The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ex-governors

  • Dasuki lists ex-governors, PDP chiefs in $2b deals

    Dasuki lists ex-governors, PDP chiefs in $2b deals

    FORMER National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki has made some “mind-boggling” revelations on the $2billion “phoney” arms contracts, a source said yesterday.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and a Federal Government committee are probing how huge sums of money meant for procurement of arms went down the drain during the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration.

    An interim report indicates that about $2billion may have been disbursed for inexplicable reasons.

    Dasuki was arrested on Tuesday by the Department of State Services (DSS). He was transferred to the EFCC.

    An EFCC source said: “When Dasuki was brought in, he initially refused to write any statement, alleging that he had been subjected to media trial.

    “I think the ex-NSA decided not to open up based on the advice of his lawyers that he should leave everything for the open court.

    “The EFCC operatives, however, obliged Dasuki a copy of the statement by a former Director of Finance in the  Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Shaibu Salisu in which the latter made some implicating statements.

    “Dasuki, who was shocked by Salisu’s confessions, repeatedly asked: ‘You mean Salisu wrote all these! You mean he said these! Give me a pen and paper’.

    “Thereafter, Dasuki decided to open a can of worms. He gave a long list of PDP chieftains who collected money from the Office of the NSA.

    “He mentioned the names of a former Deputy National Chairman of PDP, ex-governors and ex-ministers and many others.

    “As I am talking to you, Dasuki is still writing his statement. The disclosures  of the ex-Director of Finance in ONSA  have assisted greatly in getting to the bottom of the armsgate.

    “So, the investigation is still on. We will certainly arrest more suspects soon.”

    There were indications that the anti-graft commission may extend its probe to the seizure of  $9million cash by South Africa and quiz all those involved in the botched deal.

    An Israeli suspect implicated in the deal is said to have bolted after throwing a lavish party at his Wuse residence.

    Former Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa, AIT Chairman Raymond Dokpesi and former Minister Bashir Yuguda were yesterday battling for bail.

    It was learnt that the EFCC was planning to arraign some of the suspects in court to enable the agency keep the more than 22 suspects being interrogated in custody.

    The EFCC is said to be mindful of a situation in which the high-profile suspects will rush to court to seek the enforcement of their fundamental rights and truncate the investigation.

    A source, who pleaded not to be named, said many suspects had admitted collecting huge sums of money from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) when Dasuki was in charge.

    Said the source: “Our investigators have isolated these areas of probe: Were the funds budgeted for? If not, what informed extra-budgetary expenses? How much was actually voted for arms procurement? How were the funds sourced? Who or which agency awarded all the contracts? Who were the contractors? Was there any evidence of delivery of equipment? What will make any Minister to run to ONSA for funds?

    “These are the areas our detectives have been mandated to look at.”

    On other suspects, the source explained that some of the diverted funds had been traced to a bureau de change owned by a former member of the staff of the ONSA.

    “Some Bureau de Change operators were accomplices of many of these suspects in custody. We are tracking every transaction.

    “On daily basis, we will keep on inviting more suspects because the syndicate has a complex networking,” the source added.

    As at press time last night, Bafarawa, Dokpesi and Yuguda were still battling for bail.

    A source said: “We have not released any of them because they are clearing some grey areas.”

    Another source in EFCC said the agency would extend its probe to the seizure of the $9.34m cash smuggled into South Africa.

    The cash was confiscated by the South Africa from an Israeli arms dealer of Cyprus-based ESD International, who acted on behalf of the Federal Government to procure arms for Nigeria.

    Part of the cash was for six “civilian” helicopters from a South African company, Tier One.

    The National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa recently received a court permission to return the cash to Nigeria.

  • 21 ex-governors, ministers to lose passports by force

    21 ex-governors, ministers to lose passports by force

    42 ex-ministers, ex-lawmakers hold on to official travel documents

    The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) yesterday asked 21 former governors, 42 ex-ministers, and more than 260 former members of the House of Representatives to return their diplomatic and official passports.

    The NIS said it might be forced to impound the diplomatic and official passports of past public officers defying the directive.

    The Comptroller-General of Immigration Service, Mr. M. K. Ibeshi, gave the directive in a statement he personally signed.

    It was gathered that the Federal Government was worried that some former ministers, who have cases to answer, had been  junketing abroad with diplomatic immunity.

    Although the statement was silent on the actual number of those affected, it was learnt that the list includes 21 former governors, 21 ex-deputy governors,   42 ex-ministers, 233 former members of the House of Representatives, 76 senators and more than 774 former local government chairmen,  among others.

    The statement reads: “Further to the directive on the withdrawal of diplomatic and official passports held by unauthorised persons, the Nigeria Immigration Service hereby directs all affected persons to comply forthwith. These persons include, among others, former: (i) State Governors( ii) Senators( iii) Members of House of Representatives

    (iv) Members of State Houses of Assemblies; (v) Ministers

    (vi) Commissioners, (vii) Special Advisers/Special Assistants; (viii) Chairmen/Deputy Chairmen of Local Governments Areas;  (ix) all retired Heads of parastatals and (x) Retired public servants

    “These categories of persons are hereby informed that these passports which were previously held by them have been revoked and should return them to the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters Sauka Abuja, with immediate effect.

    “Failure to comply with this directive will amount to an offence under the Immigration Act 2015. Such unauthorised possession will be impounded at our control posts on arrival or departure.

    This is the second time in a month that the Federal Government will issue the directive.

    The government in August directed the former elective and political office holders to return their diplomatic and official passports.

    “The Permanent Secretary, Mr. Abubakar Magaji, Federal Ministry of Interior, has directed the Nigeria Immigration Service to retrieve all valid diplomatic and official passports with immediate effect from all persons who are not entitled to hold such documents,” the statement said.

    “The attention of the Federal Government has been drawn to the fact that some Nigerians who are not entitled to hold diplomatic and official passports are in possession of these documents,” it said.

    According to the statement, the measure is intended to protect and promote Nigeria’s integrity in the comity of nations in addition to ensuring law and order.

  • Fayose set to evict ex-governors’ aides, others from estate over mortgage

    •Residents urge Buhari, others to intervene

    Majority of residents of Irewolede Estate on Ilawe Road in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, are gripped with apprehension.

    Reason: The state government has threatened to evict them following the expiration of deadline for those yet to complete payment of mortgages on their houses.

    Governor Ayo Fayose had during the last edition of his monthly media chat, “Meet Your Governor”, accused most of the residents of not honouring payment of mortgages on the houses.

    He gave them a month ultimatum to pay up or risk being ejected.

    Most of the residents are ex-officials, who served during the tenures of former Governors Segun Oni and Kayode Fayemi as well as other civil servants, who have repayment agreements ranging between five and 10 years with the Ekiti State Housing Corporation.

    Fayose maintained during the media chat that he was not bound by the agreement brokered by the former administrations, alleging that government was being shortchanged by house owners in the estate.

    He accused some of the residents of erecting illegal structures in their premises.

    The Nation learnt in Ado-Ekiti yesterday that arrangement had been concluded to evict defaulters.

    Only those with documents to prove completion of payment will be allowed access to their residences, it was gathered.

    The state radio and television stations had in the last three weeks been running public service announcements on the intent of the government to sack “defaulting landlords” from their houses.

    Since the announcement, many residents have paid various sums of money on the houses running into millions of naira with pledges to pay regularly. But Fayose seemed not impressed.

    Some of the residents alleged that the ejection threat was more of political witch-hunting and harassment of political opponents.

    They claimed that the governor had concluded plans to re-allocate the houses to his aides and political associates after the present occupants must have been evicted.

    The plea of political appointees in the estate that their severance allowances should be used to offset the outstanding mortgage payments was rejected by the governor just as the case with the monetised vehicles.

    Residents have appealed to Nigerians, including President Muhammadu Buhari, to save them from eviction.

    The houses on Irewolede estate – three-bedroom bungalows and duplexes – were purchased by the political appointees under a mortgage arrangement, which allowed them to pay in five years and renewable for another five years.

    Some moved into the houses in 2012, 2013 and 2014 after they have renovated them.

    Majority of the three-bedroom bungalows were purchased on mortgage of between 10 to 20 years by civil servants.

    One of the affected residents said: “Let’s wait and see what happens tomorrow (Thursday) as the deadline expires today.

    “We have met and taken some decisions and this case will definitely be taken to the court of law as there is a valid arrangement on repayment, which is still ongoing. But we were shocked at the government’s action.

    “This is a violation of our rights. We are not occupying the houses for free as we are paying our money according to the repayment schedule.”

  • Ex-governors and their states’ coffers

    The smile of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregard the external rules of order and right which heaven itself ordained” – George Washington, first president of United States.

    In basic science, I was taught that a taproot is one of the most important roots that a tree needs for its nourishment. Apart from making a tree to erect properly, it forms a base from which other roots sprout; it makes the tree impervious to strong wind and taps soil nutrients a tree needs to survive.

    Being a chief executive of a state for four or eight years as the case may be, a governor functions as a tap root of some sort. Since he is in the best position to know the details of the finances of a state, the direction a state should navigate. And where there are leakages, the governor finds ways of blocking such. He is in better position to initiate policies and frameworks that will ensure the sustainable development and growth of the state even after he may have left office.

    However, when a chief security officer plunders the resources of a state, such action brings retrogression to the state and makes it worse. For tapping into the state resources, the governor constitutes himself into a poisonous taproot that kills the tree (state) instead of supplying it nourishment.

    I have the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in Akwa Ibom State to thank for the controversy the retirement law in the state generated. The union attracted attention to the obnoxious law and kept it in public view and most importantly exposed some other states where such laws had secretly been passed in the past. But for that patriotic act, one would never have known that such a law even existed.

    The bill, titled Governors and Deputy-Governors Pension Law 2014, just shows how greedy and gluttony can political office holders in Nigeria can be. The law sought to provide N100 million health benefit for governors and N50m for deputy governors in Akwa Ibom State, among other provision.

    It is an open-secret that some governors live like kings. They drive choice cars; have lunch in the most exquisite restaurants, travel in first class flights to the finest of countries, shop in expensive store abroad, and spend like oil sheiks without thinking about the economy of the state they govern. They did not even give a thought to the standard of living of the people that elected them.  Isn’t it absurd that after all these and the loots they committed while in office, some governors still want to go away with their states’ treasuries as they leave office.

    Considering the fact that a few states can actually sustain themselves economically without the monthly stipend from the Federal Government, it is worrisome that governors would think of such laws that legally drain their states of the of much-needed funds for development.

    Though, Akwa Ibom State government bowed to public pressure and killed the obnoxious bill, several states are guilty of it. The bill empowers a former governor to earn the same salary as a sitting governor. Three-hundred percent of his basic salary would be paid as furniture allowance. It also made provision for eight police officers and two SSS operatives. After retirement, the governor gets entertainment, car maintenance, house maintenance and utility allowances with personal assistants.

    The law as it was passed in Rivers State provides for former governors and deputy governors to be paid 100 percent of their basic salaries, two houses in any location and three cars replaceable every three years. The law which was titled’ Rivers State Governor and Deputy Governor Pensions and Fringe Benefits Bill 2012’ also entitles former governor and deputy governor of the state to 300% funding for furniture, 20% for utility,10 % for entertainment and free medical care for them and their immediate families.

    In Kwara State, the law was passed in 2010 when Senator Bukola Saraki was at the helm of affairs. The bill was tagged Kwara State Public Office Holders Pension Bill 2010 ( KWHAB15) and provided for allowances, fringe benefits, and basic salaries of governors and deputies. After leaving office, governors and their deputies are to get accommodation in Abuja, a month vacation outside Nigeria, 300 per cent furniture allowance, free transport and house maintenance allowance. The duo are also entitled to domestic staff, free medical care for their immediate families, security, personal assistants, car maintenance, entertainment and 20 per cent utility allowance,  amongst other provisions too numerous to mention.

    These are retirement provisions for individuals in a country where, according to the World Bank report of 2013, 112 million citizens live below poverty line. Little wonder then why there is widespread poverty across the country when states receive huge sums monthly as allocation from the federal government. Bauchi and Benue states have also passed the law.

    With this retirement benefits, a clinic could be built and equipped to cater for the medical needs of a local community. A primary school could be built and a skill acquisition centre could as well be established. Part of this money could be given to a local farmer to enhance his operations. An artisan could be provided with the right equipment.

    The financial implications of these bills on the future of Nigerians yet unborn cannot be quantified.

    This is why I liken these governors to taproots that kill the tree.

     

    Philips, 500-Level Information Technology, MAUTECH

  • Indicted ex-governors, ministers now power brokers, says ICPC ex-chief Akanbi

    Indicted ex-governors, ministers now power brokers, says ICPC ex-chief Akanbi

    The pioneer chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Justice Mustapha Akanbi, yesterday said indicted former governors, ministers and party officials have become power brokers in Nigeria.

    He noted that the development was widening the vicious cycle of corruption and making the fight against the social malaise a Herculean task.

    The retired jurist urged “the President of our potentially great country, governors, political leaders, politicians, top brass civil/public servants, Emirs, Obas and Obis to lead by example and be in the vanguard of the struggle to eliminate corruption or reduce it to tolerable level”.

    Akanbi, a retired President of the Court of Appeal, spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State caporal, at the 46th annual conference of the National Association of Law Teachers.

    He said: “Many well-meaning and responsible Nigerians have been crying foul at the turn of events and the apparent cover-up of purveyors of corruption in recent times and the lethargic manner corruption cases are being handled.

    “Given the situation described above, more often than not, mediocre, incompetent and corrupt officials, rather than resourceful, efficient and competent hands, find their way into positions of power and authority, which they use and manipulate to their own advantage and not to the benefit of society or the public good.

    “The result is that the nation begins to drift and slide dangerously down the slippery road of economic ruination. In the process, there is the general desecration of societal and normative values, low level performance in both socio-economic and technological developments and, ultimately, a putrefying decadence, the stench of which often puts off or prevents other nations with a record of transparency and probity from wanting to interact or do business with a corrupt nation.”

    The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Okey Wali (SAN) said the association would de-register any lawyer found to be corrupt.

    He said: “Any lawyer implicated in any act of corruption will lose his membership of the NBA. On the Bench, we are working seriously with National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). We are very determined to turn our Judiciary into the Judiciary of the Hon. Justice Mustapha Akanbi era.”

    On corruption, Wali said: “The worst problem we have in Nigeria is corruption. The Americans are telling us what we already know. The report that …there is corruption in this country is not news; that there was fuel subsidy scandal is not news; that some people are feeding fat on the savings of other people via pension is not news; the widespread perception of corruption in the Judiciary is not news.

    “The only thing that is news is that the Americans are now telling us that there is corruption in this country. Corruption is the biggest cancer that has eaten up this country. You can trace the lack of funding to corruption. You can trace the lack of infrastructure to corruption. You can trace almost every problem, including insecurity, to corruption. So, it is very important that we address corruption.”

     

  • Ex-governors Ciroma, Sanusi defend CBN’s autonomy

    Ex-governors Ciroma, Sanusi defend CBN’s autonomy

    BACKED by two former governors, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) fought valiantly yesterday to retain its autonomy, which is threatened by a new Bill.

    Besides the two former CBN governors, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) gave their backing to CBN’s autonomy.

    They were at the public hearing of a bill by the House of Representatives to whittle down the powers of the CBN.

    The CBN told the public hearing by the House joint committee on Banking and Currency and Justice why it should continue to be independent and financially autonomous, but the lawmakers wondered why the CBN was afraid to submit its budget to the National Assembly for scrutiny.

    “A bill for an Act to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria, Act 2007 No. 7 to appoint a person other than the Governors as the Chairman of the bank, exclude deputy governors and directors as members of the Board, divest the board of the power of consideration and approval of the annual budget of the bank and other related matters, 2012” was opposed by most of the stakeholders at the hearing.

    They include the CIBN, the NLC and two former Governors of the CBN – Mallam Adamu Ciroma and Chief Joseph Sanusi – managing directors of banks and others who insisted on financial and operational independence for the apex bank, for effective operations and policy formulation.

    CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, represented by Deputy Governor (Financial Services Surveillance) Tunde Lemo, said the CBN Act requires no amendment.

    He said central banking independence is a concept that has gained global acceptance, adding that there is need for the CBN to be independent in four key arrears: financial, administrative, personnel and operational.

    “Right to determine its own budget, the application of the Central Bank’s specific accounting rules, clear provision on the distribution of operating surpluses, clearly defined financial ability for supervisory authority, “ Lemo said.

    He said this would allow the CBN to carry out the mandates of “maintenance of price stability, which would ensure non inflationary growth and sound and stable financial system.

    “Since inception, the bank’s administrative structure has been that the governor presides over the board of directors with executive directors or deputy governors as members. This arrangement has ensured easier, smoother and faster implementation of financial policies.”

    The CBN, however, said it was not opposed to giving a quarterly briefing to the National Assembly through the Banking and Currency Committees.

    Lemo told the lawmakers that the N620 billion intervention fund given to eight distressed banks in 2009 had been recovered.

    He described the fund as a loan given to the banks and not a bailout or unrecoverable fund as believed in some quarters. He, however, did not say if the loan was interest yielding or not.

    CIBN President Segun Aina said the exclusion of the CBN governor and deputy governors from the board “will reduce the import of the CBN”.

    Aina explained that in most countries of the world, the CBN governor is always the head of the board. “It gives room for independence. In other countries, there are no external directors on the board. We believe that the governor should remain the chairman of the board. What the bill proposes will be against the interest of the country.”

    He said it is dangerous for the CBN to submit its budget for external vetting because it will have a damaging effect on monetary policies in addition to reducing its effectiveness. “The CBN should retain the making of its budget to achieve independence and reduce politicisation,” he said.

    Ciroma a former CBN governor and one time Minister of Finance, said the reason for wanting to amend the CBN Act was suspect since it goes against the grains of international best practice.

    “When I looked at the proposal for changing the Act of the CBN to exclude the Governor and other senior members from the board, I ask myself, ‘what is the rationale’ because the effect is that it will be out of line with international best practices.”

    He said rather than take such an extreme position, the lawmakers should think of how to rectify perceived faults in the workings of the CBN. “If the operating system has been so lousy, then we should ask ourselves the way to improve it,” he said.

    “The CBN is essentially the banker and economist of the government as well as the banker of the bankers. If the board excludes the governor and staff of the bank, it means the board is made up of people who are unfamiliar with the way the system operates. In my own view, there’s a great danger in excluding these people from the board of the bank as any mistake can bring about dangers and tragedies for the nation,” he said.

    Sanusi supported Ciroma’s position. He said: “If you make your governor an executive on the board and not the chairman, you have immediately given him complex and others will immediately show superiority to your governor because they are all chairmen of their own board.”

    According to him, the House and the CBN were at loggerheads over the apex bank’s budgeting because of lack of communication. He suggested a forum whereby the two parties would meet so that the CBN could explain its administrative policies to the lawmakers.

    The Nigerian Labour Congress, represented by its Deputy President Comrade Isa Aremu, said the principle of separation of powers is what ought to ensure the independence of the CBN. He wondered why the National Assembly, having made a good law, would want to amend it. He urged the House to “go for the ball not for the leg”.

    But Victor Onyereri, chairman of the House committee on Banking and Currency, said: “The NLC represents only a very minor sector of the country. We represent the people; be rightly guided.”

    The lawmaker noted that the House is not out to emasculate the CBN, but to ensure accountability and transparency. He wondered what the CBN had to fear in the proposed bill.

    Committee members, including Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, Rafiquat Onabamiro, Stella Dogu, Linux Okorie, Pally Iriase and Segun Williams, questioned the CBN over its inability to stem operational abuses in the commercial banks, in spite of its independence.

    They quarrelled with the CBN structure which allows it to unilaterally approve its budget, salaries and allowances without approval or appropriation by the National Assembly.

    Gbajabiamila said while there is need for the apex bank to be independent, it must comply with relevant sections of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Constitution on remittance of revenue generated into the Consolidated Account.

    He also insisted that the budget estimates of the CBN must be submitted to the National Assembly through the Minister of Finance.

    The committee chair chided the representative of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Danladi Kifase, a Permanent Secretary, for not presenting any document. Kifase said he was at the hearing as a member of the CBN board, representing the Minister and not on behalf of the Finance Ministry.

    But kifase pleaded for more time to make a written submission.

    The board of the CBN consists of 12 members, made up of the governor, four deputy governors and seven non-executive directors, two of whom are institutional representatives (Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation, plus five other members appointed by the President.)

    The Bill under consideration seeks to reduce the membership to seven.