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Tag: probe

  • $16bn Egina probe: Senate warns against sabotage

    The Senate has asked foreign firms investing in Nigeria to desist from any activities that will shortchange the country and its people in their investment drive.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content Senator Solomon Adeola (Lagos West) gave the advice  at the weekend when Managing Director of SAIPEM Contracting Nigeria Limited Mr. Guido D’ Aloisio appeared before the investigative committee with  the firm’s legal counsel, Chief Henry Ajumogobia (SAN).

    A statement by the Media Adviser to Adeola, Chief Kayode Odunaro in Abuja said the senator spoke at the ongoing Senate investigation into the cost variations and local content elements of the $16 Billion Egina Deep-sea Oil production.

    It quoted Adeola to have said: “No individual or corporate body should stampede us as a country to do what is not obtainable in their country or in accordance to international best practices.”

    Adeola was also said to have added that it was because investment in the country was profitable that foreign investors make huge investment as in the case of Egina project.

    The statement said SAIPEM Contracting Nigeria Limited MD appeared before the committee with the firm’s legal counsel to explained that he was in the best position with the” Power of Attorney” to provide answers to the Senate Committee on behalf of the managing directors of three foreign companies – SAIPEM SA, SAIPEM Portugal and SAIPEM BV – all part of a consortium that got $2.9 billion – varied to $3.2 billion – contract of the Egina $16 billion project.

    It explained that Senate had earlier given an ultimatum for the managing directors to appear before its investigative committee in person.

    The statement added that on D’Aloisio explanation that he was in the best position to provide all evidences requested by the committee as the contract was signed by proxy and the foreign MDs may not know some details, Adeola said that the “Power of Attorney” document be submitted.

    It said that Adeola insisted that “all documents relating to the foreign firms aspects of the contract, including scope of work, approved variations, dollar-naira differentials in contracts as well as the shares of each of the companies in the consortium should be submitted to the committee.

    The senator said: “While we are not accusing anyone of shady deals and nobody is on trial, we insist that all relevant documents be made available to the committee so that we can present a fair and comprehensive report to the Senate for it to take decision to protect Nigeria’s interest and Nigerians. As it is, we have uncovered huge variations running up to a billion dollars as well as serial contraventions of the Nigeria Local Content Law 2010.”

    Calling on the media not to draw any conclusion of wrongdoings in their coverage of the committee’s proceedings as complained by the legal counsel of SAPIEM, Ajumogobia (SAN), Adeola noted that the reportage by the media must have been done in line of their duty to protect the interest of Nigeria.

    Chairman of the committee was also said to have directed the managing director of Samsung Heavy Industry (SHI) Mr. EJ Shin to provide evidence to justify his claims of taking away Nigeria jobs abroad from a Nigerian company, EWT Nigeria Limited, on the basis of late delivery and quality, a claim denied by the Nigerian firm present at the hearing.

    Adeola said an interim report of the findings of the committee so far will be submitted to Senate in plenary in about two weeks’ time.

  • Underage voting: KANSIEC ready for INEC probe

    Underage voting: KANSIEC ready for INEC probe

    The Chairman of Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), Prof. Garba Ibrahim Sheka, has said the commission is ready  for INEC probe over allegations of underage voting in last Saturday’s council elections.

    A statement by Prof. Sheka said: “This move, announced by Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, was hinged on video footages on the social media, allegedly showing child-voters participating in the polls.

    “While we hail the INEC’s decision to investigate the allegation, we restate our stand that the election, which was supervised by independent monitors, is adjudged the most peaceful in the history of Kano State.

    “As the only statutory body which registers voters and keeps the database of certified electorate, we will cooperate with the investigators to ascertain the veracity of the allegations.

    “We are also confident that the outcome of the investigation will vindicate us and strengthen the confidence of the public in KANSIEC to conduct free elections.”

     

  • Police probe burning of DSIEC building

    Police probe burning of DSIEC building

    The police in Delta State have begun investigation into circumstances leading to the torching of Delta Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) in Ughelli North Local Government, spokesman Andrew Aniamaka has said.

    He told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Warri that the perpetrators would be arrested and prosecuted.

    Aniamaka said the incident led to the cancellation of the election in the area.

    He said: “Thugs set ablaze the DSIEC office in Ughelli North.

    “Investigation is on and I assure you that the perpetrators will be nabbed and brought to book.

    “Election could not hold in the local government because of the action.”

    Mr. Felix Ekure, the chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ughelli North, alleged that on Saturday, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was responsible for the burning to cover up its perceived atrocities.

    “We were informed that election materials were brought to DSIEC office in Ughelli North on Friday.

    “We mobilised our supporters to the venue to ensure that the materials were protected.

    “At the point of distribution, we insisted on seeing the result sheets and other sensitive materials, but the DSIEC official claimed that he forgot the original result sheets in Asaba.

    “We insisted that he must bring the result sheets before the distribution of materials.

    “At that point, PDP thugs started shooting and our boys scampered for safety.

    “The thugs then set the DSIEC office ablaze in order to cover up their atrocities,” he alleged.

    The PDP Chairman in Ughelli North, Mr. Lawrence Agbatutu, told NAN  yesterday  that APC leaders allegedly ordered their supporters to set the building ablaze.

    “Two days to the election, APC stationed their boys at the DSIEC office. The leaders ordered their loyalists to burn DSIEC building, it was not PDP supporters.”

  • Police probe burning of DSIEC building

    Police probe burning of DSIEC building

    The police in Delta State have begun investigation into circumstances leading to the torching of Delta Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) in Ughelli North Local Government, spokesman Andrew Aniamaka has said.

    He told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Warri that the perpetrators would be arrested and prosecuted.

    Aniamaka said the incident led to the cancellation of the election in the area.

    He said: “Thugs set ablaze the DSIEC office in Ughelli North.

    “Investigation is on and I assure you that the perpetrators will be nabbed and brought to book.

    “Election could not hold in the local government because of the action.”

    Mr. Felix Ekure, the chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ughelli North, alleged that on Saturday, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was responsible for the burning to cover up its perceived atrocities.

    “We were informed that election materials were brought to DSIEC office in Ughelli North on Friday.

    “We mobilised our supporters to the venue to ensure that the materials were protected.

    “At the point of distribution, we insisted on seeing the result sheets and other sensitive materials, but the DSIEC official claimed that he forgot the original result sheets in Asaba.

    “We insisted that he must bring the result sheets before the distribution of materials.

    “At that point, PDP thugs started shooting and our boys scampered for safety.

    “The thugs then set the DSIEC office ablaze in order to cover up their atrocities,” he alleged.

    The PDP Chairman in Ughelli North, Mr. Lawrence Agbatutu, told NAN  yesterday  that APC leaders allegedly ordered their supporters to set the building ablaze.

    “Two days to the election, APC stationed their boys at the DSIEC office. The leaders ordered their loyalists to burn DSIEC building, it was not PDP supporters.”

  • Buratai orders probe of ‘extortion’

    Buratai orders probe of ‘extortion’

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has ordered an investigation into the alleged extortion of motorists by soldiers on the Maiduguri-Gamboru Ngala road in Borno State.

    The Director of Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, in a statement yesterday, said the order followed complaints by a man, “DanBorno”, on his Twitter account.

    DanBorno accused soldiers of collecting N300,000 from each truck driver to escort vehicles on the road.

    The statement reads: “The Army has noted with great concern, allegations of complacency and extortion against soldiers

    “Consequent upon this, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Buratai, has ordered an immediate investigation of the allegations.

    “The Army, as a professional military institution, thrives on discipline, selflessness and dedication to duty, and operates within the confines of the laws, Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement. It would not tolerate any act of misdemeanour by any of its personnel.

    “Similarly, we encourage the public to take advantage of our toll free telephone number 193, to report any observed lapses or allegation against any officer or soldier.”

    Gen. Usman spokesman called on the public, especially affected individuals in Borno, to cooperate and volunteer information to the investigation team.

  • Reps to probe CBN over non-remittance of $5b

    Reps to probe CBN over non-remittance of $5b

    • Seek baillout for collapsed, ailing firms

    The House of Representatives is to investigate the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for alleged under remittance of over $5billion to the Federation Account.

    The lawmakers also urged the Federal Government to design a bailout fund for callapsed and ailing industries across the country.

    This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by Ayo Omidiran (APC, Osun). He noted that the CBN being the banker of government, receives financial in flows on behalf of the federation and should make same available on demand via the Federation Account on a monthly basis.

    She however regretted that the apex bank has not been forthright on the  issue.

    He said:  “The CBN takes advantage of this all important function of warehousing funds for the three tiers of government and preparation of the Federation Account statement, to manipulate the system by opening various accounts not known to the three tiers of government where funds are remitted, hidden, diverted and spent without authorisation.

    “The CBN in 2006, opened various accounts with JP Morgan Chase Bank in New York, USA, in which   International Oil Companies (IOCs) remit all revenues for the federation.

    “The CBN still operates an account with Federal Reserve Bank of New York, USA, alongside that of JP Morgan Chase Bank from 2006 till date.

    “The CBN’s responsibility of receiving revenue in foreign currencies and converting same to Naira for the benefit of the three tiers of government, has led to substantial loss in the amounts remitted to the Federation Account.

    “About the substantial difference between the official exchange rate of dollar to naira, and that at which the Bureau De Change sell in the parallel market, whereas it is the CBN that sells dollars to the Bureau Dr Change operators on a weekly basis as well as regulate the financial market.

    “In the recent past, FAAC meetings have been postponed due to irregularities observed in the Federation Account by the states.”

    According to her,  CBN violated Section 80 (2) of the 1999 constitution as amended by spending funds not appropriated by the National Assembly.

    “The CBN takes 0.25 per cent of all foreign denominated revenue as exchange commission (for converting dollars to naira), but even after deducting this commission, the balance credited to the Federation Account at various times have been in negative difference (against expectations), running into billions of naira per year.

    “It is worrisome  that the office of the Accountant General of the Federation has not reported these infractions of under remittance of millions of dollars and trillions of naira into the Federation Account by the CBN,” she lamented.

    The motion was unanimously adopted after it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.

  • Reps to probe Etisalat’s collapse

    Reps to probe Etisalat’s collapse

    The House of Representatives yesterday mandated its Committee on Telecoms to probe the collapse of Etisalat Nigeria (now 9mobile).

    According to the lawmakers, one of the reasons for the probe is to protect the interests of Nigerian subscribers and other stakeholders.

    The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of the prayers of a motion by a member, Hon. Saheed Akinade-Fijabi.

    The lawmaker noted that Etisalat Nigeria (now 9mobile) commenced business in Nigeria in 2009 after acquiring the unified access licence spectrum in the GSM 1800 and 900 megahertz (Mhz) bands from the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) in January 2007.

    He said it thus became Nigeria’s fourth largest telecoms network operator with over 21 million subscribers and controlling about 12.9 per cent of the country’s market share.

    He said: “Etisalat Nigeria was formerly owned by three shareholders, namely Emirates Telecommunications Group Company (40 per cent), Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi (45 percent) and EMTS Holding BV (15 per cent);

    “Aware that Etisalat Nigeria obtained a loan of $1.2 billion (N377.4 billion) in 2013 from  13 Nigerian banks which involved a foreign-backed guaranteed bond to finance a major network rehabilitation, upgrade and expansion of its operational base in Nigeria;

    “Etisalat Nigeria had so far paid about half of the initial loan amounting to about N504 billion with total outstanding sum of about $574 miliion but had reneged on its debt servicing obligations after the intervention of the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to restructure the loan and new repayment deadline.”

    Fijabi expressed concern that the failure of Etisalat to meet its debt servicing obligations with the banks since 2016 resulted in its foreign major shareholders pulling out and eventual take-over of the company by the banks.

    He however said the take-over of Etisalat, which was renamed 9mobile by the banks, is a clear violation of Section 38 (1) of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.

    According to him, the Act  provides that “the grant of a licence shall be personal to the licensee and the licence shall not be operated by, assigned, sub-licensed or transferred to any other  party unless the prior written approval of the Commission has been granted”;

    When the motion was put to a vote by the Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Lasun, it was passed by a majority support of lawmakers and referred to the House Committee on Telecoms.

    The Committee is to report back in eight weeks for further legislative action.

  • Police probe Wike, Amaechi bloody clash  

    Police probe Wike, Amaechi bloody clash  

    Police Chief Ibrahim Idris has ordered a probe into the  Saturday clash between security detail of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and those of Minister of Transportation Chibuile Amaechi in Port Harcourt.

    Although nobody died during the clash, many were injured and the rifle of a policeman was snatched at the Trans-Amadi Layout.

    Both Wike and Amaechi, who are former allies, claim thay escaped assassination.

    Rivers Police Command spokesman Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed that a probe had been launched into the incident and the involvement of policemen.  He did not give details.

    The state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Wike’s Chief Security Officer (CSO), Promise Wosu, a Superintendent of Police (SP), and other security personnel who were involved in the bloody clash.

    In a statement by its Chairman Chief Davies Ikanya, made available by his media adviser Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the APC said: “Reports made available to us by Prince Tonye Princewill, an associate to Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who was in the same car with the Minister of Transportation, indicated that Wike’s dispatch rider pulled a pistol to assassinate Amaechi, but missed his target, after which Amaechi’s Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Mr. Seimeikumo Debewari, intervened to save the minister from further assassination attempt.

    “Prince Princewill stated that he was at a loss if the attack was not an assassination attempt on the Transportation Minister, somebody should explain to him in a clearer sentence why Wike’s despatch rider failed to stop the two security vehicles of the minister, which had already crossed, but decided for whatever reasons, to block the vehicle in which the minister was driving.

    “Prince Princewill also asked why the attempt by Amaechi, who was driving the car, to navigate his vehicle out of danger was prevented by two security men from Rivers governor’s convoy, who pulled their pistols to shoot him, but when Wike’s security men realised that the vehicle that the minister was driving was bullet-proofed, they resorted to hitting the jeep with the butts of their guns and in the process broke the right driving mirror and attempted to break Amaechi’s windscreen.

    “After the failed attempt to kill the Transportation Minister, his escort team was physically assaulted by Wike’s CSO and Rivers governor, with the operatives of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) on the minister’s convoy dislodged and forcibly dispossessed of one of their AK-47 rifles.”

    Rivers APC also stated that the dangerous trend, if not nipped in the bud, might jeopardise the peace pervading the Niger Delta.

    It reiterated that Wike’s main desire was to truncate Nigeria’s hard-earned democracy, after the failed plot by the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to win the 2015 presidential election, stressing that the Rivers governor’s disdain for President Muhammadu Buhari, APC and Amaechi was legendary.

    The opposition party said: “Wike recently exhibited hatred for Buhari’s administration during his misguided lecture at Chatham House, London, where he disparaged the Federal Government, demarketed and rubbished all the efforts of the APC-led Federal Government to right most of the wrongs of the past PDP government in a foreign land.

    “Wike should not be allowed to turn Rivers State into a theatre of unwarranted war, only obtainable during the Sir Celestine Omehia’s era, when Port Harcourt was rated as the riskiest place in the world.”

    Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications Emma Okah described as wishful thinking, the call for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Governor Wike’s Chief Security Officer (CSO). Promise Wosu, a Superintendent of Police (SP), and other security personnel.

    Okah, said: “The call for the arrest and prosecution of Wike’s CSO lacks merit, it is mere wishful thinking and it should be disregarded.

    “If APC chairman is calling for arrest and prosecution of Wike’s CSO, what do we do to the policemen that attacked the Rivers governor’s escort rider? Do we also call for their arrest and prosecution?”

    Okah also stated that there should be no double standard in order to ensure justice.

    Read Also: Police arrest suspected Chinese ‘kidnapper’

  • Kaduna teachers’ sack: Assembly raises probe panel

    The Kaduna State House of Assembly has raised a seven-man committee, led by Deputy Majority Leader Idris Abduwahab, to investigate teachers’ grievances and proffer ideas to improve education.

    The committee is to submit its report this week, he added.

    The Assembly lamented last week’s attack on its officers and the complex by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in which property worth millions of naira were destroyed.

    The NLC, last week, protested alleged plans by the government to sack 21,780 primary school teachers, who failed a competency test. The protest was led by NLC’s President Ayuba Wabba.

    The Chairman, House Committee on Information and Home Affairs, Nuhu Goroh Shadalafia and Chairman, House Committee on Establishment Hassan Abdulkadir, were allegedly attacked.

    According to Shadalafia, the lawmakers were almost lynched by the protesters who broke the glass wall of the Assembly’s main office, pursued them and vandalised cars and other property.

    The lawmaker said none of them has received a petition or complaint from their constituency on the planned sack. He urged the teachers and workers to follow laid down rules on protest.

    “Nobody has been given three months’ notice; nobody has been stopped from going to school; nobody has been asked to pack out of their quarters. The House is taking note of the damaged facility, and would report to the government.

    “I have formally written a letter of complaint on what transpired in the leadership of the House and government would decide what to do,” Shadalafia stated.

  • Probe utilisation of Paris Club refund by states, Labour Party tells FG

    Probe utilisation of Paris Club refund by states, Labour Party tells FG

    The Labour Party (LP) has called on the federal government to probe the utilisation of the Paris Club refund and the bailout given to states. It said the inability of some states to pay workers salaries was an embarrassment.

    Speaking at a news conference in Abuja, National Chairman of the party, Dr. Mike Omotosho frowned at what he described as the inhuman treatment being meted out to workers, pointing out that after working for thirty days, a worker deserves to be paid his wages.

    He said that in spite of the bailout fund and the Paris Club refund to the states, they have refused to pay, thereby undermining the welfare of workers.

    He called on the government to make good its promise to fight corruption in the country by making the governors accountable and making the process transparent.

    He said the recent reinstatement and redeployment of the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, was a national disgrace and a ridicule to the anti-corruption campaign of the federal government.

    He said since the President Muhammadu Buhari administration brought him back, they must definitely know where he has disappeared to, and therefore called for his immediate arrest and prosecution.

    “You will recall that Maina was sacked by the last administration and placed on Wanted List. We are calling on the federal government to arrest and prosecute Maina if they know where he is. Since they were the ones that brought him back and reinstated him, they should also bring him out now, arrest and prosecute him,” he said.