The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SENATOR

  • N11.5b ‘fraud’: Akala, senator, businessman take EFCC to Supreme Court

    A former Governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, former Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Ayoola Agboola and a businessman, Mr. Femi Babalola, have taken the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the Supreme Court over allegation of N11.5 billion fraud.

    The move by the trio stalled the commencement of trial in the case that was scheduled to start on Monday before Justice Muniru Owolabi of an Oyo State High Court, holden at Iyaganku, Ibadan.

    According to the EFCC, the alleged fraud was committed when the first defendant, Alao-Akala, was governor of the state between 2007 and 2011.

    Agboola, the second defendant, at the time served as commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, while Babalola owns an engineering firm, Pentagon Engineering Services that executed some contracts during the administration.

    At the court yesterday, counsel to Alao-Akala and Babalola, Mr. Hakeem Afolabi (SAN), moved two applications before Justice Owolabi, informing the court that his clients have filed an interlocutory appeal on the matter before the Supreme Court, seeking an adjournment of the case in order to await the decision of the apex court.

    He said the applications dated April 7 and filed on April 9, were filed on 10 grounds, praying the court to allow the defendants to go, and “should be told not to return to sin, though they are not sinners.”

    He relied on some earlier pronouncements of the Supreme Court, including Amaechi versus Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Pastor Richard Ogunwole (SAN), who is the counsel to the second defendant, Ayoola Agboola, aligned himself with the two applications moved in the court, saying the interlocutory appeal in the Supreme Court would terminate the proceedings at the high court entirely, if it succeeds.

    He urged the court to “tarry a little, not resting it,” in continuing with the case so that it would not run on collision course against the apex court.

    But the EFCC’S counsel, Dr. Benedict Ubi, opposed the adjournment, arguing that granting the application would amount to “a violent violation of the Constitution of Nigeria, ” relying on the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in the case of Olisa Metuh versus Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    He urged the court to disregard the applications and go on with the case.

    Justice Owolabi, however, adjourned the case till June 4 for ruling on the applications, whether the court would await the decision of the Supreme Court or it would continue with the trial while the interlocutory appeal is still pending in the apex court.

    The EFCC on October 11, 2011 filed the matter before Justice Moshood Abass of the court and the defendants were admitted to bail, which they perfected.

    Justices Akintunde Boade and Bayo Taiwo, had also sat on the case before the former retired and the latter transferred out of Ibadan Division.

    Alao-Akala was admitted to bail at N5 million with two sureties, while the second and third defendants were also granted bail at N3 million each with two sureties.

    But the three defendants were re-arraigned before Justice Owolabi on March 5, 2018, over the same matter by the EFCC.

    The trio pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them.

    Counsel to the defendants urged the court to allow their clients to enjoy the previous bail condition granted to them, which was granted by the court.

    The defendants are facing an 11-count charge of conspiracy, awarding contract without budgetary provision, obtaining by false pretence, acquiring property with money derived from illegal act and concealing the ownership of such property, among others.

    The EFCC’s counsel, Dr Benedict Ubi, had told the court that when Alao-Akala was the governor of Oyo State, he awarded a road contract worth N8.5billion between 2007 and 2009 to Pentagon Engineering Services, alleging further that the firm handled the contract on behalf of the 33 local governments  without budgetary provision.

    Alao-Akala, he contended, ordered the supply of drilling machines on behalf of the 33 local governments worth N3.5billion, saying Alao-Akala purportedly conspired with Ayoola to withdraw N2.9 billion from Oyo State Local Government Joint Account.

  • Senator, residents hail governor

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode got a pat on the back yesterday for fixing 21 roads in Alimoso Local Government Area.

    Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Lagos West District), led other residents to hail the governor for lifting the economic status of their domain with the network of roads.

    Speaking at the inauguration of Aiyetoro Bridge, Senator Adeola noted that the governor had surpassed the expectations of Lagosians, noting that many residents who relocated from the area years ago, have been returning to the axis due to the massive infrastructural renewal by the Akinwunmi-led administration.

    He said: “Your Excellency, we are assuring you of giving you one million votes in the coming election from Alimosho alone because if we should look at it during this your administration, Alimosho uses to be one of the great beneficiary.

    “Alimosho local government uses to be one of the biggest beneficiaries. Today alone, 21 roads, with two bridges are being opened. We have commissioned many in the past. One of the longest bridges after the Third Mainland was also commissioned in this Alimosho Local Government Area last year.

    “You know Alimosho used to be called Tinubu Home Country. But now, it is Ambode’s destination abode. We are taken aback and marvelled with the level of work you have done in our local local government.”

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ayobo Ipaja Local Council Development Area, Ladi Oluwaloni Olo, hailed the governor for opening the area to prosperity.

    “This is an unprecedented feat that will be commended by unborn generation,”Olo told reporters after the opening of the roads.

    He said the roads would boost business activities at the boundary communities between Lagos and Ogun states.

    The party chieftain said besides ending traffic jams and damages to cars, the roads would be increase commercial activities in the area, concluding that “this will translate to prosperity”.

    Olo, a chartered accountant, said Ambode had fulfilled the promise he made last year when he inaugurated roads in the Alimoso, by building more roads, thus opening up the area.

    He said: “The governor’s action has shown that he is a leader who fulfils his promises. The only way we can pay him back is to support his administration by paying our taxes.

    “If we do so, we will encourage him to deliver more dividends of democracy to us in Alimoso and by extension Lagos State.”

  • A senator’s many troubles

    TO the uninitiated, Senator Dino Melaye’s many troubles may be intriguing. To those who know him, the Kogi West senator is not new to trouble. It may even be right to say Melaye courts trouble. The author of One Day One Trouble may have characters like Dino Melaye in mind. Melaye’s many troubles push him on the spot light, more often than not, for the wrong reasons.

    Melaye’s days in the House of Representatives were turbulent. That he was a thorn in the flesh of the leadership of the House was not in doubt. His posturing in the lower chamber earned him indefinite suspension when he led few others to accuse the Dimeji Bankole-led House of misappropriation and abuse of due process. Melaye was only saved from the blazing hammer of the House by the court.

    Melaye’s swagger perhaps is not anything better now that he is in the Senate. The only difference this time around is that he appears to be in the good book of the Senate leadership. He is tagged the ‘political son’ of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

    In the Senate, Melaye has, no doubt, stepped on toes, some of them big. He moved the motion that led to the suspension of Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume. He was linked to the removal of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as chairman, Northern Senators Forum. He raised the motion that culminated in the resolution to refer Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions for investigation. The Delta central lawmaker apparently sensing danger repudiated his submission of the controversial election sequence crisis.

    The list is endless. Of all his troubles, however, Melaye appears to have met his match in his state governor, Yahaya Bello. He is battling to frustrate a recall notice hanging over his neck. Aggrieved members of Kogi West accused him of poor representation. He, however, saw the hands of Bello in the attempt to recall him from the upper chamber.

    He is crying blue murder and has vowed to fight on to the end. The Court of Appeal where he ran to seek protection ruled that the recall process was in order. The court gave its nod for the process to continue unhindered. On the basis of the court ruling, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday set aside April 28 for the recall process of Melaye to commence. Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor James Apam, told stakeholders in Lokoja, the state capital, that the commission’s position to commence that recall process is based on the Court of Appeal ruling. Apam described INEC as a law-abiding body that will adhere strictly to the pronouncement of the Court of Appeal, which ordered the commission to restart the recall process.

    Apam said the recall process will start with the verification of signatures of the electorate on the recall register. At least 51 per cent of the signatures must be fully verified, he said. A referendum of the electorate will be conducted on May 5, which will depend on the success of the verification exercise being able to verify at least 51 per cent of the signatures. He added: “We will invite all those that signed the recall register to come forward to identify their signatures. If this process is successful, the commission will proceed to the next stage where a referendum of all registered voters will be conducted. “Here, voters will be asked to vote either yes or no to the question of whether they want Sen. Dino Melaye recalled. If they are able to meet the constitutional requirement of 51 per cent yes, the process moves to the next stage, but if it fails, the process stops.” Melaye has taken the matter to the Supreme Court for further adjudication. He was also arraigned before a Federal Capital Territory in Abuja High Court for alleged misinformation. The Kogi West senator was slammed a two-count charge of giving false information to the police about an assassination attempt on his life in April 2017. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. The office of the Attorney General of the Federation filed the charges, marked CR/106/18 on January 31, 2018. Melaye was accused of falsely incriminating the Chief of Staff to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, Mr. Edward Onoja David, in the alleged assassination attempt.

    The offences were said to be punishable under sections 140 and 393 of the Penal Code Law, Cap. 89, Laws of Northern Nigeria, 1963. He was granted bail after a plea application filed by his lawyer, Mr. Rickey Tarfa (SAN). The bail application was opposed by Mr. Shuaibu Labaran, the prosecuting counsel. The judge, Justice Olasunbo Goodluck, dismissed the opposition which she ruled was based on inadmissible affidavit evidence.

    She granted bail to the defendant in the sum of N100,000 with one surety who must be a federal civil servant of at least Grade Level 14 in any federal parastatal or establishment. The surety must also provide proof to be a resident of the Federal Capital Territory. Only last week, the Kogi State Police Command dragged Melaye before a Federal High Court, Lokoja, to answer charges of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms. Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, ACP Jimoh Moshood, told reporters while parading two alleged political thugs, Kabiru Saidu, also known as Osama and Nuhu Salisu also known as Small, in Lokoja, that Melaye was allegedly linked to the activities of the thugs.

    Moshood said the two suspects were apprehended by the police at Agojueju in Dekina local government area of the state, after engaging the men of the command and team of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad in a gun duel for several hours.

    The police spokesman said the suspects upon investigation confessed that they have caused mayhem, disruption of peace, destruction of lives and property as well as belonging to a dreaded and vicious kidnap gang terrorizing the state. Moshood said the gang leader, Kabiru Saidu, claimed that Senator Melaye handed over a bag to him containing one AK 47 rifle, two Pump Action rifles and the sum of N430, 000, to start training others preparatory to the 2019 elections. He said consequent upon the criminal confession against Melaye by Kabiru Saidu, the police wrote the senate president informing and requesting him to release Senator Melaye to report at the office of the commissioner, Kogi State Command, to answer the allegation levelled against him.

    Moshood said that following the deliberate refusal by Melaye to honour the police invitation, a case of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms had been filed at the Federal High Court, Lokoja, on the 16th of March. Melaye has since dismissed the allegations as unfounded and a calculated attempt by the police to malign him.

    He accused the police of playing out the script of the Kogi State Government to frame him up and to discredit him. He insisted that the development was an attempt to shut him up, especially since he has never seen or met the suspects in his entire life. The fabricated lies by Kogi State Government and the police against me will fail. It’s utterly laughable and preposterous. It’s a sign of desperation”, the embattled Senator had tweeted, adding: “No amount of lies and blackmail will detract my attention from speaking the truth and defending it”.

  • Senate sabotaging Buhari’s administration, says Senator

    •’Why senate leadership is after me, by Adamu

    A senator yesterday accused the Senate of sabotaging the Muhammadu Buhari administration with its actions, despite the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) having majority of the members.

    Senator Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West) claimed that his opposition to some of the Senate’s actions was responsible for his being singled out for punishment and attacks by his colleagues. He warned that any move to suspend him for his views would be illegal.

    The septuagenarian senator, a two-term Nasarawa State Governor, made his position known in a statement yesterday.

    He said: “Our party, the  APC, has the majority in both chambers of the National Assembly, yet we hold the executive prisoner of politics that are unhealthy for the polity.

    “It is such a terrible irony that we sabotage our own government by refusing to do our part in support of the executive.

    “Appointments requiring Senate approval are held up. The consequence is that the public has nicknamed the President and his administration go-slow”.

    Adamu, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, also said his opposition to the amendment of the Electoral Act, which reordered election sequence, was another reason he was being attacked in the Senate.

    The lawmaker said he strongly believed that senators needed to retrace their steps and reconsider their stand as legislators on matters of public interest.

    He added: “The people gave us the mandate as a party to deliver. With our control of the executive and the National Assembly, there is no reason why the government cannot acquit itself and fulfill the yearnings of the people.

    “Perhaps, while we are consumed with sabotaging the administration and stabbing one another in the back, we forget that in less than a year from now, we shall be required to seek the people’s revalidation of our mandate to sit in these hallowed chambers. What shall we tell them?”

    The statement partly reads: “The public is aware that I have been the subject of vilifications by both the leadership and my distinguished colleagues in the 8th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the past three weeks or so. Various attempts have been made, and are still being made to impugn my integrity and question my support for the leadership of the Senate and my loyalty to the Senate.

    “I have thus far refrained from a press war in defence of myself because I am fully aware that a press warfare resolves nothing. In all wars, including a press war, the truth suffers; the public becomes less informed and more confused about the facts and the issues at stake. I have taken some necessary steps within the confines of the Senate to defend myself and re-assure my distinguished colleagues that I remain unshaken in my commitment and faithful to my oath as a legislator on whom the constitution imposes the burden of making laws for the good governance of our dear country.

    “Inherent in that important constitutional duty is the promotion of peace driven by cordial and mutually beneficial relations between the executive and the legislative arms of government. In my humble view, a strained relationship between the two arms of government would result in the proverbial case of two elephants fighting and trampling the grass under their heavy feet. In this case, unless the executive and the legislature act in tandem, good governance would become unattainable. And, of course, the welfare of the people would suffer grievously.

    “I am now forced to respond to some of the barefaced lies and the nasty allegations against me because the public has the right to know the facts. My objective is to properly educate the public on my ‘crime’ or ‘crimes.’ It is important for the public to know that I have committed no crime against the Senate and/or its leadership. I have done nothing to bring the revered upper legislative house to ridicule intentionally or inadvertently. My only crime that is considered heinous by the leadership of the senate, is this:

    “I stood up on the floor of the Senate in a raucous plenary session to caution against the increasing show of disrespect to the person and the office of the President of the Federal Republic. I feared that this was becoming a pattern. I thought this was against the culture of the legislature and we needed to pull back in order to maintain mutual respect between the executive and the legislature. The national assembly is the second arm of this administration. We cannot undermine the executive without undermining the government of which we are a part.

    “I did not think this was a crime but it turned out I was wrong. To show their displeasure with my stand, my colleagues acted in a manner as to impugn my integrity. First, there was the tendentious story put out in a press statement from the senate to the effect that I had been unceremoniously removed as chairman of the Northern Senators Forum and that Senator Wamakko had replaced me. I did not bother to respond to the concocted lies because the forum has a system of changing its leadership. Its affairs are not conducted in press statements emanating from strange and unauthorised persons.

    “But since then, there has been a consistent barrage of calumny heaped on my person and my integrity as a ranking senator of the Federal Republic. Part of my crime is my stand on the amendment to the electoral act. In that controversial amendment, the Senate seeks to change the order of elections decided by the electoral umpire, INEC, for the 2019 general elections.  I and some of my colleagues were opposed to this amendment on the grounds that it is not the duty of the Senate to determine the order of elections. It had never been part of the Electoral Act and there is no need to deny the commission the right to do its duty as it deems fit. Happily, I am not alone in taking this stand. At least…..of my colleagues are opposed to it too. We addressed a press conference to that effect. Our intention was not to insult the Senate but to register our principled stand on a matter that concerns all Nigerians.

    “I believe we need to retrace our steps and reconsider our stand as legislators on matters of public interest. Our party, APC, has the majority in both chambers of the National Assembly, yet we hold the executive prisoner of politics that are unhealthy for the polity. It is such a terrible irony that we sabotage our own government by refusing to do our part in support of the executive. Appointments requiring senate approval are held up. The consequence is that the public has nicknamed the president and his administration go-slow.”

     

     

  • How on earth can Nigeria survive when a Senator carts home N170.4m yearly

    How on earth can Nigeria survive when a Senator carts home N170.4m yearly

    What exactly is the worth of a Nigerian legislator’s service to his constituents or to the country as a whole?

    I did not manufacture those figures. Rather, it is maximum commendation to Senator Shehu Sani, the only man of conscience in our senate of rabid takers who, for the very first time since 1999, in spite of the dozens of self proclaimed activists and ‘lovers of the masses’, who had adorned that otherwise historic institution in our country, had the pang of conscience to disclose what a predatory group of people Nigerians have for legislators.

    In articles after articles, I have written my fingers sore on these pages urging Nigerians to simply: storm this Bastille of gluttons.

    The first Nigerians got to have a wink of  what a preposterous percentage of the national cake  the members  self awarded  themselves,  was when then  CBN governor,  Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi,  informed Nigerians  that the sinkhole was gobbling no less than 25% of Federal government  overheads. In a subsequent analysis of that figure, which was found substantially  correct –  of the then federal overhead of N536.2 billion, the National Assembly was  getting N136.2 billion – a team of Vanguard newspaper reporters – Jide Ajani, Ben Agande & Luka Binniyat, in an article published on 4 December, 2010, concluded that “there is a disconnect between what members allocated to themselves in the annual budget and the responsibilities they have discharged on behalf of the long-suffering people of Nigeria”. The report went further to recall that this is a legislature (House) described by a former House member, Gabriel Suswan, at a lecture at the University of Abuja, as a pack of “un- educated and immature” people, where  less than 20 out of its 360 members make useful contributions at plenary session or sponsor motions or bills”.

    The senate can only be slightly different.

    Holy Moses!

    If there was controversy when now Emir Sanusi made that disclosure, not again as Sen. Shehu Sani has laid it all bare: each of our senators swallows a minimum N170.4 million yearly. That figure should be far less than what 360 members gulp annually in the House.

    Below is a recap of Shehu Sani’s interview and,  if his conscienceless colleagues decide to suspend him like forever, he should be more than satisfied that he has cast his name in gold in the annals of Nigerian history.

    For the first time, according to a story posted on WWW. Naija loaded.com.ng, reporting an article by THE News magazine, a member of the National Assembly has revealed the huge amount Nigerian senators earn.

    The Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, damned all consequences as he revealed how much he and his colleagues receive monthly. In an interview with TheNEWS magazine, he said each Senator receives N13.5 million monthly besides their over N700, 000 monthly consolidated salary and allowances.

    “I think what we can say is that the running cost of a senator is N13.5 million every month,” said Sani in response to the question on the bogus salaries and allowances of Nigerian lawmakers. According to him, while there is no specific instruction on what the fund should be used for, lawmakers must provide receipts to back up their expenses from the running costs, adding that this is in addition to funds earmarked for each senator for constituency projects.

    “But, continues the senator, what I am saying is that the money (N13.5 million per month) must be receipted for what you do with it. But what you are given to go and spend without any accountability is N750,000.00. “The constituency project itself is given on a zonal basis and almost every Senator will go with a constituency fund of about N200 million. “You will be told that you have N200 million with an agency of government for which you will now submit projects equivalent to that amount. And it is that agency of government that will go and do those projects for you. (Yes senator,Nigerians know what you are talking about. They have been scammed for far too long not to know when the rain started beating them).

    “Now, the corruption comes, said Sani, when the projects are not done (as is mostly the case), and the money is taken. But right now, it is difficult to do that because NGOs and transparency groups have come into it. They track every allocation made to you and where they are being used. (as if these too are not manned by Nigerians).

    And his conscience takes over, but certainly not that of his remaining 108 colleagues: “But I can tell you that I would love a situation where we do away with running costs, constituency projects and leaves senators and members of House of Reps with salaries.

    “There are issues that we need to understand. First, I don’t believe that members of the National or even state assemblies should be involved in carrying out what is called constituency projects.

    “When people are elected into the National Assembly, they should just be involved in law making, raising motions, bills and also performing oversight functions. But we live in a society where people cannot differentiate between the legislators and the executive. “When the people come to you, they want you to build roads, dig boreholes, build hospitals, schools, give money, pay school fees for them. Now, if we have a society in which people will stop asking legislators to do those things, then there is no need for the allowances.

    “If we can be done with that, it would be okay. Now, you are talking of bogus salaries and bogus allowances – there are three steps you need to consider – the first has to do with the fact when you represent the people, expectations arose from your immediate and the larger constituencies. “But I agree with you that the salaries and allowances of lawmakers should not be discreet {secret}, but what is discreet about it when you can write to Resource and Fiscal Mobilisation Commission to get everything about what a senator earns? (Not just that the thoroughly ineffective agency will give you bogus figures if at all it responds, the Speaker of the House is known to have once played ‘ boju boju’ – hide and seek- with these figures, authorising the release of only the basic salary).

    “The only money you are not expected to account for is your salary and the salary of a senator is about N750, 000.00 per month. The other one, the running cost of office, must be accounted for. You must provide a receipt for every expense you make.” (again for a small fee, even a petrol attendant will give you receipt for any amount of your choice even if you discount the fact that many of these our current legislators could  be printing their own receipts, be it for sand or steel).

    The critical questions then are these:

    What exactly is the worth of a Nigerian legislator’s service to his constituents or to the country as a whole?

    What have they effectively done, and how has this mostly riotous 8th assembly, which had all the time in the world to line behind a senate President defending self against corruption before a court,  impacted our lives?

    How long have they sat on critical bills like the Petroleum Industry Bill, bills on recovered loots and allied anti corruption bills?

    On an average, despite constitutional provisions, how many times does the most conscientious of our legislators attend plenary?

    What should Nigerians do with/to this absolutely unnecessary distraction that gulps so much of funds that could have gone into infrastructure procurement, much better roads, good health care delivery system, an educational system rather than one conspicuous for lack of basic necessities and, forever suffused with incessant strikes?

    Shouldn’t we, for instance, just ask the senate to pack up and the House turned to a part time arm of government?

    What exactly, beyond perception, is its use to society? Shall we lose anything if both chambers are abolished, and in their place the people create a chamber of experienced technocrats to assist the executive, while an expanded council of state, rather than being advisory, is empowered to put the executive under some rigorous check?

    No, I am acutely aware of the law making role of the legislature but how have these self serving legislators made life better for the ordinary Nigerian through laws?

    And, finally, shouldn’t Nigerians just say: ENOUGH, NO MORE, and under the lead of civil societies, together with market women, Nigerian students and the, forever, traumatised hoi polloi, just move en mass , one day, and sack this unhelpful arm of government?

  • Senator raises the alarm over fresh threat

    Senator raises the alarm over fresh threat

    SENATOR representing Kaduna North Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi has raised the alarm that Governor Nasir El-Rufai-led administration has threatened to demolish his personal residence at Inuwa Wada, Ungwan Rimi in Kaduna.

    This is coming barely few hours after the state government demolished the building housing the state’s factional secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Hunkuyi said the state government has asked him to pay N31.4 million grand rent for another property he owns in the metropolis within 30 days.

    The senator, on his Twitter handle, displayed a bill sent to him by the Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS), asking him to pay within 30 days.

    Hunkuyi wrote: “Once again, @GovKaduna Malam @elrufai has sent a ridiculous bill to me for a purported ground rent of my personal house at Inuwa Wada to the tune of N30 million to be paid within 30 days, failure to do so might probably result to another demolition like he did on my other property.”

    The bill sent to the senator as displayed on his Twitter handle was addressed personally to the senator.

    The bill, addressed to Alhaji Suleiman Uthman of 18A Inuwa Wada Road and dated February 20, indicated that Hunkuyi owed the state government a grand rent between 1995 to 2018, accruing to N31.4 million.

    The notice, signed for the Director-General of KADGIS, reads: “You are, therefore, requested to pay the total of N31,467,861.6. You are also expected to pay this amount at any commercial bank into the KADGIS PAYDirect platform.

    “This bill should be paid within 30 days please.”

    Hunkuyi, in another tweet, said he has since last year paid his dues to Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service and he has receipt for the payment.

    He described the request by the state government for another N30 million as draconian and blatant display of abuse of power by El-Rufai.

    According to him, “As of last year, I’ve paid my dues to Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service & they’ve duly issued me receipts to that effect. This letter today demanding for N30 million within 30 days is draconian & indeed blatant display of abuse of power as arrogantly portrayed by @elrufai.”

    The senator also displayed the receipt of the payment he made into the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service account.

    According to the receipt, he paid N10,000 into the KADIRS’ account for land use on the Inuwa Wada road property on December 11, 2017.

    The payment followed a notice served on him by the KADIRS on December 7, 2017, requesting that the land use bill of N10,000 be paid on the property in question.

  • ‘It’s time to test a woman senator’

    ‘It’s time to test a woman senator’

    An aspirant for next year’s Kogi West senatorial race, Mrs. Doyin Ibikunle, has attributed her decision to contest in 2019 to the bad performance so far by men elected in the past. The business tycoon and philanthropist made the above remark when he spoke to reporters in Kabba, Kogi State, shortly after an empowerment programme for about 300 women in Kabba/Bunu Local Government.

    Ibikunle said she decided to run for an elective office, after 15 years of humanitarian service to her community with the sole aim of rescuing her people. She recalled that in the history of Kogi West district, no woman has represented the people at the Senate, pointing out that the time had come for the people to test a woman.

    This, she noted, became imperative as a result of the “absence of basic infrastructure and evidences of poverty everywhere”. She expressed her displeasure over the deplorable condition of roads in Okunland, noting that the road constructed by a French construction company during the First Republic, had become impassable.

    She admitted that she had no political godfathers or sponsors, but was motivated by her people, especially women. Ibikunle who is contesting on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) said the ruling party had not done badly, after just two years in office.

    She said the change mantra was on course and that with more time, the benefits of the hard times being experienced in the country would materialize for the good of the populace.

    The aspirant however predicted that beyond party affiliations, elections in 2019 would be won more based on individual popularity.

    She said: “There is so much poverty in the community.  Everywhere you go you see poverty written all over the faces of the people. I am in the race for the election to the Senate in 2019 to rescue my people, because the men representing us have not been doing well. No single federal presence worth that name in Kogi West, especially in Okunland. As I am speaking with you, the road that the French construction company, Dumez, gave us in 1960s is the same road my people are plying; it is even worse than when it was first constructed.

    “I think the people need a change.  They want to try a woman and I believe I am up to the task. I have accepted the challenge to champion the course of my people.  Moreover, there are places where they have women representing them. In such places, men have not been able to break their good records. So, I want to be like Mama Taraba, I want to be like Binta.”

    No fewer than 300 widows in Kabba received some relief items, including food stuff, from her non-governmental organisation, Doyin and Suzan Foundation, with emphasis on empowerment of women, especially widows.

    “Women empowerment is critical for the eradication of poverty in the society.

    It is estimated that 115 million widows worldwide live in extreme poverty along with their children. Therefore, giving adequate attention to our widows is long overdue, especially the vulnerable ones.

    Ibikunle added: “It is my humble belief that this occasion will mark a turning point in the life of our widows and bring succour to them through empowerment and various skills acquisition programmes.”

    She said that the foundation had last December distributed relief items, including food stuff worth N12 million, to about 2,000 widows in Yagba Federal Constituency. She promised that the gesture would cut across the seven local government areas in the district.

  • EFCC opposes bid by ex-minister, senator to quash money laundering charge

    EFCC opposes bid by ex-minister, senator to quash money laundering charge

    THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday urged the Federal High Court in Lagos not to grant an application by Senator Ayo Adeseun challenging the court’s jurisdiction to try him for money laundering.

    The commission charged Adeseun along with a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Jumoke Akinjide, for allegedly laundering N650 million.

    Also named in the charge are Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart Chief Olanrewaju Otiti and former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was said to be at large.

    Adeseun, through his lawyer Michael Lana, filed two applications, both of which were adopted by Akinjide and Otiti.

    In the first one, the defendants are praying Justice Muslim Hassan to strike out the charge because it was not properly served on them as provided in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

    Lana said Section 382 (2) of ACJA provides that the court shall within 10 working days of assignment of a case “issue notice of trial to the witnesses and defendants…”

    According to him, the EFCC did not comply with the provision as it was prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, who personally served the defendants with the charge.

    “The charge had the endorsement of the prosecuting counsel and he undertook to serve. The fact that the defendants are in court does not cure the non-service of the charge. Our objection is on non-compliance, not the validity of the charge. Once there’s no service before an arraignment, everything collapses. We have not been served,” he said.

    On the fact that the court issued a hearing notice, the lawyer said the ACJA does not make provision for substituted service.

    “It is the court that is to serve the charge on the defendants, not the prosecutor, who is an interested party. The registrar of the court must issue the notice and serve it either through the police or the bailiff,” he said.

    Akinjide’s lawyer Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN) agreed with Lana’s submissions, adding that the procedure adopted by EFCC in serving the charge was “incompetent”, therefore, “the charge should be struck out”.

    Otiti’s lawyer Akinola Oladeji said the EFCC counsel “personally handed over the charge to the defendants,” adding that “it was not his (Oyedepo’s) business to do so”.

    He insisted that “the procedure in the law was not followed”.

    In the second application, Adeseun is praying the court to decline jurisdiction because the charge does not fall under issues over which the court can adjudicate on as provided in the constitution.

    But, Oyedepo urged the court to dismiss the applications.

    On the issue of non-service, the EFCC lawyer said the judge directed that notices be issued, adding that with the defendants’ arraignment, the application had become an academic exercise.

    “The essence of the notice is to ensure that parties are made aware of the charge. The defendants are here (in court), meaning they have been notified,” he said.

    On the issue of jurisdiction, Oyedepo said EFCC would prove during trial that the laundered money came from agencies over which the court has jurisdiction.

    EFCC accused the defendants of conspiring to obtain the N650 million from Mrs. Alison-Madueke, in the build-up to the 2015 general elections.

    The prosecution said they reasonably ought to have known “that the money formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act”.

    The defendants pleaded not guilty. Their trial will resume today.

  • Senator ot Fed Govt: explore diplomacy on Cameroonian soldiers invasion

    Senator ot Fed Govt: explore diplomacy on Cameroonian soldiers invasion

    The Senator representing Cross River Central, John Owna Enoh, yesterday asked the Federal Government to quickly explore official channels of communication between the country and Cameroon to protest the violation of the territorial integrity of Nigeria by Cameroon soldiers.

    Enoh said that exploring diplomatic means to deal with the issue became imperative following reports that about 100 Cameroon soldiers allegedly crossed the international border into Danare on Monday night in search of the country’s militants in a crackdown on Anglophone secessionists said to have sought refuge in Nigeria.

    The Cross River Central lawmakers in a statement recalled that the latest attack came on the heels of a similar attack on the same communities which falls within his constituency in December 2017.

    Enoh said that in swift response to the dastardly attack on law abiding citizens of Danare, he through a motion of urgent national importance on the floor of the Senate, drew the attention of Nigerians and the government to the unwarranted attack.

    The lawmaker noted that he had among other prayers, called on the federal authority to deploy troops to Danare as a deterrent to stem further incursion and aggression on his constituents by Cameroonian soldiers.

    The deployment of a battalion of Nigerian soldiers in the area, he said, seems not to have deterred the incursion from Cameroonian soldiers.

    He described the latest invasion of Danare as unfortunate, condemnable and “constitutes a gross violation of the inalienable rights of my people to peaceful co-existence.”

    He insisted that “the peaceful and law abiding citizens of Danare deserve a peaceful environment in order to pursue their legitimate aspirations.”

    The incessant violation of the inalienable rights of the people, which he described as fundamental, by Cameroonian soldiers, he said, is unacceptable.

    “I therefore use this medium to call on the Federal Government to explore all official channels of communication between Nigeria and Cameroon to protest this violation of the territorial integrity of our nation,” he said.

    Enoh said that Nigerian troops who have already been deployed in Danare should live up to their professional calling in defence of the people of Danare.

    According to him, the presence of Nigerian troops reassuring as it is to the people of Danare, should not be mere tokenism but should be informed by a full evaluation of the military challenges and the consequent deployment of adequate number of soldiers who will be in the position to respond adequately to deter further attacks.

    Enoh appealed to the Nigerian soldiers on ground to continue to fully discharge their professional duties in defence of the people of Danare and the territorial integrity of the Nigerian State.

     

  • Ex-minister, senator charged with ‘N650m fraud’

    Ex-minister, senator charged with ‘N650m fraud’

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), yesterday re-arraigned former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Jumoke Akinjide, at the Federal High Court, Lagos, for allegedly laundering N650million.

    Akinjide was charged alongside Senator Ayo Adeseun, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart Chief Olanrewaju Otiti and former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was said to be at large.

    The defendants are standing trial on a 24-count charge before Justice Muslim Hassan.

    They were accused of conspiring to obtain the 650m from Mrs Alison-Madueke, in the build-up to the 2015 general elections.

    According to the EFCC, they reasonably ought to have known “that the money formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act.”

    At yesterday’s proceeding, EFCC counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that the agency had an amended 24-count charge and urged the court to admit same as their charge in the suit.

    He said Akinjide, Adeseun and Otiti acted contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2012.

    The amended charge was not opposed by the defence team, following which Justice Hassan ordered the registrar to take the plea of the defendants.

    Trial commences on February 5, 6, 13 and 14.