The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ONSA

  • EFCC to amend Bello’s charges after fresh discovery

    EFCC to amend Bello’s charges after fresh discovery

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is planning to amend a four-count charge on which a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Haliru Mohammed Bello and his son, Abba, are currently being tried after discovering a separate N300 million lodgment in their company’s account.

    Bello, his son, and their firm – BAM Project and Property Limited were arraigned on charges of money laundering relating to the N300 million they allegedly received from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

    At the continuation of proceedings on Tuesday, a prosecution witness, Rouqayyat Ibrahim, resumed her testimony and disclosed that investigation has further revealed that Bello received another N300 million from ONSA in two tranches of N150 million each.

    She said the two transactions which were allegedly carried out on February 27, 2015 were not captured in the four charges filed against the accused persons.

    Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi  Jacobs (SAN), Ibrahim said the newly discovered N300 million was transferred to BAM Project and Properties Limited  from the account of Jabbamer Ada Global Services Limited on the instruction of the then Minister for State for Finance,  Bashir Yuguda.

    She said before the discovery of the N300 million payment, Jabbamer was under investigation for receiving N1.5 billion from ONSA.

    “The analysis of the statement of account of BAM Project with Sterling Bank revealed that the account received a total of N300 million in two tranches of N150 million each on February 27, 2015. On that day (February 27, 2015), transfers of N150 million and another N150 million were made into the account of BAM Projects with Sterling Bank.

    “Before then, we already investigated Jabbamer Ada Global Services Limited on a different matter. We discovered that Jabbamer Ada Global Services Limited was a bureau de change firm and that the company received payments of a little over N1.5 billion from ONSA. The company also received payments from the Nigerian Air Force and the Accountant General of the Federation’s office and several other sources,” she stated.

     

  • ONSA conducts counter- terrorism exercise

    The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on Tuesday carried out a simulation exercise on counter terrorism in Abuja.

    The exercise which was developed by ONSA is aimed at testing the country’s response to new strategies adopted by insurgents to attack soft targets.

    The Deputy Director, Presidential Communication, Command and Control Centre, ONSA, Mr. Shehu Saidu said this at a press briefing to flag off the exercise in Abuja.

    He said the exercise code named: “Daukin Gagawa” meaning rapid response, is the simulation of a terrorist attack on soft targets using pyrotechnic Improvised Explosive Devices and blank ammunition to measure the swift response by all agencies involved in crisis management and counter-terrorism.

    “You will recall that this is the new trend of terrorism worldwide.  You saw it in France, Ouagadougou, Bamako and other places. This exercise is organized by the Office of the National Security Adviser to practice the synergy of effort between the security agencies and the cooperation therein expected of them during such crisis,” he said.

    Saidu said at the end of the simulation exercise, the stakeholders would evaluate the efficiency of the doctrine for amendment or retooling.

    He urged members of the public not to panic during the simulation exercise, which was designed for their protection and safety.

     

     

  • How Metuh’s firm, 77 others got N1.4b for fictitious contracts – Witness

    How Metuh’s firm, 77 others got N1.4b for fictitious contracts – Witness

    A Federal High Court in Abuja heard on Tuesday how the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) paid N1.4billion to 78 firms including Destral Investment Limited owned by the spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, non-existing contracts.

    The information is contained in a document – an electronic mandate – tendered before the court by the prosecution in the trial of Metuh before Justice Okon Abang.

    The document, tendered through an official of the ONSA, Bali Ndam, was said to have been issued by former NSA, Sambo Dasuki, to the Abuja branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, authorizing payment of various sums of money running into N1.4billion.

    “What is written on the document is payment for security services,” Ndam, a Legal Adviser at the ONSA, said while testifying in the case. Ndam was led in evidence by lead prosecution lawyer, Sylvanus Tahir.

    Although the prosecution accused Metuh of receiving N400million from the ONSA for the presidential campaign of the PDP, Ndam, when confronted with the document by Metuh’s lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), read out the document, where it stated that the ONSA paid Metuh for providing “three operational vehicles.”

    Ndam, who testified as the third prosecution witness, said investigation into the arms scandal was informed by a petition from the incumbent NSA, Babagana Monguno, dated November 28, 2015.

     

  • First Draft: A Manual for these times

    First Draft: A Manual for these times

    Two weeks into the year, chances are that 13 per cent of those who made solemn resolutions of the ameliorative kind will have defaulted or given up altogether.

    If you belong in this group, do not despair. Your ranks will swell and swell, and by year’s end, encompass the vast majority–90 per cent, according those who keep such records—of all those who made New Year resolutions.

    And then, it will be time for another round of resolutions.

    Making a vow at a stroke past midnight on December 31 gives it an extra snap.  The person behind the vow is saying that he or she is set to forsake the old habits of the year that has passed irretrievably and to embrace new, better, healthier, and altogether more agreeable habits.

    But you need not wait until a minute past midnight on December 31 before entering into new vows.  You can make your resolution on a whim, on the spur of the moment any day of the week or month of the year, and it would not be a whit less significant than a New Year resolution.

    It may help, but you need not wait for one year to flow seamlessly into another before you resolve to give up smoking, a lifestyle change that is far less difficult than is generally supposed.

    Ask Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known to the world as Mark Twain.

    “Giving up smoking is easy,” the great writer declared.   “I have done it a thousand times.”  Maybe you have, too, with respect to drinking.  I certainly have found losing weight and giving up procrastination exceedingly easy, because I have done both at least a thousand times.

    With regard to giving up procrastination, I have been greatly assisted by the musings of the English writer Jerome K Jerome, who said he loved work so much that he always made sure he saved some for the next day.  Plus, you can always bask in the conceit, as many of us in the league of procrastinators do, that some of our best work comes from having our backs to the wall.

    Dasukigate has gone down as a benchmark in the annals of sleaze even before its dimensions  are revealed in full.  Not surprisingly, some well-connected sources tell me, it has spawned a raft of resolutions among the attentive audience, especially among members of the political and mercantile classes implicated in its breath-taking depredations.

    What follows is a summary of binding resolutions passed unanimously at emergency caucuses of the attentive audiences, aforementioned.  I see it as the first draft of a Manual for these times.

    At one caucus, all present and voting solemnly resolved, individually and collectively, never to treat voluntarily or involuntarily with the Office of the National Security Adviser, but to report to the appropriate authorities any invitation from that Office or any of its agents to discuss any issue whatsoever, and to seek a perpetual injunction barring that Office or any of its functionaries from inviting any member of the caucus, their relation or servant for any purpose whatsoever.

    At another caucus, all present and participating resolved firmly and irrevocably to run away as fast as their legs can carry them from any place, forum or institution where “obtaining” is going on or rumoured to be going on, and to proceed therefrom to report the matter to the nearest magistrate.  For the avoidance of doubt, the caucus pledged to subject to the same treatment any place or forum or institution that has the potential to cater to obtainers, however slight.

    At yet another caucus, it was unanimously resolved that if the usual people were to bring in a sack of money, it would be dead on arrival unless it came with forensic evidence of its source.  And that is just for a start.   Other questions will follow.  What is it meant for? How much is in there, and in what currencies?  Why was it brought there, and not sent to another forum?

    The caucus will insist on detailed and precise instructions on disbursement, who gets how much, and for what purpose.  If the caucus is satisfied that the money is from a legitimate source and is designed to be spent for a legitimate purpose, it will ask the courier to take the sack away and bring it back at an appointed date.

    On that day, with all those named on the distribution list present, the money will be shared out. Each taker will issue a receipt.  The caucus will keep the originals and send copies through the courier to the source.

    Another caucus laid down strict guidelines for any public official desirous of staging a reception in honour of its members.  The host will be required to swear to an affidavit stating how much will be spent on the event, and where the money is coming from, plus a detailed account of the foods to be provided and the cost per serving, the year the wines on offer were bottled, the cost of each sip, and the average number of sips per bottle.

    These measures, the caucus says, are designed to pre-empt a situation in which, long after the event, the guest is informed that the four-course meal at the banquet added up to $100 per serving, and that each sip of the vintage wine was worth $100, and that the hosts expected the beneficiary and his crowd to do the needful.

    Yet another caucus resolved that if any government agency wants to profit from the expertise of its members, it must furnish a letter of interest spelling out the exact nature of the expertise, what it is required for, and how it will be applied.  And it will accept no payment outside the agreed terms, which will have been duly certified as reasonable by the appropriate agency.

    The caucus says its members will not allow themselves to be flattered into believing that their “advice,” however recondite its basis and however efficacious, is in monetary terms worth more than the combined annual pay of 200 university professors.

    Another caucus has solemnly resolved that if any of its members found some footloose money in his or her account, whether it is N400 million or even N4, the person should raise the alarm, demand to know how it landed there, when, through whom, and in respect of what transaction.

    The culture of “donations” came up at a meeting of another caucus.  The members resolved never to solicit or accept any donation from any ministry, department or agency for any cause whatsoever, persuaded that the fear of donations from officialdom is the beginning of political wisdom.   Any donation made in a public cause despite this declaration will be publicly acknowledged and maintained in proper custody, the caucus emphasised.

    It remains to conclude this interim report with related developments in the spiritual sphere.  Members attending this particular caucus noted that while some among them possess the gift of prophecy and can work miracles with prayer, they will no longer demand or accept a “spiritual allowance” or prayer money for their intercession.  Otherwise, they say, the whole thing will become indistinguishable from charlatanism.

    That resolve is laudable indeed, considering that charlatanism sells big-time in Nigeria.

  • Dasukigate and controversial media payments

    Of all the fiery elements of Dasukigate, the scandalous arms deal and financial bazaar superintended but not necessarily wholly inspired by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), three controversial payments concerned the media and have fuelled animated discussions all over the country, some of them sensible, but most misplaced, confused and emotional. The arithmetic of the arms deal and slush funds payments is still being worked out, and no single, final sum has yet been produced. But as far as the media is concerned, three payments stick out like a sore thumb.

    The first, over N2bn, was made out in favour of chairman emeritus of Africa Independent Television (AIT), Raymond Dokpesi, ostensibly for publicity of indeterminate scope. The second, over N500m, was made out in favour of Nduka Obaigbena, publisher of ThisDay newspaper, ostensibly to compensate him for the damage done by Boko Haram to the ThisDay office in Abuja in 2012. The third, some N120m, was meant for media houses whose operations were disrupted by the army in 2014, but channeled through the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and Mr Obaigbena in particular. The Nation newspaper bore the brunt of that attack and disruption.

    It is pointless debating the payments to leaders of the then ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whether the funds were meant for politics, to buy consciences, or to appease or settle militants. For the purpose of this piece, the main focus will be the payments to media proprietors and media houses, in particular the latter. Both Chief Dokpesi and Mr. Obaigbena insist the sizable payments made to them were perfectly legitimate. Few believe them.  Indeed, their long-suffering media establishments will be shocked and embarrassed by the size of the payments. In addition to the general controversy regarding how the NSA became the former ruling party’s and the ex-president’s bursar, not to talk of the needless and infinite distractions the money and the payments constituted to the onerous work of the security adviser, questions have been asked about the processes as well as the objectives of the payments.

    Both Chief Dokpesi and Mr Obaigbena cannot plausibly argue that the payments did not influence their editorial judgements. The AIT was unabashedly pro-PDP, going in many instances beyond the bounds of propriety and decency to malign the reputation of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan’s opponents and impugning their character. The television station broadcast scurrilous campaigns with enthusiasm and reckless abandon. However, the television station retained the right to support  whomsoever it wishes, but given the huge payments involved, critics suggest that its editorial decision was consequently no longer independently made, contrary to the ethics of the profession. Chief Dokpesi will find it hard, if not impossible, to absolve himself of blame.

    Media watchers noticed that before and during the campaigns, ThisDay was also unapologetic about its support for the PDP and Dr Jonathan. It is suggested that that choice was also influenced not by altruistic reasons but by pecuniary considerations. There is nothing wrong with being partisan, or if not partisan, at least supporting a party for ideological or certain other reasons. What is reprehensible theoretically is how the decision to support one against the other is reached, whether by logic and reason, or by financial inducement. The onus is on both Chief Dokpesi and Mr. Obaigbena to prove they were not induced to flagrantly breach media ethics. First impression, however, suggests they compromised.

    Questions have also been asked, in the case of Mr. Obaigbena, how without a contract he was able to get over half a billion naira in payments. He has suggested that the federal government’s needless rescue of the United Nations, whose Abuja building was partially destroyed by Boko Haram, set a precedence for the payment he asked for and received from the Jonathan government. He is not persuasive. But by far the most damning piece of evidence was the N120m paid to harassed media houses through Mr. Obaigbena’s personal company rather than through NPAN.

    Consequently, what should have been a perfectly legitimate transaction between two parties seeking non-litigious way out of a dispute became embroiled in controversy. Indeed, the discussions have become so obfuscated that extraneous matters are creeping in and wholly misdirected and illogical inferences are being drawn. First, it is suggested that it was immoral of the affected newspapers to have collected any payment whatsoever from the government, and that anything outside of a transparent court process would be open to subversion or corruption of media ethics. This is pure nonsense. In the first instance, out-of-court settlements are a part of Nigeria’s jurisprudence. In fact, far better is alternative dispute resolution than a costly and time-consuming court process.

    Two, it is also suggested that it was immoral to collect payment from funds set aside to buy arms or prosecute counterinsurgency. But how on earth were media houses to know the sources of the payments they were beneficiaries of? Is it not silly to query sources of payments from a government? Indeed, is it not foolish and paralysing to question the account from which a company is making a payment after a transaction had been sealed? Critics are simply being wise after the fact. Some media houses had a dispute with the federal government, a settlement was reached outside of court, and payments made. It is foolish to worry about where the government is sourcing the money. Media houses which preferred to go to court were free to do so; and those which opted to settle out of court were also free to. None is ethically superior to the other. It is strange to begin to draw ethical lessons from exercising one’s lawful options.

    It is also suggested that now that it is evident the federal government’s payment was made through a disputed and inappropriate account, the beneficiaries should return the money and apologise to the military, especially the dead who lost their lives in operations against Boko Haram due to poor equipment. This is another sentimental buncombe. Let the government initiate moves to reclaim the money paid to the affected media houses; and let the media houses in turn sue the government for the full value of the disruptions to their operations. If the current government can’t draw a line in its anti-corruption war, then let them insist on full judicial processes and be prepared for huge judgement debts.

    The Nation newspaper was a part of the settlement midwifed by NPAN. It collected nine million naira. It should not apologise, for it neither did anything wrong nor influenced or exploited Mr Obaigbena’s unorthodox financial dealings. Of the few newspapers that opposed the Jonathan government and fought its predatory habits, none was as vehement as this newspaper, wholly on ideological and principled grounds. This was why it bore the brunt of the military’s clampdown on newspapers. Anyone who thinks this newspaper’s soul was bought with nine million naira must have contempt for this newspaper and what they think it is worth, and must also suffer from amnesia, choosing to forget the unrivalled role this paper played in the defeat suffered by Dr Jonathan and the victory the APC and President Buhari achieved early this year.