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Tag: probe

  • Reps to probe plan to sell refineries

    Reps to probe plan to sell refineries

    The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the proposed sale of the nation’s four refineries.

    They said the investigation, is a fallout of the declaration by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke last month in London that the four refineries would be disposed off in the first quarter of 2014.

    The Sponsor of the motion, Hassan El-Badawy (APC, Yobe), said the planned sale is in contravention of the Constitution and at variance with activities of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the National Council on Privatization (NCP).

    Subsequently, the House mandated its Committees on Privatisation, Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and Due Process to conduct the investigation into the proposed sale.

    El-Badawy noted the contradictions in the position of the government on the refineries when the Minister told the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) in October, 2012 that the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the four refineries would cost N251billion, about ($1,6b).

    “There appears to be a clear contradiction between the position of the Minister and that of the Director General of BPE, with regard to the privatisation of refineries as the latter stated that the nation’s refineries would be available for privatisation, after the Petroleum Information Bill (PIB) has been passed.

    “The Minister’s action seems to be in isolation of what the regulatory authorities, that is NCP and BPE, had resolved on the matter. The Minister’s action is in conflict with the on-going legislative action, which seeks to provide a legal framework for the subject matter to provide a clear direction on whatever future action is contemplated by the minister or any regulatory authority,” he said.

    The Speaker. Aminu Tambuwal referred the motion to the three Committees for further legislative input after it was unanimously supported when put to voice vote.

    Also, the House of Representatives yesterday mandated its committee on Power to investigate the service charge by power distribution companies to determine if Nigerians were being overcharged or not.

    The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of the single prayer in a motion on the issue by a member, Hon. Hassan Saleh.

    Saleh in a motion with the title “ Need to investigate the recent increase in service charge by power distribution companies said prior to the transfer of the companies to the successful bidders by the Federal Government the monthly service charges were reviewed upward through the National Electricity Regulatory Commission of Nigeria.

    The lawmaker said that the upward review of the service charge to N750 was meant to encourage the new companies that were bidding for the distribution companies, particularly to enable them break even.

    “Following complaints against the upward review of the amount being paid as service charge, the National Electricity Regulatory Commission appealed to Nigerians for understanding given that that the review was to encourage and create an enabling business environment for the new companies that would be taking over the functions of distribution of power.”

    He said contrary to the pronouncement by NERC “ these power distribution companies unilaterally reviewed the service charged to the sum of N1:500 and are still canvassing for further upward review, even though their service are at its lowest point presently as there are no substantial improvement in power supply, as customers are getting value for their money.”

    The motion was passed by majority votes and the Speaker Aminu Tambuwal referred it to the House Committee on Power for investigation.

     

  • Reps raise panel to probe NNPC over $13b

    Reps raise panel to probe NNPC over $13b

    State-run oil firm, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will be investigated for allegedly failing to remit $13billion it generated from the sale of crude oil to the Federal Government between January and August this year, the House of Representatives has said.

    The House has also mandated its Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream), National Planning and Finance, to summon the relevant Government Ministries and Agencies (MDAs) over dwindling oil revenues as a result of the surge in shale gas production through fracturing or fracking.

    The Committees were given four weeks.

    Of the $20billion it generated within the period under investigation, the NNPC allegedly remitted only $7billion, a trend, Chairman of Public Account Committee (PAC), Solomon Adeola said was habitual of the oil firm that has been reporting shortfalls in its remittances to the Federal Government since 2007.

    The lawmakers resolved yesterday to raise an ad hoc Committee to conduct the investigation because two key Standing Committees of the House were found to have worked at cross purposes in their investigation of the oil firm.

    The ad-hoc Committee’s investigation was to ascertain the volume and value of crude oil sales and remittances into the Federation Account from January to date and report back within four weeks.

    Haruna Manu (PDP, Taraba) who sponsored the motion said the motion was necessitated by information credited to the NNPC on the status and remittances to the Federation Account and claim that the total crude oil sales from January to August, 2013 was $20billion, whereas the NNPC remitted only $7 billion to the Federation Account.

    “A shortfall of $13billion is unaccounted for in the period of January to August 2013. From September to date, no proper accounts have been rendered by the NNPC or records kept to show the actual amount and volume of crude oil sales by the NNPC,” he said.

    Lawmakers that spoke in support of the motion were unanimous in their submission that there have been issues of accountability and arbitrary management of oil revenue by the NNPC.

    They said there was need to compel the corporation to render accounts of how much it derived from crude oil sales with the period and the actual amount it paid into the Federation Account.

  • Reps probe compliance of airlines with laws

    Reps probe compliance of airlines with laws

    The House of Representatives Committees on Aviation, Treaty and Agreement, Local Content, have been mandated to investigate the compliance of airline operators with the relevant international and domestic laws on Aviation.

    The investigation will highlight other areas, including insurance and payment of compensation to victims of air disaster.

    The joint committees are to report back to the House within six weeks.

    The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of the prayers of a motion brought on the floor by a member, Hon. Ifeoluwa Arowosoge (APC-Ekiti).

    The motion titled: ‘The Need to frantically tackle the Human factor in the Aviation Sector,’ was adopted by the Chamber without debate when put to vote by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal.

    While presenting the motion, the lawmaker argued that an Embraer 120 airplane on October 3 , 2013 conveying the corpse of late former Governor of Ondo, Dr Olusegun Agagu crashed killing 13 passengers on board.

    He said the crash could have been avoided in view of the advice of the co-pilot and warning by the airplane itself.

    Arowosoge said the insurance status of the Embraer 120 has been generating controversies in many quarters since the Nigerian Insurance firm alleged to have insured the plane denied having any business with it.

  • ‘House not under pressure to shelve Abuja land scam probe’

    ‘House not under pressure to shelve Abuja land scam probe’

    The House of Representatives has dismissed the insinuation that it is under pressure to shelve its investigation into alleged scam in Abuja land swap deals.

    The investigation ought to have begun yesterday but the Ad Hoc Committee set up to conduct the investigation has assured that it won’t go out of its mandate to look for evidences outside of memoranda presented to it by stakeholders and the public.

    The Chairman of the Committee, Bimbo Daramola (APC, Ekiti), told reporters yesterday at the National Assembly that the investigation was not meant to witch-hunt anybody.

    He said the shift in date was because of the public holidays and the unavailability of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, who was to declare open the hearing.

    Daramola said: “The postponement was partly due to the Sallah break and the absence of the leadership of the House to inaugurate the investigation and give it due credence.

    “It is not true that the committee or its members are under any pressure, either to shelve the investigation or influence the work the committee. I am not aware of any.

    “It is just that in an assignment of this magnitude, it is not out of place for people to insinuate all kinds of things. But the rumour is not right. I can also say that distrust has been a problem in our body politic, which we have to address.”

    The lawmaker said Nigerians need not entertain any fear about the process and outcome of the investigation as the proceeding would not be conducted behind closed doors.

    “There is nothing clandestine about it. This is not like the fuel subsidy controversy; we are talking about land and this is a tangible thing. I don’t see any reason why people should be afraid.

    “Nobody is playing by any script. All our investigations will be done in the open. We are going there like blind magistrates. We are not going to fish for any information to nail anybody.

    “We will work and make recommendations based on the preponderance of information that will be made available to us.”

     

  • Dropping of EFCC probe not part of new PDP’s demand, says Saraki

    A chieftain of the new Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki has said the party never asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to drop its investigation against him as one the conditions to reconcile with the Bamaga Tukur-led PDP.

    The senator representing Kwara Central said no amount of intimidation, whether personal or political, would prevent him from standing up for the rights of the masses.

    The former governor noted that “times are changing; the world is changing and Nigeria and the PDP must change accordingly”.

    Saraki said: “Nigeria, under the PDP, cannot stay as it has been. It must change. Otherwise, the people who elected us to serve them, the people we serve, will reject us as a party.”

    In a statement by his media aide, Bankole Omisore, the senator stressed that his group in the new PDP did not ask the EFCC to drop its probe against him.

    The statement titled: “Dropping EFCC probe against me was never part of demands of NEW PDP.”

    Parts of the statement read: “The attention of Senator Saraki’s office has been drawn to speculations in some media outlets that as part of the demands of the Kawu Baraje-led PDP for reconciliation with the President, that Senator Saraki, directly or indirectly, asked that EFCC be asked not to probe him.

    “We would like to categorically put on record that this allegation is utterly false; at no time did Senator Saraki personally or through anyone else asked that the EFCC be influenced to stop any investigation about him.

    “As a law-abiding citizen, who has served his state and country, as a former governor of Kwara State, as the former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and today as a Senator, Dr Saraki believes firmly in the rule of law and open democratic accountability.

    “That is why under his governorship, Kwara State was the first state to open its accounts up for public scrutiny; it was also the first to gain an internationally-recognised Fitch credit rating. This is why today 90 per cent of Kwara State has access to electricity, compared to the national average of 30 per cent.

    “This is in addition to Kwara State boasting an international airport, an international pilots’ school, extensive road networks, community health insurance, the innovative Shonga Farms and a robust and growing economy. It’s why he was recently honoured as an emerging political icon of Africa by African Leadership Magazine, gracing its cover and accepting an award at an event in Atlanta, USA.

    “It should be noted that seven separate investigations took place on Senator Saraki during his time in office. After each investigation, the Senator always received a clean bill of health.”

  • Police probe violence in Ogun community

    THE Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, has ordered fresh investigations into the unabated crisis at Orudu in Oyekan Village, Ifo Local Government area of Ogun State.

    The IGP’s order followed a petition by solicitors to Basorun Adebayo Atanda Ajao, owner of the 653 acres of land located in the area.

    The petition, dated June 20 and signed by Shola Lamid from the chambers of Kola Awodein and Co, had indicted eight persons (names withheld) in the area for ‘unlawful possession of firearms, illegal firing of ammunition, threat to life, malicious damage and criminal trespass.’

    The crisis, which was not unconnected with the acquisition of 653 acres of land by Ajao from Orudu Oyekan Family since 1972, was said to be unabated despite various court pronouncements and police intervention.

    The indicted persons, the petition read, were said to have turned the land into a no-go area by unleashing violence and chasing away ‘our clients and staff on site threaten to kill and throw their corpses into river to feed fishes.’

    “The persons have constituted themselves as ‘government within Government’ and have become terrorists to the area as our clients land has become a no-go area through their criminal acts of trespass.”

    Ajao’s lawyers also called the attention of the IG to the fact earlier petition to his office over the criminal activities of the land speculators and his subsequent directives to the I.G Monitoring Unit, Lagos, to ensure peace in the area had yielded no result as the crisis persisted.

    In view of the fresh spate of crisis, it was learnt that the IG ordered the Commissioner of Police, Ogun State Command, to disband the team of policemen earlier tasked to investigate the matter and inaugurate a fresh team.

  • Reps to probe aviation ministry’s N9b contracts

    The House of Representatives is set to probe the alleged award of contracts running into millions of naira.

    The contracts were reportedly paid for by the government but were not executed.

    The Chairman of the House Committee on Anti-Corruption, National Ethic and Values, Abiodun Faleke, said the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) and the Ministry of Works would also be investigated for breaching Public Procurement Act over “No Objection Certificates.”

    The lawmaker said the committee was prompted to carry out the probe after uncovering the extent of abuse the “No Objection Certificate” has been abused by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    He said: “The impunity with which we do things in this country is appalling; like the abuse of ‘No Objection Certificate’ given by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). All agencies are using this loophole to issue contracts of over N20 billion without advertising them, once they write to the BPP, which allows for selective tendering.

    “Talking of impunity, during an oversight of MDG projects, we discovered that a canal was built in Okrika for over N2 billion. The consultancy fee for the project, which was not even in the 2012 budget and not appropriated for, was N900 million.

    “These are some of the instances that have prompted our committee to investigate the Aviation Ministry, which awards contracts of more than N12 billion through this absurd selective tendering, which technically knocks out competition.

    “We are inundated with noises of aviation is working, but the question is: at what cost?

    “We are set to investigate the sector because of petitions over some contractors that have been paid for since 2012 but have not been executed yet.

    “For instance, a contract on the provision of ‘new security strategies for airports’, N6.247 billion was paid already from the contract sum of N9 billion. Another instance is this: How can the same contractor, without a pedigree in the sector, be the one to renovate almost all the airports, as if there were no others around?

    “The issue here is: what is ‘new security strategies’? Is this how the sector is working? We have about a hundred of such contracts to look into.”

    But the Ministry of Aviation said its contracts went through due process.

    In a statement by the Special Assistant on Media to Minister of Aviation, Mr Joe Obi, the ministry said opting for selective tendering has not breached the BPP law.

    Faleke also said SURE-P and the Federal Ministry of Works would be probed.

    He said: “We investigated SURE-P because of the petitions we found out were baseless. But we discovered certain things that were not part of the petition.

    “It is a common phenomenon that contracts are awarded at lower value and in-between the execution, the contract is reviewed, at times, two, three times higher than the initial award sum.

    “The implication is that others who bided for the same contracts were denied another chance during the reviews. This, to me, is a corruption tactics deployed to give undue advantage to the ‘preferred bidder’.

    “Just like the Minister of Works, who came up with the completion of 32 Federal roads during the mid-term briefing, where are the roads? It is only logical that Nigerians are told where the completed roads are.

    “We wrote the minister to give us the list of the roads, which he did. We are going to advertise for Nigerians to make comments because we cannot go round the country.”

  • British police probe Shell, ENI over Malabu oil deal

    British police probe Shell, ENI over Malabu oil deal

    British police are investigating a money-laundering allegation related to a big oil field bought by Shell and ENI from Nigeria for $1.3 billion (€984 million), after most of the cash they paid ended up in a company linked to a former Nigerian oil minister.

    ‘The probe concerns offshore block OPL 245, which industry sources say contains up to 9.23 billion barrels of crude – more than enough to keep China running for 2½ years – the ownership of which had been in dispute for more than a decade.

    “The proceeds of crime unit is investigating a money-laundering allegation in the UK in connection with OPL 245. The investigation is at an early stage,” a UK spokesman said.

    Transparency campaigners, who asked the UK to look into the matter, assert that Shell and ENI used the Nigerian government as a go-between to obscure the fact that they were dealing with former oil minister Dan Etete, who also has a 2007 money-laundering conviction in France related to bribes he was alleged to have taken when in government.

    In his capacity as oil minister, Etete awarded block OPL 245 in 1998 for a payment of just $2 million to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company in which he played a prominent role.

    The critics claim that Shell and ENI, which haven’t been accused of any legal wrongdoing, wanted to distance themselves from Etete given his reputation and his involvement in the original award of the oil block to Malabu.

    A Shell spokesman said it had purchased the block from the government, making no payment to Malabu, and that it acted transparently and in accordance with Nigerian law.

    ENI declined to comment but it told shareholders in May that the transaction was with the government, not Malabu.

    Etete was not contactable for comment. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    While Shell and ENI say they bought the block from the Nigerian government, for which they paid it $1.3 billion in 2011, Nigeria says it was helping resolve an ownership dispute over the block between Shell and Malabu and immediately transferred $1.09 billion from the sale to Malabu. The government retained the remainder.

    Etete had awarded the block to Malabu during the rule of military dictator Sani Abacha, whose son Mohammed and other close allies were shareholders in the company. That deal was later annulled after the death of Abacha by a new government that judged the award improper.

    In a UK court case brought by Emeka Obi against Malabu for unpaid fees relating to his help in brokering the Shell/ENI deal, the judge in that case, Justice Elizabeth Gloster, concluded in her ruling last week that “From its incorporation and at all material times . . . Etete had a substantial beneficial interest in Malabu.”

    Etete said he was only a consultant to the company, but he represented the company in the court case and in all negotiations with the oil majors, and he told the court he was the sole signatory to its accounts.

    Documents relating to Obi’s London case show that both Shell and ENI met several times with Etete to negotiate the deal. An email from a Shell employee to another middleman recounts how he met Etete for face-to-face negotiations over “lots of iced champagne”.

    Obi said in court he approached ENI on Malabu’s behalf on December 24th, 2009, and introduced Etete to an ENI representative to discuss the deal.

    Global Witness campaigner Tom Mayne said: “It’s obvious from the meetings Shell and ENI both had with Dan Etete that they knew he was the person to speak to and then agreed that the deal be structured in such a way that it went through the government.”

    Babatunde Oluajo, national secretary of Zero Corruption Coalition, told Reuters his Nigerian campaign group had asked the UK government to look into the matter.

    “In regard to our . . . commitment to the fight against corruption in Nigeria … we wish to . . . formally request for a full investigation into the activities of … companies and individuals in the procurement of the OPL 245 in Nigeria,” reads a letter the group sent to the UK High Commissioner on July 5th.

    Nigerian lawmakers also began investigating the deal last week to ascertain if Attorney General Mohammed Aboke, who helped finalise the deal with Eni and Shell, had acted properly, as his involvement only came to light in the London court case.

    Aboke said he was acting in the interests of all parties to facilitate a deal and end the long-running ownership dispute over the oil block. He also said in a press report last week that resolving the dispute would help the government attract investment into the oil and gas sector.

    The investigations highlight the regulatory risks faced by oil companies doing business in African countries with a history of weak governance and endemic corruption.

    In the five years Abacha was in power, he liberally dished out oil blocks to political allies and is suspected of having enriched himself to the tune of about $4 billion before he died.

    Malabu had been registered on April 24th, 1998, five days before Etete awarded it block OPL 245. Three months later, Abacha died.

    Though Malabu’s original shareholders had been Abacha’s son and allies – and Etete himself, according to the British judge in Obi’s court case – the company secretary Rasky Gbinigie told the court he had lost all the documents showing who owned it now.

    The ownership of OPL 245 had also been unclear ever since the government annulled the initial award to Malabu in 2001, and then awarded it first to Shell and then back to Malabu after a series of court cases.

    Shell was still pursuing action to recover the block when it finally struck the deal to buy it with ENI in 2011.

  • Police probe Rivers Assembly crisis

    A Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) has been deployed to lead a team to probe the role of policemen in Tuesday’s Rivers Assembly crisis.

    Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar, who announced the setting up of the panel, said policemen found wanting would not be spared.

    He spoke at the State House in Abuja yesterday after a meeting with Vice President Namadi Sambo and Minister of Police Affairs Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd).

    He said: “You see, the police have a responsibility to protect the citizen of this country but remember, we saw the video clip and you saw those who went to the Assembly. I think you should be asking who were those who went to the Assembly and why they went to the Assembly? We are investigating that matter and whoever is found wanting will be sanctioned.”

    On whether he is satisfied with the conduct of Rivers State Commissioner of Police and his team, he said: “What conduct? I am not in Port Harcourt and I am investigating. I have sent a DIG in charge of operations; he is in Port Harcourt and he will brief me on the happenings and the action taken by police in Rivers state and necessary action will be taken against anybody who has anything to defend.

    “You are free to make allegation but the allegation must be substantiated that yes, he has done something stupid. I have not got any written documentation that accused the commissioner of police of one particular offence till today.”

    Denying knowledge of policemen tear-gassing the Rivers State Government House, Abubakar said: “That is not true; no reasonable commissioner of police will go and tear gas a Government House. It is not true.”

    Navy Capt. Olubolade said: “The police as an institution, have a duty to perform and they will always play their role. If certain things happened, there and there, there must be a reason.

    “If somebody has erred in his duty, he will be held responsible. That I can assure you, but the police can be on this side and they can be on the other side. They still have a duty to perform.

    “So when you look at issues of what happened in that Assembly, don’t take it as you see the photograph because somebody has a duty to perform – whichever side – because both sides have security men attached to them. We must be careful in jumping into conclusions. Let us see how it plays out.”

    Also yesterday, ministers were seen discussing the Rivers State Assembly crisis prior to the commencement of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by the Vice President.

    They all focused their attention on the video clips of the fracas being played on the giant screen inside the Council Chambers.

    When some Ministers drew the attention of the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, a major actor in the crisis, to the video, he described it as part of politics, saying the insinuation that he could be behind the incident was not correct.

    He told his colleagues: “I was not there, did you see me there?”

  • Ekiti ACN urges probe of Fayose’s ‘assassination claim’

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ekiti State has urged the police to probe former Governor Ayo Fayose’s claims that hoodlums attempted to assassinate him.

    Fayose said his car was shot four times by suspected hoodlums in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, last Tuesday.

    The ACN described the claim as “suspicious”, adding that the Governor Kayode Fayemi administration has made the state one of the safest in the country.

    The party, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Tunde Adeleke, wondered why Fayose did not report the alleged attack to the police, instead of going to the press.

    The party said: “One would have expected Fayose to report the alleged attack to the police for investigation. The police said they are not aware of any attack since no report has been made.

    “We urge the police to invite the former governor to substantiate the claims in order to carry out a proper investigation.

    “Knowing Fayose’s antecedents and his capacity for mischief, it is important for the police to get to the root of the matter with a view to establishing the truth. Fayose’s claim should not be ignored.

    “It is on record that the state has been peaceful in the last two-and-a-half years that the present administration has been in place, hence claims of such close shave with death, if true, should be probed.

    “The investigation will discourage those who would like to hide under such spurious claims to introduce a violent dimension to politics in the state as well as those who would like to capitalise on such claims to perpetrate acts of violence and brigandage for which they are well noted.

    “We are not unmindful of massive killings and maiming of innocent citizens during past administrations of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a development that has changed in this administration.

    “We urge the police and other security agencies to do everything possible to discourage any direct and indirect introduction of violence to Ekiti politics by remaining vigilant, carrying out a thorough probe of cases of violence and bringing culprits to book.”