The Nation Newspaper

Tag: under fire

  • Atiku under fire for promising amnesty for looters

    •APC urges Nigerians to block looters’ return to power
    •Campaign council accuses PDP candidates of bare-faced lies

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that the plan by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to grant amnesty to those who looted the nation’s commonwealth has vindicated its stance that the PDP candidate is only interested in returning the country to the era where sharing of national wealth was the order of the day.

    The APC Presidential Campaign Council also attacked Atiku and his running mate, Peter Obi, for engaging in what it described as bare-faced lies and dishonest claims when they appeared on a national television programme, “The Candidate” on Wednesday night.

    The ruling party said the PDP candidate did not hide his intention to give a red carpet to those people who “wickedly teamed up” with the PDP to ruin the country, adding that Nigerians must rise up to resist such move to return Nigerian to Egypt.

    Its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, who spoke at a news conference in Abuja, said the promise to grant amnesty to looters meant he was not interested in the fight against corruption, but planning to put the destiny of millions of Nigerians in the hand of the same people that worked so hard to impoverish them.

    Issa-Onilu said it was clear that Atiku’s presidential bid was not to serve the country, but the interest of his friends and foreign concerns and interests.

    He added that he was only interested in selling off national assets the way he did when he was National Council on Privatisation Chairman.

    The APC Spokesman said: “In the aftermath of Wednesday night’s televised town hall meeting, ‘The Candidates’, attended by the PDP presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Mr. Peter Obi, a redefinition of their presidential campaign slogan, “Let’s loot Nigeria again” is now trending heavily in the social media.

    “Going by Atiku and Obi’s shocking confession that their administration will grant amnesty to looters, we are equally shocked and hereby align with the wide-section of Nigerians who are now abundantly clear of their intentions, if elected and now see the collective need to stop them.

    “The insistence of Alhaji Atiku and PDP to take us through this dangerous route, where the nation’s economic policies and programmes are driven mainly by the interests of leaders, their local friends, and foreign partners constitute a present danger every well-meaning Nigerian must rise against. The choices before Nigerians cannot be more clearer.”

    Also, the APC Presidential Campaign Council spokesman Festus Keyamo, in a statement in Abuja, said simple fact checks revealed that several claims by the PDP candidate and his running mate were nothing but a tissue of lies.

    Keyamo said Nigerians should take note of Atiku’s definition of corruption as “the use of your privileged position to either enrich yourself or enrich your relatives or even your friends”.

    He added: “When this is juxtaposed with his earlier statement in Lagos, that he will enrich his friends, if he becomes President, we can safely conclude that he will be fully in the business of corruption, if he becomes President.

    “Atiku/Obi made it clear to Nigerians that conflict of interests as a public servant should be the norm as, during their tenures, they found absolutely nothing wrong then and today, with investing public funds in enterprises they own or their families own. For instance, Kadaria ran Peter Obi into a ditch when she asked him if his family was not enriched as a result of using public funds for his family business ‘NEXT’.

    “Their claim on experience in running anything public or private cannot stand any act of scrutiny. The presidential candidate, who is easily a  major contributor to our huge unemployment problem today as a result of his corrupt privatisation programme, counts this failure as a huge experience and wants to repeat same if elected.

    “Their proposed  Agriculture Programme which they claim to have put together to lift majority of the people out of poverty is a version of what is already being implemented by the present government under the Anchors Borrowers Programme and the Government Enterprises and Empowerment Programmes.

    “After watching Atiku/Obi on that programme, it has become clear to all Nigerians that our public institutions and commonwealth would be in grave danger if left in the hands of these dodgy and questionable characters who have no morals and no scruples about using and misusing public funds for private gains.”

    Keyamo listed some of the lies he claimed were told by the PDP candidate and his running mate during the broadcast programme.

     

     

  • Presidency/Senate face-off: Saraki, senators under fire

    Presidency/Senate face-off: Saraki, senators under fire

    •250 civil society groups, others plan mass action to shut down
    Upper Chamber • Demand lawmakers’ apologies to Sagay, Ndume
    •PDP chair calls for Senate President’s immediate resignation

    A storm is gathering against the Senate over its face-off with the Presidency.

    The Upper Chamber has been at loggerheads with the Presidency in recent weeks, twice turning down President Muhammadu Buhari’s request that the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, be confirmed as the substantive chair of the anti-graft agency.

    The Senate also declined consideration of the 27 names the President nominated as resident electoral commissioners because the President would not heed its request that Magu be removed as Acting Chair of EFCC and the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) chairman, Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), spurned an invitation extended to him by the lawmakers, describing it as “childish and irresponsible”.

    But the rift took a new turn yesterday with calls for the resignation of Dr. Bukola Saraki as Senate President and threats by a coalition of 250 civil society groups to dislodge him and other senators.

    The civil society groups, under the auspices of Stand Up for Nigeria (SUN), vowed to mobilise the mass of displeased Nigerians against Saraki and the other senators for daring to hold the nation to ransom by declining consideration of the 27 names President Buhari nominated as resident electoral commissioners.

    The threat to sack Saraki and other members of the Senate is coming just as a factional chair of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State called for his immediate resignation for a myriad of corruption allegations over which the Senate President is being investigated.

    The National President of SUN, Evangelist Sunday Attah, who addressed a press conference in Abuja yesterday, threatened that the coalition would bring the Senate to “a desperately deserved inglorious end” by the time it unleashes its anger on the red chamber next week.

    “We therefore urge all Nigerians to come out in Lagos and Abuja on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for a peaceful protest to shut down the Senate,” he said.

    Attah called on former Nigerian presidents, statesmen and nationalists to prevail on Dr Bukola Saraki-led Senate not to subject the nation to a kind of international embarrassment never witnessed in the history of the country.

    He described the suspension of Senator Ali Ndume from the chamber as anti-democratic, saying that the action must be reversed immediately to avoid the wrath of the Nigerian people in days to come.

    He urged the Senate to immediately reverse the decision to suspend Ndume and commence the process for the confirmation of the individuals nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari as Resident Electoral Commissioners.

    Attah said in the last two weeks, Nigerians have watched in awe as the Senate under the leadership of Saraki practically gave a red card to the anti-corruption war when they started using the confirmation of nominees as bargaining chip to frustrate reforms that were promised by the government.

    He described the Senate’s action as a blow from which many Nigerians are still reeling as they cannot fathom why people who claim to represent them are making anti-people moves.

    He said: “Not only did they engage in anti-people activities, the federal lawmakers shamelessly blackmailed President Muhammadu Buhari by refusing to consider the confirmation of 27 resident electoral commissioners when they know that these nominees needed to resume and familiarise themselves with their duties in time for the next general election.

    “Through its Ethics Committee, the Senate, in the most brazen case of make-believe to have ever occurred in any elected parliament, cleared one of their own, Senator Dino Melaye, of certificate scandal after arm twisting the leadership of his supposed alma mata to give a favourable testimony.

    “The same farcical panel cleared Saraki of complicity or involvement in the armoured Range Rover Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) impounded by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) earlier in the year.

    “Perhaps the Ali-must-wear-uniform saga has been made clearer with this development.”

    He said in the most bizarre treatment of a whistleblower by a parliament on record, the Senate under Saraki, which ought to be the bastion of anti-corruption campaign, suspended former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, ostensibly because he dared break rank to expose Senator Dino Melaye’s qualification fiasco and Saraki’s SUV Custom clearance mess.

    Attah said while the Senate engaged in all these theatrics, the 2017 budget remains in the limbo because the senators do not care how their actions affect the rest of Nigerians.

    Coalition demands apologies to Sagay, Ndume

    He said the actions of the Senate are a dangerous precedent Nigerians must immediately unite and rise up against because it is guaranteed to destroy all that they have laboured for if not arrested in time.

    He said: “Stand Up Nigeria therefore demands that the Senate undo the wrong actions it has taken in the time under consideration.

    “To this end, the federal lawmakers must withdraw the summons to Professor Itsey Sagay and apologise for attempting to intimidate him for exercising his freedom of expression.

    “The Senate must immediately lift the suspension it slammed on Senator Ali Ndume and in addition tender unreserved apology to him for the ridicule it attempted to expose him to.

    “The process for the confirmation of the nominees for Resident Electoral Commissioners must resume without any unnecessary conditions attached.”

    He said where the Senate fails to meet the foregoing demands, the coalition would not relent as was the case in the past when they had cause to call for mass action against the National Assembly.

    Attah said: “We call on former Nigerian Presidents, former Senate Presidents and all men of goodwill to help the Senate in finding its lost glory before the doom of the Senate consumes our democracy.

    “As we had set out earlier, recent activities by the Senate have since shown that these men are more after their ego and greed than the interest of the masses which they have been elected to serve.

    “To this end, we are urging Nigerians that it is time to shift gear.

    “Years of asking the Senate to be accountable and prove itself as a gathering of matured men and women have yielded no positive results.

    “If anything, the predisposition of these federal lawmakers to becoming more crime ridden has worsened over the years.

    “We must therefore begin the process of scrapping the Senate since it has proven itself as a conduit pipe for waste and official cover for blackmailers.”

    Urging Nigerians to rise up and speak up, he said: “When we comment in the social media space, when we take to the streets to protest and when we engage as influencers, the singular demand should be the eradication of Senate, as it is no longer needed.”

    He said Nigerians must ensure that every single Senator that has been part of the criminality going on in the red chamber is not allowed to return to Abuja in 2019 to continue “this madness”. 

    ‘Saraki must go’

    Yesterday, factional chair of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, urged Senator Saraki to step down as Senate President pending his clearance from a myriad of corruption allegations levelled against him.

    Fagbemi said: “The most respectable and acceptable thing to do is to step down even in our clime. After all, the judges have set a precedence.

    “It is the most civilised thing to do. His continued occupation of that exalted position is a serious dent on the image and integrity of the hallowed chamber.” 

    ‘Senate President needs not step down’

    Fagbemi’s views, however, contrast with those of a human rights lawyer and former commissioner for information and strategy in Abia State, Dr Anthony Agbazuere, who said that those calling for the resignation of the Senate President were ignorant of the laws of the land.

    He said that those that were calling for the Senate President to resign to avoid distraction do not understand the workings of the law of the country, as one is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law.

    Speaking with The Nation in Umuahia, Agbazuere said the trial of Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) is a ruse, an abuse of process and an embarrassment to the leadership of this country.

    He said: “Though I see the tribunal finding Saraki guilty, we still have the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court that will surely quash the verdict of the tribunal. So, asking him to resign makes no sense.”

    Corroborating Agbazuere, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Chief Ladi Williams, said in a telephone chat with The Nation yesterday: “It is not right to ask the Senate President to step aside, because our constitution says that an accused person is innocent until he is proven guilty.

    “If he steps aside and he is later proved innocent, who will be responsible for the loss that he  suffers?

    “What we have now is a situation where two parties have issues with one making allegations and the other denying it.

    “Remaining on the seat will not in any way affect  the investigation.”

    Efforts to obtain the Senate’s reaction yielded no result. The Special Adviser to the Senate President, Yusuf Olaniyonu, referred our correspondent to the Senate’s spokeman, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, but he neither picked his calls nor responded to a text message sent to his mobile phone.

     

  • 2015: Jonathan under fire for early campaign

    2015: Jonathan under fire for early campaign

    •PDP disowns campaigners             •It’s callous, insensitive, says APC

    President Goodluck Jonathan came under fire yesterday for jumping the gun in the 2015 race.

    Although the President is yet to speak on his political future, his  party – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – has held some “unity rallies”.

    Such rallies were held in Bauchi (Northeast), Kano (Northwest) and Enugu (Southeast) before they were suspended, following criticisms.

    After a brief lull, the campaigns may have reopened, with a new group, the GEJITES, displaying customised vehicles and giant electronic billboards at the Unity Fountain in Abuja, where the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners have been meeting.

    The expensive billboards are believed to be meant to cast a shadow on the protest.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), the United Peoples Party (UPP), some politicians, lawyers and some opinion leaders, chided the Jonathan campaigners for their action  and Dr. Jonathan for looking the other way.

    The UPP said given the state of the nation, the President would face the consequences if he went ahead to declare his intention to run again.

    But the PDP said it had nothing to do with the campaign by the group, which Second Republic Governor Balarabe Musadescribed as flouting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rules.

    Leader of the #BringBackOurGirls protesters Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili said the group had never been bothered by the competition for space from the various groups campaigning for Jonathan’s  re-election.

    Mrs. Ezekwesili, reacting to the seeming attempt by the pro-Jonathan groups to take the shine off the protests, said: “The trucks and billboards of the pro-Jonathan campaigners have always been there. As a matter of fact, they came to station the trucks and billboards at the venue a few weeks after we started gathering at the Unity Fountain.

    “But we are not bothered by their presence at the venue. As far as we are concerned, the Unity Fountain is a public place and it should be open to everybody that wants to make use of it.

    “All we ask for is the right to peaceful assembly by our members, as guaranteed by the Constitution. What we will continue to kick against is a situation where one Commissioner of Police would wake up one day to say he has banned peaceful protests over the Chibok girls.”

    PDP National Publicity Secretary Chief Olisa Metuh insisted that the party had never been involved in any of the activities of pro-Jonathan groups.

    Metuh who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone, said: “The PDP has nothing to do with the activities of such groups. As a matter of fact, we are not even aware of such groups.

    “I believe the organisers of the groups are in the best position to comment on their activities and why they decided to choose the venue for their activities. I do not know any of them”.

    Founder and National Chairman Chief Chekwas Okorie said Jonathan might have to weigh his options clearly before taking the plunge. He noted that the President could no longer take the people’s support for granted, particularly the people of the Southeast.

    Elder statesman and politician Alhaji Tanko Yakassai believes Jonathan reserves the right to decide when to announce his plan for 2015.

    Yakassai argued that there was a time for declaration of interest by individual candidates, time for the other processes that would lead to the primaries and the emergence of candidates and time for the commencement of campaigns. He is sure that Jonathan is aware of the position of the electoral law on the processes.

    He said irrespective of the security situation in the country President Jonathan’s declaration at any time would not go down well with everybody.

    Second Republic governor Musa objected to the activities of supporters drumming support for the President’s second term bid.

    Noting that the time is not ripe for any subtle campaign, he said the campaigners were flouting the rules of the game.

    His words: “The INEC has not lifted the ban on campaigns. The INEC has not declared that campaigns for the 2015 elections should start. It is not good for the President to allow the people to campaign for him.

    “The implication is that he does not respect the rules of INEC. He is indifferent to the law of the INEC and he is inviting everyone to do the same.”

    Former Minister of Petroleum Resources Prof. Tam David-West said President Jonathan ought not to contest for a second term.

    He said Dr. Jonathan signed an agreement with the North before the 2011 elections to serve for one term and that he had no moral right to declare his intention for another term.

    “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has confirmed it and Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, who is in possession of the document has also confirmed it. He has a moral duty not to contest,” the university teacher said.

    To David-West, the President’s performance in the last four years is woeful and as such he does not have the credentials to ask for another term of four years. “Let him search his conscience to find out whether he has done well in his first term. As for me, the answer is no. So, let him spare Nigerians the agony of another four years of Jonathan. All the people that are urging him on are sycophants; Jonathan’s coming back is good for them because they would continue to get their sycophantic pay. We have not heard a credible rebuttal to the accusation that he agreed to do one term.

    “He has not got much to build on in a second term; education is dying, the economy is dying, and for the first time in the history of Nigeria, we are having problems with our oil industry. Eighty-five per cent of Nigeria’s annual budget is based on oil revenue, but now our petroleum industry is in trouble because America, which used to buy about 55 per cent of our oil is walking away from us.”

    Chief Niyi Akintola  (SAN)said every Nigerian, including the President, has the constitutional right to start campaigning for the 2015 elections.

    On whether the time is right or not, the legal icon said that should be left to INEC to decide.

    “If Jonathan has breached the electoral rule, INEC should sanction him. But INEC has not prescribed any sanction. Let’s leave the issue for the electoral commission to handle,” he added.

    Civil rights activist Moshood Erubami aligned with Akintola’s position. He said the President has the right to start campaigning, adding: “Under normal circumstance, this is the right time”.

    Erubami said:  “It is for him to say he wants to contest, it is another thing for people to reject him. Anyway, we are waiting to see what his campaign issue will be and how he will convince people to vote for him”.

  • $1.5b loan: NNPC under fire

    $1.5b loan: NNPC under fire

    Former World Bank Vice President Dr. Oby Ezekwesili has joined the condemnation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC’s) planned $1.5b syndicated loan to pay off its debts.

    She lashed out at the decision in her twitter account yesterday, her criticism following that of the Senate, which on Tuesday queried the plan, saying it was not informed about it.

    According to Mrs. Ezekwesili, the process the NNPC is following to obtain the loan, which she said was unnecessary, is not transparent.

    Lagos Lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) urged the National Assembly to probe the oil giant.

    Reuters news agency blew the whistle on the loan at the weekend, but NNPC spokesperson Ms Tumini Green said it had not been obtained, although the process was being finalised.

    The state oil company is believed to be owing major commodity trading houses, including Glencore and Mercuria, about $3.5 billion in unpaid fuel supply bills.

    President Goodluck Jonathan is reported to have authorised the loan.

    The NNPC spokesperson said: “The loan has not been obtained yet. It is still being worked out. This is a purely business transaction and it is done in good faith. If you owe somebody, you have to look for how to pay. So we are looking for money to pay our debts.”

    Ms Green said the loan deal was a crucial measure to help the corporation stay in business, insisting that by taking that step, NNPC had not contravened any aspect of the law establishing it as a state-run oil company.

    She added: “Why would anybody not want us to pay off our debts, especially when it is done legitimately? I don’t think it is right.”

    Sections 6 (1)(c) and 8 (1)(2) of the NNPC Act states: “The corporation, in fulfillment of its duties, can enter into contracts or partnerships with any company, firm or person, which in the opinion of the corporation will facilitate the discharge of the said duties under this Act.

    “Subject to the other provisions of this section, the corporation may from time to time borrow by overdraft or otherwise howsoever such sums as it may require in the exercise of its functions under this Act and the corporation shall not, without the approval of the National Council of Ministers, borrow any sum of money whereby the amount in aggregate outstanding on any loan or loans at any time exceeds such amount as is for the time being specified by the National Council of Ministers.”

    Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC), Mr Bismark Rewane, also justified the NNPC’s borrowing.

    He said if the NNPC failed to honour its obligations for offshore processing transactions, it would affect the country’s international credit rating.

    “If the NNPC does not borrow and pay its foreign creditors, our (Nigeria’s) credit rating will go down and this is not good for our financial institutions and the country,” he said.

    But the Chairman of Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said: “Under the law, no government agency can borrow money without the approval of the National Assembly.”

    Senate Committee chairman on Petroleum (Downstream Sector), Magnus Abe, said there was no record of the deal before the Senate.

    Dr. Ezekwesili, a former Minister of Education and one-time chair of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), warned that such financial recklessness and lack of transparency in the NNPC should not be allowed to continue.

    “What?” she exclaimed. “Counter Trade in 2013 to pay commodity traders opaque debt?

    “This level of elite parasitism that has been the hallmark of our oil sector is fatal. It’s unsustainable.”

    Dr. Ezekwesili, pioneer head of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit – known as Due Process Unit – also lampooned the Federal Government for allowing what she termed “Federal Republic of NNPC”, wondering: “Why does this administration encourage the idea of a “Federal Republic of NNPC in a Democratic Nigeria in 2013?”

    She faulted insinuations that the delay in cleansing the rot in the NNPC and the oil sector was caused by the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). He insisted on twitter: “The government can drive a change agenda in the messy sector even without the PIB. It is all about sincere commitment.”

    Wondering why the unbundling of the NNPC has taken so long, she said plans to unbundle and make the corporation a public company was already in place before President Olusegun Obasanjo handed over power in 2007.

    “We had left behind building blocks to take NNPC out of opaqueness by subjecting it to market discipline.”

    Responding to an enquiry, Dr. Ezekwesili stated: “The demand for the cleanup of this decadent oil sector has to be sustained. It (decadent oil sector) is killing the greatness of this nation. This paradox of affluence that has been our lot with oil needs to end soonest. We cannot sustain our nation on ironies. Not only has elite binge on oil corrupted our governance, it has also dulled the brain of our nation to all other prospects for greatness.”

    The former minister urged Nigerians, particularly the youth, to demand answers and transparency in government.

    She advised them to speak out to engage the National Assembly and other arms of government.

    Falana said: “The decision of the NNPC to take a loan of $1.5 billion is illegal and unconstitutional. The federal government or any of its agencies has no right to take local or foreign loans without the approval of the National Assembly. Section 6 of the NNPC Act which empowers it to borrow money with the approval of the Federal Executive Council has to be read subject to the powers of the National Assembly before taking such loans.

    “In the 2013 Appropriation Bill awaiting the assent of President goodluck Jonathan, there is no provision for the loan of $1.5billion.

    “Apart from stopping the loan, the National Assembly should investigate the pit of corruption that the NNPC has been turned into. The NNPC is owing the Federation Account the sum of N450 billion. In the fuel subsidy scam, the NNPC benefitted to the tune of 50 per cent.