The Nation Newspaper

Tag: declaration

  • ‘We support Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration review’

    An international socio–cultural group of Ibadan indigenes, the Ibadan United in Diaspora (IUD), has backed the review of the Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration of 1957.

    It said the state government had historical traction and legal backing for its action.

    The group’s Coordinator in North America, Mr. Remi Babatunde, said IUD premised its action on four key issues.

    He said these include the objective of the Oyo State government “to set up a commission to review the Olubadan chieftaincy, the historical traction, the legal backing and support or otherwise of the stakeholders, comprising organisation like us”.

    In a statement, Babatunde said the group supported the decision of the state government after a careful research and homework, “hence its decision to issue a public statement on the issue”.

    He added: “Ours is an international socio–cultural group made up of well-meaning Ibadan indigenes in the Diaspora with keen interests in developments in Ibadan land. As responsible individuals, we are forced at this juncture to publicly react to issues relating to the Oyo State government’s decision to embark on a review of the Olubadan of Ibadan Chieftaincy Declaration and Chieftaincies in Ibadan by the 11-man panel, headed Justice Akintunde Boade.

    “Our reaction is coming at this time due to the fact that we needed to conduct some research and do our homework properly before issuing a public statement on the issue. We also acknowledge the fact that there is a case in court on the matter and will, therefore, limit our statements to facts based on our findings.”

    Babatunde said the group’s findings revealed that the government’s position “is in line with modern trends (and) what is obtainable generally in the traditional and Obaship institution in the Southwest and a direct response to the request of majority of the Olubadan–in-Council for a review as well as the elevation the Olubadan to the level of an Imperial Majesty with Royal Majesties beneath the Imperial stool”.

    The statement added: “For a government, which professes to be modernising Oyo State, this may not be out of place.”

  • The Kaduna Declaration: Owelle & the Biafra Question

    Growing up as a girl in Zaria, one of the places we used to go to on holidays was Jos the Plateau State capital.  Back then, a leisurely drive round the city would not be complete without going past the sprawling complex as it were, of off-campus hostels.  It was a thing of awe back then to learn that those structures were built and released by a single individual, the Igbo businessman Rochas, strictly for the use of off-campus students.

    OwelleRochasAnayoOkorocha was an icon, the symbol of prosperity and philanthropy; the pillar of education and industry, especially in the northern part of the country.

    In addition to students’ hostels around the Plateau capital that I know of and other areas there, he also did a lot of intervention in the area of subsidizing education for northern students at secondary and tertiary level.  In view of the fact that private intervention in education was not common then, he was and still is a most treasured person in the north.  Later on, he established a model secondary school in Owerri, his state capital where everything was absolutely free, right down to the stockings on the feet of the pupils.  It was not until several years later that the American philanthropist and television show host Oprah Winfrey would set-up such a free, qualitative boarding school in South Africa.

    Certainly over here in Nigeria, his feat is yet to be duplicated.

    In the course of time, he tried very hard to take control of policy and decision-making; he contested for the seat of president of the federal republic.

    Sadly Rochas played into the hands of the Peoples’ Democratic Party and was given a runaround in the guise of contesting the party’s presidential primaries, which he too danced away from in dramatic style.

    It became expedient for him to set his sights a few rungs lower, also to decamp to another party.

    Masterful political engineering, and the result was OwelleRochas contesting and winning the Imo State Governorship race and becoming Imo’s Number One Citizen.

    Not done with his political moves, his foresight had him and all his political acolytes joining the All Progressive Congress (APC) at a time it was inconceivable for someone from the South East to do so.  Today, APC is the ruling party.

    He did contest the last presidential primaries on that platform, but even though he knew the slot was going to the north, he still decided to go ahead for the sake of testing his popularity at the primaries.  It was a very good outing, all things taken into consideration, and his fourth position, beating even other northerners is a pointer to his political muster.

    Rochas is an open, personable fellow, and even though an aunt of mine, dearly departedhad told me never to swear for anyone else besides myself, I will take the risk and say that Rochas is not only down to earth but is also a faithful husband to his wife, a cherished virtue to possess!

    Just this year, Rochas invited all South East governors whose disagreements were becoming glaring and public, to a very successful peacekeeping meeting in the region. His visionary and pragmatic leadership is no more in doubt.  Bringing me to the Question OfBiafra.

    When Chief Ralph Uwazunuike came out with the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), it jarred like a discordant tune, to my ears.  Biafra?  Isn’t that the other word in the Nigerian (Biafra) Civil War!!

    Now it has been revealed that many Igbo leaders dismissed Ralph then as a joker.  But the speed at which the Igbos embraced the movement was astounding.

    On observing this, what did the federal government do?  Chief Obasanjo, then president got Ralph arrested and locked up for 3 years without trial.

    The emergence of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB led by MaziNnamdiKanu was met with similar dismissiveness:  These people were not born/were too young/never witnessed – the civil war and that is why they are agitating for Biafra, Biafra they don’t even know what they are talking about – and so and so on.

    But while Nigeria lost no sleep over IPOB, it was as if the international community had just woken up to a bright spark on the Nigerian horizon.  The world turned attention slightly off Boko Haram and onto the Biafran issue, while IPOB gathered momentum at the speed of wildfire.

    In a swift reaction, the IPOB leader too was slammed behind bars where he remained for close to two years before he was recently released on bail, granted under very stringent conditions.

    But Kanu’s continued detention made international human rights associations begin to weigh in.

    In Nigeria, the support base widened. Yoruba politicians and groups now back the movement.  One western governor publicly gave his support.

    The Pan – Igbo groups, which had erstwhile stayed aloof gave their solidarity. And so it was that a stay-at-home heroes Day was designated for May 30th for all of South-East.  Even the millions of Igbos in diaspora went out on the streets.  The success of the exercise was unprecedented, and the near total compliance indicates the need for a change of approach.  It is now clear that our government cannot keep doing the same things and expect different results.

    Ike Abonyi is a political journalist of over three decades experience.  In his ‘Leaked Memo to NnamdiKanu’ he said it is “a fact that Biafra is at the heart of every reasonable Igbo person”.

    I add that serious discontent is in the heart of every reasonable Igbo person, so there is urgent need for a platform for their views to the aired, devoid of fear of arrest or of nonchalance to their perceived grievances.  I am all for self-actualization, it is part of man’s intrinsic rights in the UN Charter.  I am also a firm believer in dialogue for straightening out thorny issues. Now, is the Biafran agitation for a separate government?  Restructuring?  A Biafran State?  Not participating in the 2019 elections, since theirs will need be sooner?  Return to regional government?  It is all unclear to me.  I like to go with the chair of the South East Senate Caucus, Sen. EnyinnayaAbaribe; he said the success of the heroes Day is an indication of the need for negotiation.  And then BAM!  Exactly one week after the Heroes Day, the deafening silence from the government has just been punctuated by the loud Kaduna Declaration.  It is quit order to all Igbos in the north, the have three months to leave, or else!

    There is great need for Igbo leaders to moderate the discourse along with the MASSOBs and IPOBs.

    Great caution should be taken as to those to encapsulate the discussions.  The known Igbo political leaders rushing to identify with the Biafran movement now are only doing so because they have not been accommodated in the current federal government.  Their belief is that ‘they’ must ‘be’ in every government, if not so they start hollow agitation.  They gave their wide birth to the movement all the while until now.

    This is where a true Igbo leader, but one who is acceptable to all sides is needed, I suggest the person of OwelleRochasOkorocha.

    Deploying nebulous people like Chief Jim Nwobodo as Igbo leader would only make the delegation a laughing stock nationally!

    I end with a word to the IPOB group. Read OlusegunAdeniyi’ book ‘The Last 100 Days of Abacha’ where he tells of the political drama that the political ‘leaders’ of that time staged and what happened after the then head of state fixed them all up.

    The known political leaders of that time in Nigeria’s history had gone all across our horizon shouting loudly- On June 12 We Stand.

    The Head of state simply called the self-serving politicians and put them all in top government positions.  He knew they couldn’t care less about any cause.

    On June 12 we stand?  Of Course they did not, and here is Nigeria still standing!

    07055547031SMS

  • Rivers, more than any other state, deserves declaration of emergency,says Ortom

    Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State hit back yesterday at his Rivers State counterpart,Nyesom Wike ,for advocating  a state of emergency in Benue.

    Wike,receiving  members of the governing council of the University of Port Harcourt in his office ,said his opinion was based on killings resulting from Fulani herdsmen’s  incessant attacks in  Benue.

    But responding to the taunt from the Rivers governor yesterday,Ortom  said there is more insecurity in Rivers than in Benue and should  therefore be slammed with emergency rule.

    He spoke in an interview in Makurdi.

    “It is laughable and unfortunate because if you talk about declaring state of emergency because of killings I am aware that there are more killings in Rivers than Benue State,” Ortom said.

    “Here we know the rules while in Rivers State there is no rule of law. When you do things as if there is no leadership, you take laws into your hands, we don’t do that here and I will not subscribe to taking laws into my hands or anybody taking laws into his hands in Benue State.

    “One thing I know is that we are on top of the situation we have found ourselves in. The issue of herdsmen we have brought it under control. The issue of criminality we have brought it under control.

    “I inherited a state that was ravaged by criminality, killings, terror, assassinations and kidnappings. When did you hear last that somebody was kidnapped in Benue State?

    “When did you hear last armed robbery took place in Benue State?

    “If you talk about rivalry between herdsmen and farmers it is not just peculiar to Benue State and we have come very strong.”

    The Governor also spoke on wanted terrorist Terwaze Akwazza (a.k.a Gana), and vowed that the long arm of the law would catch him sooner or later.

    “We are ready to take on him. I am in touch with the Inspector General of Police, I am in touch with the Chief of Army Staff, the Commandant of Civil Defence, the DSS Director General and security men have been provided for Benue State and equipment.

    “We are going to have him. We are on top of our situation.

    “ If Wike wants state of emergency he should first of all declare his own state of emergency in Rivers State, not in Benue State.

    “I pray for Wike. I pray that God will help him succeed as a leader. But leaders should not come out to make such statements.

    “ I have inherited a state that is difficult and everyone knows. The whole country knows. I have inherited a state that is in deficit of over a hundred billion naira.”

    Asked if he had any personal problem with Wike,Ortom said: “The first one I took it that it was political. He said it because I was on the delegation that was nominated by my party to solicit the support of the people in Rivers to win election. Is that a crime?

    “Have I committed a crime by going to support my party men to win election? I wasn’t the only one that went there. You can imagine a colleague lost a commissioner in Plateau state while he was jogging and you can imagine the sarcastic statement he has made about that.

    “ It is not fair. We shouldn’t as leaders begin to make such statements. It doesn’t give us anything good. But I leave Wike to his conscience.”

    He denied that soldiers deployed to the state have been taking sides.

    He said: “ I am not aware of that. The soldiers are not taking sides as far as I am concerned. The soldiers I have here in Benue State as far as I know are very patriotic and they are civil. They have accepted the fact that we have a civilian government in place.

    “ If not, what happened in Agatu would have resulted into another massacre. How can you kill a soldier on his duty post? This was done but yet due to the professionalism and the human face soldiers that we have here led by Colonel Inuwa they were able to calm nerves and there was no riot. There was no outburst.”

    Wike had claimed that that Ortom “has lost control. That is why there is an immediate need to declare a state of emergency for the restoration of security and protection of the people.

    “If you are from Benue State, I apologise. But when Rivers State had security challenges, Governor Ortom of Benue State was among the APC governors, who plotted the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.”

  • Ijaw oppose today’s Niger Delta Republic declaration

    The Ijaw have dissociated themselves from today’s planned declaration of a Niger Delta Republic by a group, the Adaka Boro Avengers (ABA).

    In a statement yesterday, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) said there was no plan by the Niger Delta to secede from Nigeria.

    The statement signed by its spokesman, Eric Omare, advised the public to disregard ABA’s threat and cautioned the armed forces against using that (the threat) to attack Ijaw communities.

    Last night, there was heavy security at Kaiama, the venue of the planned declaration.

    Soldiers, police and Department of State Service (DSS) operatives took strategic positions in the historic town.

    IYC also warned the Reformed Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) against attacking the Ijaw living in some parts of Lagos and Ogun states because that could lead to violence.

    It implored the security agents to do their jobs and get to the root of the attacks in some Southwest communities.

    The statement reads: “We call on residents of Kaiama town to be calm and go about their normal activities. There is no plan by the Ijaw people to declare a republic and the threat by the Adaka Boro Avengers should be completely disregarded.

    “We wish to warn groups and individuals not to further expose Ijaw and Niger Delta communities to unnecessary tension and danger. The growth in modern means of information technology should not be abused to the detriment of our communities by issuing unnecessary threats and ultimatums.

    “The IYC also call on security agencies to stop forthwith unnecessary threat and attacks on Ijaw and other Niger Delta communities because of threats by faceless groups. The Ijaw nation has a leadership and they should also check with the leadership on issues of security concern instead of threatening or attacking innocent communities and people.

    “On the ultimatum and threat by the Reformed Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), the IYC call OPC members and the leadership of the Yoruba nation to allow security agents do their constitutional duty of apprehending criminals responsible for the Ogun and Lagos attacks.

    “As at this morning, information at the disposal of the IYC indicates that some Ijaw people resident in Lagos and Ogun states for fear of attack are already relocating from their places of residence to the Southsouth.

    “The IYC seriously warn against attack on innocent Ijaw people in the south western part of the country as it would result in unnecessary reprisal attacks in parts of the south-south where Yoruba people are resident as well. An inter-ethnic clash between the Ijaw and Yoruba people is totally unnecessary. The Ogun and Lagos attacks are clear cases of criminality and should be treated as such instead of threatening to attack innocent Ijaw people and their businesses”.

    Last week, ABA threatened to declare a Niger Delta Republic today and asked indigenes of the region to return home for the exercise.

    In a statement by its spokesman, Gen. Edoms Ayayeibo, the group urged former President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Edwin Clark, King Alfred Diete-Spiff, Ankio Briggs, Joseph Eva, Patrick Fufein, past and present military personnel from the region, serving senators and House of Representative members to be present at the meeting.

    The statement reads: “We are also using this medium to call of the Niger Delta famous sons and daughters, the children of the late Pa Isaac Adaka Boro and all sons and daughters of Niger Delta Republic to come to Kaiama for the official declaration of the Niger Delta Republic on August 1.”

  • On Abuja declaration, they stand

    On Abuja declaration, they stand

    A non-governmental organisation (NGO) ONE Campaign, has launched a campaign to end poverty and prevent diseases in the country. OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA reports on its partnership with a coalition of civil society groups for allocation of 15 per cent of the budget to health as declared in Abuja 15 years ago.

    They were a spectackle to behold. As guests stepped into the banquet hall of the Lagos Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Hotel, Ikeja, venue of the event, they were confronted with the participants in black tee shirts, lying on the floor as if dead. Their posture was to indicate the poor state of health care delivery in the country.

    The event was coordinated by a non-govermental organisation (NGO), ONE Campaign, and its partners, comprising Nigeria Health Watch (NHW), the Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria, Africa-Dev, the Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre and the Centre for the Right to Health. Their mission: improved access to lifesaving health services for Nigerians.

    The coalition also amplified Nigerians demand that the government should fulfil its promise to save the health system by funding the 2014 National Health Act and allocating 15 per cent of the budget to health.

    Fifteen years ago, African governments made a commitment in Abuja to increase health spending to 15 percent of their budgets. Nigeria was a signatory.

    To address the country’s health crises, the coalition noted that successive administrations have failed to deliver on the Abuja commitment. Nigerians – particularly women and children, it said, continued to die from treatable and preventable diseases.  The historic Abuja declaration has never been met by policy-makers. Only 4.37 per cent  of the budget is allocated to health this year and the National Health Act is yet to be funded or fully implemented.

    “We are all hopeful for change. But as responsible citizens, we must learn how to hold our governments accountable for the promised change,” said Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu of NHW, adding that fulfilling the Abuja promise will make a difference for millions of Nigerians, who die from lack of access to basic healthcare.

    “It’s hard to imagine that in our beautiful country, millions of Nigerians from Lagos to Wawa, from Sokoto to Yola, die  preventable deaths every year because of poor investment in the health sector,” said Waje, Nigerian lady recording artist and ONE’s Strong Girl campaign activist.  “I am asking all Nigerians to join us in calling the implementation of these life-saving plans and promises, starting with the 2017 budget. This is not beyond Nigeria, I know it is doable and we need to support government in rolling out those plans,” she said.

    Despite being Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria spends relatively little on the health of its citizens and is facing both health and nutrition crisis, as women and children continue to die from treatable and preventable diseases.

    Nigeria’s health expenditure puts it in the bottom third of the ranking of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Out of 49 lower-middle income countries, only seven countries’ governments spend less per capita than Nigeria does on health. In 2014 the figure stood at $55 per person –  $31 dollars short of the minimum expenditure required to ensure proper health services

    If fully implemented, the National Health Act could save the lives of over three million mothers, newborns and children under-five by 2022.

    “Nigeria has a large rural population and many of these people are impoverished. The Nigerian government owes welfare to her citizens, especially in the area of health care delivery services,” said Dr Nkem Onyejizu, ONE Champion working in Kano State.

    “It is also not news that there are also wide regional disparities in child health indicators in the Northeast and Northwest geo-political zones of the country, which have the worst child survival indices,” added Dr Onyejizu. “We laud the Nigerian government’s plan to build 10, 000 PHCs across the country, but these must be well planned, mapped and staffed to ensure success as well as development of a comprehensive community health insurance scheme.”

    President Buhari and the Minister of Health last year reaffirmed their commitment to prioritising healthcare by agreeing to pursue the new  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals present an opportunity for government to translate its commitment to time-bound and measurable outcomes to dramatically cut avoidable deaths of mothers, children and the marginalised. Now is the time for increased implementation of these important commitments.

    “We urge President Buhari to keep his promise to increase the quantity and quality of funding to implement the National Health Act, and ensure that children not only survive, but thrive,” said Mwambu Wanendeya, Africa Executive Director of the ONE Campaign.

  • Customs and asset declaration

    Customs and asset declaration

    SIR: The Committee For The Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has noted with deep interest the directive issued by the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hammed Ali (Rtd) mandating officers and men of Nigerian Customs Service to declare their assets or face sanctions within a 14day time frame.

    This is a welcome development which can promote the culture of transparency and accountability but above all institutionalize the fight against corruption in Nigeria. Such measure pursued by the Nigerian Customs will certainly secure the integrity of the organization which is pivotal in the revenue generation strategy of Nigeria.

    To be sure, the directive as issued by the Comptroller enjoys full legal backing pursuant to the BANK EMPLOYEES (DECLARATION OF ASSETS) ACT CAP B1 LAWS OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA 2004 and will certainly boost the anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria.

    In the circumstance, we call on other heads of parasatals and agencies of the Federal Government particularly the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to issue similar directives to their employees in a concerted effort to deepen transparency and accountability in Nigeria. This is clearly the purpose of Section 12(2) of the Act which empowers the President to direct by an instrument published in the Federal Gazette that the provision of this Act be applied to any other person, class employees institution or bodies either in the private or public sector of the Nigeria economy. You would recall that the on-going trial of CBN staff at Ibadan for fraudulently converted billions of Naira meant to be disposed as “disuse” became possible partly due to the non-implementation of this Act.

    We will mobilize the Nigeria people towards compliance with this demand just as much as it will monitor the punishment of offenders under Section 8(1) of the Act particularly the forfeiture of assets not declared pursuant to Section 8(2) of the Act.

    It is hopeful that such initiative development when properly practiced will set the tone needed to invigorate the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

     

     

    • Barr. Malachy Ugwummadu,

    National President CDHR, Lagos

  • Lawyers knock PDP over call for Wada’s declaration as winner

    Lawyers knock PDP over call for Wada’s declaration as winner

    The crisis triggered  by the demise of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the November 21 Kogi State governorship election, Prince Abubakar Audu, may take some time to resolve. Some lawyers have accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of trying to “smuggle” its flag bearer in the poll, Governor Idris Wada, into office through the back door, report  Adebisi Onanuga, Joseph Jibueze and Robert Egbe. 

    A call by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that its candidate and incumbent Governor Idris Wada be declared winner of last Saturday’s Kogi State governorship election was yesterday rejected by lawyers.

    They said it would amount to an illegality for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to name Wada, who polled 199, 514 to trail All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, the late Abubakar Audu, who scored 240, 867, as the winner.

    According to the lawyers, by asking that Idris be returned to office on the strength of the November 21 election, the PDP will be attempting to get what he lost at the ballot.

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Prof Konyinsola Ajayi, said rather than declaring Wada winner, a fresh poll should be conducted with the All Progressives Congress (APC) replacing the late Abubakar Audu with another candidate.

    “I believe there ought to be a re-election to get the true wishes of the people. This will be in consonance with the decision of the Supreme Court when Atiku Abubakar was transiting from governor in Adamawa State to vice president.”

    Activist-lawyer Jiti Ogunye said the PDP would be reaping where it did not sow should INEC heed such call.

    He said: “The PDP is being clever by half. It wants to reap where it has not sown. The law does not support that kind of argument. What it aspires to achieve is not in consonance with the rule of law.

    “The party is saying that there is no need for a supplementary election; I agree. That has been my position, that the election had already been concluded as at the time it was declared inconclusive.

    “Therefore, the late Abubakar Audu ought to have been declared the winner of the election. Because of his demise the provision of Section 181 of the Constitution ought to have taken effect, meaning that the deputy governorship candidate becomes the deputy governor-elect and then the governor-elect.

    “The invented inconclusiveness of the election by INEC was a figment of its imagination. Registered voters are not the ones that determine the outcome of an election, but the actual voters who are accredited and who have their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).”

    Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch,Yinka Farounbi described PDP’s call as unfortunate.

    He said: “Election has been conducted and results declared. The only thing that has not been declared in clear terms is to announce the winner or the loser. Since there was a winner as at the time of declaring the result, it then presupposes that if there is anything to be done, it is for INEC to declare the winner.

    “The issue of whether Audu died or not is inconsequential. Judging from the fact that election was conducted and results declared before he died, whatever is to be declared must be what the position was before his death.

    “It has been established by the Supreme Court that it is the party people voted for and not the individual. If that is the case, INEC should declare the winner between the PDP and APC and not between Wada and Audu,” he contended

    Lagos-based lawyer, Abayomi Omoyinmi, said it would amount to an illegality for INEC to declare Wada the winner.

    He argued that although Audu died during the course of the election process, he had a joint ticket with his running mate.

    Omoyinmi said there was no law or precedent to support PDP’s claims.

    His words: “Audu’s death cannot transform to INEC declaring the PDP candidate winner because Audu contested the election on a joint ticket with his running mate. So, there is no way INEC can declare the election in favour of the PDP candidate on those circumstances.

    “This is because the result as already declared by INEC does not even show that the PDP candidate is close to winning the election. If anything, the APC candidates are closer and already coasting home to victory.”

    Another activist-lawyer, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, who has filed a suit praying the court to order INEC to conduct a fresh poll, said the PDP’s call has no legal backing.

    He said: “There is no law supporting the declaration of the election result in favour of the PDP. It is nowhere in the constitution.

    “There is also no law supporting the position of the Attorney-General and INEC that the APC should present a fresh candidate and inherit the outstanding result of an election that was declared inconclusive. There is no basis for such.

    “I don’t think that the APC should run into the trap of wanting to claim victory at all cost. I am sure that the party can always secure victory many times over.”

    “But to go into a supplementary election is to play into the trap of the PDP. That is the way I reason as a lawyer. And we have checked all the law books, both the Constitution and the Electoral Act, and there is no single provision that justifies the preservation of election results in favour of a dead candidate.”

     

    debisi Onanuga, Joseph Jibueze and Robert Egbe. 

  • Ministers: Of baron politicians and assets declaration

    Two leading front page reports of the Saturday Punch (October 31, 2015) are quite paradoxical and telling about the current epoch of Nigeria’s political development. The prime headline rendered in perhaps, the boldest of letters available screams: “NIGERIA BROKE, CAN’T PAY MINISTERS – Buhari”.

    But a less striking headline below the one quoted above reads: “Nigerians demand public asset declaration from Buhari’s ministers” while the ministers-designate are reported to have retorted that they would not make a public declaration of their assets. Even the bold cover photo on this page lends an epic corroboration to today’s thesis. It is the picture of a failed portion of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. It is an unsightly picture of vehicle wading through a deep, water-logged trough right in the middle of the road. It is a picture of abjection, stagnation and soulless dereliction seen only in extreme war conditions and failed states.

    Did you ever hear of the failure of a portion of highways anywhere else in this age? Let us take the liberty to point out a few more grisly stories highlighted on this front page: “South Africa to return seized $9 million currency to Nigeria on November 30,” it says. This is the story of Nigeria’s ‘raw’ cash, ignominiously caught-up in the middle of an official money-laundering heist last year under the guise of trying to purchase arms. And one more: “Customs retires three ACGs and 26 others.” Here about 40 senior officers of the Nigeria Customs Service were swept out of office just by a wave of the hand. If they were found guilty of abusing their high positions and gouging themselves with revenues accruable to the nation’s treasury, we were not told. Whether they had tainted the high offices bestowed on them, it did not matter. They were just shuffled out. No points made, no lessons learned, highly trained top officers just flushed out: perhaps to go and enjoy their ‘good fortune’.

    But we digress. Today is actually about our ministers-designate and the question of public assets declaration. Some of the screened men and women who would handle some of the most important jobs in the land soon were asked if they would declare their assets following in the footsteps of their boss, President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB), but the majority of them had promptly objected to such prospect.

    According to the report, a good number of those called up on the phone noted pointedly that they were not constitutionally bound to make their declarations public. They did not have to follow in the footsteps of the president and his deputy, some of them said. Recall that President Buhari and his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, recently set the example of making their assets public.

    Some ministers-designate indicating they would not let the people they would serve know what they are worth, immediately reminds one of America’s 19th century ‘robber baron’ businessmen, who deviously amassed wealth and became very affluent and powerful; often beyond the control of the state. But while those were businessmen who deployed rough and untoward tactics to corner the commonwealth, most of our politicians of today can easily pass for baron politicians or robber public officials who hijack premium political positions and offices and convert same to personal estates.

    Since independence and particularly in the last 16 years, having acquired a huge chunk of the state, they go on to begin to subvert the state and all her institutions or tinker with them to suit their purposes.

    Buhari’s Sisyphean huddles Over the years, Nigeria’s political robber barons have grown unchallenged and set in their ways. They had become the very bane of the country; growing in means, growing in number and making Nigeria a banana republic where the rule of law had taken flight. Now for Buhari, tackling this ugly phenomenon would be akin to Sisyphus the storied King of Corinth condemned pushing this giant rock up a hill and each time, being trolled back to the base.

    For the first time since independence, Nigeria’s political robber barons are facing a modicum of scrutiny with the advent of the Buhari presidency and it seems now or never to break that killer mould. Does the president have the resilience, capacity and the ruthlessness to extirpate this monster?

    The matter of political robber baronage is exemplified by the current dilemma about making assets public. This is one huge test of his ability to crack the skull of this monster. Most of his new men cannot and indeed, would not dare to make full public disclosures of their net-worth. It would amount to the option of either the country going up in flames or the ‘culprits’ being set alight.

    One would wager that very few politically-exposed Nigerians today would be comfortable showing what they have to Nigerians. How would Nigerians react if they woke up one day to find on a minister’s assets sheets, a total worth of about N50 billion or more. Many are wealthier than their states or even a few states combined. That is why they cannot be brought to book. They can hire all the SANs in Nigeria to frustrate a cause.

    Now what would he do with these set of barons; some of whom he had nominated for the big jobs. When asked recently about the nature of some of his nominees, he had spoken candidly that: “This is a teamwork… there are people (nominees) I accepted from other people in our team that I trust without even knowing them… may be the one that had problem in the National Assembly, I doubt if I have ever met him in my life.”

    How far can he go if compromises such as he noted above have been made already. But the obverse is that how far could he have gone if he did not make such compromises in the first place. Let’s call the task ahead of the president the devil’s alternative. Meanwhile, Nigeria is broke according to the president, yet it is being run by some of the richest people in the world, who would not dare make public their assets.

  • Alleged false assets declaration: Orubebe accuses agencies of witch-hunt

    Alleged false assets declaration: Orubebe accuses agencies of witch-hunt

    Former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Elder Godsday Peter Orubebe has dismissed allegations of false declaration of assets and acceptance of N70 million bribe.

    The former minister is to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal on November 9 on a four-count charge of receiving the bribe from a contractor and failure to declare his ownership of two plots of land in Abuja.

    Orubebe, who spoke with reporters in Abuja yesterday afternoon, said he personally collected the tribunal’s summons last Friday, asserting that he had been wrongly blamed for the disappearance of N600 million during his successor’s tenure.

    He also accused some government departments of inviting him for questioning unnecessarily.

    “This simply tells me it is an issue of witch-hunt and it is not good for the development of this country,” he stated, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to stop government agencies’ undue harassment of perceived foes.

    “If these things are coming out because of the role that I played at the International Conference Centre as an agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), then it is unfortunate,” he said.

    On allegation that he failed to declare ownership of two plots of land, Orubebe stated that government gave him two plots of land which he disposed of to take care of his needs as a minister.

    He added that he could not declare continued ownership of a gift that he had disposed of.

    On the N70 million bribe allegation, the former minister said there was “unnecessary confusion” over the money and his alleged role.

    Orubebe said he asked President Goodluck Jonathan, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to revoke about seven shoddily-handled contracts for the construction of skill acquisition centres, only for a pastor, who owned one of such contracts to pay N20 million into the accounts of Glory Christian Sanctuary, an evangelism centre built by the ex-minister in his village.

    “I saw that there was N20 million deposit in the account of the centre. I asked them who brought the money and they said it was my private secretary, Akpokome, a civil servant.

    “I asked him and he told me that it was the pastor that gave him the money; I was so furious and I told him that the same way he collected the money, he should return it to the man.’’

  • Minister-designate denies report on assets’ declaration

    A Minister-designate, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, has denied a media report quoting him as saying he and others would not publicly declare their assets as President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo did.

    Jibril, in a statement yesterday, said: “While I am unable at this time to ascertain whether my colleagues quoted in the story spoke to the paper, I can say categorically, without any fear of contradiction, that I did not, at any time, speak to anyone from that newspaper.

    “The paper quoted a certain Ibrahim Umar, who it described as my media aide, as speaking to it on my behalf. I however have no such aide or associate. So, it is either the quote was manufactured or it was given to the paper by an impostor.

    “While I remain ever available to respond to media enquiries about my service to my country and its people, I would continue to insist that the media deal with me with utmost professionalism and transparency.”

    He urged the media to always check and crosscheck their facts before attributing any comments to him.