The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Christopher Kolade

  • How to get Nigeria working again, by Kolade, Asiodu, others

    Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Dr Christopher Kolade and a former Super Permanent Secretary Chief Philip Asiodu on Wednesday called on Nigerians to place national interests above personal considerations.

    They spoke under the aegies of burdened elders, a group of concerned elder statesmen committed to good governance and prosperous nation, during a parley with reporters in Lagos.

    Other members of the elders group include Prof Anya Anya, Elder Syngle Wiwge, Barrister Folake Solanke, Prof Akin Mabogunje and others.

    They said Nigeria will work again when Nigerians begin to pursue collective interests capable of meeting individual yearnings.

    Kolade pointed out Nigeria has been held down by years of pursuing individual and sectional interests at the expense of national goals.

    According to him: “This country will work when we stop looking at how to get personal gains at the expense of national interests. We have to stop considering how to get the best benefits for my family, group and sections.

    “When Nigeria’s interests are pursued, we can make rooms for all groups and sections to be at their best.

    “We must stop playing on our differences and work towards common goals and grounds.

    “That is when we can be sure this country with the best human and natural resources can become one of the most advanced in the world.”

    Asiodu called for conception and implementation of national development plans without deviation by successive governments.

    He lamented national progress has been stunted by distorted plans of successive governments as against sticking to holistic implementation regardless of change in government.

    He said: “We have to stick to whatever long and short plans we come up. It doesn’t matter what party wins or comes to power.

    “These plans must be sacrosanct. We can make adjustments after clearing with the masses. But we must plan well before no nation develops without planning.”

    Wigwe said the elders are committed to working for a new Nigeria until their last breath.

    “We need to retake Nigeria. We should operate with systems instead of running personal plans and visions,’’ he stressed.

    Anya said the elders have an obligation to redirect nation “before we meet our makers for the sake of unborn generations and accountability before Him.”

    He called on Nigerians to jettison tribal and sectional causes to make the nation work.

  • Former Cadbury boss to unveil book on non-oil sector

    A former chairman of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Christopher Kolade is expected as chief guest of honour at the launch of a book on the non-oil sector that would attract many dignitaries all over the country.

    The book entitled, ‘Export Architecture Roadmap: The Nigerian and Global Perspectives,’ details opportunities in the non-oil export sector and why it is key to reviving the economies of countries, including Nigeria” and written by Bala Yesufu, Director, Corporate and Government Affairs (West Africa) at Cadbury, would be unveiled next week in Lagos.

    The book describes the various ways of becoming an exporter in Nigeria, steps required to attain this status and why export is important for individuals and nations. Answers to questions such as, Who gains from exports? What happens to nations that pay little attention to exports? and other related questions are answered by the author.

    The book also enumerates associated risks in export, and exposes intending exporters to exportable commodities and products, including the countries where they are needed. The book challenges Nigerians and Africans to begin to get creative to earn more foreign exchange from export to serve as a buffer against external shocks

    The foreword was written by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor and current Emir of Kano, with endorsements from captains of industry, academics and diplomats.

  • Obasanjo calls for review public procurement policies to eliminate corruption

    Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday called for a review of the public procurement policies to promote business integrity, eliminate corrupt practices and  drive national transformation.

    Obasanjo made the call at the 6th Annual Christopher Kolade Lecture on Business Integrity, entitled: “The Role of Business Integrity in National Transformation”, in Lagos.

    The lecture was organised by the Convention on Business Integrity Ltd., an anti-corruption, research and advocacy organisation concerned with issues of accountability and transparency in public and private sector.

    He said that the country’s procurement process probably construed the largest source of leakage.

    According to him,  awards of contracts, supply, service contracts and others are usually loaded with provisions for bribes and kickbacks.

    Obasanjo identified poor investment, poverty, infrastructure decay, institutional inefficiency and wide range of socio-economic crisis as some of the negative consequences of corrupt practices and lack of integrity in public and private businesses.

    “As Africans, we need to look inward, we need value and reorientation that is anchored  on our virtues of truthfulness, hospitality, respect, honesty, obedience  and patriotism.

    “And as a matter of urgent national emergency, Nigeria must re-invigorate efforts to reform public procurement policies, especially the Public Procurement Act which regulates public procurement and aim to minimise the abuse of processes, rules and standards in the awards and execution of public sector contracts.

    “I will also recommend that we adopt a code of ethics in doing business in Nigeria and ensure a framework to make it work,” he said.

    “Integrity is the foundation of leadership as there are no moral shortcuts in the game of business and life.

    “We need integrity in the public and private business and it must start at the top. Organisations and public institutions must run their businesses in a forthright manner.

    “Make integrity the heart and soul of your business culture.

    “If the entrepreneur does not have integrity, others who walk with him or her will definitely falter and the society will also suffer for his self-centredness and misconduct.”

    He said that if the operating structure of the government is transparent,  accountable and operate against the backdrop of genuine transformation, economic ventures and investments would sprout and the national reserve will swell, good planning will see public infrastructure booming and becoming reliable.

    “When justice rules a nation, everyone is glad; when injustice rules everyone groans. Show me a righteous ruler and I will show you a happy people and a wholesome society,” noted.

    Obasanjo said that Kolade had distinguished himself as an icon of integrity and transparency throughout his career in the corporate world as well as national and international assignments.

    He urged Nigerians to adopt the lifestyle of Kolade to transform and rebuild the country.

    Also, Dr Christopher Kolade, a former Nigerian High Commissioner to the U.K., urged Nigerians to uphold the virtue of integrity in their dealings to make Nigeria a better country.

    “This kind of gathering gives us the encouragement to believe that no matter the difficulties,  there is hope that things can be better.

    “God has created in us the capacity to practice integrity — to know right from wrong and to chose right over wrong.

    “Although there is a cost or a price to pay for that moral courage to do what is right and stand for what is right, even when you are standing alone.

    “But there is a rebuilding of the spirit in you that makes you feel stronger to face whatever is coming.

    “I encourage us to always uphold integrity, doing what is right because if you do what is wrong, someone is going to pay a price they do not need to pay.

    ”And if many of us are not very pleased with where we are now as a nation and we want to see genuine national transformation,  we need to persevere in doing what is right.

    “Upholding integrity is a life long race because in the end, not only does it do you some good personally but that is the best contribution to the building of the nation,” Kolade said.

    In her address, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, Chairperson, Governing Board of Integrity, said that lack of integrity had a grave human and future cost.

    “Lack of integrity which is driving corruption in our country is an issue we must overcome, not just for our businesses but also for our nation.

    “We cannot give up, we have a country to build and a future to secure for our children. This is why we are having this lecture.

    “As organisers of this event, we are committed to carrying on the legacies of Prof. Kolade who has helped to build many credible institutions in the country,” she said. (NAN)

  • Osinbajo calls for consensus on Legal practice in Nigeria

    Osinbajo calls for consensus on Legal practice in Nigeria

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called for consensus among legal practitioners on the preservation of the legal practice in Nigeria to enhance the profession and national development.

    Osinbajo made the call while delivering the closing address at the maiden dinner of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, held in Lagos.

    He said that the elite in every community, whether ethnic, religious or professionals, owe it a duty to ensure the preservation of such community.

    Osinbajo said it was important for the legal community to define the ethics, vogues, acceptable conducts and those that would not be tolerated in the community

    The Vice President said that the Senior Advocates must provide guidance to the legal community so as to maintain the integrity and prestige of the profession and sustain the confidence of the public.

    Osinbajo said: “A professional elite such as ourselves, we owe a responsibility to ensure that we act professionally with honour and integrity; first, for the selfish reason that it confers on us natural respect and prestige.

    “Ultimately, the difference between the elite or professional, and those who destroy the patrimony, is the extent to which the elites are willing to make sacrifices and constrain that selfishness which is common with humans.

    “An elite is one who agrees to sacrifice individual greed, ambition and quest for power for the overall good of all.

    “It is the responsibility of the elites to act with honour, integrity and sometime with quietness.”

    He noted that in Britain, the elites have maintained the prestige and integrity of the British legal system, adding that Nigerian lawyers should emulate such good conduct.

    According to him, the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria must reach a consensus to that the Legal profession does not perish.

    The Vice President congratulated the 29 newly conferred Senior Advocates of Nigeria, urging them to be honourable flag bearers of the legal profession.

    Speaking with newsmen after the dinner, Osinbajo reiterated the call for a consensus from lawyers to enhance the justice process and preserve judicial integrity.

    The dinner was attended by former Nigeria Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Dr Christopher Kolade and the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mrs Folake Solanke.

    The rest included Chief Wole Olanipekun, Dr Paul Usoro and Chief Felix Fagbohungbe among others.

    NAN

  • NIM to hold Management Conference in September

    NIM to hold Management Conference in September

    At a press brief on Wednesday, the President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Management ( NIM ), Emeritus Prof. Munzali Jibril, FNIM, OFR, announced the institution’s 2017 annual national management conference with theme “Corporate Governance and Institutional Performance”. Also present at the press briefing were – Mr. Festus Olujimi Ogunmokun, MNIM (Director Finance, Accounts, and Investments) and Mr. Anthony Fadaka, FNIM, FCIA (Registrar) of the Institute. The conference is scheduled to hold between the 17th and 19th September, 2017 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

    Addressing the press, Munzali stressed that the annual conference is one of the institution’s numerous contributions to nation building by providing a platform to brainstorm extensively on a burning governance and leadership issue of national important and to make sound and informed recommendations to the government and key decision makers.

    According to him, “the choice of the theme of the conference was arrived at when the institute came to the sad realization that most of the sleazy and unethical practices being witnessed in the country in recent times were due to scant regard for corporate governance.

    “In addition, some poorly performing and failed businesses both in the public and private sectors of the economy are caused by non-compliance with the tenets and ideals of corporate governance. Since it is a truism that there is a direct correlation between adherence to corporate governance and institutional performance, there is a new compelling need to draw the attention of the nation, businesses and those who manage man and materials at different levels to the issue of corporate governance.”

    The conference which is expected to be declared open by the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, would be a gathering of the highest number of professional managers, government functionaries, decision-makers, opinion leaders, policy formulators and top management executives in both the private and public sector; a total of 3,000 participants are expected for the conference.

    He also emphasized the sundry roles that corporate governance play in issues bordering on accountability and transparency within the polity. According to him, “corporate governance, when executed effectively, can prevent corporate scandals, fraud and civil and criminal liability of organisations.

    “It also enhances the company’s image in the public eye as a self-policing company that is responsible and worthy of shareholder and debtholder capital.

    “The issue of corporate governance has been one of the reasons most organisations and government have continued to totter in these climes, hence the need to focus on it at this year’s conference with the hope of proffering solutions that will arrest the present slide.”

    Among the corporate governance experts expected to present papers at the conference is Dr. Christopher Kolade (FNIM, CNIM, CON), who will be presenting on the main theme of the conference. Also, presenting at the conference would be Prof. Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah (Former Minister of Agriculture), Dr. Nat Ofo, FCIS (Sub-Dean, Department of Business Law, College of Law, Igbinedion University), Mr. Akinbayo Adenubi and Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar (Past Presidents of the Institute), Dr. Rob Newsome, Dr. Nkechi Ezeako, and Prof. Sulaiman Salihu Aruwa.

  • Plea bargain encourages looting – Kolade

    Plea bargain encourages looting – Kolade

    A former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade, has urged anti-corruption agencies to de-emphasise plea bargaining because it encourages looting.

    To him, imprisonment and forfeiture of all stolen assets will better deter stealing of public funds rather than asking those found culpable to return what was stolen to avoid a jail term.

    Kolade, who spoke during the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) distinguished Management Lecture, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to maintain zero-tolerance for corruption and monitor those under him closely.

    The theme of the lecture was: “Managing Nigeria’s Resources for National Development and Political Stability.

    ‎Kolade said managing the country’s resources for political stability is challenging, though the nation is in no shortage of wisdom and expertise to get to where it should be.

    “To attract investments and retain them, we need to manage the way we talk to ourselves and project ourselves to the outside world so as not to devalue ourselves as a market,” he said.

    ‎He urged President Buhari to start implementing his party’s electoral promises, adding that Nigerians are eager to see how he will resuscitate the economy and tackle other challenges.

    ‎The guest speaker and renowned economic analyst, Dr. Ayo Teriba, said it would be futile to promote the manufacturing and agricultural industries without also fixing the rail and energy sectors.

     

  • Christopher Kolade rewards classical musicians

    Christopher Kolade rewards classical musicians

    It was an evening of excellence and celebration of the rare talents of five university-level students whose foray into classical music are beginning to pay them off. The event, the Musical Excellence Awards, organised by the Christopher Kolade Foundation,CKF, which aims at rewarding individual achievement, innovation, and creativity in the field of music.

    Held at the Agip Recital hall of Muson Centre, Lagos, the evening kicked off with “Bless this House” by an Australian composer, best known for her ballads, May H Brahe which was rendered by a tenor singer, piano and choir director, Mbalichizi Chizuru who also recited the national anthem. Thereafter the MUSON choir, the performing arm of the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON), came on stage and rendered some of the familiar classical tunes.

    “Italian Salad” by Richard Genee was the first in their selection for the evening, followed by “Vapensiro from the opera “Nabucco Verdi”, and “Ibike” by Derrick Esezobor, which the large choir rendered in a fluent and captivating manner backed by the brass section of the orchestra. Led by EmekaNwokedi, their performance ended, where University of Ibadan Choir’s started.

    The choir, which was established in 1987, under the direction of Mr. Christopher Oyesiku, a trained singer and soloist of international repute came on stage armed with a wide range of repertory, ranging from Western and African choral art music to Negro spirituals and Highlife music. But the highpoint of the night was when the five award winners came on stage to perform Burt Bacharach’s “That’s What Friends Are For.”

    The award winners were AwonugaBabatunde David, a 200 level student of the Department of Music, University of Ibadan, AdeyeyeAdegorioyeOluwole, a final year student of the Department of Music, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Eze Gerald Maduabuchi, (final year student of music), NnamdiAzikwe University, Awka, Adenuga Johnson Oluwajuwon(200 level student of music, University of Ibadan) and OlarindeOlubunmi Rachael, who is a final year student of Music, Obafemi Awolowo University.

    The students were rewarded with cash prizes of N250,000 to encourage their music career and also to motivate other students towards creativity and excellence.

    Overwhelmed by the evening’s outing, Kolade, a former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom expressed his love for music, saying that “I have been able to derive much pleasure and satisfaction from the opportunities that my country offered me, enriched by the unparalleled privilege of working with colleagues who have helped me to express my own productivity in ways that led to our mutual advantage.”

    CKF was founded in 1997, as a platform through which its founder, Christopher Kolade, makes contributions to the development of talents in Nigeria.

  • Kolade symposium holds tomorrow

    THE Nigeria Leadership Initiative (NLI) will tomorrow, at the Sun Hall, Four Point by Sheraton Hotel, Oniru Extension, Victoria Island, Lagos, host its fifth Christopher Kolade Leadership Symposium. Its annual awards gala is to hold on Friday.

    The symposium aims at enriching discourse on ways to achieve effective leadership in Nigeria.

    With the theme: Development Agenda: Leadership, it focuses on leadership at the macro level, legislative and executive branches as well as the private sector.

    NLI’s Chief Executive Officer Yinka Oyinlola said the challenges facing Nigeria could be traced to leadership.

    “Several explanations prevail on why the problem with Nigeria is effective leadership, but those in leadership positions rarely explain their constraints.

    ‘’Consequently, Nigerians are deprived of the reality of the challenge of leadership.”

    ‘’It is against this background that the Fifth Christopher Kolade Symposium is on the analytics of leadership in Nigeria.’’

    Discussants include Speaker, House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal; Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola and Mr. Atedo Peterside, chairman, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc.

  • ‘Missing’ N500b…SURE-P in stormy waters

    ‘Missing’ N500b…SURE-P in stormy waters

    Who owns SURE-P? That is the question raised following the claim by the Senate that N500 billion SURE-P fund was missing. The Minister of Finance, Budget Office and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have all washed their hands of the programme initiated to utilise savings from the partial removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in 2012. Nduka Chiejina reports.

    One of the agenda of the Federal Government is the progressive deregulation of the petroleum industry, which gave birth to the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). It was established January last year by President Goodluck Jonathan after the subsidy from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) was partially removed.

    The Occupy Nigeria protest took centre stage to protest the hike in pump price of fuel from N65 to over N141, before it was reduced to N97, after negotiation between the Organised Labour and the Federal Government.

    The SURE-P was set up as an interventionist committee to manage the proceeds from fuel subsidy removal. It is funded with the difference or the savings which would have used to subsidise PMS had there been full subsidy for the product. By implication, the difference between N65 per litre cost of PMS as full subsidy and N97 the price of PMS from partial withdrawal of subsidy is what the government uses to fund SURE-P. The money thus saved is shared among the three tiers of government.

    In order to ensure the proper management of the funds that would accrue to the Federal Government from the partial withdrawal of subsidy, the government decided to inaugurate a committee for the purpose.

    Accordingly, the President set up the SURE-P Committee, with Dr. Christopher Kolade as Chairman.

    The mandate from the President to the SURE-P Committee is to ‘deliver service with integrity’ and ‘restore people’s confidence in the government’. The terms of reference are as follows: Determine in liaison with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the subsidy savings estimates for each preceding month and ensure that such funds are transferred to the Funds’ Special Account with the Central Bank of Nigeria; approve the annual work plans and cash budgets of the various Project Implementation Units (PlUs) within the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and ensure orderly disbursement of funds by the PlUs in order to certify and execute projects; monitor and evaluate execution of the funded projects, including periodic Poverty and Social lmpact Analysis (PSIA); update the President regularly on the programme; Periodically brief the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the progress of the programme; appoint Consulting firms with international reputation to provide technical assistance to the Committee in financial and project management; appoint external auditors for the fund; and do such other things as are necessary or incidental to the objectives of the Fund or as maybe assigned by the Federal Government.

    The Committee is supported by a Secretariat that will also be responsible for communication and press briefings.

    Fund Management

    SURE-P, in carrying out the set mandate of reinvesting the Federal Government’s share, established a fund management structure. In the structure, the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation (Director-General, Budget Office) is designated as the Accounting officer for all SURE-P activities. The Account of the programme is, therefore, domiciled in the Office of the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation.

    After the Committee has approved payments for projects, the Chairman signs the approval, then the DG Budget Office, as Accounting Officer, processes the approvals, after which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) makes payments directly to beneficiaries.

    Programme Structure

    In line with the adopted operational structure, individual projects are managed by Project Implementation Units (PIUs) that are located within Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Projects and programmes oversight are managed by the SURE-P Committee working through its steering committee and seven subcommittees. This aspect of the SURE-P programme structure has been described as drain pipe of public funds as it is seen as a duplication of the duties and functions of MDAs with regards to project management.

    The subcommittees are extensions of the committee to provide direct supervision to the projects. The Committee also has a Secretariat that provides technical and administrative support to both the Committee and its subcommittees, and provides information to stakeholders and the general public.

    By the end of November 2012, N62, 423,351,736.58 had been expended on capital projects; N325,525,292.27 went into the committee’s running cost (secretariat services).

    The expenditure summary shows that maternal child health by federal ministry of health gulped N3,803,152,276.13; public works by FERMA used N4,000,000,000.00; mass transit by infrastructure bank, went away with N8,900,000,000.00; East-West Road by ministry of Niger Delta equally gulped N8,148,855,134.04; N28,296,238,063.10 was spent by federal ministry of Works on roads and bridges; Railway by federal ministry of Transport received N9,275,106,263.31 and N325,525,292.27 was spent on Secretariat services by SURE-P, bringing the total to N62,748,877,038.85.

    In 2014, N273.14 billion has been budgeted for extra capital under the SURE-P scheme to further complement the overall capital outlay in 2014. According to the 2014-2016 Medium Term Fiscal Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF and FSP) document, “the SURE-P budget is added to the outlay in the regular budget, the consolidated expenditure rises to N4.77 trillion, of which the consolidated capital budget in 2014 is N1.45 trillion (about 30.44 per cent of total expenditure).”

    N35,549,000,000 was shared from the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) by all the tiers of government so far, and as Nigeria’s gross monthly revenue continues to dwindle, state governments have advised the federal government to invest some of the Subsidy Reinvestment Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) funds into petrochemical industries.

    The advice was given to the federal government following what the states called lack of proper and full harnessing of Nigeria’s resources.

    The Senate alleged last week that N500 billions missing from the SURE-P funds as only N300billion of the estimated accruals of N800 billion could be accounted for. This is not the first time SURE-P funds have been declared missing. The Plateau State House of Assembly recently said it discovered over N3 billion unspent SURE-P fund in the state since January 2012.

    The Chairman of the House Ad hoc Committee on the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, Mr Dalyop Mancha, said the committee discovered that both the State and Local Governments attracted fund from the SURE-P since January 2012, which the two tiers did not disburse to the beneficiaries.

    The state finance commissioner was said to have told state legislature that “the funds were intact and that the account have so far received the sum of over N3 billion arising from a monthly allocation of N218 million”.

    However, no government agency wants to own up to having control over SURE-P. Officials of the Budget Office of the Federation, the agency mandated to serve as the account hub of SURE-P said they could not speak concerning SURE-P citing civil service hierarchy and pointing squarely to the office of the minister of finance which supervises the office.

    But when Prof. Kame Okonjo was kidnapped, her daughter and Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said “with regards to the case of SURE-P, there is a totally different process that I have no control over”.

    An official of the Budget Office told The Nation that they do not have up to 50 per cent of the purported N800 billion and accused the Senate of distracting the office from promptly preparing the 2014 budget prior to the President’s submission to the National Assembly with claims of the missing N500 billion. They refused to be dragged into the debate over the whereabouts of the N500 billion until they have concluded work on the 2014 budget.

    The officials of the office said they work with what the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) remits to it and any claims of missing funds should be directed to the NNPC. They also wondered if the N800 billion allegedly funneled to SURE-P was for the three tiers of government or for the Federal Government alone.

    As at September 2013, the Federal Government said it had paid out N25 billion to contractors handling the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme fund (SURE-P) projects.

    This disclosure was made by the SURE-P office in Abuja, which also revealed that the SURE-P committee has approved the appointment of workers supporting the programme on Maternal and Child Health in some states.

    The contractors, who benefited from the N25 billion pay out include Dantata and Sawoe construction company for handling the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road (Abuja-Sheda junction) and the 510 kilometre Kano-Maiduguri (Kano-Wudil-Shuarin) road dualisation scheme.

    Also paid was the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) for handling the rail project running from Idu-Kaduna and the Jebba-Kano rail line rehabilitation.

    Other companies paid for the SURE-P projects according to the programme’s office in Abuja were Messers Raynold Construction Co for work on the East-West road section 3 (Port Harcourt-Eket) and Benin-Ore-Shagamu section 1.

    Reserved West Africa was paid for the work on the Eastern rail line projects from PortHarcourt-Markurdi and Nigeria Construction Limited for the Enugu-Onitsha road dualisation.

    Costain West Africa was paid for work done on the railway rehabilitation from Jebba-Kano and Messers Gitto Construzioni for the work on the Abuja-Lokoja road.

    According to Senator Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara, APC), a member of the SURE-P Senate committee, N800 billion had been generated so far from subsidy as against N300 billion claimed by SURE-P.

    Marafa said: “This committee wrote to the relevant organisations that benefit from this SURE-P when it was inaugurated. It was said that the subsidy regime was going to be N32 a litre and this committee wrote the NNPC to ascertain the quantity of fuel being imported from the time this subsidy programme started.

    “NNPC replied the committee that from January 2012 to December 2013, which if you calculate it will give about 21 months… they gave a breakdown of the quantity per month. When you put up everything, it comes to roughly 25 billion litres per month.

    “Now, if you multiply 25 billion by 32, you get about N800 billion, and what SURE-P told us when they came here when we invited them was that they collected about N300 billion at N15 billion flat rate per month. So if you multiply 21 by 15 billion, you will get about N315 billion. So what we are talking about is the amount involved, which is N500 billion, where is it? That is what we wanted NNPC to tell us.”

    The NNPC has absolved itself from the SURE-P allegations. The corporation described the allegation linking it to the Sure-P budget as a comprehensive falsehood, noting that the Corporation has no connection whatsoever with the disbursement and appropriation of funds to the Sure-P Committee.

    In a statement last Wednesday by the Acting Group General Manager, Tumini E. Green, the NNPC said Sure-P budget is managed by a Committee made up of eminent Nigerians.

    It said: “NNPC is neither a member of the Sure-P Committee nor does it pay any money into the Sure-P account for any reason whatsoever. The budget is the responsibility of other requisite statutory authority. The committee superintends over the disbursement and the execution of the various social welfare projects.”

    Not a few have also queried some SURE-P projects. Some of the programmes are considered not to have direct impact on the people. In a state, SURE-P fund is said to have been used to buy donkeys. “That is scandalous in this age”, said a source.

    In Niger State, has concluded move to partner with the Niger State Development Company (NSDC) to construct a Three Star Hotel at the cost of N436 million.

    The state SURE-P Director General, Alhaji Hassan Nuhu, said the effort was initiated to create employment for youths.

    He said contract for the hotel had been awarded to Fourth Dimension Limited, adding the project was expected to be completed in 10 months and handed to the state government.

    Nuhu said: “The contract has been awarded to a reputable firm that has track record of performance for the construction of a Three Star Hotel to add value to Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi Conference Centre.”

    Under the arrangement, the SURE-P will provide 70 per cent of the cost while the Niger State Development Company will provide 30 per cent balance of the cost of the project.

    He said: ” But we will not embark on any ground breaking ceremony, rather we have instructed the contractor to keep the work schedule so that the project is completed with the 10 months period effective from October 1, 2013 so that the July 2014 handover and inauguration date is achieved.”