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Tag: assets

  • Most politicians guilty of false declaration of assets – Okunrounmu

    Most politicians guilty of false declaration of assets – Okunrounmu

    Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Chairman of the 2014 National Conference Convocation Committee, said on yesterday said that more than 90 per cent of politicians in the country were guilty of false declaration of assets.

    He stated this in Lagos yesterday. He said that if anybody had done anything that was against the law or Constitution, the person should be called to account.

    According to him, it is good and part of the fight against corruption, but that fight should be holistic.

    “It should cover all the people who are guilty, not just target a few individuals.  Ninety per cent of politicians declare assets falsely, so the law should go after all the people that are guilty of such false declaration of assets, try them and bring them to justice. They shouldn’t just target one or two people.”

  • Wanted: Open assets declaration model

    Wanted: Open assets declaration model

    In providing a framework for guiding public
    officers to carry out proper public behaviour, means are used. Value falls under the means as they are to encourage public officer to the ideals of the public service and irreproachable behaviour. The code of conduct for public officers outlines desirable values and spells out the consequences of not complying.

    One of these values is an assets declaration exercise contained in both theConstitution of Nigeria 1999 and Code of Conduct Bureau Tribunal Act of 1990. There is Freedom of Information Act 2011, which pushes the Code of Conduct Bureau under a legal obligation to make public the assets declared       by a public officer. These laws require public officers to declare both their assets and liabilities on assumption of office and every four years after the initial declaration.

    Assets declaration is a globally trusted standard, which not only lifts the ban on public trust, but decreases the incidence of corruption. It also restores hope and confidence of the public towards their servants because a public officer is a public delegate and a trustee of the commonwealth of the people. With assets declaration, it is relatively easy to identify corrupt public officers, making a comparative analysis of assets declared on assumption of office and on exit, so as to observe or detect ostentatious accumulation. This cannot be identified where the public officer declares an asset that is unidentifiable like an unidentified or missing land.

    Assets declaration is a traditional exercise in public service and the page we are now in our democratic experiment is assets publication. The Freedom of Information Act 2011 (FOIA) compels the disclosure of records in the custody of the Bureau to any interested party. The FOIA creates a duty on the part of the Bureau to maintain public register of assets disclosures of public officers to enable public access on application.

    The content of a declaration with the bureau is a public document and should be accessible to members of the public on payment of reasonable fees. Assets publication is part of stewardship to the public for the authority held on their behalf. It might be the most difficult case under a privacy exemption, since there is not only a strong right of privacy involved, but sturdy public need to know what material possession is owned by public officers before commencement of duty and some moment thereafter. Privacy of personal information of public officers in all commanding heights of leadership yawns at globally acclaimed open public administration sustained by Nigeria public law. Assets declaration devoid of publication has no relevance for the citizens and declaration without verification on the part of the bureau is a constitutional breach.

    The omnibus privity in the declaration and litigation process encourages the bureau to bureaucratize the process of investigation cum publication by effectively frustratingthird party intervention. Good enough, where applicants can establish public interest in their request, by the provision of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, access may be allowed to assets declared.

    The refusal of public officers to publish assets is far more injustice than privacy invasion. An effective assets declaration must be reduced to periodic publication. In a ubiquitous search for good leadership, the government must guarantee freedom to examine the record of officials, encourage investigation and make public a report or comments. On the part of the governed, they must ensure that they complement the government in verification of assets declared and also ensure that trustee lives within a genuine means of livelihood as required by law so as to enhance the overall development of the state.

    For assets declaration to be accessed easily it must be codified in digital form. This means that information can be accessed not just on manual record but also on digital or electronic templatewith unique identifying number. Officers of iniquity are ahead of the analogue assets declaration mechanism.

    By section 2 of Freedom of Information Act 2011, public institutions are to maintain information about public officials working with them. Files are sometimes lost in the registry of the code of conduct bureau and staff may find it cumbersome to sort out files in their custody for verification. The reporting system is the starting point for a case of breach of the code and the procedure needs to be simplified. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is required to regulate assets declaration for easy publication. Electronic declaration of assets will effortlessly aid request.

    This will enable the assets of public officers to be posted on the Bureau’s website. Critics may suggest that applicants can handle files without even knowing the address or visiting the bureau, meaning assets publication may compromise confidentiality of information. There may also be the threat of creating phony e-declarations. ICT goes with its attendant benefits in time and money alongside the threat of manipulation. The threats can be overpowered, after all, a record of accounts and payroll for various public officers are managed on the computer. Electronic declaration of assets may be the best highlight for assets publication because it will assist complainant reporting system which is the starting point for a case of breach of the code.

    The bureau is under a constitutional duty to release contents of assets declaration formsof public officers’ including the one of the new sheriff in town without a prior authourisation of the declarant. In the year 2011, the constitutional Tribunal of Peru expanded public access to the assets declaration of government officials. The court stated that upon request by the public, assets declaration should be disclosed.

    The court added that any person in a public office has lost his right to privacy in transit. Similarly, the timing of disclosure is immediately the declaration is made and when the bureau or the public officer deems fit. In the United States for instance, public gets access to the document of declaration within 30 days of receipt of the declaration.

    In Latvia, all information about high ranking officials including the chief judge, speaker is published in the official gazette without request. Taking a cue from other countries where public access to assets declaration is allowed on fulfilling some conditions like paying a reasonable fee in processing or a reproduction of the report or for mailing it. Assets declaration should be published voluntarily in national dailies, especially as regards the assets of senior members of the executive, legislative and the Judiciary.

    The overriding allegation of corruption should pacify the definition of public interest. There should be an official mandate to invade privacy of an official tainted with corruption. Public officers must give account to the people. The peoples’ assessment is on service above self. The nexus is adopting an ethical process in an official decision-making circle of governance.

    A private individual that has a service or representative contract with the government has a moral and legal duty to publish his asset profile for the benefit of the public. No public officer is paid to act of his/her personal agenda. The court as a public institution must assist public interest to outweigh mere courtesy.

    The Code of Conduct Tribunal should be renamed Anti-Corruption Court and upgraded to the status of a superior court of record with the responsibility of handling only corruption cases from the proposed merger of investigative bodies like EFCC, ICPC and the Code of Conduct Bureau. There is a need for a special court to try all forms of financial crimes. The remedy for fiscal sanity is in the bowel of a specialized court and procedure. This will promote knowledge, timeousness, training and coherence.

    The case of a special court to expedite proceedings and attain the ends of justice is unassailable. The challenge before the proposed special court would be to define the boundaries of corruption related offences to be brought before it. Corruption is too specialized to be handled by an unspecialized court or tribunal. An effort to foist a distinct judicial arm to pronounce on the plethora of anti -graft legislations will produce overt patriotic fervor. Special court can fortify the moral conscience of majority of public officers. Venality can be lost on every public officer if the court is deciphered along the sentiment of jurisdictional gerrymandering.

    Much effort has been made by the Governments to make laws aimed at regulating the people, rather than involving the people during the making of the laws. For the fight against corruption to be won, the government must embrace the wishes and desire of the people in formulating policies. The culture of corruption is so established that existing provisions of the law need not only be enforced, but also demand constant decision of creative means of reshaping people to confirm to collective means and  morals. The pleas that have made progress in assets disclosure models have done so because the checks and balances of social contracts are operated to the hilt.

    Assets declaration is only worthwhile were Code of Conduct Bureau is empowered to probe peoples’ claim diligently. The bureau is a consequence of decades of deliberate weakening to enable acts of corruption to proceed unhindered.It will surprise everyone that the only court that can address breach of the code is the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the complainant can only be made by the bureau. So when the bureau is mute the breach continues and this accounts for the towering rate of venality, conflict of interest, cultism, private business in public service.

    In this new administration, the bureau must be all out to check this unwholesome act of ambulatory declaration by energizing the verification department of the organization. Assets Marshalls should be deployed to investigate declarations made before it is approved. National Orientation Agency should lead the sensitization unit of the proposed open assets declaration model.

    The standards under which disclosure will be granted is made clear in Freedom of Information Act 2011. The bureau must stop loose criteria in the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act and disclose voluntarily when requested to so do. This inadvertently will reduce expensive law suits to secure disclosure.

    The code partially prohibits public officers from engaging in private business or trade. There is a window of opportunity in farming and it is unequivocally allowed in the code. Farming by a public officer should be encouraged as a way of augmenting the officers’ wages and should attract compulsory agricultural loan for public officers. Public officers that excel in farming should also be awarded.

    It is surprising that many low rank public officers collect pittance monthly and yet have enormous properties that cannot be justified. The result is the drain of public fund by public officers and the only way the state can tame it is by a genuine declaration, publication and verification of assets. Assets publication will reduce the incidence of corruption and this will in turn prevent the citizens from the neighborhood noise of generators that absence of the good supply of electricity forces us to endure.

    Continual publication of assets will undoubtedly strengthen the defence against domestic corruption and meltdown conflict of interest as secrecy of public officers diminishes dividend accrue to the public and also creates an impression that something is wrong. Assets publication is material for accurate public scrutiny of any public officer. This is the only available avenue to place remuneration side by side with properties acquired or inherited to review the credibility of public officers

    It takes more than a surgery to separate public officers from corruption. The media can complement the NOA in sensitising the public of the expected level of responsibility and accountability. But first, the media must itself have a good grasp of the code of media practice and the implication of each item to the conduct of government business. The guiding framework for conduct in public office is only the starting point of influencing the behavior of public officers.

    Community based organisations (CBO) should come up with an annual evaluation of compliance with the code of conduct in the country, but first must enrich public understanding of how assets publication will tame graft and develop new policy ideas and advocacy strategy to building a new public service. A new sense of public service that speaks about how public officers should conduct themselves and contribute to the making of a good society, a new public service where value and honesty is spelt out as a guidepost to service and performance. A new public service that remains green even when the officers are gone.

    The CBO’s must stimulate probing conversations in various communities on ethical goals and clear focus on public officers’ ethics. This should be embedded into peoples’ orientation strategy for the fight against venality since many corruption perception studies persistently show a high degree of mistrust by the public of their government. Adoption ofopen assets declaration model explains leadership that saw his trust sliding into the grave of self- annihilation on the account of corruption and tried to do something about it.

  • Make public your assets, Ekiti APC tells Fayose

    Make public your assets, Ekiti APC tells Fayose

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has challenged Governor Ayo Fayose to make public, his assets, if he is to be taken serious as someone who has nothing to hide.

    It urged him to emulate his predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who not only declared his assets as stipulated by law, but also published them a few months after becoming governor.

    The party’s Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, in a statement yesterday, expressed dismay that Fayose kept sealed lips on his assets more than 10 months after coming to power, noting that doing so would restore public confidence to governance.

    Advising the governor to follow the footsteps of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Olatunbosun said the APC might have no option but to take legal action to force the governor to declare his assets, to dispel allegation of property acquisitions with the state’s funds across the globe.

    He said Fayose’s failure to make public his assets fuelled speculations that the state’s resources were allegedly being channelled towards private enterprises outside the state by him.

    Olatunbosun said: “The governor must take the opportunity of declaring his assets to douse speculations of his alleged channelling of the state’s resources to his private enterprises abroad.

    “It is curious that he has not abused President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo after they declared their assets. Fayose’s silence on the President in this case is curious because the governor has never seen anything good in whatever Buhari does.”

    Enjoining the governor to act to restore Ekiti people’s confidence, the APC spokesman said open declaration of assets would shame his critics, who always accused him of  funds diversion to private use.

    Said he: “We are worried by the unconfirmed reports of primitive acquisitions by Fayose, who allegedly owns property in Ghana, Dubai, South Africa, Abuja, Ibadan and Banana Islands and Magodo in Lagos, which were believed to have been acquired in the last nine months.

    “Our party is aware that the governor had no visible means of income prior to October 16, 2014 when he became governor and the property he owned in Ibadan and Lagos are subjects of litigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is probing him for alleged misappropriation and diversion of N1.3bilion poultry project cash to personal use in 2005.” Olatunbosun said the present allegations of funds diversion gained currency on the heels of Fayose’s frequent trips to Dubai and South Africa “whenever he receives Ekiti State’s allocations from Abuja.”

    He added: “Fayose is alleged to be building a state-of-the-art hotel in Dubai after he became governor and after he is reported to have paid a whopping N722million to himself as “arrears of his allowances” as governor during his first term on the strength of the Supreme Court judgment, which nullified his impeachment.

    “Curiously too, Fayose has kept mute on the sums of money he has received on behalf of the government, such as the N22billion refund on federal roads, N2billion ecological fund, N2billion micro-credit fund, N2.1billion bailout NLNG fund, N9.6billion bailout cash, N8.5billion windfall received in June and an average of N3billion regular federal allocations he has been receiving from October 2014 to date.”

    The APC spokesman said Ekiti people would be interested in the governor’s public declaration of his assets, considering the experience the state had under him during his aborted first tenure when he was arraigned for misappropriating N1.3billion over which the EFCC took him to court.

    “It will be recalled that in his former declaration of assets in 2003, Fayose allegedly swore to an oath, declaring two barren land in a thick forest as two completed mansions in Ibadan. The property the EFCC later confirmed as the property built with the alleged proceeds of the fraudulent poultry project four years after he became the governor,” he noted.

    Olatunbosun stressed that failure to declare his assets was a possibility of history repeating itself after the former bitter experience.

  • Peterside hails Buhari, Osinbajo on assets declaration

    Peterside hails Buhari, Osinbajo on assets declaration

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State Dr. Dakuku Peterside has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice PresidentYemi Osinbajo for declaring their assets in public.

    Peterside, who spoke in Abuja, said the president and the Vice President’s actions were consistent with the philosophy of their party.

    The former lawmaker also praised the duo for setting worthy examples that are not only unprecedented but also definitive of their agenda in public office.

    “These are indeed interesting times in Nigeria. In just one hundred days in office, we are already seeing signs and manifestations of better days ahead.

    “This asset declaration, certainly has rekindled hope, even in the minds of some of our country men and women who had lost hope in government and its officials. It is therefore gratifying to note that Nigerians across zones, class, age and even political affiliations have commended this move. This asset declaration, no doubt, has set the tone in very unmistakable terms, on what to expect in the coming years.

    ‘I am very confident that the APC government will not disappoint Nigerians who voted massively for the on-going change that is sweeping across the nation. Those who voted against impunity, corruption and incompetence are already seeing in very concrete terms, the dividends of their votes at the last general elections.

    “I therefore wish to use this medium to call on Nigerians to continue to lend their support to this government as it continues to demonstrate accountability and vision in its match towards a new Nigeria”.

  • PDP has no moral right fault Buhari, Osinbajo’s asset declaration’

    PDP has no moral right fault Buhari, Osinbajo’s asset declaration’

    The Presidency has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has no moral right to question President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo over assets declaration.

    The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on Friday said that Buhari and Osinbajo should be commended for declaring their assets in line with the law.

    According to him, former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Namadi Sambo did not declare their assets either at the beginning of their administration or at the end of their tenure.

    He said: “The contents of forms as submitted by the President and the Vice President are,as we said in that statement,still being vetted and whenever the process is complete,they will be made public.

    “PDP doesn’t have shame, neither does it have conscience. If they did, they would have pressured their leaders, meaning President Jonathan and VP Sambo to declare their assets on leaving office as the law requires.

    “Nigerians haven’t forgotten that against all entreaties, the then President and his deputy adamantly refused to make any form of disclosure regarding their assets.

    “Now that they are out, they are behaving as if the law does not exist. Is that the party to question this unprecedented step our leaders have taken?

    “They have lost all moral right to pontificate to anyone on matters of probity and accountability,” Garba stated

  • Premium Pension assets hit N370b

    Premium Pension Limited, a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) has recorded pension assets in excess of N370 billion and pension enrollees spread in over 1000 organisations across the country, the company’s Managing Director, Wilson Ideva has said.

    He made this known in an interaction with reporters in Lagos. He highlighted the greater role of the media in the consolidation and improvement of pension industry gains and the importance of premium pension contributions.

    He said the company has paid out over N87 billion to over 33,000 retirees or their next-of-kin as entitlements since 2007, adding that the Company maintains well over 600,000 Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs).

    Ideva said Premium Pension has already been firmly established as a key player in the new Contributory Pension Scheme. He said: “It is important to note that Premium Pension has consistently posted return on investment of pension asset well above industry average and above inflation.

    “It is important to note that Premium Pension has been paying out monthly pension to retirees on the 19 of every month. Our retirees have attested to the fact that even when they were in active service they never received their monthly salaries on that date. While we continue to pay monthly pension, our return on investment has continued to outstrip the amounts paid.  This has led to agitations for payment of additional lump sum and, or increase in monthly withdrawal, which shows the evidence of the huge success that the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) has been.

    “Professionalism in pension service rendition at Premium Pension is complemented by the Company’s adoption of the robust Canadian Pension Administration Software (CPAS). We are partnering with this organisation to ensure continued cutting edge service delivery. All the relevant staff members operating this software have been adequately trained in Canada by CPAS.

    “The company is run by young Nigerian professionals and a wholly Nigerian board of diverse background and competencies. With a view to facilitating its operations and enhancing customer service and interaction, Premium Pension recently introduced a mobile application known as The Premium Pension Mobile.

    This is in response to the evident need for devices that would further close the gap between the company’s operations and its customers on the one hand and the customers and their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) on the other.

    He, however, said that the major challenge facing the CPS in Nigeria is lack of adequate public awareness, stressing that lack of awareness is even noticeable among the supposedly enlightened in the society. He said the situation is an offshoot of the initial skepticism that greeted the pension reform in 2004.

     

    “The old scheme had virtually collapsed; accumulating a deficit of more than N2 trillion and cases of corruption were rampant. The word ‘Pension’ as a consequence acquired a pejorative connotation.

    “It is against this backdrop that pension operators are now saddled with the responsibility of clearing this cobweb of ignorance about the workings of the new scheme. Premium Pension Limited has been consistent in the call for increased public awareness on the scheme.”

    While he pointed out that the media has contributed to the success of the Scheme, he said the CPS requires increased public awareness drive to be able to further extend the gains of the industry. He noted that the new pension scheme has gone through the teething stages and has come to stay.

  • Men: Get value from your style assets

    Men: Get value from your style assets

    Every day you button your clothes, roll up your shirt sleeves, and pick out your shoes. But what if you told that the way you go about doing these things is all wrong (or at the very least ill-informed)?

    From packing your suit the wrinkle-free way to keeping your rolled-up sleeves from unfurling, it is better to follow some clothing and style hacks that will save you time, money, and, in some cases, embarrassment.

     

    • Roll your shirt sleeves the right way.

    Instead of rolling the cuff slowly up your sleeve, flip the cuff back and pull it to just below your elbow. Then take the bottom (inside-out portion) and fold it up so it traps and covers the bottom cuff. Your shirt sleeves won’t unroll again.

     

    • Pack a suit without getting it wrinkled.

    Simply wrap the suit in tissue paper and place it in a bag to keep it in good condition.

     

    • Learn the “sometimes, always, never” rule of jacket buttons.

    The top button should sometimes be buttoned (stylistic decision), the middle button should always be buttoned (it pulls the jacket together and is flattering), and the last button should never be buttoned (it messes up the tailoring and flare of the jacket).

     

    • Match your dress shoes and suits.

    You should combine your suit and shoes nicely, try to learn what colours and styles are best.

     

    • Invest in quality shoe trees.

    Shoe trees will maintain the shape of your nice work shoes, prevent the leather from warping or cracking, and absorb any excess moisture from your shoes so they don’t rot from the inside out. Bespoke shoe trees are the best for your expensive shoes.

     

    • Hang your suits and dress shirts on cedar wood hangers.

    The cedar acts as a repellent for moths and absorbs moisture. And unlike wire hangers, wood hangers will not damage or stretch out clothing

     

    • Fold your sweaters instead of hanging them.

    Even lightweight sweaters stretch out if they’re on a hanger for too long. It’s better to fold sweaters in your wardrobe and hang dress shirts and T-shirts instead.

     

    • Go sockless without causing a stink.

    There’s an easy way to cheat that socks are undetectable, but effective at soaking up sweat so there’s no funky odor.

     

    • Use leather soap and oil to preserve your shoes.

    Always use soap and oil to preserve your shoes, it will dramatically increase their lifespan and ensure your footwear investment pays dividends for years to come.

     

    • Let your shoes breath between wears.

    You shouldn’t just slip on the same trusty pair of dress shoes day after day. Why? Because if you wear different shoes every day, they’ll stay alive much longer.

  • Court orders Nnamani to forfeit assets to Fed Govt

    Court orders Nnamani to forfeit assets to Fed Govt

    A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday ordered the forfeiture of multi-billion naira assets allegedly belonging to a former Enugu State Governor, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, to the Federal Government.

    Among the forfeited assets are undeveloped properties and transmission equipment  of Rainbownet Limited; property of Hill Gate Investment Limited/Cuena Phones Limited; assets of Cosmo 105.5FM, and 22 duplexes at Ebeano Estate (now Fidelity Estate).

    Others are Rainbownet’s shares in Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank, with a combined account balance of N4.6 million; as well as money in its bank accounts worth about N34.8 million.

    The balances are in different accounts with GTBank (N313,700); Sterling Bank (N986,958); Ecobank (N24.5 million); First City Monument Bank (N3.8 million) and Zenith Bank (N761,156).

    EFCC said it was awaiting details of balances in Rainbownet’s 10 accounts with Access Bank.

    Rainbownet’s undeveloped property forfeited include seven plots at Independence Layout; 567.96 Square metres (Sqm) at Abakpa; 574.96 Sqm at Emene and 2,951.98 Sqm at Achara Layout.

    Others to be forfeited include thousands of square metres of properties at Abia State, namely Ogbor Hill (914.633), Abayi (one and half plots), Port Harcourt Road (1,856.449), Ariaria (640.32), Umuagari (573.263) and Assannetu (954.396), as well as Abakiliki, Ebonyi State (one plot).

    Also, in Onitsha, Anambra State, are Barracks (one plot), Nkpor (1088.644), Awada (465.14), Fegge (one plot); as well as 2,200.06 square miles of land at Okpumo, Awka.

    The company is also to lose 693.636 square metres of undeveloped property located opposite the War Museum, Umuahia.

    Assets of Rainbownet Communications Limited, including Central Switch Room, Microwave Radio, Rectifier, Microwave Backhaul Transmission, among others at various locations in Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia and Imo states are to be forfeited.

    The former senator was charged along with his former aide, Sunday Anyaogu, and six firms – Rainbownet, Hillgate Nigeria, Cosmos FM, Capital City Automobile Nig Ltd, Renaissance University Teaching Hospital and Mea Mater Elizabeth High School.

    Justice Mohammed Yunusa later split Nnamani’s trial from his co-accused as he was abroad receiving treatment.

    EFCC re-arraigned them on 105 counts of money laundering and economic crimes involving about N4.5 billion.

    Part of the alleged laundered money was from the Excess Crude Oil Funds meant for some local government areas, including Aninri, Enugu South, Agwu, Igbo Etiti and Isi Uzor, which was allegedly transferred to Nnamani’s bank account in the United States (U.S.).

    The crime was allegedly committed while Nnamani was governor between 1999 and 2007. The defendants pleaded not guilty.

    However, after the trial was split, four of the companies on May 19 pleaded guilty to a 10-count amended charge through their counsel.

    The companies are Rainbownet, Cosmos FM, Capital City Automobile and Renaissance University Teaching Hospital.

    They were alleged to have failed to comply with lawful enquiries by the commission.

    On June 11, Justice Yunusa adjourned to July 7 for review of facts and sentences after EFCC’s lawyer Kelvin Uzozie told the court that he was still trying to get a list of all the companies’ assets.

    Yesterday, he prayed the court to convict the companies in view of their plea after tendering some documents, including the assets’ schedule.

    He urged the court to make an order of the assets’ forfeiture, and for the commission to be involved in their management.

    The companies’ lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ezeome, during the alucutus (plea for mercy), urged the court to temper justice with mercy since they were first offenders.

    Justice Yunusa, who said a company can be treated as a natural person in law, ordered that “the property listed in the schedule be forfeited to the Federal Government.”

    He adjourned till November 12 for the trial of the remaining accused persons.

  • Our Girls; Remember  Fulani Herdsmen-Farmers War; Assets; Info Ministries/Media  save lives

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. President Buhari has promised to focus on their safe return and to relocate the Forward Command HQ of the Boko Haram War to Maiduguri, the embattled state capital and long sought prize of the insurgents which has again come under murderous attack along with Fika, Gamboru and Ngala since the President assumed office. Maiduguri must not fall.

    Let us congratulate the majority of the seriously over-estimated 160+ Nigerians, most likely nearer 120m, on surviving the ‘Political War of 2015’. There were deaths, murders, casualties and a massive nationwide trauma from the massive non-democratic assault on the democratic wishes of the citizens.  Add to that a huge war budget nationwide which has been a major contributor to the crippling of the finances of the country, including the fall of the naira, and we see the true cost of this ‘Political War of 2015’.

    We must congratulate President Buhari for being tenacious enough and politically savvy enough to cooperate with strange bedfellows to achieve the APC, a ‘fruit salad’ of good and evil to defeat the pot of stew, amalgamated evil, that PDP turned out to be with too few good pieces. In a fruit salad, the pieces still remain individual and separate and identifiable. The person we have put in charge, President Buhari, can use his opportunity and powers of investigation to choose between the sweet and sour pieces to present to the people the next group of leaders. He and the VP have set a good example by declaring their assets, hopefully publicly. Of course they can and will insist on obedience to the law and make ‘Assets Declaration’ accompany ‘Acceptance of Appointment Forms’ for Ministers and all advisers and appointees. The difficulty would be to get governors to follow suit with themselves and their commissioners and advisers. It is not a moral difficulty but a corruption perpetuation difficulty.

    However President Buhari must try to make Assets Declaration the first step to all such government appointments. Whether he can get assent from a current NASSty NASS remains to be seen. The NASS track record, for party members of all parties, in financial transparency is legend and abysmal. It is in serious doubt if the membership of NASS and even the state assemblies are willing to clean up their act or allow themselves to be cleaned up. Indeed the President referred to difficulty with getting the states and LGAs to cooperate. Only time will tell. The President was particularly silent on the second Nigerian War –The Fulani herdsmen- Farmers across 10 states War’ which claims between 30 and 100 citizens a day and over 5,000 to date. He will be expected to tell us his plan for the end of this war in the near future.

    While we give President Buhari the next few days to tell us his plans and reminds him that there are 1460-5= 1455 days  left, let us take a break from politics and remember to implement policies at home and at work that will save ourselves to enjoy the fruits of our 2015 democratic struggles.

    I have recently advised several groups on how to stay healthy and attended the funerals of too many acquaintances and friends. No one will live forever and no one knows the day of death, but there are a few things we can all pay attention to in order to even the odds. There are lessons to be learned from the maybe N1.5-2tillion naira political campaign even as we remove the posters and burn the newspaper adverts. If we paid as much attention to our health as we do to politics and gossip we will be a healthier happier people.  If we funded health posters and health adverts as much as we fund political posters and political messages we would all be healthier or and happier. If our 200 radio and TV stations carried as many life-saving and health information messages as political messages we would all be healthier and happier. If the ministries of information at federal and state and LGA level did their real job of informing the public every day about the 200 life-saving messages instead of what politicians’ daily antics we would all be healthier and happier. Nigeria’s media must educate. It must take responsibility for the medical and social ignorance of the citizens as it has 24/7 access to citizens who are often ignorant of life-saving skills and messages. This is the task before all government and private media organisations and executives – to educate the citizenry during the next 1455 days on staying alive before 2019 round of democracy and election education. There is more to media responsibility for citizens’ education than Ebola and Elections. There is life itself and people need life skill education daily as new ignorant citizens hear and see radio and TV for the first time every day.

    So the inadequate amount of airtime allocated to such life skill messages is a scandalous indictment on the media which happily awards itself accolades for branded commercial advertising while to population falls ill and dies from lack of life skills. Life skill messages needing dissemination include taking folic acid throughout reproductive life, checking Blood Pressure, examining your breast and abdomen for masses, knowing your genotype, low sugar-salt-fats-alcohol intake and regular exercise. ‘Life Skill Message Education’ is in and out of school time and worktime.

    ‘If our 200 radio and TV stations carried as many life-saving and health information messages as political messages we would all be healthier and happier. If the ministries of information at federal and state and LGA level did their real job of informing the public every day about the 200 life-saving messages instead of what politicians’ daily antics we would all be healthier and happier’

     

  • Pension assets hit N4.6trillion

    Pension assets hit N4.6trillion

    THE NATIONAL Pension Commission, PenCom, at the weekend said the nation’s total pension assets had risen above N4.6 trillion.

    Director-General of PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, who disclosed this at a one-day dialogue on ‘The capital market and 2015 federal budget’, organised by the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers in collaboration with Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria and the Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria, said it was heartening to note that things are really looking up for the pension scheme thus far.

    She said with more than 21 pension fund administrators and over 6.3 million contributors nationwide, the pension scheme holds a lot of promise as a major source of socio-economic development.

    “Payment of pension under the contributing pension scheme is now prompt and consistent since 2007. So far, over 6.3 million contributors have been registered into the scheme since its inception.”

    While noting that the Pension Reform Act 2004 was not perfect, she, however, said the re-enacted Pension Reform Act, 2014 has been designed in such a way to cover those in the public and private sub-sectors.

    The PenCom boss, who was represented by Mr. Olulana Olayemi, also hinted of plans by the Commission to partner with investors in the capital market with a view to developing the sector.

    According to her, pension fund is very important in view of the fact that it produces long-term funds for the capital market.

    PenCom, she said, would come out with useful regulations to support investment windows within the market.

    The capital market operators, she maintained, should be able to come up with new products that will make use of pension assets.

    “On our part, we will come with risk acceptance criteria to guide the process. We would be very flexible. This is just to show the extent we are willing to go to support capital market,” she stressed.