The Nation Newspaper

Tag: probe

  • Four-man panel to probe how NNPC blew N3.8tr

    Four-man panel to probe how NNPC blew N3.8tr

    Excess crude cash depleted by $2.1m

    Buhari: revenues must for treasury

    How did theNigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) spend  N3.8 trillion in three years?

    This is the puzzle a four-man committee has been asked to resolve.

    The four “wise men” are: Governors Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) and Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna).

    Oshiomhole yesterday broke the news to State House correspondents after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He was accompanied by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari, Kaduna State El-Rufai and Emmanuel.

    According to him, from the reports presented to NEC by NNPC and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation on Monday, N8.1 trillion generated from oil sales during the period ought to have been remitted to the Federation account.

    Only N4.3 trillion was remitted to the Federation Account by NNPC, Oshiomhole said.

    He also disclosed that former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spent $2.1 billion from the Excess Crude Account without approval between November last year and May 2015.

    His words: “This is the first time we had a National Economic Council meeting in which under the instructions of the President, NNPC and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation were compelled to provide information in black and white on issues as they relate to the total sales of Nigeria crude from 2012 to May 2015. This has never happened before and for us this is profound.

    “What we saw from those numbers, which I believe Nigerians are entitled to know, is that whereas the NNPC claimed to have earned about N8.1 trillion, what NNPC paid into the Federation Account between 2012 and May 2015 was N4.3 trillion and NNPC withheld and spent N3.8 trillion.

    “We are talking about transparency, we are talking about change. And what we saw from those numbers – I believe that Nigerians are entitled to know – is that whereas the NNPC claimed to have earned N8.1 trillion, what NNPC paid into the federation acount from 2012 to May 2015 was N4.3 trillion.”

    “What it means is that NNPC withheld and spent N3.8 trillion. The major revelation here is that the entire federation — the federal government, the states and all the 774 local governments— the amount the NNPC paid into the federation account for distribution to these three tiers of government came to N4.3 trillion and NNPC alone took and spent N3.8 trillion.”

    He added: “Which means the cost of running NNPC is much more than the cost of running the Federal Government. That tells you how much is missing, what is mismanaged, what is stolen; these are huge figures.

    “We need to earn and spend; it is basic law of accounting that even if you run a cigarette shop where you sell Three-Rings, you don’t sell and spend. You sell, take to your bank account, and you budget for your procurement including cost of running your business.

    “There is no enterprise manager who goes to the market and sells and just begins to spend, otherwise nobody needs to budget. And because you are running a democracy and you are running three tiers of government,  and the resources involved belong to these three tiers of government, the only lawful way decreed by the constitution, this is not an administrative regulation; it is not a policy derivable from a circular; this is from the express letter and spirit of the Nigerian Constitution as amended that for example if NNPC needs to spend money, it is obliged to prepare its budget’ like every other business enterprise, that budget will be scrutinised by the executive and forwarded to the National Assembly and the National Assembly will accordingly appropriate it.”

    He faulted the NNPC for spending without appropriation.

    He said: “If the Federal Government cannot spend without appropriation, why should any agency spend without appropriation? NIMASA, for example, whatever they earned they are supposed to pay into the federation account and also present the budget of their requirement.

    “This is what the constitution provides for. And this is what President Buhari has promised to do that henceforth all monies must go to the Federation Account. What you need, you budget for. Nigeria cannot continue with you-earn-the-money-and-spend it. Where is transparency? Where is the role of the National Assembly?”

    “So, if you were doing that you won’t have a situation where the NNPC alone will spend N3.8 trillion and remit to the federal, states and local governments N4.3 trillion which means NNPC is taking about 47 per cent and that explains all the leakages you are talking about.”

    Oshiomhole went on: “Let us also be clear; nobody says that parastatals should not spend money but they must return to budgetting. There is no major player, there is no major registered private company that will spend money without a budget. Even a private company you will have your board of directors looking at your revenue, total sales, your turnover, your personnel cost, running cost, visible and invisible and you have the budget for the year that is how every sensible business runs.

    “That is the way it was when President Buhari was Minister of Petroleum, so we are not reinventing the wheel; that is the way it used to be and that is the way the constitution says it should be.”

    On the money spent by Dr. Okonjo-Iweala from the Excess Crude Account, Oshiomhole said that the Accountant General’s Office reported to NEC that the balance in the account as at the end of May was $2.1 billion instead of $4.1 billion left in the account in November, 2014.

    He said: “We looked at the numbers for the Excess Crude Account, the last time the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy reported to the Council and it is in the minutes, she reported by November 2014, that we had $4.1 billion but today the Accountant General Office reported we have $2.0 billion, which means the Honourable Minister spent $2.1billion without authority of the NEC.

    “And that money was not distributed to states it was not paid to the three tiers of government. This is why the NEC has set up a panel to look at what accrued, what it was spent on, when and by whom, so that Nigerians will have the full picture of all the transactions as regards the much talked about excess crude.”

    Yari said NEC constituted a four-man panel  to examine the accounts.

    He said: “The 58th NEC? received the briefing from the director of funds where the state of the economy has been discussed thoroughly. We have gotten the report from the excess crude; what is there and what is not there. And also the Council got the briefing on the unremitted funds by NNPC.

    On that line, a four-man committee – Edo, Gombe, Kaduna Akwa Ibom  – was constituted to go through the books of NNPC and Excess Crude as well as the Federation Account.”

    “The four-man committee will check the books of NNPC, most especially the issue of excess crude and what is not remitted into the Federation Account.”

    “The Federal Government, in conjunction with the CBN, will look inwards to see how to support, how much they will give to states especially in the issue of outstanding salaries owed by the states and even the Federal Government.” he said

    El-Rufai disclosed that the Excess Crude Account was started by former President Olusegun Obasanjo around 2004-2005 as an administrative arrangement to save for the rainy day.

    He said: “And it was meant to have very clear accountability, such that every state and local government, in a particular state, knows their balance in the Excess Crude Account, though you can’t spend it but you know how much of it is yours. That was the arrangement.

    “And in those days, before we spend any money from the Excess Crude Account, the federal and states governments will meet and agree. That is how we agreed to build the seven power stations which is NIPP today; it was from Excess Crude Account. And also met and agreed to build the Lagos – Kano Standard Guage Rail Line from the Excess Crude Account.

    “But what we have seen, in the last few months or years is that the Excess Crude Account was operated unilaterally by the federal government; drawings were made unilaterally without consulting those that actually own the money because the Excess Crude Account is 52 percent owned by the Federal Government and 48 by the states and Local Governments.

    “So the decision of the NEC is to set up this committee  of four to look at the operations of the Excess Crude Account and make recommendation to council on its future.

    “The other thing the committee will do is to look at the operations of the Federation Account, particularly the shortfall and again come back to council with very clear recommendations as to what to do.”

    “We have not been given a time-frame but as you can imagine state governments are under pressure. Many of our state governments are unable to pay salaries on time without recourse to borrowing, so this is very important to us. This is an all-governors committee, we wear the shoes we know where it pinches. So, we are are going to do this as quickly as possible.

    “The  next meeting of the council is on July 23rd, we hope to complete our work and be in position to report to council on that day. So, within the next one month we will be done by God’s grace,” El-Rufai said.

  • Nigerians in Zambia to Buhari: probe ambassador

    •Envoy: I’m innocent of allegations

    Nigeria’s Ambassador to Zambia, Mrs Umaru Sifawu Momoh, has come under attack  from Nigerians living in the Southern Afican country. The Nigerians, under the aegis of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Zambia chapter, accused her of financial recklessness and abuse of office.

    The group, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Mr Alaba Adetayo and Secretary, Mr Joseph Ibekwe, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the ambassador who they described as a ‘national embarrassment  to the country.

    They expressed readiness to provide facts and figures if an investigation panel was set up by the President.

    But, Mrs Momoh denied the allegations, claiming that it was pure blackmail.

    She said: “I believe the group is being used by some elements to destroy my image. You know when you are a politician, some will want to find excuses to remove you from office and put someone there.

    “The same Mr Adetayo, who is claiming to be the chairman of NIDO has been asked to resign by the Nigerian community in Zambia because he has been in this position for a long time. I can give you some numbers of Nigerians here to confirm.”

    NIDO’s statement reads: “It is on record that she collected fifty thousand dollars  from the accountant without accounting for it. She sank a bore hole with the sum of One hundred and eight thousand kwacha which is equivalent to $1650, something that cannot be more than $1500.

    “She collected money to buy new tires but ended up claiming she bought second hands, which she did not even buy but came up with prices that were far more higher than the new ones. This we consider as not being part of her duty. She claimed to have bought a car, while in reality she over inflated the price of one car to buy two, the other she did sell. She uses incompetent contractors who do shoddy jobs with exorbitant cost because she never cares about a good job.”

    The group also alleged that Mrs. Momoh used government money to fly more than 18 musicians to Nigeria for her daughter’s wedding.

    But Mrs. Momoh said: “I am on salary and my daughter can marry anywhere anytime.

    “How will I collect money from the accountant without making use of it judiciously? We have accountant and auditors at the commission to testify to these facts. The records are there. I did not sink any borehole and all these allegations are new. I can only approve capital projects. I do not carry out capital projects on my own.”

    NIDO accused her of banning its members from meeting at the embassy’s premises.

    NIDO said: “She grudgingly paid after several weeks and then threatened to ban us from having our meetings at the Chancery Hall of the embassy; we made it known to her that it is not possible, that we have been there for more than twenty years. She later wrote to Abuja on the flimsy excuse that we were fighting.”

    Mrs Momoh said she only stopped their meetings at the embassy due to security reasons.

  • Wike’s probe is to witch-hunt me, says Amaechi

    Wike’s probe is to witch-hunt me, says Amaechi

    •‘I won’t waste my energy on Ikuru’ 

    Former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has said the “probe” of his administration by his successor, Nyesom Wike, is a sham, a fraudulent witch-hunt meant to deceive the public.

    In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by his former media officer, David Iyofor, the former governor said Wike intended to use the probe to tarnish his image and grab media headlines with his “concocted bogus stories of Amaechi’s alleged corrupt activities”.

    The former governor also took a swipe at his former deputy, Tele Ikuru, following his claims that the Amaechi administration was the most corrupt in the state.

    Ikuru was deputy to Amaechi’s predecessor, Sir Celestine Omehia, for five months, before the administration was sacked by the Supreme Court on October 25, 2007.

    Amaechi was inaugurated as governor the next day and retained Ikuru as his deputy, despite massive protests.

    Ikuru resigned his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) about a week to the March 28 presidential election and teamed up with Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to fight his former boss and benefactor.

    The statement reads: “This so-called Wike’s probe of Amaechi is dead on arrival. All the noise Wike is making is to grab media headlines with his lies of monumental corruption against Amaechi. It’s all drama made for the media. What is playing out is a script written and directed by Nyesom Wike. Wike should move to Nollywood where his devious skills would probably be useful.

    “Even while inaugurating his yeoman commission of enquiry, Wike could not conceal his vendetta agenda. He was clear to the panel members that their job is to indict Amaechi.

    “While it’s no longer in doubt what would be the report of Wike’s sham probe commission, what may shock Nigerians is the extent Wike has gone and is ready to go to manufacture stories of corrupt practices, and the kind of bogus tales of corruption against Amaechi that he will soon be feeding the nation with.

    “We are aware that even the Chairman of his commission of enquiry was shocked and protested when Wike gave him the litany of phony claims of corruption against Amaechi that the chairman would write in the panel’s report. But Wike had assured him not to worry that he had since been working towards arriving at that conclusion and he would provide the commission with all the (fake) evidence needed to arrive at that report.”

  • Buhari to probe Jonathan’s $9.7m failed arms contract

    Buhari to probe Jonathan’s $9.7m failed arms contract

    President: I’ll kill corruption

    What actually went wrong with the $9.7m arms deal? Why was the cash flown to South Africa from Nigeria?Was the money, which South Africa impounded, actually meant for arms purchase?

    These are some of the questions which will soon be answered.

    President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to probe the Goodluck Jonathan administration’s deal.

    He is to  take up the issue with President Jacob Zuma.

    The cash was seized by South African security men last September as it was being transferred into their country on a private jet by agents of the Federal Government.

    Former President Jonathan’s government claimed that the money was mearnt to puchase arms from private companies in South Africa.

    According to the government, Nigeria resorted to private puchase of arms to fight Boko Haram because the United States declined to sell arms to the country, in addition to persuading its allies not to allow sale of arms and ammunition to the country.

    But eyebrows were raised about the manner the money was taken to South Africa.

    “I will attempt to ask him (President Zuma) about our $9.7 million which was not correctly transferred,” Buhari told Nigerians in South Africa during a meeting with them in Johannesburg to round off his visit to the country for the African Union (AU) Summit.

    He said: “I’m told there are 83 Nigerians in prisons, I don’t know what they have done but I spoke to the President of South Africa this afternoon. He wants to come to Nigeria. There are issues we will talk about, I will certainly talk to him, I hope our ambassador will send a comprehensive report about the court cases, about those who lost properties during the disturbances.”

    The South African authorities froze $9.3 million transported in cash by two Nigerians and an Israeli for arms purchase. At the time, South Africa said the transaction violated its laws on movement of cash.

    The two Nigerians and an Israeli were arrested at the  Lanseria International Airport, Johannesburg, on September 5 in a private jet from Abuja.

    The money, stashed in three suitcases, raised suspicion when the passengers’ luggage were unloaded and put through the scanners.

    The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in South Africa said there was an invoice for helicopters and armaments intended to be used in Nigeria.

    Two black plastic suitcases, filled with 90 blocks each containing US$100,000 in notes, with combination locks, were seized, as well as two pieces of hand luggage also containing US currency, according to City Press.

    The Israeli national, Eyal Mesika, had the combination to open the locks.

    Under South African laws, a person entering or leaving the country is expected to carry cash not exceeding US$2,300, or the equivalent in foreign currency notes.

    The private jet involved belonged to the head of the Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN) Pastor Ayo Ortisejafor.

    Pastor Oritsejafor said the plane was on lease to a third party and he could not be blamed for its schedules.

    President Buhari also promised to implement the cardinal policies of his administration.

    He said: “Government is determined to secure the country, manage the economy, create employment and fight corruption. Some articulate writers have said if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. This APC administration intends to kill corruption in Nigeria. We will do our best, I assure you.”

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) government, Buhari said, is determined to secure the country, improve the economy and eliminate corruption.

    According to him, the G7 leaders have expressed commitment to helping Nigeria tackle insecurity and develop its oil and gas sectors.

    “We are getting the facts and logistic requirements together,” he said.

    Buhari urged Nigerians resident in South Africa to be good ambassadors of the country, stressing that Nigerian and South African leaders will soon meet to discuss several issues bordering on their relationship.

    “Those of you who have the opportunity to come here and represent us, make sure that you are representing Nigeria, you are all ambassadors of Nigeria. This means a lot of patience, restraint, self-respect and pride. You must have all these,” the President said.

    According to him, those accusing him of locking them up have no case as himself was locked up for three and half years from his position as Head of State.

    He said: “But I assure you that after being in the military for 25 years, and getting to the highest rank and becoming head of state and under unusual circumstances. As head of state, I went straight to detention for three and half years; so those who accused me of locking them up, I too have been locked up; so what?”

    Buhari said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) messed up Nigeria and that was why the people decided to vote for him.

    He said: “They remember me more as chairman of PTF than as a former head of state, than a governor or a minister of petroleum. Inspite of the fact that it was during my time that I signed the contract for Warri Refinery, Kaduna Refinery, more than 3,500 lying pipes and more than 20 depot, we got the tankers off the road, we saved lives, we saved fuel, we save the road itself. But from 1999 till date, PDP has messed it up. That is why Nigerians decided to vote me.

    “In spite the fact that they say money is working from primaries to my election is a proof that Nigerians know what they want once they make up their minds. You can give them the money, some refuse to take it, some took it and said it is our money and they do exactly what they wanted to do.

    “So, why did I join partisan politics in spite of that? When I went home people knew that I have no money I thought they will leave me alone, but they didn’t. They were coming to me, asking me to do this and do that. And  I found that the only way I could do it is by joining partisan politics. And maybe if I speak even if I’m not a member at any level, people will listen to me.

    “The second that happened that finally convinced me to join partisan politics was what happened to Soviet Union. You know the Soviet Union was an empire in the 20th century that collapsed without a shot being fired. Everybody went home. There was confusion. Now there are 18 countries out of the old Soviet Union.  They were more advanced than the western countries in science because they wanted to go to space specifically in 1957, and they had  more nuclear war heads and delivering system than Warsaw.

    “And they had organised their societies and they had much less crimes and they got jobs for people. When people had no jobs they got one for them. And that was when I decided and I believed that the best form of governance is multi-parties democracy with a big caveat: election must be free and fair. And that was why I was in trouble. I moved from APP to ANPP to CPC, eventually to APC.

    Buhari wished he got to be president when he was younger in age.

    He said: “How I wish I became head of state when I was a governor, just a few years as a young man. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do. But what brought me there I think mainly is because I love this country. I was in the war front for 30 months during our civil war, I lost a lot of loyal people to me, I lost a relative,  a lot of Nigerians did too. We lost about two million Nigerian lives just to keep Nigeria one. So nobody should come now and tell us rubbish. We are going to remain one country God has given us another opportunity to reorganise this country. Those who work hard, the society will pay them back.”

    Speaking earlier, the Consul-General of Nigeria in South Africa, Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke, told President Buhari that 143 Nigerians were killed in South Africa between 2011 and 2014; 81 were in Johannesburg prison.

    “Out of this 81 Nigerians, 21 have been convicted,” she said,

    Ajulu-Okeke also disclosed that shops and other property worth millions of Rands belonging to Nigerians were destroyed during the recent xenophobic attacks.

    The President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Mr. Ikechukwu Anyene, congratulated Buhari on his election and inauguration, saying “your victory is victory over poverty, hunger and signals hope for the common man”.

    Ayene urged the president to facilitate compensation for Nigerians affected by the xenophobic attacks.

     

  • ‘Probe is diversionary’

    A group, the Coalition for Right Judiciary and Equal Rights (CRJER), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to probe the activities of agencies under the past administration.

    This call was contained in a statement signed by the group’s President and Secretary, Taiwo Somoloju Akeja and Hassan Maishanu Dandoma respectively. They described the probe of misdeeds of the past government as, “diversionary and feeble excuse for failure to perform.”

    The group, which condemned in stronger term, stealing in whatever form, said “no probe in Nigeria has ever yielded desired result,” adding that, “what has ever come out of any probe has been waste of resources, waste of energy as well as waste of precious time that could have been expended on useful ventures for the citizenry.”

    They added: “The group prefers guiding all the institutions towards becoming stronger and durable with a view to making them to be able to discharge their required responsibilities, warning that, “delving into checking their books may cause disruption of their smooth running and thereby lead to financial crisis in the country.”

    Citing an instance when the former Central Bank Governor Mallam Lamido Sanusi was abruptly removed post before the expiration of his tenure, the group said, his ascendancy on his forefathers’ throne in Kano watered down the crisis, pointing out that, “if not, the crisis would still be on till today.

     

     

     

  • Danjuma to Buhari: Probe Jonathan’s govt

    Danjuma to Buhari: Probe Jonathan’s govt

    Former Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma yesterday asked the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to probe the outgoing government.

    Danjuma said the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was very corrupt.

    He spoke to reporters in Takum, Taraba State, while commissioning three newly built bridges along Takum-Katsina Ala road.

    The bridges were built by Danjuma at the cost of over N500million.

    Danjuma, who expressed dismay that the country’sdebt was over $60 billion, said he is optimistic that Buhari on assumption of office would probe persons found guilty of corruption.

    He pointed out the debt burden was necessitated by the financial recklessness of the outgoing government.

    According to him:”What we are hearing is that the treasury of the country is empty at the federal level. A debt of $60 would be left behind for the incoming government.

    “I’m calling on the new administration to investigate what happened to our monies as soon as Buhari takes over power on May 29. With that, some of the stolen funds would be recovered.”

    Danjuma also urged well meaning Nigerians, including security agencies to cooperate with the incoming government to succeed.

     

     

  • I’m ready for probe after tenure, says Jonathan

    I’m ready for probe after tenure, says Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said he would be ready after leaving office for any probe of his administration’s activities.

    President-elect Muhammadu Buhari plans to revisit the $20b “missing” oil money when he gets into office.

    Besides, All Progressives Congress (APC) spokesman Lai Mohammed has alleged massive looting by government officials.

    But, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President said he is not afraid of any investigation after leaving office.

    He noted that investigations will not be out of place since Jonathan’s Administration also reviewed the actions of previous governments on assumption of office.

    He said: “As Alhaji Mohammed threatened in his statement, the incoming administration will be perfectly within its rights to review all actions of the present government as it may deem fit.

    “We see nothing wrong with that. After all, the present Administration reviewed the actions of previous governments on assumption of office with resultant benefits for policy and project implementation.”

    Abati added that President Jonathan ordered the immediate release of the report of PriceWaterCooper’s investigations into the alleged unremitted $20 billion to the Federation account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    He said: “President Jonathan is also deeply concerned by the continuing suggestions that his administration still has anything to hide about the unproven allegation that about $20billion is unaccounted for by the NNPC during his tenure.

    “To lay the matter to rest, President Jonathan in line with Section 7(2) of the NNPC Act, has directed that the full report of the PWC Forensic Audit of the NNPC accounts be released immediately to the public so that all Nigerians will be properly informed on the matter.”

    Denying the allegations by Mohammed, Abati said: “We have noted with concern the allegation by the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that officials of the Federal Government are engaged in “last minute looting of the nation’s resources, rushed privatisation of key institutions and hurried recruitment into the public service”.

    “We also consider as most unfortunate and uncharitable, the suggestion by Alhaji Mohammed that the Jonathan Administration is trying to ‘tie the hands’ of the incoming government merely by continuing to discharge its constitutional responsibilities until the end of its tenure.”

    “The Jonathan Administration which continues to do its best to ensure a smooth and peaceful handover of power to the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, deeply regrets the unfairness and combative frame of mind reflected in Alhaji Mohammed’s statement.”

    According to him, President Jonathan has done his best in the past five years to discharge his constitutional responsibilities for good governance and effective leadership of the nation.

    Abati said: “Without any prejudice whatsoever to the freedom of the incoming administration to do as it pleases, within the confines of extant laws when it assumes office, the Jonathan Administration will continue to discharge its responsibility to govern until May 29, 2015.

    “In continuing to fulfil the obligations of his office however, President Jonathan has not, and will never condone any form of unscrupulous conduct on the part of state officials.”

    He maintained that President Jonathan will never authorise any attempt to create any problems for the incoming administration, stressing that the outcome of the March 28 presidential elections does not imply a cessation of governance.

  • Indigenes seek FCT administration’s probe

    Natives of Dagbalo community in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have appealed to the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to probe the present FCT Administration led by Senator Bala Mohammed, over what they described as  corruption in land racketeering.

    The leader of Dagbalo community, Rev. Danjuma Tanko, who expressed joy that the needed change has come to Nigeria, also appealed to the incoming administration to restore the sanity of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), which he said has compromised and working against the wishes of the residents.

    While speaking during a community enlightenment programme at Apo area, Rev. Tanko said the atrocities and undemocratic activities committed by the Mohammed-led administration to the natives, demand urgent attention by the incoming administration.

    According to him, the present FCT administration has succeeded in truncating the original Master Plan and of the FCT by diverting allocation meant for indigenous people of the FCT to their family members, friends and cronies.

    “We were faced with forceful demolition, which was carried out by this administration without alternatives and it is causing massive trauma and hardship to our people till today.

    “We appeal to our President-elect to institute a panel of inquiry to probe the Mohammed-led administration, for imposing on us some policies that are detrimental to us and also denying us means of livelihood, thereby subjecting us to hardship.

    “We want him to use his good offices to restructure the Department of Resettlement and Compensation, because of the role it played in denying the people of Akpajenya community and other FCT communities their resettlement areas at Apo Resettlement, after they were unlawfully evicted from their ancestral home,” he said.

    He further complained that most employment opportunities meant for the natives in the FCDA have been diverted to other Nigerians from Bauchi State, claiming that the original inhabitants have been totally cut off from development, while they are surrounded by beautiful edifices of influential Nigerians who wrongfully took over their ancestral land.

  • Reps probe abandoned N800m Okpella Water Scheme

    Reps probe abandoned N800m Okpella Water Scheme

    The House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Water Resources to investigate the current status of the Okpella water scheme in Edo State.

    The resolution came on the heels of allegations by Edo State government that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources siphoned the N800 million earmarked for the completion of the scheme.

    The committee is to determine the level of work done by the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund ( PTF) and also the input of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources since the project was taken over by the ministry.

    The Reps committee is also to ascertain the total amount spent on the project till date and investigate who authorised one Alhaji Ibrahim Abubakar to remove the pipes already paid for and supplied to the site.

    Hon. Abubakar Momoh who moved the motion, said the contract was awarded in 1998 by PTF to four contractors namely Rotary Group Ltd, Sihga Services Ltd, Johnson Steel Company and Golcon Engineering Company, “ with a completion date of six months at the contract sum of N321. 19 million, out of which N157. 86 million was paid to them.”

    He described as untenable the defence offered by the Ministry that the money which Edo State government alleged was siphoned was actually the amount which the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), after a review exercise in 2011, determined to be the amount needed to complete the project, but that the money was never released due to paucity of funds.

    Momoh expressed concern over “allegation that items such as pipes and other fitting which were supplied for the project were carted away by one Alhaji Ibrahim Abubakar, an auctioneer, who claimed to have been an agent of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.”

  • Oshiomhole may probe senator’s alleged anti-party role

    Oshiomhole may probe senator’s alleged anti-party role

    Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole is considering a probe of the alleged anti-party activities levelled against a senator in the presidential and National Assembly elections, it was learnt yesterday.

    Besides, there are indications that the state government will also probe the role of some traditional rulers and chieftains of the party who reportedly worked against the state government’s interest.

    The report, according to sources, said Edo State Government had summoned and queried some top party chiefs in the state over their non-committal role and anti-party activities during the presidential and National Assembly elections, especially the shocking defeat experienced by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in some parts of the state.

    The source quoted Edo South, where the APC lost woefully to the PDP as evident in the House of Representatives result and the rescheduled Senatorial contest.

    In Edo North, The sitting Senator was reported to have mobilized men and resources against his party and the interest of the Governor smarting from some carried -over animosity and political injury allegedly inflicted on the Senator during the party primary.

    The senator lost a return ticket to preferred candidate, who is said to have hailed from the Governor’s local government.

    According to the source, the senator wanted to take his pound of flesh and as such abstained from the party’s campaign and subsequently worked against the election of the new senator and Comrade Peter Akpatason for Senate and House of Representatives.

    “What am telling you is the talk of the town in the Senator’s local government and his home town. They even alleged that he, in collaboration with a ruler to work for the PDP House of Representatives candidate, Mr. Oladele Balogun who won all the polling units in the two wards of his town.

    “I can tell you categorically that the Governor is worried about this development. A couple of other traditional rulers are not spared from this anti-government stance and they have been summoned. It is, however, not clear if the ruler was among those in Government House”, the source said.