all the PFAs and we have made tremendous impact both on our clients and on the economy.
-
Alleged false assets declaration: Orubebe accuses agencies of witch-hunt
Former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Elder Godsday Peter Orubebe has dismissed allegations of false declaration of assets and acceptance of N70 million bribe.
The former minister is to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal on November 9 on a four-count charge of receiving the bribe from a contractor and failure to declare his ownership of two plots of land in Abuja.
Orubebe, who spoke with reporters in Abuja yesterday afternoon, said he personally collected the tribunal’s summons last Friday, asserting that he had been wrongly blamed for the disappearance of N600 million during his successor’s tenure.
He also accused some government departments of inviting him for questioning unnecessarily.
“This simply tells me it is an issue of witch-hunt and it is not good for the development of this country,” he stated, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to stop government agencies’ undue harassment of perceived foes.
“If these things are coming out because of the role that I played at the International Conference Centre as an agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), then it is unfortunate,” he said.
On allegation that he failed to declare ownership of two plots of land, Orubebe stated that government gave him two plots of land which he disposed of to take care of his needs as a minister.
He added that he could not declare continued ownership of a gift that he had disposed of.
On the N70 million bribe allegation, the former minister said there was “unnecessary confusion” over the money and his alleged role.
Orubebe said he asked President Goodluck Jonathan, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to revoke about seven shoddily-handled contracts for the construction of skill acquisition centres, only for a pastor, who owned one of such contracts to pay N20 million into the accounts of Glory Christian Sanctuary, an evangelism centre built by the ex-minister in his village.
“I saw that there was N20 million deposit in the account of the centre. I asked them who brought the money and they said it was my private secretary, Akpokome, a civil servant.
“I asked him and he told me that it was the pastor that gave him the money; I was so furious and I told him that the same way he collected the money, he should return it to the man.’’
-
Minister-designate denies report on assets’ declaration
A Minister-designate, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, has denied a media report quoting him as saying he and others would not publicly declare their assets as President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo did.
Jibril, in a statement yesterday, said: “While I am unable at this time to ascertain whether my colleagues quoted in the story spoke to the paper, I can say categorically, without any fear of contradiction, that I did not, at any time, speak to anyone from that newspaper.
“The paper quoted a certain Ibrahim Umar, who it described as my media aide, as speaking to it on my behalf. I however have no such aide or associate. So, it is either the quote was manufactured or it was given to the paper by an impostor.
“While I remain ever available to respond to media enquiries about my service to my country and its people, I would continue to insist that the media deal with me with utmost professionalism and transparency.”
He urged the media to always check and crosscheck their facts before attributing any comments to him.