The Nation Newspaper

Tag: bribe

  • $620,000 ‘bribe’: Lawan’s report being awaited

    $620,000 ‘bribe’: Lawan’s report being awaited

    The House of Representatives has said two years after the case was referred, the report of the $620,000 bribery allegation against Farouk Lawan is still being awaited from its Committee on Ethics and Privileges.

    Speaking at a media briefing at the weekend, the Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Business, Albert Sam- Sokwa, said the House was worried about the delay.

    In June 2012, Farouk Lawan, who chaired the Ad hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime, was relieved of the position and removed as the chairman, Committee on Education, over an allegation by Femi Otedola, billionaire oil marketer that the lawmaker received a $620,000 bribe from him.

    The bribe was allegedly to fast-rack the removal of Zenon Oil and Synopsis International from the list of those that have shortchanged the country through the fuel subsidy regime.

    His case was referred to the Ethics and Privileges Committee since 2012 and nothing had been heard of it since then.

    Sam-Tsokwa, who spoke for the Reps leadership, while responding to a question from reporters, said: “Well, if you ask me why is it that the Ethics and Privileges Committee has not been doing its work or whatever, that would be understandable.

  • Bringing corruption to light

    Bringing corruption to light

    In India, where petty corruption is endemic, the website ipaidabribe.com invites citizens to share their stories of bribery, believing that awareness and transparency can help to transform the system.

    “Yesterday I paid Rs 100 to a police constable for passport verification.”

    “I paid [a] bribe to collect death certificate, no freedom in corruption even in death.”

    “Harassment was only stopped when the amount was paid.”

    Tales by the victims of petty corruption fill page after page on the Indian website ipaidabribe.com. According to Transparency International, 54 percent of Indian citizens say they paid a bribe in 2010, the same year the site went live. I Paid a Bribe refers to the phenomenon as “retail corruption,” where the government machinery doesn’t work until you grease an officer’s palms.

    I Paid a Bribe was founded by a couple, Swati and Ramesh Ramanathan, who left careers in the United States to return to India and establish a non-profit organization, Janaagraha. Based out of India’s Silicon Valley, Bangalore, I Paid a Bribe is first and foremost a reporting mechanism. Its goal is to raise general awareness of the issue and improve government systems by sharing crowdsourced reports with the media and officials. Claims are made anonymously and no names are published, to avoid libel or defamation.

    “Retail corruption, in my view, corrupts the value system of the entire society,” Swati Ramanathan said. “It is very easy for everyone to go and protest in a maidan (public square) against a corrupt regime or government, and later come back home and not even blink when a cop or a government official demands a bribe.”

    I Paid a Bribe claims to have received over 4.5 million page views since its inception, and publicizes more than 27,000 stories of how people across the country have been coerced into coughing up money. Collectively, these victims report having paid about US $35 million in bribes to corrupt officers.

    The website offers information on how people can avoid paying bribes, and includes a section where people share their stories of not budging. It also encourages people to write about honest officers they come across, to encourage such behavior. “Knowing that such information is available, and that these are the steps to go through to, say, get a property registered, empowers citizens and gives them the courage to resist paying bribes,” Swati Ramanathan said.

    Ipaidabribe.com’s followers include government agencies who track the cases and sometimes even crack the whip on greedy officers. Bangalore-based engineer Manik Taneja’s post about how a customs officer browbeat him into paying a bribe resulted in the latter’s suspension. In 2012, Taneja purchased a kayak on a visit to the United States, and calculated that he would be required to pay no more than US $150 in import tax. However, the customs official at the airport demanded almost three times that amount, then threatened to impound the boat if Taneja didn’t pay him a bribe. Exhausted after a 20-hour flight, Taneja relented and paid.

    The next day, he double-checked the rules and learned that he had correctly calculated the exemption. Stung, he vented his anger on ipaidabribe.com. Soon after he received a call from the customs department, requesting him to lodge a complaint. The officer concerned was suspended.

    Joylita Saldanha, who works on the website, said the transport commissioner for the state of Karnataka (where Bangalore is located) was embarrassed to learn that his department had the city’s highest incidence of bribe-seeking. So he collaborated with the team from I Paid a Bribe to plug any loopholes. They found that driving tests, for example, were highly problematic, since determining whether or not an applicant could drive well enough for license was a subjective decision, and officers often asked for money to boost a person’s score. In response, the motor vehicle department introduced automated driving test tracks with computer monitors.The impact of I Paid a Bribe has attracted global attention. Various countries and NGOs have approached Janaagraha, asking to replicate the website’s source code. A dozen countries are now using it, including Pakistan, Greece, Hungary, and Kenya.

    “Like they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant,” Swati Ramanathan remarked. “As more and more people start sharing their experiences with corruption on a public platform, it is bound to discourage people from indulging in it, owing to the greater chance of getting caught. I think in 20 years, retail corruption can be eradicated, and certainly from our end we will do everything possible to ensure that.”

     

  • Confronting the cancer of corruption

    SIR: Corruption is like dodder, the yellow vine that wraps around trees and saps their life. Once it falls on a society it is a curse that grows from one branch to the next and then to the next until nothing remains visible, except a yellow sickness of corruption. Even such guardians of morality as religious and academic institutions become corrupt. The struggle against an evil depends on the ethical standards of a society; it is our response of dismissal or approval that matters.

    Corruption doesn’t spring up from nowhere. Corruption is planted, fed and watered. Roots in the ground, out of sight, are what hold corruption in place. Still, without a steady supply of nutrients in the form of money, greed and opportunity and without the right climate, corruption will not grow and produce more bad seeds. Nigerian’s are sickened by greed, corruption and decadency of our leaders and nothing can stop our country progress faster than a continued culture of corruption. The word favoritism, nepotism and covert corruption infect high and low places.

    Corruption is the Nigeria’s biggest enemy. The only way to get rid of it is with a full-scale assault. Anything short of that is useless. That means digging out the roots and their food sources: money, contractors on the hustle, and politicians on the take. For example, the first contact foreigners have when entering a country is with customs and immigration officers. In our airports, travelers often find themselves delayed at customs clearance until a suitable inducement (often hard currency) is forthcoming. Even our borders and ports are not left out, as officers receive bribes to speed up the checking of vehicles and containers smuggling in prohibited goods.

    The same shameful practice today is found among traffic Police, Police patrol, FRSC, VIO’s and security check points. The personnel in the government procurement departments provide information on tender to bids for a fee. Contractors bribe clerks, Personal Assistants and Secretaries to obtain information.

    The Politicians in Nigeria have turned our democracy to be a “Commercial Democracy. It’s no longer news that candidates vying for offices and positions offer bribes and gifts to delegates in exchange for votes.

    Now is the time to dig down and pry up the tendrils of corruption: those straw donors who allowed their names to be attached to campaign contributions they didn’t make; contractors who disguise their political donations and evade contribution limits by using the names of different companies that they own; and elected officials who violate laws that they have sworn to uphold. Corruption didn’t descend out of thin air. It is homegrown, and it must be killed. The government should through the National Assembly come up with the “Whistleblower Protection Act” which will give people the courage to report improper conducts in government establishments, Public awareness and anti-corruption crusades should be encouraged in schools, market squares, billboards at the airport, highways, sea ports and the government office complexes. This will in the long run help to fight and limit corruption in Nigeria, otherwise it will destroy our race, culture, religion and nation.

    • Ibrahim Muye Yahaya

    Jagbele Quarters Muye , Niger State

  • N1.5m bribe allegation: It’s witch-hunt, says Adepoju

    The embattled former chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)’s Organising and Disciplinary Committee (O&D), Leye Adepoju, has finally broken his silence about the bribery allegation levelled against him.

    Adepoju, who aired his side of the story during a sports programme on a private radio station in Ibadan at the weekend, reportedly described the NFF as a body in a state of disarray.

    The Oyo Football Association boss while responding to questions denied having knowledge of a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the Federation’s board members met and took punitive actions against its former scribe, Taiwo Ogunjobi and Victor Rumson Baribote, and also resolved to set up a four-man committee to investigate an allegation of N1.5m bribery Adepoju was said to have collected from Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) on behalf of members of his O&D Committee.

    Adepoju said he could have attended the meeting if he had been notified that NFF executive members would be meeting there, but he was amazed to read from the dailies that he was absent from the meeting with apology.

    He, however, insisted that the said N1.5m was a fee for a job he’s doing for Ibadan darling team, 3SC and not a bribe as is been peddled.

    Adepoju linked the whole bickering to anxiety by leading members of the NFF towards the Glass House elections slated for early next year.

    “I have made my intention known not to support the continuation of this present people at NFF. All of these wranglings are to witch-hunt their perceived enemies prior to the NFF elections billed for early next year”, Adepoju noted.

    He added: “I and (NFF president Aminu) Maigari were very close before, but since I noticed that his leadership was deviating from the statutes guiding the game, I began to raise my voice against it, which seemed not to be satisfying to them.”

    Adepoju also noted that there is nothing like an ‘Organising and Disciplinary Committee’ or O&D Committee, but what he knows and was appointed to head is the Disciplinary Committee, while Mike Umeh is the chairman of the Organising Committee.

    He also expressed reservations about getting a fair judgment from the panel constituted by the NFF headed by a fellow lawyer, Chris Green as chairman with members including Emeka Inyama, Shehu Adamu, Muazu Kawu and Brig-General Emma Okaro (rtd), with Alizor Chuks as secretary.

    “I shall be there to present my case no matter how deafening the panel might be”.

  • ICPC arrests civil servant for allegedly demanding bribe

    The Independent Corrupt Offences Practices Commission (ICPC) has arrested one Mr. Abbah Adikwu, a GL. 07 officer with the Federal Civil Service Commission, Abuja for allegedly demanding a bribe before performing his official duties.

    A petitioner, (name withheld) who is also a civil servant had filed a petition at the ICPC against the suspect for allegedly demanding for a bribe before his file could be treated.

    He further informed ICPC that he had been visiting the suspect’s office since December 2012 to regularise his service but the suspect frustrated all his efforts through unethical conduct and brazen demands for a bribe.

    The suspect was put under surveillance by ICPC and arrested through a sting operation after collecting marked money from the petitioner within the premises of the Civil Service Commission.

    Mr. Adikwu violently resisted arrest and was about to bolt away but was physically restrained by ICPC operatives.

    However, there was mild drama at the point of taking him out of the Commission’s premises when some of his colleagues and other persons blocked the gate, assaulted ICPC operatives and held them hostage in the office of the Chief Security Officer.

    It took the intervention of a back-up security team from ICPC to secure their freedom and whisk the suspect away.

    Some of the officials who assaulted and obstructed ICPC operatives were arrested the following day.

    Section 41(f) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 prescribes one year imprisonment without option of fine for anybody who assaults or obstructs officers of the Commission in the execution of their duties.

     

     

     

     

  • Ibori’s alleged $15m bribe: Court to hear Delta’s suit July 10

    A Federal High Court in Abuja will on July 10 hear the application by Delta State Government, seeking to claim the $15million bribe allegedly offered former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, by jailed ex-Governor James Ibori.

    The bribe was allegedly meant by Ibori to stop the EFCC from further investigating him for his alleged massive looting of his state while in office.

    Justice Gabriel Kolawole fixed the date yesterday, following a recent ruling by the Court of Appeal, Abuja, striking out an application by a Lagos refrigerator repairer, Olalekan Bayode, seeking to halt further hearing in a suit pending the hearing of his appeal.

    When the case was called yesterday, parties were set to argue the state’s application, but the court said it was inconvenient in view of its tight schedule and directed them to choose a fresh date.

    The Federal Government had applied for an order of forfeiture and to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), where Ribadu had lodged the bribe money to release it to the government should no one show up to claim the money.

    The Delta State Government later claimed ownership of the money. It is part of its contention that Ibori, being its governor when the bribe money was offered, must have taken the money from its coffers.

    Before the state’s application could be heard, Bayode applied that he be appointed as a manager to disburse the $15 million to indigents, especially widows and orphans, through a charity organisation.

    He applied to be joined in the case and prayed that the money be released to him.

    Justice Kolawole dismissed Bayode’s application for being frivolous and lacking in merit.

    The judge held, among others that Bayode failed to show sufficient grounds and interest upon which the money in dispute should be released to him.

    Justice Kolawole held that Bayode only claimed to be a Nigerian and refrigerator repairer based at Alagbado in Lagos.

    The judge further held that the Federal Government, which instituted the case, did not ask for a manager for the fund, but applied that those with interest in the money should indicate before an order of forfeiture is made in its favour.

    Justice Kolawole described Bayode as a busy body, meddlesome interloper and one, who was out to mock the judiciary and the issue at stake.

  • ‘We did not receive bribe to impeach Agbaso’

    ‘We did not receive bribe to impeach Agbaso’

    Imo State House of Assembly Speaker Benjamin Uwajumogu spoke with OKODILI NDIDI on the controversy generated by the impeachment of the former deputy governor, Mr. Jude Agbaso.

     

     

    Was there a plan by the House of Assembly to impeach the former Imo State deputy governor before the controversy?

    Imo State House of Assembly never at any time thought about impeaching the former deputy governor. That was never on the card. In this state, everybody knows that the executive and the legislature are getting on well. On the contrary, if there was anybody whose impeachment was talked about, it was Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    How did the impeachment of Agbaso begin?

    Jude Agbaso’s impeachment is unfortunate. Sometimes in June last year, we got information from the executive about an over payment made to a contractor, who still abandoned the site. And the House of Assembly, as a responsible House, cannot sit down and watch without acting when it’s obvious that the state government money was involved. Investigations commenced and the former deputy governor was invited by the committee set up to investigate. The directors and permanent secretaries from the Ministry of Works, of which he was also a commissioner. And actually, it was the deputy governor and the governor that initially arrested the J-PROS Managing Director, Mr. Dina Joseph. It was in the police station that Mr. Dina made the confessions and signed the report that indicted Jude Agbaso.

    But we heard that he has brought the MTN call log. Are you aware of this?

    All we hear about is that he has brought his call logs; we are yet to have it published in any newspapers or submitted to the House of Assembly. And he had the opportunity of defending himself after the House submitted his report, which was published in the newspapers and on the internet for everybody to read. How the House came to its conclusion is there. The judiciary set up a seven-man panel to investigate those allegations. The former deputy governor had an opportunity to go to the seven-man panel and clear himself, but he did not.

    The Agbasos claimed that the House did not do a thorough job, claiming that the money has been traced to Dubai. What is your reaction?

    We are not an investigative agency. Imo State House of Assembly is a law-making institution. We are not bound by the rules of engagement of the law enforcement agency. In the House of Assembly, we deal with what we have seen. What we were investigating was the reason for the stoppage and abandonment of projects. He abandoned the road for more than eight months, and when thie impeachment started, the man moved back to site. The committee called the police and the police arrested him. And it’s very interesting the statement the contractor made at the police station. Also, in the contractor’s statement, he indicted the former deputy governor. But that matter is still for another day.

    What was Governor’s role in the investigation?

    The governor only tried to interfere in the investigation of the House because, some time ago, His Excellency invited me that he was on his way to Abuja when he heard the information that the House was about commencing the impeachment proceedings against his former deputy governor. I told him there was nothing like that, that we are just investigating the abandonment and stoppage of work by some contractors. That didn’t amount to impeachment because the process of impeachment is a long process and it is not something you just start because you want to remove somebody. It’s a long process. At a point that this matter came to the House, and the governor called, I can tell you that no member of the House of Assembly ever thought of impeaching the former deputy governor. But the committee had started its work and invited the former deputy governor and other l directors in the Ministry of Works and there was no going back on what should be done.

     

  • Lawan, Emenalo face trial for $3m ‘bribe’ today

    Lawan, Emenalo face trial for $3m ‘bribe’ today

    The Federal Government yesterday filed a seven-count charge against the suspended Chairman of the House Committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime, Mr. Farouk Lawan and the committee’s Secretary, Mr. Boniface Emenalo.

    The trial of the suspects, under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act of the ICPC, for alleged $3million bribery begins today in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory(FCT).

    But the Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, Mr. Femi Otedola will not face trial because he reported every stage of the saga to security agencies.

    Lawan and Emenalo will be prosecuted by a private counsel, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN).

    The arraignment of the suspects is sequel to the granting of an order for same yesterday by the trial judge, Mr. Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi.

    Mr. Justice Oniyangi’s order, which was dated January 31, reads: “Upon careful consideration of the application and attached documents in support of same filed by the complainant’s counsel praying this Honourable Court for the following order: Application for leave to prefer a criminal charge under Section 185(b) of the Criminal Procedure Code against the Accused.

    “Leave is hereby granted to the Complainant/ Applicant to prefer a a criminal charge under Section 185(b) of the Criminal Procedure Code against Hon. Farouk M. Lawan and Mr. Emenalo Boniface in the High Court.

    “The case is fixed for the 1st day of February, 2013 for arraignment.”

    In the charge sheet, dated January 29, 2013 and signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mrs. O.O. Fatunde, the government said the suspects have to defend even allegations bordering on conspiracy to corruptly obtain $3million.

    The charges are as follows: “ That you, Hon. Farouk Lawan and Mr. Emenalo Boniface sometime in April 2012 or thereabouts at Abuja within the Federal Capital Territory did, while acting in the course of your official duties as Chairman and Secretary (respectively) of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime conspired between yourselves and with each other to corruptly obtain the sum of $3million for yourselves from Mr. Femi Otedola, Chairman Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited as inducement to remove the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited from the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime’s Report and did cause the House of Representatives to remove the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited from the said list and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 26(1) (c) of The Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and punishable under Section 8(1) of the same Act.

    “That you Hon. Farouk…corruptly asked for $3million for yourself from Mr. Femi Otedola, Chairman Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited on account of intention to afterwards show favour to the said Mr. Femi Otedola by removing the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited from the report of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(1) (a) of The Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and punishable under Section 8(1) of the same Act.

    “That you Hon. Farouk… corruptly agreed to accept the sum of $3million for yourself from Mr. Femi Otedola , the chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited as an inducement to remove the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited from the report of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 17 (1) (a) of The Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and punishable under Section 17 (1) of the same Act.

    “That you Hon. Farouk… corruptly obtained $500,000 for yourself from Mr. Femi Otedola , the chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited as an inducement to remove the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited from the report of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 17 (1) (a) of The Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and punishable under Section 17 (1) of the same Act.

    “That you Mr. Emenalo Boniface, while being a public officer , an Assistant Director and Secretary of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime sometime in April 2012 or or thereabout at Abuja within the Federal Capital Territory under the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did, while acting in the course of your official duty as Secretary of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime corruptly asked for the sum of $3million for yourself from Mr. Femi Otedola , the chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited on account of afterwards showing favour to the said Mr. Femi Otedola by by removing the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited from the report of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(1) (a) of The Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and punishable under Section 8(1) of the same Act.

    “That you Mr. Emenalo Boniface…was offered gratification by Mr. Femi Otedola , the chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited and you failed to report the offer of gratification to any officer of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission or any police officer and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 23(1) of The Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and punishable under Section 23 (3) of the same Act.

    “That you Mr. Emenalo Boniface…received the sum of $120,000 as gratification from Mr. Femi Otedola , the chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited in order to remove the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited from the report of the said House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 10 (a) (ii) of The Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and punishable under Section 23 (3) of the same Act.”

    The Nation learnt that Otedola will not face trial because he reported every stage of the saga to security agencies.

    A source, who was part of the investigation, said: “Otedola did what a patriotic citizen should do by reporting the entire bribery process to security agencies.

    “It was after discharging his duty that security agencies mandated him to play along with Lawan and Emenalo.

    “It would amount to double jeopardy to prosecute a citizen who raised the alarm on outright case of corruption. So, Otedola will not face trial at all.”

     

  • I didn’t bribe AFN – Obiekwe

    My attention has been drawn to allegations published in The Nation Newspaper, in which it was stated that I was asked to bribe certain government officials to facilitate my participation at last year’s Olympic Games.

    This could not be farther from the truth and I state categorically that I was not at any time asked to bribe, nor have I ever had to bribe anyone to participate in any sporting activity, the Olympics included. The statement went thus:

    “… Almost all athletes you see there bribed their way into the squad and they were accusing me of bribing AFN to participate in the Olympic. They have this arrangement where they tell athletes to give a cut of their money to them and I refused.” This is not fact.

    “The Olympics are for national glory and there are no payments in form of cash prize to any winner or loser. There have been blogs and publications on some sort of bribing or connivance relating to my Olympic participation but these allegations are not true and quoted out of context.

    “In The Nation, I was misquoted in the interview, and never at anytime mentioned or made allegations towards the Senate Chairman on Sports or the Athletics Federation of Nigeria.

    “I ask the public to please disregard the supposed allegations as I never at any time made them.”