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Tag: blackmailers

  • You are blackmailers, ex-militants tell group

    A group of the Niger Delta Ex-Agitators, Egbesu United Front (EUF) have faulted the call for the sack of the Special Adviser to the President and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Prof Charles Dokubo, by a group, Niger Delta Peace-Yoke Leadership Initiative (NDP-YL).

    The ex-militants through its national President, Alaowei Ebri, expressed disappointment over what it described as a disparaging petition forwarded by the NDP-YL to the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) asking him to intervene “in their criminal shenanigans and outright blackmail” aimed at achieving their selfish desires of constituting “nuisance” and perpetuate stealing in the Amnesty Office.

    This was contained in a statement issued in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital on Tuesday.

    Ebri described the NDP-YL as a group  blackmailers, purveyors of lies who are mostly unserious elements .

    According to the EUF, Prof. Dokubo like any other Nigerian inherited so much rot in the system which he is cleansing for a better human development agency that can hold its own anywhere in the world saying, the Coordinator was not ready to tie himself to the apron string of any person or group of persons for him to be a good administrator.

    Ebri noted that the NDP-YL is an “orchestra of deceit and blackmail” made up of unscrupulous elements  being weeded out from the Amnesty Office for better and effective operational strategies being put in place by Prof. Dokubo.

    “How can a bunch of idle minds come up with questioning the health and capacity of a Professor of International Relations of Mr Dokubo’s standing? It is appalling for this group to know that a bunch of disgruntled characters can just wake up in idleness and begin to think of whom to blackmail.

    “The new helmsman is not leaving anything to chances because he has come to re – write the narratives of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and unserious persons shouldn’t derail him because all they do is whip up sentiments flying regional flag but in the actual they are struggling for their  narrow interests.” Ebri stated.

    The group called on the NSA, Monguno to ignore those he described as jobbers, merchants of lies and blackmailers whose aim is to feast perpetually on the Amnesty Office at all cost.

     

     

  • You are blackmailers, ex-militants tell group

    A group of the Niger Delta Ex-Agitators, Egbesu United Front (EUF) have faulted the call for the sack of the Special Adviser to the President and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Prof Charles Dokubo, by a group, Niger Delta Peace-Yoke Leadership Initiative (NDP-YL).

    The ex-militants through its national President, Alaowei Ebri, expressed disappointment over what it described as a disparaging petition forwarded by the NDP-YL to the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) asking him to intervene “in their criminal shenanigans and outright blackmail” aimed at achieving their selfish desires of constituting “nuisance” and perpetuate stealing in the Amnesty Office.

    This was contained in a statement issued in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital on Tuesday.

    Ebri described the NDP-YL as a group  blackmailers, purveyors of lies who are mostly unserious elements .

    According to the EUF, Prof. Dokubo like any other Nigerian inherited so much rot in the system which he is cleansing for a better human development agency that can hold its own anywhere in the world saying, the Coordinator was not ready to tie himself to the apron string of any person or group of persons for him to be a good administrator.

    Ebri noted that the NDP-YL is an “orchestra of deceit and blackmail” made up of unscrupulous elements  being weeded out from the Amnesty Office for better and effective operational strategies being put in place by Prof. Dokubo.

    “How can a bunch of idle minds come up with questioning the health and capacity of a Professor of International Relations of Mr Dokubo’s standing? It is appalling for this group to know that a bunch of disgruntled characters can just wake up in idleness and begin to think of whom to blackmail.

    “The new helmsman is not leaving anything to chances because he has come to re – write the narratives of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and unserious persons shouldn’t derail him because all they do is whip up sentiments flying regional flag but in the actual they are struggling for their  narrow interests.” Ebri stated.

    The group called on the NSA, Monguno to ignore those he described as jobbers, merchants of lies and blackmailers whose aim is to feast perpetually on the Amnesty Office at all cost.

    Unfortunately, Ebri said, Prof. Dokubo is not given to flippancy and arrogance let alone bragging over his connections within the government noting that the Coordinator is humility personified, calm and a calculative character who has so much respect for the person and the office of the NSA and would never demean or disparage that high office.

  • Blackmailers at work?

    Nigerians, effectively without buffer, were steamrollered in an acute pang of fuel drought nationwide that spanned the recent Yuletide and New Year crossover seasons. And it was all down to idle shenanigans of invidious blackmailers. What cheek! Meek shoals paddling in shark-infested waters couldn’t have fared much worse.

    Most citizens spent much of what should have been a restfully festive period in rabid hunt for gasoline at dispensing stations that did anything but dispense the essential item – notably, including outlets owned by the state oil pot, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Not a few persons had to abandon the indulgencies of the season in endless wakes for nocturnal vending of fuel at outrageous tariffs they could ill-afford, but were nonetheless compelled to for basic existentials. Now we have it on privileged insight that the ordeal all derived from “some of our compatriots (who) chose this period to inflict severe hardship on us all by creating unnecessary fuel scarcity across the country.” Really!

    President Muhammadu Buhari, in his New Year Address early last week, deplored the impudence, vowing to “get to the root of this collective blackmail of all Nigerians and ensure that whichever groups are behind this manipulated hardship will be prevented from doing so again.”

    Prior to the presidential address, recrimination raged between NNPC and fuel marketers on who takes the rap for the persisting scarcity. The state firm accused marketers of holing-in or diverting their supplies instead of dispensing stuff to the public. The marketers, in turn, insisted their tanks were empty owing to inadequate feedstock from NNPC, which had since October 2017 become the sole importer of petroleum products.

    Some costlines were thrown in to push the respective narrative. NNPC berated marketers for cutting out of importation and called out members of one of the unions, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), as owing some N2.7billion in payment arrears to its subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC). The group, for its part, alleged advance payment by its members in excess of N90billion for product cargoes that NNPC had yet insufficient consignments to deliver.

    But President Buhari in his New Year Address headed up, impliedly, with the verdict that marketers contrived the crisis – and that, for a cheap motive as blackmail – “given that NNPC had taken measures to ensure availability at all depots.”

    True, you only need look at Nigerian marketers in drought seasons for the quintessential Shylock at work, if you wanted to see one. Even among that species, fuel marketers hold a luminous frontguard. Most of them habitually hoard products at the flimsiest expectation of official price increase, which they jump the gun to implement anyway through nocturnal vending to a desperate public at rip-off rates.

    But the New Year verdict by Mr. President, who happens to be the substantive petroleum minister, just didn’t seem to address all matters arising. It did not explain, for instance, why most NNPC outlets, just like other marketers, lacked fuel to dispense to harried motorists at the height of the scarcity. Neither did it clarify the economics of long-term product availability at the official price cap of N145 per litre, even when NNPC Group Managing Director Maikanti Baru had said the prevailing landing cost was N171.40/litre.

    We must make haste to admit that the intricacies of official fuel-pricing template do get arcane for sideliners. Still, some basic elements of the mix simply don’t add up in the present circumstance.

    It is trite, for instance, that domestic consumption of fuel in our country is fed nearly wholesale with imports because local refineries have perennially failed to make substantial input despite pledges by successive administrations, including the incumbent, to effect drastic turnaround. Marketers jointly accounted for some 60 percent of those imports while NNPC supplied the outstanding, until when they cut out owing to adverse headwinds.

    DAPPMA helmsman, Dapo Abiodun, last week articulated the marketers’ stance. “In the past, marketers brought in about 60 percent while NNPC brought 35 to 40 percent. But by the month of October, marketers completely stopped importing because there was no more subsidy. We couldn’t sell for profit, and we had to stop importing. The burden for 100 percent importation now fell on NNPC,” he said.

    Common logic is that this turn must have foisted a supply gap that NNPC must be hard pressed to bridge. But the state firm insisted it was doing quite fine. Baru told journalists penultimate weekend: “We have sufficient products that will last us for the next 30 days and we keep bringing in 50 percent over and above our normal consumption into the country. And vessels have been lined up.”

    Marketers, however, argued otherwise. “You can imagine a situation where NNPC was importing in part and marketers were importing in part, and suddenly NNPC begins to import 100 percent,” Abiodun said. He didn’t rule out incidents of product diversion to neighbouring countries where fuel officially sells at much higher rates than in Nigeria, though, and that is not counting other factors like panic buying that typically characterises times of scarcity.

    Field oversight by legislators suggested that neither NNPC nor the marketers come clean of complicity for the fuel drought. Speaking early last week, Senate petroleum downstream committee chairman, Kabiru Marafa, said: “We visited NNPC zonal depot in Gusau to find out the quantity of fuel supplied to the depot and we noticed short supply of the commodity…We question the NNPC on this issue, because (Baru) said they had doubled the quantity of daily supplies of the product, but it is not available to the public. Another unfortunate thing is the attitude of filling station owners who sell this commodity to the public: they are involved in one or two malpractices. In fact, out of all the filling stations we visited, only two have complied with government directives…”

    My take here is: the president’s verdict that marketers alone were to blame was too dismissive and, indeed, cavalier. You can’t foreclose, of course, that he had privileged information to inform that verdict. But it could also well be he has been listening only to a one-sided narrative – that of NNPC. Regrettably, such does not offer much hope of government addressing the fundamentals of the recurrent crisis. Supply shortfall regarding any item invariably serves as nursery for sharp practices in its dispensing. If you do not ensure unbroken adequate supply, you would never be able to staunch the sharp practices.

    Then, we need ask about the economics of long-term viability of the present pump head price. Baru left it all in the political realm when he said: “The landing cost moves with the CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) price of PMS (petroleum motor spirit). As of Friday, the CIF price was in the neighbourhood of $620 per metric tonne. At the official exchange rate of N305 to the dollar, the landing cost should be N171.40 per litre…However, Mr. President has directed that we should maintain all the parameters to ensure that it is sold at N145/litre, and that is why we are selling at the depot at N133.28.”

    2018 is an electioneering year and the Buhari administration, obviously, would be hard pressed to avoid risking the political cost of raising fuel price at this time. In any event, it is unlikely Nigerians would by any stretch of accommodation accept such increase with the prevailing standard of living. But the seeming alternatives are that we would have frequently recurring seizures in supply, or the economy would be monumentally mortgaged with “under-recovery costs” unless there is an economic (as opposed to political) design to the pricing template.

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  • Fuel crisis blackmailers ’ll be punished, says Buhari

    Fuel crisis blackmailers ’ll be punished, says Buhari

    Our problem ‘more of process than restructuring’

    Ogoni clean-up on

    Rice import to stop

    Boko Haram beaten

    Power hits 7000mw

    The government will fish out the blackmailers behind the crippling  fuel scarcity,  President Muhammadu Buhari promised this morning.

    In his New Year address to the nation, the President regretted the untold hardship the fuel crisis caused Nigerians during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

    In an address that touched on many areas of national life, the President said this year is critical to the achievement of the change mantra that the Buhari Campaign adopted to win the 2015 election.

    He had a word for advocates of restructuring. Nigeria’s problem is more of process than the restructuring of the polity, the President said.

    He stressed that the Boko Haram insurgency had been “beaten”.

    Buhari spoke of his administration’s resolve to dwell more on the completion of major infrastructure with special emphasis on road, rail and power.

    He explained that the country last month generated 7,000 mw of electricity and distributed 5,155MW – “the highest level ever recorded” to consumers.

    On the economy, Buhari said: “You will recall that it was not until last year that we got out of the economic recession into which the country had fallen as a consequence of past unsustainable economic policies which projected short-term illusory growth.

    “The government is slowly stabilising the economy. It was in order to change the steady and steep decline that we adopted the more sustainable policies and programmes captured in the Economic Recovery Plan. Diversification efforts have resulted in improved output, particularly in agriculture and solid minerals sectors. The relative exchange rate stability has improved manufacturing sector performance.”

    The Niger Delta got some news – the Ogoni clean-up is on course,” Buhari said.

    The President explained: “I join my fellow citizens this morning to welcome and celebrate the New Year 2018. This year promises to be pivotal in our quest for change.

    “Unfortunately, I am saddened to acknowledge that for many, this Christmas and New Year holidays have been anything but merry and happy. Instead of showing love, companionship and charity, some of our compatriots chose this period to inflict severe hardship on us all by creating unnecessary fuel scarcity across the country.

    “The consequence was that many could not travel and the few who did had to pay exorbitant transport fares. This is unacceptable, given that NNPC had taken measures to ensure availability at all depots. I am determined to get to the root of this collective blackmail of all Nigerians and ensure that whichever groups are behind this manipulated hardship will be prevented from doing so again.

    “Such unpatriotism will not divert the Administration from the course we have set ourselves. Our government’s watch word and policy thrust is CHANGE. We must change our way of doing things or we will stagnate and be left behind in the race to lift our people out of poverty and into prosperity.”

    “The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing is one of the drivers of this Government’s commitment to renew and increase Nigeria’s stock of infrastructure in order to achieve global economic competitiveness as targeted under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

    “With regards to Railways, we have set ourselves ambitious targets. Already in construction stage is the Lagos-Kano Standard Gauge Railway.

    “The line should reach Ibadan from Lagos by the end of 2019 and will carry two million passengers per year and five million tons of cargo will be transported every year giving a substantial boost to the country’s economy.

    “Construction of the Kano – Kaduna segment is expected to commence this year and reach Kaduna by the end of 2019. By the end of 2021 the two ends will be joined so that we will have standard gauge railway across the main North-South trading route.”

    “The Abuja – Kaduna route will be boosted by additional rolling stock next Thursday and will be able to handle one million commuters annually.

    “At the same time I have approved and negotiations will be concluded in the first part of this year for the Port Harcourt to Maiduguri line covering Aba, Owerri, Umuahia, Enugu, Awka, Abakaliki, Makurdi, Lafia, Jos, Bauchi, Gombe, Yola and Damaturu.  The Abuja to Itakpe line will go through Baro and terminate in Warri with the construction of a new seaport at Warri.

    “Negotiations are also advanced for the construction of other railway lines, firstly from Kano to Maradi in Niger Republic passing through Kazaure, Daura, Katsina, Jibia to Maradi.

    “Secondly, Lagos to Calabar the “Coastal Rail”  through Ore, Benin, Agbor, Asaba, Onitsha, Sapele, Ughelli, Warri, Yenagoa, Otuoke, Port Harcourt, Aba, Uyo and Calabar.  In the next few years, all these Nigerian cities will be linked by functional modern rail systems, giving enormous boost to the social and economic life of our people.

    “With respect to the Abuja Capital Light Rail, progress has reached 98% completion, as at 64% completion when we assumed office.  Only test runs remain before start of operations.”

    “Twelve railway sub-stations around the capital over a 45.2 kilometre route will serve as a catalyst and a pull factor to the economy of the area.  The Light Rail System will reduce traffic congestion and carbon emission in line with the Administration’s policy on climate change.”

    The President said that the Management of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has been reconstituted and has been charged with a 12-week rapid intervention in road repairs to cover all the geo-political zones.

    Government, he said, is undertaking repairs and maintenance of 44 roads within the six geo-political zones.

    He said “Twenty five major highways will be funded under the N100b SUKUK facility. Each geo-political zone will benefit by an equal amount of N16.67b. The following major highways are to receive special attention: Oyo – Ogbomosho, Ofusu – Ore – Ajebandele – Shagamu, Yenagoa Road Junction – Kolo Otuoke – Bayelsa Palm, Enugu – Port Harcourt Dual Carriage Way, Onitsha – Enugu Expressway, Kaduna Eastern Bypass, Dualization of Kano – Maiduguri Road, Dualization of Abuja – Lokoja – Benin Road, Dualization of Suleja – Minna Road.

    “In addition, Government has approved work to start on the re-construction of Abuja – Kaduna – Zaria – Kano road which is in a state of disrepair. Work will soon start and is expected to be completed in 2019.”

    While stressing that more Nigerians across the country are experiencing improved power supply to their homes and businesses, he however noted that power remained a concern to the government because too many people still do not have regular and reliable supply.

    He added “The Payment Assurance Guarantee Scheme which started in January 2016 has enabled the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader to raise so far N701 billion to assure Generation Companies of at least 80% payment for any power delivered to the national grid.

    “Consequently, generation has now reached 7,000MW. On December 8, 2017 the country achieved 5,155MW of power delivered to consumers, the highest level ever recorded.

    According to him, the Administration is working with the privatised distribution Companies to overcome the continuing challenges of distribution.

    These massive public works, he said, should spearhead the recovery and lead millions back to employment.

    On economy, he said “You will recall that it was not until last year that we got out of the economic recession into which the country had fallen as a consequence of past unsustainable economic policies which projected short-term illusory growth.

    “The government is slowly stabilizing the economy. It was in order to change the steady and steep decline that we adopted the more sustainable policies and programmes captured in the Economic Recovery Plan. Diversification efforts have resulted in improved output particularly in agriculture and solid minerals sectors. The relative exchange rate stability has improved manufacturing sector performance.”

    Noting that Nigerians have to get used to discipline and direction in economic management, he said that the days of business as usual are numbered.

    Speaking on agriculture, the President said “Two years ago I appealed to people to go back to the land. I am highly gratified that agriculture has picked up, contributing to the government’s effort to re-structure the economy. Rice imports will stop this year. Local rice, fresher and more nutritious will be on our dishes from now on.

    On restructuring, he said “In respect of political developments, I have kept a close watch on the on-going debate about “Restructuring”. No human law or edifice is perfect. Whatever structure we develop must periodically be perfected according to changing circumstances and the country’s socio-economic developments.

    ”We Nigerians can be very impatient and want to improve our conditions faster than may be possible considering our resources and capabilities. When all the aggregates of nationwide opinions are considered, my firm view is that our problems are more to do with process than structure.

    ”We tried the Parliamentary system: we jettisoned it. Now there are shrill cries for a return to the Parliamentary structure. In older democracies these systems took centuries to evolve so we cannot expect a copied system to fit neatly our purposes. We must give a long period of trial and improvement before the system we have adopted is anywhere near fit for purpose.”

    With the electioneering season approaching, he appealed to politicians to avoid exploiting ethnicity and religion by linking ethnicity with religion and religion with politics.

    ”Such must be avoided at all costs if we are to live in harmony.

    ”In this respect the rest of Nigeria could learn from the South Western States who have successfully internalised religion, ethnicity and politics.

    ”Political discourse should be conducted with civility, decorum and in a constitutional manner. We all have a collective responsibility to strengthen our democracy and entrench the rule of law.

    ”We should draw encouragement from the series of by-elections conducted by INEC last year which were generally violence free and their outcomes adjudged to be free and fair.” he said

    The President also reassured Nigerians that security of life and property is still top of his government’s agenda.

    ”We have since beaten Boko Haram. Isolated attacks still occur, but even the best-policed countries cannot prevent determined criminals from committing terrible acts of terror as we have seen during the past years in Europe, Asia, Middle East, elsewhere in Africa and in America.

    “Terrorism and urban crimes are world-wide phenomena and our security forces are continuously adapting their responses to changing threats.

    “With regard to rampant cases of kidnappings, we are taking immediate short-term measures to combat this new evil creeping into our societies.  Tighter police methods and swift and severe punishment for those proved to be engaged in kidnapping are on the way.

    “With respect to Niger Delta, Government is still engaging responsible leadership of the communities to help in identifying and addressing genuine grievances of the region. Our clean-up programme in collaboration with the United Nations is making satisfactory progress.

    The President expressed his heartfelt thanks to all Nigerians “who prayed for me during my illness last year. I feel deeply humbled by your prayers and good wishes and I am more determined than ever to serve you to the best of my ability.”

  • ‘Blackmailers desperate to stop Uba’

    ‘Blackmailers desperate to stop Uba’

    A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Progressive Friends Foundation (PFF), has said some people are trying to blackmail Senator Andy Uba to prevent him from participating in the November 18 governorship election in Anambra State.
    PFF said the allegations of indebtedness and false academic qualifications against Uba were to truncate his ambition for the election.
    It said the blackmail was only a distraction, which will yield nothing good for the state.
    In a communiqué issued after its meeting in Lagos, PFF said the claims were contrived by those with “ulterior motives to stop a man they consider a threat to their interests in the crucial election”.
    Signed by the Director-General, Chief Ifeanyi Oramah, the communique urged Anambra residents to look beyond “the rash of unsubstantiated allegations” and support those working for development and dividends of democracy.
    It noted that Uba served the country at the highest level – as a two-time senator and a presidential adviser – besides being a governor, saying it was condemnable that such a personality had become the target of “cheap political smear campaign”.
    PFF warned “political misfits, especially those bent on overheating the polity, to note that those who ride on the back of a tiger will end up in its belly”.
    It added: “We expect aspirants to be creative, focused and engage in issue-based politicking that will better the people’s lives, instead of descending to the level of gutter snipes in an attempt to rubbish one of their own.
    “We have no doubt that the allegations of indebtedness and certificate forgery, coming with the governorship election only six months away, is the handiwork of political opponents who see the senator as the man to beat, and are doing everything to pull him down.”
    The group urged those with genuine complaints to seek redress in court, rather than attempt to destroy good people’s reputation.

  • Okiro and his blackmailers

    Okiro and his blackmailers

    Retired Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, hit the nail on the head over the hullabaloo regarding the alleged N275.5million election fund fraud; the whole scheme was an attempt to blackmail him.  Any dutiful and objective appraisal of the issues arising from reports over the matter cannot but agree with Okiro that the Principal Administrative Officer in the Press and Public Relations Unit of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Mr. Aaron Kaase, was really out to blackmail him.

    It is difficult to fault the genuine accounts of Mr. Okiro on this matter when he asserted, at a press conference, in Abuja on June 8, 2015, that “the PSC spent N217.3million of the money and that the remaining N132.6 million was returned to the commission’s project account.”  Mr. Kaase had claimed, in his petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), that “the money was part of the N350 million collected by the PSC for monitoring conferences and training of staff ahead of the March/April general elections.”  It is easy to deduce that an Okiro-led PSC out to defraud the government would not have left a balance of the money in a special account of the PSC.  If the intention was to embezzle public funds, the N132.6million would have ended up in the private bank accounts of Mr. Okiro and other high officials of the PSC.

    Again, Mr. Okiro made the point that “because the approval from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) came late, we were able to conduct only one-day training, and the PSC staff were paid their allowances and daily travelling allowance (DTA) for the exercise and their entitlements for the journey to the states for the monitoring.”  Mr. Kaase had said “that instead of the four-day approval granted by the Bureau of Public Procurement, a mock training of two hours was conducted at Northgate Hotels Limited, Mararaba, Nasarawa State instead of Kano State.”  However, an objective appraisal of the two positions stated here shows that while Okiro is right, Mr. Kaase is mischievously wrong.  If approval for the trainings were granted only a few days to the Presidential and National Assembly elections, was it still feasible to conduct a four-day training exercise?

     Mr. Kaase would have had a case if he had shown that the companies that were awarded the training contracts were not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and also did not meet the registration requirements for participation in contracting endeavours emanating from the PSC. As long as he failed to show that the companies that got the PSC training contracts were not qualified to embark on the endeavours they handled for the PSC, his claim that Mr. Okiro abused the powers of his office by awarding the training contracts to his girlfriend and cronies showed he was on an idle mission, rather than attempting to expose corrupt practices at the PSC.

    In any case, what point did Mr. Kaase set out to make when he claimed that “Okiro has failed to refund the money granted for the other three days in his request letter?”  If, as things are becoming clearer by the day that there is a N132.6 million balance from the N350 million in a special project account of the PSC, what kind of money refund is Mr. Kaase talking about?  Is Mr. Okiro expected to refund monies already paid to the contracting firms to conduct the one-day training exercise?

    In the final analysis, the point just has to be made that Mr. Kaase’s tantrums against Mr. Okiro, in the name of idle petitions to the ICPC and the EFCC over the alleged mismanagement of the sum of N350 million, remains a failed blackmailing scheme.

    Thomas Adegoke, 5 Cuito Crescent, Off Yesderam Street, Maitama, Abuja.