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Tag: looters

  • Buhari should consider plea bargain for looters – Akinlaja

    Buhari should consider plea bargain for looters – Akinlaja

    A legal practitioner, Mr. Dayo Akinlaja SAN at the weekend advised President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to consider plea-bargain being contemplated by treasury looter and their cronies.

    The lawyer said considering plea-bargain would not only save the government from wasting resources on the prosecution of suspects but would also be of a great benefit to the members of the public.

    Akinlaja, who was a former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice of Ekiti State, spoke with reporters in Akure, the Ondo State Capital.

    Akinlaja explained that the reality of Nigerian judicial system was that it suffers from re-ordinate delay, stressing that the government should strategise on quick ways of recovering money from looters rather than spending more times in court.

    His words, “On the issue of plea bargain, my position is that, it is useful in the area of recovery of looted funds. The reality of our judicial system is that it suffers from reordinate delay. With this, it is takes a long time for matters to be concluded.

    “Even in the final analysis it is possible to recover money through criminal proceeding because of the length of time, I think it will be a welcome development.

    “To my mind, the reason for plea bargain is for money to be recovered quickly.

    “For instance, somebody is accused of stolen huge amount, the law says the person should be sentence to seven years imprisonment. We can say, if you are prepare to return this money that you are alleged to have stolen, we may say, return money and serve six months so that at least that will serve as measure of deterrent.

    “What am saying is that where the gravity of the situation demands that the person should be jailed, such a person should be jailed, even it means reducing the length of time he or she will be spending in the jail.

    ” So, the person think that criminal proceeding will be handing on his neck for years and in the final analysis he may still be found guilty even when he is not even find guilty, the time that he would have wasted in going in and out of court and when these things are taking into consideration even the person accused may say let me make the refund.

    “In that case the society would have recovered money in a good time; lesser resources will be committed to the criminals’ proceedings.

    “Whatever we like it or not, the lawyers who are prosecuting and others involved are bound to be financially service.

    “So in a way the plea bargain may be beneficial to the country and even to reduction of resources. I don’t think sending people to jail is the solution after all, after they are sent to jail, they will still be using the resources of the nation to feed them there.

    “To my mind what is of greater importance is the recovering of the money. If plea bargain system would allow for money to be recovered I will support it.”

  • Mixed reactions trail decision to avoid plea-bargain with treasury looters

    Mixed reactions trail decision to avoid plea-bargain with treasury looters

    Lawyers yesterday expressed mixed feelings  at the Federal Government’s decision not to consider plea-bargain being contemplated by treasury looters and their cronies.

    Attorney General of the Federation Mallam Abubakar Malami had declared that the Federal Government was more interested in recovering  public funds stolen by top politicians and their cronies under the guise of arms purchase.

    The government said such plea-bargain only allowed looters to go away with stolen public assets.

    Speaking with NAN in Abuja, a lawyer, Mr Silas Onu, said government’s stand was in order because plea-bargain was unconstitutional.

    “Plea-bargain is not in Nigerian laws and so the refusal of the government to subscribe to it is not misplaced; government is strictly following the laws.

    “If you remember, the former Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, spoke about the illegality of plea-bargain.

    “EFCC just invented a legal proceeding that is not known to our laws; and the way we even apply it in Nigeria is not as it should be.

    “Plea-bargain has been used in Nigeria as pardon for criminality; but plea-bargain shouldn’t be like that.

    “It should be as is operated in America, where it  earns you a reduction in punishment; it shouldn’t set you free,’’ Onu said.

    But Mrs Uche Asiobi, a lawyer, stated that plea-bargain should be considered if it would be to the benefit of the public.

    “I think sometimes you have to lose something to win something.

    “I agree that it is hard, particularly when you are thinking of the economy and what has happened.

    “You will think that these people should pay the full penalty, but if you take that angle, you might not get the full justice you require.

    “So, if you realise that you will gain more through plea-bargain, it is better to apply it and recover more funds.

    “Remember that even with plea-bargain the reputation of these people is already tarnished.

    “So, plea-bargain should be used if the public will benefit from it instead of just one individual pocketing the loot,’’ Asiobi said.

    Another lawyer, Ms Grace Ehusani, thinks that although the Federal Government would prefer to uphold justice, applying plea-bargain would encourage more treasury looters to confess.

    “When you provide an opportunity for people to confess and admit to their crimes knowing that because they confessed, the punishment will be lighter, they will be more willing to come to an agreement with the government,’’ she said.

  • Looters beware

    Looters beware

    Federal Government owes the country a duty to ensure that all looted fund is recovered in the open

    When the Federal Government announced that another tranche of looted fund amounting to N31 billion  had been uncovered, Nigerians were happy that the war against corruption would be given effect. It was also expected that the Buhari administration that had promised to ensure good governance but appeared incapacitated by paucity of funds could after all take off with the money so recovered. Those interested in justice, too, looked forward to the arrest, arraignment and prosecution of the suspected looters who had, by their action, sent many to their early graves. However, suggestions by the presidency that the looters could be given soft landing are disquieting. We are surprised that so early in the life of this administration that held out so much promise during the election, a bleak prospect is being painted already.

    We warn that the alleged crime is neither against President Muhammadu Buhari nor the Federal Government. It is against the Nigerian state. The money involved belongs to the Nigerian state and people. Therefore, the government owes it to the entire public to handle all issues appertaining to the fund transparently. It is unbelievable that at a time like this, some Nigerians could constitute themselves into a cabal and embezzle what should have made section 14 of the constitution and the welfare provisions in the supreme law of the country relevant.

    The issues involved are too grave to be treated with a slap on the wrist. In a country where petty thieves are sentenced to more than 10 years for stealing goats, what justice is being promoted if plunderers of the treasury are told to go and sin no more?

    Plea bargain might not be strange to our law. It might have been introduced to ensure that cases do not drag on for too long. But, what was the essence of the new Administration of Criminal Justice Act? It is the duty of the three arms of government to ensure that enemies of state are given appropriate punishment. We note, too, that if plea bargain is to be entertained in whatever guise, it is not the responsibility of the executive to handle the transactions. Apart from putting the details in the public domain, the case must be charged to court to enable the judiciary adjudicate the matters. The lawyers have to come up with all the issues; we must be told all those involved and how much has been traced to each. It is not the duty of government to shield those who have bled the economy, rendering so many young Nigerians jobless and industries comatose.

    We recall a recent statement by the President that some of those responsible for the decadence of the system have been quietly returning their loot. We reiterate that this is unacceptable. It is not left for the looters to take action as and when they deem fit. It is not about their convenience, but Nigeria’s. We look forward to actions this administration would take in sanitising the justice sector- from arrest, to detention, arraignment, prosecution and sentencing. A lot has gone wrong over the years and now is the time we expect a government that prides itself as committed to effecting wholesale change to swing into action.

    Nigeria prides itself as a democracy. It lags far behind so many other countries, including some in Africa. It is therefore right that the people are fully brought into the picture as democracy is hinged on popular participation. The day is gone when a President could describe himself as the sovereign. The people are the kings. If the looting culture is to end, all those who treated themselves to opulence at the expense of the state should be appropriately handled.

    It is apposite to bring it to the attention of the incumbent administration that building a country- a democracy- is not hinged on strong men, but institutions, mechanisms and processes. This is the responsibility bestowed on it. Negotiating with suspected looters amount to a betrayal of the confidence reposed in the government and subversion of institutions of state. The day is long gone now when sloppy prosecution by anti-graft agencies could be contemplated and condoned. All agencies and institutions must be alive to their duties. Agencies such as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) should patriotically handle their constitutionally assigned duties.

    President Buhari, the Federal Executive Council and the Attorney General of the Federation are key officials and agencies of state charged with ensuring that the end of justice is well served in the matter at hand and other similar loots. They must live up to their responsibilities.

  • Group wants Buhari to prosecute pension thieves  

    Group wants Buhari to prosecute pension thieves  

    Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) South-South zone has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to commence investigation on how pension fund were diverted during the last administration.

    The group who endorsed the Federal government’s anti-corruption crusade said President Buhari who is also a pensioner should ensure that those who mismanaged pension fund were brought to book and the fund recovered.

    They made this call Friday in a communiqué which was signed by all the NUP’s state chairmen from the South –South zone during a meeting of the organization held at NULGE Consulate, Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

    Addressing other chairmen at the meeting, the host chairman, Comrade Edward Festus-Abibo, the State chairman of NUP, Rivers State, said the meeting is significant because it’s provided the avenue to re-strategize, formulate and plan for next year.

    Comrade Edward said NUP wants to actualize the issue on payment of harmonization, short payments, omission from pay roll, non- pay roll and arrears of various types of pension increases.

    While applauding Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike  for clearing six month  outstanding owed the state pensioners, Comrade Edward  calls on the various state governments in the zone to pay without further delay, all entitlements owed pensioners in their zones, which include the 6% increase (2003), the 15% increase (2007) and the 33% monetization increase (2010).

    Also speaking, the chairman of NUP, Cross River State chapter, Comrade Benjamin Etta, who doubled as the South-South Zonal chairman of NUP, said committee has been set-up by the body to know the disappointment and frustration of pensioners in the zone.

    He worried on the inability of Pension Transitional Administration Directorate (PTAD) to commence the Biometric verification exercise nation-wide. He appealed to the directorate to ensure that the exercise get to its logical conclusion.

    “One of the reasons of the meeting is to declare our support on the federal government’s anti-corruption crusade. We want President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that pension funds mismanaged during the last administration are recovered and the perpetrators brought to book.

    “The union urges PTAD to ensure that the pensioners and the next-of-kin of deceased pensioners are paid their entitlements without delay immediately after the exercise. We noted the frequency calls from Abuja, demanding for money from pensioners before their papers are processed is another worrisome issue that requires thoroughly investigates.”

  • Looters returning cash, says President

    Looters returning cash, says President

    Some former public officials who looted public funds are returning them to the government’s coffers, President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday.

    He told Nigerians living  in Teheran, the Iranian capital, during a question-and-answer session with them at the Nigerian House that his administration had intesified efforts at recovering public funds in private pockets.

    The President was in Iran to attend a summit of gas producing nations. The meeting was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and host President Hassan Riouhani, among others.

    President Buhari said he was not satisfied with the partial return of the “looted funds”.

    “On corruption, yes, they are still innocent.

    “But, we are collecting documents and some of them have started voluntarily returning something. But we want all. We want to have everything back-all that they took by force in 16 years.

    “When we get those documents, then we will formally charge them to court and then we will tell Nigerians to know those, who abused trust when they were entrusted with public funds or when they took it by force for 16 years.

    “So, the day of reckoning is gradually approaching.’’

    President Buhari explained that those accused of corruption would have been prosecuted by now but for the need to thoroughly investigate them with a view to gathering enough evidence for their eventual trial.

    He said it was easy for him, during his tenure as a military Head of State in 1984, to arrest and put suspected corrupt individuals “in protective custody’’ for them to prove their innocence.

    He, however, said that now the dictates of the Rule of Law and due process had slowed him down in the prosecution of corruption cases.

    The President attributed the epileptic power supply in the country to “power saboteurs who go and blow up installations’.

    “I believe if you are in touch back at home you would have been told that already there is some improvement in power.

    “We haven’t said anything to them yet. I think they only find it sensible or appropriate for them to try and improve power supply.

    “I’m sure you know about the privatisation of the power sector. Your old friends NEPA or Power Holding Company of Nigeria have been sold to a number of interest groups.

    “But, the fundamental thing about us is that we remain potentially in everything except performance.

    “We have a lot of gas, we have a lot of qualified people, but again we have a lot of saboteurs who go and blow installations.

    “Those, who normally steal Nigerian crude (oil) and those who blow up installations, whether they call themselves militants or whatever, they are still there.’’

    He pledged to deal with such saboteurs to restore sanity in the power sector and improve service delivery to Nigerians.

    He said the military task-forces with representation from Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and the secret services will be reconstituted to secure the pipelines.

    “Supplies will become steady; there will be less sabotage as we secure the pipelines.”

    On security, the President reassured the Nigerians of the government’s resolve to eliminate the Boko Haram insurgency and restore peace in the Northeast.

    The President also restated the government’s determination to address the rot in education,  beginning from the primary to the tertiary level.

    He praised the Nigerian community for its good conduct, saying the government would continue to encourage more Nigerians to study in that country because of the level of discipline and orderliness there.

    On healthcare delivery, President Buhari said that efforts had been intensified towards ridding the country of fake drugs and fake doctors, and also what he called “the disgraceful aspects” manifested by “baby factories”.

    On creation of jobs, he placed the prevailing joblessness in the country at the door-step of the last administration, which he blamed for giving “ a devastating blow to the economy through corruption and incompetence”.

    The President said something urgent would be done about the bad condition of roads, citing the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as one to be addressed from next week by the Minister of  Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who sat next to him at the meeting.

    The Nigerian Charge de Affairs in Iran, Dr Ali Magashi, attested to the zero crime rate among Nigerians living in Iran.

    He, however, said that a few Nigerians based in Afghanistan had been arrested by the Iranian authorities for alleged drug trafficking.

     

  • UK no longer safe for looters – Minister

    The United Kingdom, UK, would no longer be a safe heavens for looters of African resources and treasury, the UK Minister for Africa and Department For International Development, (DFID), Rt Hon Grant Shapps has said.

    Shapps said corruption, money laundering and culture of impunity have done incalculable damage to Africa development so much that the UK government has to protect the integrity of its financial system by exposing those who want to cart away the resources of the continent.

    Consequently Rt Hon Shapps said the UK government would provide all the necessary support for the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for taking the lead in fighting corruption in the continent.

    Rt Hon Shapps made the remarks Tuesday at Government House, Kaduna, at the launch of a 100 million pounds public sector accountability and governance programme initiated by the UK government to support Nigeria in its development agenda.

    “Corruption in Nigeria also affects the UK directly. Where we have evidence, we will continue to take action to protect the integrity of the UK’s financial system and prevent its use for money laundering purposes “, Rt Hon Shapps who was accompanied by top British Embassy officials including its High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Paul Arkwright said.

    He said the United Kingdom government was committed to assisting Nigeria in increasing its security, stability and prosperity by ensuring that the war against corruption which President Buhari is waging is given maximum support.

    He assured that the UK government would further assist in building Nigeria’s vital institutions to fight corruption and insecurity, stressing that no efforts would be spared in bringing punitive measures against those who are bent on carting away the nation’s wealth.

    Addressing the gathering which includes the representatives of Kano and Jigawa state governments, the Minister said: “Nigeria matters to the UK. The UK is fully committed to helping Nigeria increase its security, stability and prosperity. Tackling corruption is imperative to that. We share and support President Buhari’s stated commitment to rooting it out.

    “We will continue to provide capacity building and technical and investigative support to Nigeria to tackle corruption and are scaling up this support”, noting that

    “we have an opportunity now to develop a comprehensive partnership across these areas; I hope that we can work together to quickly drive this forward”.

    While stressing on the 100 million pounds Public sector accountability and governance programme support by the British government, Shapps said that the programme, “first is to build institutions that are accountable and able to meet citizens needs.”

    He also stated; “to enhance scrutiny of public expenditure through parliamentary oversight and citizen engagement to hold government to account; and thirdly, to increase evidence of what works and what does so officials and citizen can make informed decisions about government’s activities”.

    Shapps argued that; “to fight poverty you need lots of things . You need to end conflict. You need to make sure medicines and health workers are there. You need to ensure people have food. You need to ensure you have jobs”.

    “But for all these things to happen, you need to end corruption. You need to make sure that the money is used well. That public services reach citizens-including the poor. You need to ensure that you have an environment that allows businesses to invest their money and create jobs-without unnecessary red tape. You need public institutions that make it easy for citizens to access services without having to pay bribe”.

    The British Minister however noted that; “none of this can happen where corruption is allowed to thrive”, adding, “Corruption is bad for development, bad for poor people and bad for business”.

    “Corruption takes away public trust in public officials and government institutions. Corruption distorts competitive markets and lead to reallocation of resources. If not tackled, corruption on a grand scale, and those that practice it, will ultimately destroy Nigeria.”

    He pledged that the British government will continue to close collaboration with Nigerian authorities to ensure that the menace is eradicated, while insisting that “this programme will help government to open up and be more transparent.”

    Mr. Shapps further stressed that the British government will continue to expose those Nigerians that carted the nation’s resources away to its territory illegally as punitive measure will be taken against them.

    He said: “corruption in Nigeria also affects the UK directly. Where we have evidence, we will continue to take action to protect the integrity of the UK’s financial system and prevent its use for money laundering purposes.

    “We will continue to collaborate closely with Nigeria authorities on this. There will be no impunity on our side and we will take action fairly and promptly against anyone commitment criminal offences in areas under UK jurisdiction. Where assets are recovered, we will take them to Nigeria as soon as we can so they can be used for the proper benefit of Nigerian development.

    “We will ensure that British businesses operating in Nigeria do so in full compliance with the provisions of the OECD anti-bribery convention and the UK Bribery Act. We are committed to rigorous enforcement and expect the highest standards of business integrity from British business operation in Nigeria. This is the only right for good business but also should heal Nigerian business and authorities clean up their acts and meet the highest standards of business integrity.”

    In his remarks, Kaduna state Governor Malam Nasril El-Rufai lauded the British Minister and his entourage, saying that the coming of the Buhari’s government in Nigeria was a divine intervention to correct all the ills that had plagued the nation in the past.

    El-Rufai also commended the British Government for its role in ensuring a peaceful election in Nigeria, saying the present government in Nigeria would not let the international community down on the issues of development in the country.

  • And the looters’ trial begins

    The near empty national treasury that almost grounded the administration of President Buhari on assumption of office was one of the major factors that propelled him to go after looters in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Not only did he take the campaign to recover the loots to the international community, but he expressly solicited the support of the world leaders towards repatriation of the stolen funds.

    Such repatriation of the stolen fund will not end the case as Buhari also threatened to further prosecute anybody found wanting.

    But his appeal for assistance from the global community appeared not to be achieving the desired result until about a fothnight ago.

    Worried by the seemingly slow  support of the international community towards the stolen fund recovery, President Buhari  tasked the world leaders to do more on the stolen fund while speaking a fortnight ago at the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in the United States (US).

    “In particular, I call upon the global community to urgently redouble efforts towards strengthening the mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for proceeds of corruption and ensuring the return of stolen funds and assets to their countries of origin,” he told the world leaders.

    Barely four days after appealing to the world leaders to do more on the stolen funds at UNGA, some of the countries moved against some ministers in ex-President Jonathan’s administration.

    Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke was arrested alongside her brothers by the British authorities in London.

    As directors of Hadley Petroleum Solutions Limited, they are facing trial for alleged bribery and money laundering in London.

    Glad with the new development, President Buhari last Tuesday commended Britain and Switzerland for their efforts to assist Nigeria in recovering stolen funds.

    While receiving the new British High Commissioner, Mr. Paul Arkwright in Abuja, Buhari said: “Switzerland and Britain have been very helpful indeed in the recovery of our assets. But we must build on what we have started.

    “It is also important to send a signal to the elite that it is no longer business as usual. I personally appreciate the efforts of  Prime Minister David Cameron on this issue.

    “He has honoured his commitments to us. He promised to support our government to build a strong and dynamic economy and he has been faithful to his words,” he added

     

  • ‘I’ll not spare treasury looters’

    ‘I’ll not spare treasury looters’

    Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom spoke with reporters in Markudi, the state capital, on his achievement, the state’s amnesty programme, the bailout controversy and other issues. Correspondent Uja Emmanuel reports.

    What are the achievements of your administration in the last six months?

    I give glory to the Almighty God for where we are today. When I came in as governor of Benue State, I knew that we had a lot of challenges. The first thing I noticed was that the state was under siege and it was very disturbing. The state was insecure; people were being killed indiscriminately, people were being robbed, people were being kidnapped and I saw it as a very disturbing development. I decided, right from the day of my swearing-in, from 29th of May,  that the first thing that I had to do was to secure the state. I thought it wise, after due consultation with the Federal Government, I granted amnesty to all those youths who were having arms illegally. As a politician, I knew what transpired during elections. Our youths were armed to prosecute the election. Fortunately, because of the overwhelming support which I had from the Benue people, they were not able to execute their plans through violence, moreso that I refused to be part of any violent acts against the people of the state. The amnesty program yielded positive results. We succeeded in receiving over 400 different types of sophisticated weapons from these youths, more than 700 than of these youths came together  and surrendered to the amnesty. We just held a retreat for them and we are going to encourage them to go back to school while some will go back to vocation training schemes to acquire skills. Some will be incorporated into government security strategy as part of intelligence gathering so that we can secure the state further. We are excited that this has yielded positive result. They gave me their word that they will not go back to their old ways. That was one major achievement. The intention of government to ensure that the state is industrialised, to ensure the introduction of schemes that will promote micro, small, and medium enterprises, in ensuring that we attract investment into the state and to ensure that we encourage trading and commercial activities in the state cannot be realised without adequate security. Having confronted the challenge headlong, today we have been making contacts all over the world and several investors are flowing into the state with the intention of investing.

    What are other challenges?

    The other challenge was that I met a deficit treasury and it was worrisome because of debts. Well, government is a continuous process. So, we had to take up from there. After due consultations with stakeholders and the House of Assembly, we chose to borrow N10 billion to pay salaries and take on very critical responsibilities that needed urgent attention, that we did. We were able to dialogue with unions at the Benue State University (BSU), that was on strike and they accepted our commitment to them and they resumed and today our students are back to school and several of them have graduated.

    The other problem we had, which affected the entire state was the medical students from BSU. Since the inception of the College of Health Science about 12 years ago, they could not graduate due to non- accreditation of the school. This was one issue that we gave attention and brought in the management who put all the challenges together and we took it up and paid all the requirements that were needed to get the accreditation. We invited the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to come to Benue and the accreditation was done. Today, Benue State University has successfully graduated the first set of medical doctors in Benue, 27 of them. They are already doing their housemanship in BSU Teaching Hospital. There too, we needed to upgrade some facilities which we did and our students are doing their housemanship there in the Teaching Hospital.

    We had issues of pension arrears, salary arrears and all that. What we decided to, out of the N10 billion, we started paying arrears form May because we resumed on May 29 and so when we secured this N10 billion we started paying the arrears. Since then, for pensions we have not reneged, we have been paying pensions because most of the pensioners live on drugs. Pension at the state level alone is N394 million. At the local government level, it is N117 million every month. We have been paying because these are our mothers and fathers, we are not toying with them.

    The other issue was the school of Nursing and Midwifery in Makurdi. That is one institution whose graduates are working all over the world in Europe, America, Asia,etc. It is the only school that on graduation, appointment letters are waiting for you. We discovered that for the past three years, no administration was done because the accreditation had been withdrawn. When we came in we said we cannot allow this to continue in Benue State and so we swung into action and today if you go there, there is massive construction and renovation going on and we have set aside funds to ensure that we provide the equipment that are needed and as soon as the renovation is finished, we are going to invite the Council to come and re-accreditate the school and then our children will take off again.

    A lot of fraudulent activities were perpetrated by certain political leaders and civil servants. The payment is being coordinated because we have introduced a new system of payment, it’s e-payment. This will eliminate the issue of ghost workers and stop some of the indiscriminate recruitments that were making the salary wage bill to be very high. At the local government level today, teachers and other staff have a salary bill of N3.5 billion. At the state level when you put pensions, when you put overheads, when you put together salaries, salary is about N3 billion today, pension N394 million with overhead put together is over N4 billion. Last month which is October, the total money that we got at the local government level was N2 billion  with a deficit of over N1.5 billion. At the state level, total monies that we got was also N2 billion and so we had a deficit of N2 billion.

    But these are issues that we are discussing, we are transparent, nothing is hidden about us. I have said that the issue of bailout at the local government level is still having some outstanding and so it requires some clarification. We have set up a committee headed by the deputy governor and they are receiving complaints and dealing with them as they come. One thing is that I have seen several insinuations and blackmail from the opposition who are still dreaming that we are not transparent and that money have been moved here and there. No single kobo has been diverted. We promised the people that we will have zero tolerance for corruption and as far as we are concerned, all the resources meant for bailout are available and people can cross-check their facts. I have said that if you see that I am doing anything to short-change the state or any person working under me, blow the wistle. It is not their right to accuse people that they have diverted N3 billion, that they have diverted so many millions and so on. Bring those facts, we are ready to deal with anybody under this government including myself. If you have facts and figures, bring them out so that we can appreciate what you are saying.

    The issue of fighting corruption should not be limited to government circles alone. It should be total, the whole society should be involved. When you notice anything, it is your duty to bring it out, but bring facts and figures. If not people can go to court against you for telling lies. So we are very transparent and accountable. We still believe that anyone who is sincere to adding value to the development of the state should be frank and should work hard to support this government.

    We have also constituted the Benue State Internal Revenue Service board because this is one area that we need to look inwards. Today the oil prices have fallen, before we came in oil was sold for about $140, today it’s sold for $38, so it means we must look inwards and looking inwards is internally generated revenue. I have constituted the board. Very soon, we will come out with revenue blueprint that will help them.

    My government has zero tolerance for corruption. We are fighting hard and one other thing that I must mention is the setting up of the two panels. One, a judicial panel to verify the income and  expenditure from 2007 to 2015. This is a fact finding panel, it is meant to give us a picture of what transpired. As at today, we are still verifying certain debts that the state is owing.

    When we came in initially, we were given figures by the Ministry of Finance that we had a debt burden including salary arrears, pensions and gratuities and contractual obligations and so on to the tune of N90 billion. We set up a transition committee that was supposed to collaborate with the past government but the government later withdrew and so when we came in we told them to go ahead and verify some of these facts. They came up with a figure of over a N130 billion of commitments. Then arrears of gratuities and pensions put together amounted to N169 billion. Up to today, we are still verifying because people are still bringing up some government commitments and so on. This panel is meant to bring out facts because as Christians, we do not intend to witchhunt or blacklist anyone. So the panel is meant for people to go there and exonerate themselves but when you have issues you have to go there and respond to them and if possible apologise to the people of the state and make restitution. We are willing to forgive like we granted amnesty. Where you took government money wrongly, you must bring it back, there is no doubt about that. For people who say we have skeletons in our cupboard, don’t just say that, bring facts and figures. We are ready to face the people of Benue State who gave us their mandate popularly. We did not get it through the barrel of the gun or through intimidation and we are not intimidating anyone. Issues that concern me as a person I’ve forgiven all who worked against me; those who wanted to stop me, those who did all sorts of things against me I’ve forgiven them. But when it comes to the commonwealth of the people, I’m not willing to compromise.

    I want our people to know this because at the end of the day, once I get facts from these panels because it’s giving opportunity to those mentioned to come and clarify issues. Once I get this report, it is then that I can go to EFCC, ICPC or I can initiate independent prosecution against those who have taken government money.

    The second panel is about verification of government assets. There are several government assets in Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna and even in Benue Sate and  there are no records. We felt that government should have records of its own assets and that is why we constituted that panel and they are working. The former governor took us to court to stop these from operation but the court said we were right by setting up those panels and so their work is going on and I’m satisfied with what they’re doing. As soon as the reports are ready, I’ll show Benue people that this is where we are. We can decide on what to do next. I want to appreciate God for these six months, I know that the challenges are there.

    Are you saying the Benue State government has no hand in the recent arraignment of the former governor by the EFCC ?

    We have no hand in it. It’s very clear, he is being prosecuted for the N3.1 or N3.2 billion that was paid into a private account of a private Bureau De Change businessman who converted it to $15 million and gave him. We have not taken on any person, whatsoever, in the past government until we have the report of the judicial panel that we have set to verify these facts, because we do not want to witchhunt anyone or blackmail anyone for whatsoever reason, so we want facts. That is why I’m insisting that those whose names  have been mentioned should try and clarify this matter at the judicial panel because whatsoever they give us at the end of the day, those facts will be there and if we ask you to make refunds and you do not, we can now prosecute you.

    There are rumours that the bailout funds have pension money inside. Can you clarify that?

    This was a clear way of the opposition trying to distract government because the records are there. In the presentation that we gave to the Federal Government, initially it was the entire debt profile outside contractual agreements and projects. We presented a total request of N69 billion which comprised pensions, gratuities and also salary arrears for both state and local governments but the Federal government now said they had some limitations, so they granted N12.5 billion for the state to pay salary arrears and they granted N15.5 billion for local governments. When I say local government I’m talking of the teachers and other local government staff. That is what we have. There were no pension arrears that was on this but initially the detractors of this government went to say that we have collected the pension money. The pensioners also came and I took time to explain to them and they were satisfied. They prayed that God should bless me but that I should take their message to the President which I did and the President promised that he will look at it because he is a pensioner like them. He said he will look at their plight, he appreciated them and this is what we are working on and I’m sure if there is a way we will work that out.

  • Buhari: NNPC looters to face trial soon

    Buhari: NNPC looters to face trial soon

    Kachikwu: more heads to roll in oil giant

    Chinese to increase investment

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday sent a notice to corrupt Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) officials  – get set for trial.

    Buhari, who spoke in the United States; stressed the need to sanitise the oil industry and free it from shady deals.

    He said those responsible for the corruption in the oil giant firm will soon be prosecuted.

    The President spoke in New York during a meeting with President Xi Jinping of China on the sidelines of the 70th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN).

    He said the first step in this direction had already been taken, with the appointment of a new management for the NNPC and its subsequent reorganisation.

    The President did not indicate how soon the prosecution would start but many contracts entered into by the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration have been cancelled for being shady.

    Buhari praised President Xi for China’s assistance to Nigeria to curb the theft of crude oil.

    [ad id=”403656″]He applauded China’s interception of a shipload of crude oil stolen from Nigeria, which was to be sold and the proceeds paid into private accounts.

    “We know your stand on corruption and we are grateful. Your continued cooperation in curbing oil theft from Nigeria will be appreciated, ” he said.

    Buhari told his Chinese counterpart that under his leadership, the military had been re-trained and re-equipped and was making steady gains in the fight against Boko Haram.

    President Xi said China was involved in the development of Nigeria in diverse areas, such as construction of railways, airports, agriculture, and the Mambilla Hydro-power project, among others.

    He promised that China will increase its investment in Nigeria’s agricultural sector to boost food security.

    Xi also promised that his country will invest in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and assist in the development of human resources.

    More heads will roll in the NNPC as part of the ongoing transformation, Group Managing Director Dr Ibe Kachikwu said at the weekend.

    Kachikwu said: “I have introduced the three elements I call the three Ps – people, process and performance. The people aspect is very key. Individuals who are aged or affected in a wrong that impacted the corporation will obviously be let out. There is no business in the world for you to keep doing wrong things and keep progressing. The only way you can do that obviously is that your performance modelling and evaluation must be very strong.

    “Right now in the system, I will like to see our human resources department doing a better job of evaluating people’s performance every year. Salary increase will be done for those who scale the hurdle. One of the things I have started doing is that we will be doing a weekly report card. The report card takes an issue every week and basically televised out to every staff and it runs on their television, which will be the first thing to turn on to see every Monday.  It will happen every week from now till December and we are dealing with all manner of issues-  from performance to behavioural norms, to where we are headed.”

    The NNPC chief said the idea was to carry everybody along because “in doing such a restructuring, you ensure everyone is able to determine one’s performance, and in doing so, people will know when they lost their tab”.

    Kachikwu also stated that as part of the transparency efforts, he would bring back the auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCooper, that just partially audited the NNPC to conduct a full audit. He said: “The other aspect of transparency is how we deal with the accounting issues. We are doing a couple of things in this direction. First we are bringing back the auditors who gave the partial audit to come and do a full audit.

    “The issue is that they didn’t get all the data, and we will give them all the data this time. I need to know the true state of all the finances of the corporation and statement of funds up to this day. Our accounts and finances were last audited in 2010. They would be audited and drawn currently to 2015, that is something I hope I will achieve before December.

    “What we know is that whether the account or performance is good or bad is secondary. But at least we know what the state gets and know what it is you want to work on. We are doing that and the President is very supportive of that.”

    Kachikwu noted that through the contracts that he cancelled and replaced with new models, including the delivery of crude oil to the refineries, the Offshore Processing Agreements (OPA) and the crude, for – product exchange agreement (SWAP), he has been able to save an average of over $150 million a month for the nation.

  • Case for special courts for looters

    The Federal Government’s seeming recharged firing at corruption, without instituting corresponding special court of speedy trial of identified offenders, is unlikely to hit the magnificent bull’s eye. The increasingly multiplying number of pending cases, including cases of corruption, at the law courts makes nonsense of the country’s system of administration of justice. The essence of the law and its administration is to ensure stability, peace and harmony in a society. In today’s Nigeria, however, these advantages of justice have rapidly peeled away in slow dispensation of justice. And Nigerians are fast losing confidence in the judiciary, and growingly resorting to jungle justice – a sure path to anarchy.

    A number of cases of corruption against politicians have remained pending ad infinitum at the law courts, or remained untried as long as the relevant politicians remained alive, and Nigerians have learnt to treat such cases as forgotten pieces of history. Extraordinary offences call for extraordinary measures. Here lies the justification for existence of special courts or tribunals in Nigeria and elsewhere that claim to be governed by the rule of law. Rightly, today’s democratic Nigeria still retains a number of special courts, including the Armed Robbery Tribunal, the Anti-Corruption Commission, established by the corrupt practices and other related offences Act (2000), and Fast Track Courts, established in 2007 to try and conclude commercial cases “within six months of the date of filing the case”. The existence of special courts or tribunals will not be an excrescence on our judiciary system. In addition to armed robbery, mounting illicit wealth of politicians and incidences of Advance Fee Frauds, commonly known as “419”, there are cases of internet frauds and fraudulent property speculators and sellers, and several other cases. Special courts should exist to handle extraordinary offences and ensure speedy justice in such matters.

    Contrarily, some argue that the existence of special courts is not the solution to the delayed justice that characterizes ordinary law courts. They point to the dismal, sluggish performance of the election tribunals in the restored democracy. Delivery of verdicts by the tribunals on a number of petitions was so delayed that certain petitioners who eventually won their cases enjoyed abridged justice, and as a result lost considerable portion of their constitutional tenure. Indeed, almost four years after the 2003 elections, a number of election petitions were not really disposed of. The petitioners had withdrawn from the litigations after calculating that even if they won, there was negligible justice left for them to enjoy. One sensible argument against the existence of tribunals or special courts is that it is a violation of the rule of law, which demands that the same ordinary court of law that tries a farmer for stealing a hoe should try a tycoon for defrauding a bank or a political leader for looting the public treasury. Again, they say, special courts are not ruled by normal laws, and in some cases, too, the extraordinary laws are not administered by professional judges.

    By the way special tribunals were composed, constituted and administered in the stretched military rule, Nigerians are bound to perceive them as all-round evil, intolerable in a democracy. However, there is hardly anything fundamentally wrong with tribunals or special courts, if the laws in the tribunals are administered by professional judges, and persons convicted by tribunals granted the right of appeal. The denial of right of appeal in the initial provisions of the Civil Disturbances (Special Tribunal) Decree 2 of 1987 came under severe criticism in 1995 when nine Ogoni men were executed after their conviction for murder by the tribunal. The decree was amended the following year, 1996, to grant the right of appeal to persons convicted by the tribunal and to remove military personnel from membership of the tribunal.

    The right of appeal is sine qua non in dispensation of justice. As Thomas Jefferson, the great constitutional lawyer and a former US president succinctly put it: “The sword of law should never fall but on those whose guilt is so apparent as to be pronounced by their friends as well as foes.” The removal of armed forces personnel from sitting on the special tribunals is in line with the demand of the rule of law that the laws of the land must be administered by a known and impartial judge.

    Let there be special court for looters of public treasury as there is special court for “419” cases. Let there remain special court for bank and other financial offences as there has remained armed robbery tribunal. Let there be miscellaneous offences tribunal to try miscreants who tamper with PHCN and NNPC equipment. Let there be other workable special courts, provided each of them is properly constituted and the laws there administered by competent judges, and the convicted granted right of appeal.

    It is always a serious mistake to believe that world democracies, including Britain, regarded as the mother of the rule of law, totally abhor special courts, and are ruled by law alone. It has not been so, not just because of the special courts’ advantages of specialization in cases they handle and their speedy delivery of judgments in such cases. The over-riding point is that certain developments today compel the existence of special courts as part and parcel of modern democratic governance.

    It is wrong to assume, as Prof. A.V. Dicey, who propounded the theory of the rule of law, assumed, that Englishmen are ruled by the law and only the law. The conventions play an important part in the British constitution, and many conventions are never enforced by law. Another point is that the British parliament is supreme over the law, in the sense that parliament can over-rule the decision of the judges if it does not agree with it. Besides, the growth of delegated legislation, the right to legislate granted to others by parliament, and administrative jurisdiction undermines the theory of the rule of law. For instance, a Briton who feels wronged by his local council goes to the appropriate ministry, and not to the law court, to seek redress.

    However, special courts as they exist in Nigeria today appear to be restricted to criminal matters, and this gives the false impression that only private citizens commit offences. Special courts should be extended to include administrative courts, which should try public officers for some acts that they have committed in their official capacities against the private citizen.

    In essence, Nigeria should adopt a model of the French system of administrative law and the administrative courts. Under the French Legal System since the time of Napoleon 1, a clear distinction exists between administrative law and the general law of the country. Administrative law deals with the state, the public service etc. in their relationship with the ordinary citizen. If a citizen feels aggrieved as a result of any act of omission or commission by a public authority, he can thus initiate an action in the administrative courts.

    If, for instance, such courts exist in Nigeria, citizens whose houses or shops were erected with officially approved plans but were demolished on the orders of a governor, minister or council chairman, will take such public officer to the administrative court. Likewise, a minister who denies a politician or a political party access to a public-owned media like the television, radio or newspaper, or invokes a non-existing law to shut a media house will equally be taken to the relevant tribunal for trial and sentencing.

    If Nigeria has a Federal Character Commission, it should also have a federal character court; if it has unity schools, it should also have unity schools court, and so on. There is a strong case for the adoption of a system of administrative law in Nigeria and other countries, including Britain, which do not have it.

    However, one major problem in adapting it in Nigeria is the problem of getting enough judges and lawyers specialized in the relevant laws. Administrative law is a definitely specialized branch of law, and, if judges and lawyers specialize in it, it is reasonable to expect fairer and more enlightened handling of administrative cases while the special powers enjoyed by the administrative courts enable them to act decisively in cases where they find an abuse of power on the part of public authority. The same also goes with other special courts.

    • Ubabukoh writes from johnifeanyiu@yahoo.com