The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Senate

  • Magu: Senate suspends confirmation of resident electoral commissioners

    Magu: Senate suspends confirmation of resident electoral commissioners

    The Senate has suspended confirmation of 27 resident electoral commissioners following alleged disregard for its resolutions by the Presidency.

    Senate President is to consult with President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter.

    The Senators are said to be particularly unhappy with the Presidency over non removal of Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu after his rejection.

    The refusal of the Comptroller General of Customs, Hammed Ali to appear before the Senate in uniform is also regarded as an attempt to ridicule the legislative arm,

     

     

  • Melaye attends Senate session in academic gown

    Melaye attends Senate session in academic gown

    Controversial Senator Dino Melaye showed up in the Senate Chambers on Tuesday morning wearing the academic gown of the Ahamdu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria.

    The Kogi-West Senator posed with Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki in the chamber.

    Melaye is facing Senate probe over alleged certificate forgery.

    Vice Chancellor of ABU,  Professor Ibrahim Garba has however confirmed that Melaye graduated from the institution with a third class certificate in Geograph in  2000.

  • Melaye graduated from ABU – VC insists

    Melaye graduated from ABU – VC insists

    The Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Ibrahim Garba, on Monday reconfirmed that Senator Dino Melaye earned a degree in Geography from the Faculty of Arts in the year 2000.

    On the investigation of the certificate forgery against Melaye, the Vice Chancellor, who also appeared before the Senate Ethics committee told the committee that Melaye graduated from the institution as Daniel Jonah Melaye with a 3rd class degree in Geography.

    The VC noted that Melaye graduated and did his one year compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) between 2000 and 2001 in Kaduna State.

    Vice-chancellor said: “From the records, I know Sen. Dino Melaye, who was formerly known as Jonah Daniel Melaye as a former student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and I know him to be the distinguished senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “From the records of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Distinguished Senator Dino Melaye who was at that time named Daniel Jonah Melaye graduate with a third class degree of the Bachelors of Art in Geography in the year 2000. And by this, he is a graduate of the university.

    “In my honour, I reaffirm that Sen. Dino Melaye graduated as Daniel  Jonah Melaye during the third semester  of the 1998/1999 academic session with a 3rd Class Degree in Geography, that is Bachelors of Arts in Geography.”

    Melaye had in his testimony said, “I thank you for the invitation and I want to state my unequivocal confidence in this committee to do justice to this matter.

    “I have few documents I would also want to tender to the committee and before I do that I also want to state with every sense of responsibility that I am a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.

    “I gained admission with an offer of admission on the 6th of September, 1994 and the admission is to study Bachelor of Arts Geography and a copy of that admission letter will be tendered.

    “I also have a second document to tender, my acceptance offer by the university. I also have the third document to tender which is my result from the Ahmadu Bello University certifying me a graduate of the school.

    “I also have here a document for my registration that I tendered where I have C5 in CRS, A3 in Agric, C6 in Economics, C6 in Geography, C6 in Biology and a credit in English.

    “I will also tender that as evidence. I also want to tender that after my graduation from the Ahmadu Bello University, the school sent my name to the NYSC for the mandatory Service and I participated in the one year NYSC.

    “I served in Police College Kaduna and by the grace of God, that year I won the National Prize of the DG and it is on record and verifiable and I beg to tender my discharge certificate from NYSC,’’ he said.

    “My name as an undergraduate was Daniel Jonah Melaye. Jonah is actually my father’s name, so that is what I have on my university certificate.

    “But because I am now popularly known as Dino I applied to the court and asked that I needed an affidavit for change of name before my admission and I submitted it to ABU.

    “I will tender my Identity cards and I came here with a copy of my final year project duly signed by my head of the department in the Faculty of Arts as it was then called.”

    Senator Muhammed Ali Ndume
    Senator Muhammed Ali Ndume

    When the committee proceedings began, Senator Ali Ndume, who raised the issue was not at the hearing room.

    Clerk of the committee, Freedom Osolo, told the committee that Ndume could not be reached.

    Osolo noted that phone calls made to Ndume’s phone were not answered.

    When Ndume eventually came around he was questioned why he decided to raise the issue.

    Ndume told the committee that he did not write any petition, but only raised a point of order to draw the attention of the Senate to a newspaper publication.

    He said: “I did not petition. I only raised a point of order. That is Order 14 and 15. That is, when an issue about a lawmaker comes up, we have the right to bring it up. I made a request. The decision to bring this case before this committee is not my doing. It was the decision of the Senate. I did not expect that it will generate this kind of attention.

    “I came here with my own certificate. I was here when the Vice Chancellor said that Melaye graduated from the school in 1999. I do not know how you can graduate in 2000 but went for your NYSC in 1999. I do not understand.”

    NYSCAnyanwu corrected Ndume. He said the Vice Chancellor had already cleared the air on when Melaye graduated. He said contrary to Ndume’s claims, Melaye’s NYSC discharge certificate shows that he underwent the compulsory one-year national programme in 2000, after his graduation.

    Anyanwu retorted on another point raised by Ndume and said: “You said you did not write any petition, but only raised a point of order. Did you as a Senator do any due diligence before you brought the case before the Senate?”

    Ndume, again reacted: “That is not my job. That is the job of the committee. I only raised a point of order. I am not Punch Newspaper and I did not write this report.”

    Senator Peter Nwaoboshi stepped in at this time and added his voice. He said: “When you make such a serious allegation, you must back it up. Let me read the discharge certificate of his NYSC to you. That is the certificate.”

    Not ready to cave in, Ndume maintained: “I raised a point of order and it was referred to this committee. You have shown me the certificate and it has resolved the problem. It is not personal. If there is anything against the integrity of the Senate, it is our duty to clear it. What is the big deal?

    Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Bala Na’Allah, who doubles as vice chairman of the Ethics committee explained more: “It is not about the procedure or the contents of the complaints. You are aware that you are a former Leader of the Senate. You are aware that the public, having formed an opinion, based on what you presented, that we clear this whole thing? I am sure we have cleared your mind since you have seen the discharge certificate. What will be your conclusion when you leave here?

    Ndume reacted: “Let me add that I called the attention of the Senate because I feel it is my responsibility to do that. I did not do it in isolation. It has happened before. It cannot be swept under the carpet. He has presented everything. What more do I have to say? What I did was to protect the integrity of the Senate.”

    Ndume left the hearing room at about 2.44pm.

  • Senate opens probe of N298m SUV car purchase

    Senate opens probe of N298m SUV car purchase

    • ABU VC clears Melaye of certificate forgery

    The Senate Monday commenced an investigation into the allegation of purchase of N298 million Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) with fake customs papers levelled against Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

    The high-profile probe is coming as Saraki said that the upper chamber was being tackled by unnamed persons for resolving to order the reversal of the controversial policy of retrospective duty payment on vehicles introduced by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).

    The Senate President spoke when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, probing the alleged importation of N298 million bulletproof Ranger Rover SUV.

    The Senator Samuel Anyanwu led committee also questions Senator Dino Melaye over the allegation that he did not graduate from Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria.

    Saraki’s appearance before the Ethics Committee marked the first time since the return to democracy in 1999, that a sitting Senate President will appear before Ethics committee to clear his name.

    The Senate had on March 21st referred the two issues to its Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee for investigation.

    This followed a point of order motion raised by Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, (Borno South) that the issue is investigated to protect the integrity of the Senate.

    Ndume relied on some publications to draw the attention of the Senate to the damning allegations against Saraki and Melaye.

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, promptly referred the issues to the Ethics committee to investigate and report back within four weeks.

    Apart from Anyanwu, other members of the committee at the investigative hearing included Senators Mao Ohuabunwa, (Abia North), Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South) who excused himself from Saraki’s probe but participated in Melaye’s investigation, Tayo Alasoadura (Ondo Central), Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North), Mathew Urhghide (Edo South) and Albert Akpan who said he is a friend to Melaye.

    Before Saraki began his testimony, Chairman of the committee explained to him why he was invited by the committee.

    Anyanwu specifically asked Saraki whether he (Saraki) is an importer, whether he imported any vehicle in the name of Abubakar Bukola Saraki if it is true that he imported SUV Range Rover that was clear with fake customs papers.

    Saraki was also asked whether the SUV was cleared in his name or on his behalf and whether he asked anybody to clear the SUV on his behalf.

    The Senate President began his testimony with a warning those fighting the National Assembly should desist from the act in the interest of democracy.

    He insisted that democracy cannot thrive if institutions of government are deliberately weakened and ridiculed.

    Saraki said, “I use this opportunity to commend the good work that you are doing and your effort and contribution to building the institution of the Senate that we all have sworn to defend and we are all here to do that.

    “Part of my being here in person is all part of my belief that what you are doing here is to strengthen our institution.

    “I said I want to come here personally, subject myself to this process because I think we must continue to build this institution and this is part of the process of building this institution.

    “Most of the questions come to a basic issue.

    “I am not an importer and at no point did I import an SUV Range Rover. As you know this is a vehicle that is not a “personal vehicle. It is a vehicle which was processed through the National Assembly.

    “I don’t know anything about the importation; I did not appoint any clearing agent or anything like that.

    “Most of the vehicles that are here you only know when it is delivered to you. None of this did I import or getting any agent or going to the port.

    “This is not true, those that said it know it is not true, Customs knows it is not true because we all know that all treated vehicles have end user certificate and it states clearly who the importer is and these documents are available and there is no document anywhere that shows my name.

    “So I want to state categorically that this is not true and it is important that I come here and clear my name and put this matter to rest.

    “We all raised the issue of the policy that is anti-people in the interest of Nigerians. This policy that really had no value at all and that was why this motion came up and we debated it in the interest of Nigerians, but unfortunately those who want to fight back went and thought there was something to blackmail us with.

    “But I believe that the issue at hand regarding this issue as I said categorically I am not an importer and I know the documents you have will show clearly that it has nothing to do with me.

    “I believe that this process is good for us. It will further strengthen our institution. It is a great day for our democracy for me to come before you as the president of the Senate.

    “We must protect this institution. As members, we will come and go but we must protect this institution.

    “To ridicule an institution of this magnitude is not something we should take lightly and that is why I have taken the time to be here.

    “Today it is me but tomorrow it will be another person. I think it is part of the sacrifice we are making in the work that we are doing that we have these kinds of cases that did not hold water.

    “We must protect this institution because this is the only thing we can leave. The difference between military rule and democracy is the parliament. For as long as the parliament is weak, our democracy can never be strong.

    “That is why I told myself that I must come here no matter how ridiculous I felt it was because the documents are clear. There is nowhere it said I imported it, it is not my private vehicle.”

    On the importer of the car, Tokunbo Akindle, Chairman of the Committee Anyanwu told him that the allegation was that he imported an SUV and did not pay the import duties and that was the reason the Senate is having an issue with the Nigerian Customs.

    Tokunbo Akindele responded: In 2015 on behalf of the firm that I work for, Oando PLC, we imported a Range Rover Bullet Proof SUV vehicle.

    “We imported it as the company that needed to use it for the various operations that we have around the country.

    “The car took longer than was expected and by the time it reached Nigeria in 2015, September, we decided that we will no longer be using the car, so we effectively packed it.

    “Initially because we are not going to use it for any operations whatsoever because we already met the requirements needed.

    “The process of acquiring the car we mandated a company offshore, to buy the car, armour the car, ship the car, clear the car with Customs and just deliver the car to us as a full-fledged service.

    “We received the car in September 2015 assuming that all of these things are done, all payments were made for the acquisition, the armouring, the shipping as well as the clearing of which we have necessary evidence.

    “The car was not imported for the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki.

    “In the process of clearing the car, we did not receive any documentation from the National Assembly.

    “We were not a part of clearing the car, we were the customer, we were expected to receive the car for our own use.

    “The vehicle was not to be used by Sen. Bukola Saraki, it was not imported or acquired for his use at the time the vehicle came into the country.

    “The National Assembly took receipt of the car through a consignment from us, through Lanre Shittu Motors in December 2015.

    “The car had been in the country for two months and had been sitting with no use and it was at that point that we released it to Lanre Shittu on consignment who sold it to the National Assembly.

    “At no point did we submit any fake document for the clearing of the car. We followed all due process in terms of payment to the company which handled the entire process for us.”

    Also speaking, the car dealer, Olarenwaju Shittu, told the committee that they facilitated the sale of the car to the National Assembly.

    He said that there was never a time they sold the car to Saraki.

    “It was when the car was intercepted sometime in 2017 that it was brought to my knowledge and we contacted Oando who gave us the papers that they said was fake,” Shittu said.

     

  • N289m SUV probe: Saraki at Senate panel,says no paper bears his name

    N289m SUV probe: Saraki at Senate panel,says no paper bears his name

    Senate President, Bukola Saraki has denied allegation of importing any SUV Range Rover jeep.

    Saraki spoke on Monday when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges on allegation of non-payment of duty for the alleged imported jeep.

    “I am not an importer and I know nothing about the agent or any clearing company. It is important that I clear my name. The documents are there and none of the documents are in my name,” Saraki stated.

    More details soon .

  • Senate probes N4tn revenue leakage in Customs

    Senate probes N4tn revenue leakage in Customs

    The Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff has begun investigation into over N4 trillion revenue leakage in the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) between 2006 and 2016.

    Chairman of the committee, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, spoke in an interview with reporters in Abuja.

    Uzodinma vowed that his committee will recover the money.

    Preliminary investigation by the committee, he said, showed  N4 trillion leakage was was due to infractions, including abuse and non-implementation of Form M (foreign exchange form).

    He noted that other factors that may have been responsible could have been wrong classification of cargo under harmonised system codes, non-screening of cargoes coming into the country and lack of adequate ICT infrastructure for revenue collection.

    Uzodinma said cancellation of pre-arrival assessment reports, abandonment of single goods declaration might also have been responsible for the leakage.

    He said: “The Senate Committee on Customs has condemned the inability of the technical committee on the implementation of comprehensive import supervision scheme to ensure that the provisions of the Act are followed to the latter.

    “The committee frowns at the quantum of revenue losses and it will stop at nothing in ensuring that those involved in this ugly act would return all recoverable monies with them.

    “The committee also frowns at the level of collusion and corruption within the Customs Service.

    “At the end of our current investigation, all these will become a thing of the past and customs revenue will be enhanced and non-oil revenue will be improved upon.

    “What we are investigating is not money spent. It is the leakages.

    “For instance, I am supposed to pay XYZ amount of duty, I will abandon the documentation, go get fake documents, collude with customs, pay maybe a fraction of it and carry my goods. With that, the true import circle is not closed.

    “Another instance is that  assessment is abandoned or I  fill the form M for example with a pro forma invoice, apply for foreign exchange in Central Bank, XYZ amount of money is allocated to me, money  moves in but  no goods shipped.

    “I will then go get fake documents, collude with Customs and then retire the allocation.”

    The committee chairman noted that “this sharp practices, which also include round tripping and false declarations, had over time led to increase in the exchange rate.”

    He said it was also observed that in most cases, the amount of money spent was not commensurate with the volume of goods imported.

    He added that his committee had started investigating activities of companies and banks indicted in the matter.

  • Senate President: it’s mudslinging

    Senate President: it’s mudslinging

    The Senate President last night described the allegations as mere mudslinging.

    A statement by Senator Bukola Saraki’s pokesman, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, said:

    “Our attention has been drawn to the circulation of a report in the media said to have been leaked by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu where he made several allegations against Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki, as it concerns the payment of the Paris Club Fund refund to the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).

    “Let us first state that these allegations are not new. The EFCC had from the outset of its investigation into the Paris Club refund made attempts to drag in the name of Dr. Saraki and we have promptly denied any such involvement of the Senate President.

    “In fact, the EFCC itself came out to deny the report as it then said it had nothing to indict the Senate President. The anti-graft agency said the investigation was still on-going then.  Yet, as at that time it had all these information it is now dishing out.

    “It is obvious that at this point when Mr. Magu believes the Senate President should be blamed for his failure to secure confirmation as Chairman of EFCC by the Senate, he would want to fight back by cooking up reports and masterminding its leakage.

    “We maintain our stand that Dr. Saraki has no direct or indirect link to the distribution of the NGF money. No money from the Paris Club refund was paid to Dr. Saraki.

    “In addressing the specifics of the allegation in the reports, as we gathered from the press, EFCC believe that since the Senate President has worked in the same organisation with Mr. Robert Mbonu before, whatever transaction he is involved in should be linked to the Senate President in this era of mudslinging and muchraking.

    “We would like to say that Mr. Mbonu is not representing Mr. Saraki in any transaction he does with the NGF and no money from his company, Melrose, in his dealing with Nigeria Governors Forum came to Dr. Saraki either directly or indirectly. And if the EFCC has any information to the contrary, we challenge them to make it public.

    “We state categorically that no aide of the Senate President acted on Saraki’s behalf in whatever they do with Mr. Mbonu.

    “Again, If Melrose paid any money to a jeweller or any shop, that has nothing to do with the Senate President. We believe Melrose must have the necessary documentation in support of their transaction and we are sure the EFCC is aware of all these.

    “In the same vein, if Melrose chose to invest in another company, that decision has nothing to do with the Senate President and the act of drawing a link between Mbonu and Saraki can at best be only pure mischief.

    “At this point, it should be noted that Xtract Energy Services Limited is a well known foreign exchange dealer with almost 15 years of existence in the market and the company is widely known to do business with many organisations in the country.

    “The last time the Senate President patronised the company was on December 19, 2014 and we challenge Mr. Magu and the EFCC to prove that the Senate President transacted any form of business with the foreign exchange dealer in the period of the payment of the Paris Club refund.

    “We call on members of the public to view this concocted and leaked report as Mr. Magu’s form of fighting back. The report has no truth in it. It should be noted that the Senate Prssident was not behind Magu’s failure to get confirmation from the Senate.

    “That was democracy in action. Dr. Saraki is merely a presiding officer and first among equals. Dr. Saraki did not in any way interfere with the confirmation process.”

  • Uniform drama: Senate chasing shadows

    SIR: The concentration of the Senate, for weeks, on the attire of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Colonel Hameed Ali (retd), indeed leaves much to be desired. Nigerians expect to see profound bills passed by the National Assembly to aid the service-delivery of the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Even when crude oil prices, Nigeria’s main source of revenue, crashed beyond the benchmark, the lawmakers were hectically padding the budget to the detriment of the common man they supposedly represent. The question begging for answers: Of what value is it to the nation in these trying times whether a retired Colonel politically appointed to head the Nigeria Customs Service for set objectives wears a uniform or not?  Who will pay for the sitting allowances for these wasted hours on Customs CG not appearing in Custom’s uniform?  How many people-oriented bills have been passed by the 8th Senate?  There are so many other questions.

    It is believed in many quarters that the uniform drama is a script sponsored by some aggrieved senior officials in the Nigeria Customs Service who felt shortchanged by the appointment of an outsider to head the agency.  The alleged imported-cars saga linked with some principal officers of the Senate cannot be overruled on account of enormous energies devoted to the aimless supremacy fight. Without a doubt, corruption, which has been reigning in the Nigeria Customs Service for many years, makes it expedient that some drastic actions to be taken. It is no politics to state that the declaration of a state of emergency is long overdue in the agency.

    Admittedly, by the ambiguous oversight functions vested in the National Assembly by the Nigerian Constitution, it could drift into such a fight as cheap as trying to get the Customs boss to wear the agency’s uniform under the cloak of patriotism. However, by the provisions of the Customs & Excise Management Act (CEMA) 2011 as amended, such issue is alien, hence baseless and a no-go area for the Senate to endlessly pursue except its rule of law is dependent on wishful thinking.

    Democracy is characteristically a government based on laid down rules. In other words, while the oversight functions could allow the Red Chamber to issue directives extravagantly to all MDAs (ministries, departments and agencies), the respective enabling Acts like CEMA which specifically guides and determines the management and operations of the agency will reduce such directives and threats to ultra vires, thus, null and void. Overall, the legislative arm must qualitatively be up and doing with know-how on its core responsibilities instead of contentedly prioritising politics and its gimmicks at the expense of the people.

     

    • Carl Umegboro
  • Nigeria: What manner of a Senate?

    Nigeria: What manner of a Senate?

    With their N36M monthly salary, have they ever asked themselves what the president earns per month? 

    “If you want to be a true Nigerian, tell the present government where they are going wrong. Power is transient. The only thing that is permanent is what you do for the people when you were alive. If  you are a President or  Minister  (even a Senate President), it does not matter how much you have; you will be remembered  only for service, not the amount of money you have which you cannot even announce” – Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi11.

    For some time now, this column’s concern with Nigeria’s ballooning corruption has ensured that I couldn’t get published here the very timely views of Mr George Umeh on the parlous state of manufacturing in Nigeria. In a mail to the columnist, the concerned citizen wrote as follows in reaction to one of my articles on our literally incurable corruption:

    “Nigerians are to blame. We have a lot of resources and the markets (the demand) but we do not want to manufacture many of the goods we consume. Otherwise how do you explain a nation using 90% to 95% of its income to import 90% to 95% of products it uses? There will be nothing left. Above all, it leaves us with huge economic and social problems – unemployment, crime, prostitution, etc. It has also led to our once cherished social values like honesty giving way to corruption and nepotism as public servants want to avoid economic insecurity. Japan and Italy, for example, have had over 60 prime ministers since World War 11 but their economies are stable owing to manufacturing. Manufacturing creates jobs, reduces imports and makes currencies valuable. It is one stage of development Nigeria wants to avoid thus creating problems for us. Lagos as an industrial centre is too small for a large country like ours. We need three to five ‘Lagoses’ in Nigeria. I have sent a 7-page letter to President Buhari on the only way out in which I told him clearly that he was unlikely to solve the economic problem even in eight years, and why”. As comments on the above, it is hoped that the Central Bank, giddy with our rising foreign reserve, will be patriot, and responsible  enough to ensure that  forex allocations go to only serious manufacturers  and  not to pseudo ones only interested in round tripping.

    May your tribe increase, Mr Umeh.

    For reasons that are very obvious and negative, I found myself unduly involved with matters pertaining to the Nigerian Red Chamber this past week. The immediate leitmotif though, was the withering comments on the Facebook wall of my dear brother, Kayode Samuel. Forever keen on lampooning the APC, he had tried to present the Senate,this same senate in glowing colours, sentiments, which he, being a very perspicacious Nigerian, I know were only skin deep in view of the totally reprehensible things coming out of that chamber.

    Even where the uninitiated would have thought that they  mean well, as in the cases of both the Secretary to the Federal Government and that of the Comptroller-General of Customs, largely because it is not in our senators’ habit to be people friendly, they still managed to shoot themselves on the arm. Take, for instance, the case of the SGF: what rational person would argue that the man does not have questions to answer, not only as to why allegedly unexecuted contracts were awarded to a company he established, not minding the usual phony resignations from the company which such compromised persons claim (even Obasanjo once claimed a blind trust), but also the fact that the awardees were reportedly fake, and untraceable, for contracts running into over a billion naira. This discovery should have drawn commendations to the senate had they afforded Mr Babachir Lawal fair hearing. Even with that lacuna, they still proceeded to recommend his sack by the President. If the senate truly wanted to be respected by the Presidency, they should have remembered that despite all the pressures mounted by the 7th Assembly on President Jonathan, he did not remove Ms  Arunma Oteh who, in any  case, they did not appoint for him. The same thing is now playing out in the CGS case even where they know the man does not have to wear a uniform to be able to explain the rationale for his misplaced policy of wanting to punish vehicle users whereas he should have simply surcharged his officers, retired or still in office, who took bribes in lieu of appropriate custom duties. At least, as INEC and NNPC have indicated they would do, their terminal benefits and pensions could have been converted to that purpose. Again,where they would have received accolades, their desire for vendetta completely smothered that as they were keener on punishing the officer for seizing the senate President’s alleged N300M jeep cleared with fake documents.

    Now, in which depressed country of the world will any serious senate, or its President, be importing a N300m bulletproof Range Rover Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) even as manufacturers are paying through their noses to get the forex they need for raw materials? Do these people think at all or do they consider themselves more important than every other Nigerian? Since they claimed to have paid, read as bribe, the electorate for their electoral victory, apparently they no longer bother about the fact that many Nigerians do not know where their next meal would come from. With their N36M monthly salary, have they ever asked themselves what the president earns per month? And must we Nigerians continue to watch these people lacerate us every which way like we are bewitched? Are we such zombies?

    This takes me to those Face book comments I referred to earlier.  Kayode Samuel had jabbed the APC claiming that the much criticised senate is a product of the party. While I agreed with him, I had gone further, to say that  the crises in the senate is a result of  both the selfishness and shortsightedness of  both the CPC and the A C N which failed to allocate the Senate Presidency to the N-PDP after they had  each taken the Presidency and Vice –Presidency, respectively. After all, APC owed its victory in the entire North-Central to the N-PDP, adding, however, that as things stand today, Bukola Saraki has taken party disloyalty to a new low.  My final contribution to that topic was that had the framers  of the  Nigerian  constitution anticipated we could ever have a senate like this one, there’s no way they would have assigned to it the heavy and sacred duties allotted to it. Or what with the barrage of allegations, some criminal, daily being made against its members while a least one is in court? In comparison the House of Representatives now looks like a church.

    Allegations of the Senate President importing a vehicle with fake papers had barely broken when Melaye, its most outstanding member, was alleged  to have not graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University. While he has gone to court to redeem his integrity, a fresh scandal has erupted, this time against its President, Deputy, and their House counterparts. In  a petition to the EFCC, the same one they want to behead,  the highly regarded civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) is asking the EFCC to prosecute the named officers  for alleged fraudulent practices. Signed by its National Chairman, Olarewaju  Suraju,  they are alleged to have converted their private residential properties to official residences so they could collect rent. These officers are believed to have collectively defrauded the country to the tune of N630,25,499.90. According to the petitioners, the men, using some fictitious agents as decoy, “approached  the Federal Capital Development Agency to provide them with residential accommodation, having made arrangement with the agent  who claimed to be the landlord for the purpose of the transaction, purportedly renting to the Federal Capital Development Authority a five bedroom detached duplex for the use of one of the principal officers of the National Assembly at the rate of an annual rent of N50 million, the FCDA having paid for two years in advance. This fraudulent tactic was used for each of them with a common feature of  the transactions being that they were all approved within 48 hours, followed with immediate disbursement of funds, having presented companies that doubled as estate agents and property owners for the exercise”, they wrote.

    Considering all these, and those not yet in the public space, four questions readily come to mind: one, are our legislators beyond shame? Two, must these shenanigans go on unchecked? Three, is President Buhari’s government weaker than the other governments we have had since 1999? And finally, have we, Nigerians, been bewitched into complete inaction or irrelevance?

  • Senate, Customs and rule of law

    Senate, Customs and rule of law

    THERE is a precedent to show that Maj.-Gen. Haladu hananiya, a former military officer appointed to head the paramilitary Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), wore the uniform of his new appointment. But precedence is not what bothers Col Hameed Ali (retd.), Comptroller-General (CG) of the Nigerian Customs service. For reasons he has not quite articulated clearly and precisely, Mr Ali is simply not keen on wearing the customs uniform as directed by the senate which summoned him to appear before them in uniform to defend the controversial directive ordering vehicle owners to pay retroactive duties on their vehicles. First he shunned the summons, then eventually two Thursdays ago, he honoured it, but in mufti. The senators declined to give him a hearing, asking him to return last Wednesday in uniform. He shrugged the matter off with an originating summons, not court order.

    This is probably the most needless controversy since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office. Neither Mr Ali nor those who support his defiance, nor yet those who groan at his insubordination, can explain why he wilfully and unwisely chose to get embroiled in an unprofitable controversy. No one has yet adduced cogent reasons to show that Mr Ali would be undone by wearing a uniform, or that his reputation would be injured, or that he would lose face in any way. There is of course no law or constitutional provision to compel Mr Ali to wear customs uniform before the senate. But there is no law or provision to bar him from wearing one either. Somehow, he and his supporters and many other incoherent polemicists in government have formed the opinion that since a uniform was irrelevant to the subject of retroactive payment of customs duties, then the senate had exceeded its brief.

    But rather than honour the Wednesday date, Mr Ali took refuge in the law through an obviously contrived petition by a certain Mohammed Ibrahim, a legal practitioner. In the petition, Mr Ibrahim is asking the Federal High Court Abuja to restrain the senate from compelling the CG from appearing before the lawmakers in uniform. He also wants the court to declare that its oversight functions does not include compelling the CG to appear in uniform because the law does not mandate him to wear one. Seizing upon the filing of the case in court, for the case was yet to be assigned, not to talk of the court issuing an order, the meddlesome Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) wrote a letter to the senate drawing their attention to the case and asking them to stay action.

    Hear the AGF to the senate: “I wish to formally intimate you that I am in receipt of a letter dated 20th, March, 2017 wherein I have been served with an originating summons in respect of the above subject matter (CG Ali and customs uniform). The originating summons is seeking among other declarations ‘whether the oversight functions of the National Assembly extends to compelling and/or giving directive to the first defendant to wear uniform’. In line with the principles of rule of law, court decisions or most importantly, the declarations sought have been deeply rooted in the constitutional provisions; I hold the view that this matter is sub judice… it is the interest of justice and rule of law to stay all actions in this case until the constitutional issues raised in the matters are resolved by the law courts. I wish to further intimate you that as a defendant in the said suit, I intend to file processes and pursue it to a logical conclusion.”

    Based on the busybody Mr Ibrahim’s case and the strange and fatuous reasoning of the AGF, Mr Ali has written the senate to tell them he would not be honouring their invitation. If it is not already clear to the ordinary Nigerian that the Buhari presidency is in the horrifying grip of anti-democrats who have no semblance of patriotism and nationalism left in them, the trivial customs uniform case should disabuse their minds. The AGF who talks so mendaciously of the rule of law has, however, not thought it fit to involve himself in the unambiguous case of the presidency’s defiance of court judgements in both the Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and Ibrahim Dasuki cases. But he has eagerly and inexplicably jumped into the customs uniform case, thereby confirming the suspicion that a cabal has indeed seized control of the presidency.

    It does not now matter whether the senate is right or wrong to order Mr Ali to wear customs uniform. Here are the takeaways: first, whether any court before it sits can ask the National Assembly not to do its work; and, second, whether the mere act of filing a case without the court sitting and issuing a restraining order is enough to compel the senate to hold action. So, by what legal contrivance was the AGF asking the senate to hold its peace? This beats the imagination. If democracy will be destroyed, it will not be because lawmakers sometimes indulge their frivolities, as objectionable as this might be, but because key members of the executive arm fail to appreciate the weighty political responsibility thrust on their puny shoulders.