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Tag: war

  • Primate Olabayo declares war on corrupt politicians

    Primate of the Evangelical Church of Yahweh, Prophet Theophilus Olubayo, has called on corrupt politicians to desist from their evil ways to avert divine wrath.

    He spoke at the 4th annual Theophilus Olabayo colloquium and 45th church anniversary in Lagos at the weekend.

    The colloquium tagged: The impact of Prophets in biblical days: Lessons for Nigeria attracted church leaders, academia and industrialists, among others.

    It featured music, prayers, lecture series and launching of a new magazine; The Testimony, among others.

    God, Olabayo claimed, told him He will surely judge all evils doers and looters of the treasury.

    He asserted they will face the wrath of God if they don’t repent.

    The popular seer decried the spate of corruption, which according to him, is mind boggling, lamenting politicians steal public funds at will without conscience.

    Olubayo said: “The lesson is that we should believe that hope is not lost yet that God loves Nigeria.

    “People who are hiding under the canopy of god fatherism, many of them if they are not dead, will end up in prison if they do not repent of heir nefarious acts.”

     

    He declared God will not allow corrupt leaders, religious fanatics or homosexuals to rule this nation again.

    He assured young leaders with the fear of God will emerge to replace the old corrupt politicians.

    “They shall take over the governance of this country and rule with the fear of God,” he affirmed.

    He predicted Nigeria will have a new leader who will lead between two to five years and implement the much-clamoured restructuring.

    Nigeria, he further said, will have a loose federation with six to seven regions and vice presidents representing the regions.

    Though the situation will be unbearable, Olabayo said  God told him a “new Nigeria will be born. We shall have a country that every citizen would be proud of.”

    In his lecture, former Deputy Vice Chancellor of Lagos State University, Prof Dapo Asaju, called for the emergence of true prophets willing to speak the mind of God for this nation.

    Asaju, the Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University Oyo, noted that the place of the prophet in any generation can never be undermined describing them as fearless, spiritual reformists, writers of oracles, king makers,  champions of moral rebirth and activists who speak against injustice and exploitation of the poor.

    He challenged true prophets in the land to rise and speak truth to power and never allows threats from anyone to deter them from speaking God’s mind.

    “Where are the true prophets who will shout against sin and corruption, call erring public office holders to order and speak God’s mind without any form of sentiments and bias?” he wondered.

    He warned false prophets and teachers to desist from their evil ways because God is ready to expose them.

     

  • TI and the anti-graft war

    Sir: the recent poor rating of Nigeria’s corruption war by Transparency International – TI, where she was ranked 148th out of the 180 countries on 2017 Corruption Perception Index has continued to elicit mixed reactions in some quarters. To those involved in the present administration, it was like a thunderbolt while many in the opposition welcomed it. Still others wonder why a government who rose to power  with a promise to fight corruption at all costs should score as low as 28 percent on a scale of 0- 100 Corruption Perception Index. That the current administration which  is headed by President Muhammadu Buhari, the acclaimed corruption fighter under whose watchful eyes this verdict is pronounced on Nigeria, is indeed surprising to many.

    Although no sincere observer would deny the fact that the fight against corruption has been heightened since the inception of the incumbent government, but the truth remains that the general perception of corruption has not abated. This writer had in the past expressed an opinion about the peripheral war against corrupt practices which failed to address its root cause. Of course the root cause is what gives the general perception about corruption.

    The current administration seems to be fighting this menace on its own terms without minding what the people feel about it. Yes, few people have been convicted, looted monies have been refunded, hitherto sacred cows have been touched, Treasury Single Account -TSA has blocked leakages of government revenues and this to some extent has checked public sector corruption. But the general impression businessmen have as they daily encounter public servants from the airports to various public offices does not suggest an impression of people who are in a hurry to do away with corruption. Transparency International usually collates information as data from residents and visitors to the country and analyzes them over a period of time before coming out with their findings.

    It would therefore be callous for government to dismiss or read other meanings to this stark reality. It should rather be more determined to rid the country of this monster. After all, the assessment that led to that rating was not done in a year. This rating certainly is not an indictment of the government’s anti-graft war but that of the entire country which has over the years been neck deep in corruption. Those who chose to make a political capital out of this should realize that, it is neither about the executive nor the president. It is about Nigeria, it is about greed, it is systemic, it is cultural and it is a matter of philosophy.

    The three arms of government would however not come out clean on this. The recent allegation of budget padding levelled against the National Assembly by one of their own and their subsequent response does not show a people who do not fraternize with corruption. Also, the stupendous enrichment of members of the bench and the quality of judgments emanating from courts does not absolve our lords of some sharp practices. What about business men who continue to dupe foreign partners in phantom business deals thus giving the country a bad name?  Even our places of worship, institutions of learning, financial institutions, electoral umpire and many others would certainly not come out with a clean bill of health as far as corruption is concerned.

    Since this is not a military regime, fighting the menace of corruption requires a lot of sensitization, ethical reorientation and collaboration with other arms of governments. It would therefore be presumptuous for executive to think that it can be a lone ranger on this fight, the legislature and the judiciary must be involved. It is not the executive that makes the laws and it cannot also jail those found to be corrupt.

    The president might have been disillusioned to find out that fighting corruption in a military regime is completely a different ball game in a democratic dispensation. Nigerian government should come to terms with the inevitable reality that no matter how serious it fights corruption, the perception of international community should also be taken into account. Most foreign businessmen always consult the Transparency International CPI before directing their investment to any country. This international body has over the years conducted its activities with utmost diligence and integrity, therefore the advice it gives is always respected by many globally.

    Government needs to do more in addressing issues of concern to many Nigerians, for instance they  have continued to complain about the way the recovered loots are handled  and  have equally demanded  to know how much has been recovered and the identities of the said  looters. These are issues in the public domain and should be treated in a transparent manner.

     

    • Etim, a public affairs analyst writes from Calabar.
  • 2019: APC, PDP set for war in Kano, Kaduna, 13 other ‘fluid’ states

    2019: APC, PDP set for war in Kano, Kaduna, 13 other ‘fluid’ states

    •Why Buhari is serious with Tinubu’s committee
    •How defections, mergers, religious sentiments may alter parties game plans
    •APC leaders worry panic over girls’ abduction

    The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are poised for intense  battles in at least 15 states in next year’s elections, going by the opposition party’s plans.

    Top on the list of the states are Kano, Kaduna, Osun, Imo, Kogi, Bauchi, Kwara and Jigawa.

    The rest are Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Ekiti, The Nation gathered last night.

    Hints of what PDP has in stock to ‘wage the battles’ may have informed the decision of  President Muhammadu Buhari to raise the Tinubu Reconciliation Committee, and overrule the National Chairman the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on the way forward for the party.

    The PDP, sources said, has its plans well laid out including a resort to the use of religious sentiments to bait voters, where and when necessary.

    It is also not relenting in wooing some APC governors, ex-governors and no fewer than 22 Senators and 50 members of the House of Representatives to switch camps.

    Among those being targeted are Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara.

    Tinubu has however had talks with Saraki and Dogara.

    Details of the talks are yet unknown.

    The 22 Senators and 50 Representatives are said to be priming their possible defection for what a source described as a “strategic time when APC would have been decimated and too late to salvage anything.”

    Sources cited the recent decision of the National Assembly to  reorder  the sequence of the  2019 elections,  its  rejection of some executive plans and alleged  growing hostility to  the Buhari administration as  “forewarned signals” of the battle ahead.

    Investigation revealed that the APC and  PDP currently have a 50 – 50 per cent of winning the 14 fluid states depending  on “tactical manoeuvres in the next two to four months.

    The two parties have launched into talks with formidable leaders and game changers in the said states.

    A highly placed source said although  politicking  is not yet in full  swing for the 2019 elections, APC and PDP “are locked in a cold war of engaging in covert realignment and reconciliatory talks.

    “The PDP is desperate to decimate APC and give the ruling party a good fight in the affected 15 fluid states.

    “The presidency and some APC leaders have realized that the party machinery, as currently constituted, cannot respond to what is branded as ‘PDP menace’.

    “This is why President Muhammadu Buhari empanelled Asiwaju Tinubu and others to find remedial solutions.

    “It is tough for the two sides. While APC has internal crises in some of its strategic and huge votes’ states, PDP has time constraints and funding as its major problems. It is only the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike that is heavily funding the party.”

    The scenarios in the affected fluid states are as follows:

    In Kano, the PDP is desperately wooing Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso to team up with ex-Governor Ibrahim Shekarau and other matchmakers to reclaim the state from APC.

    But there is challenge for the PDP in this regard: the irreconcilable political differences between Kwankwaso and Shekarau.

    A source said: “The two leaders are like oil and water. Oil will always float on water. If Kwankwaso returns to PDP, he will want the party’s presidential ticket and make a case for his stooge as the governorship flag bearer. He cannot have his cake and eat it.

    “PDP leaders in Kano State are saying that since Kwankwaso is politically frustrated, it is the party which should dictate its terms.”

    To checkmate PDP in Kano, Buhari’s strategists in the presidency are trying to woo Shekarau who used to be a staunch political ally of the president.

    A source said: “Were it not for the strain in Shekarau’s relationship with Buhari, his natural political habitat should be APC. Most of Shekarau’s friends, including the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, are in Buhari’s government.

    “Apart from wooing Shekarau, the presidency and some APC leaders prefer reconciliation with Kwankwaso who they know Governor Abdullahi Ganduje cannot match.

    Although a recent visit to Kano by the President was tumultuous, it was more of love for Buhari than a measure of electoral support. It may be a different ball game in 2019.

    “The alternative is to let Kwankwaso go to PDP and APC can scramble for votes with the opposition in Kano. Some opted for this option because Kwankwaso appears to be an anointed candidate of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.”

    The APC looks good to retain Osun State largely in view of the weak opposition offered by the PDP.

    The opposition party is facing a serious internal crisis.

    Sources said one way by which the PDP could make an impact  in the governorship election in the state is for    former Deputy Governor Iyiola Omisore  to forego his governorship ambition.

    The APC’s choice of its governorship candidate may also make or mar its chances.

    With the victory of Mr. Ademola Adeleke, in last year’s senatorial election, PDP is confident that APC is beatable in the coming governorship poll. But if achievements were anything to go by, Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s landmark performance has overshadowed PDP’s rule in Osun State.

    The situation in Kaduna is dicey because of the bitter rivalry between Governor Nasir el-Rufai and APC stalwarts who cannot be wished away.

    The unending guerrilla attacks on Southern Kaduna is an albatross which may take on religious colouration and affect the chances of the APC in Kaduna State.

     

    While APC and el-Rufai are clinging to the last straws, PDP is capitalizing on the combustion in APC to return to power in the crocodile state.

    The erratic nature of Governor Rochas Okorocha, his  controversial policies, monarchical tendencies, and  his plan to impose his son-in-law as APC governorship candidate, have  left a huge flank for PDP to exploit to get back to  power in the state in 2019.

    The wedge between the governor and his deputy has further made the state slippery for APC. It might be too late for Okorocha to retrace his steps.

    In Zamfara State, ex-Governor Ahmed Sani Yerima still holds the ace.

    Although Yerima is in APC, he is a beautiful bride being wooed by the PDP.

    The unusual quietness of the Sharia advocate is worrisome for APC because his loyalty to the ruling party is suspect. There are indications that the APC may not allow Yerima to produce the next governorship candidate of the party because the powers that be in the presidency appear to prefer the Minister of Defence, Gen. Mansur Dan Ali.

    The controversy  trailing the tenure of the Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulazeez Yari, the killings in the state, and alleged mismanagement of the state are causing an  image crisis for APC. And with a former Minister of Defence, Gen. Aliyu Gusau in PDP, the opposition party may have the upper hand in 2019.

    As for Kogi State, APC is already in turmoil with the winner-takes- all style of Governor Yahaya Bello.

    All that PDP requires to dislodge APC is to look for a credible governorship candidate from Kogi East which has a huge voting population strength.

    Bello is, no doubt, rabid in his ambition for a second term regardless of allegations of non-performance, non-payment of salary and pension arrears and autocratic tendency. Apart from Kogi Central, Bello might not get much support in Kogi East and Kogi West Senatorial districts.

    The herdsmen attacks on hapless citizens have made Benue State a lost territory for APC in 2019 going by the anger of the people of the state.

    Governor Samuel Ortom is said to be one leg in APC and another in PDP or any party depending on political exigency.

    PDP is already profiting from the crisis in Benue State with Governors Nyesom Wike and Ayo Fayose already pleading with Ortom to leave APC. The governor has also reconciled with the PDP financier in the state, ex-Governor Gabriel Suswam.

    But APC depends on the magic wands of Sen. George Akume, political dexterity of the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh and others to bail it out. APC may dump Ortom to try its luck of retaining the state. Whether PDP will accept Ortom back or not is a matter of conjecture.

    Unless Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State is more circumspect, the anger over herdsmen attacks on farmers in the Benue-Plateau valley may take a toll on APC’s chances in the state.

    Lalong first made a costly slip in his remarks on the invasion of Benue State but he quickly apologized after realizing the political implications of blaming Ortom for the killings. PDP is already painting APC and Lalong in bad light.

    The fate of PDP hangs in the balance in Ekiti State despite the vociferous nature of Governor Fayose who seems to have lost touch with the grassroots.

    The national secretariat of  PDP seemed  to have  come to terms with the possibility of  losing the state to the APC when it inaugurated a committee headed by ex-Senate President  David Mark to wade into the crisis in the state.

    If Fayose persists with his plan to impose his deputy as the PDP governorship candidate, the party may be running the risk of losing Ekiti.

    Even the APC has to get it right in picking its own flag bearer.

    Bauchi appears unpredictable having been ruled previously by the PDP and the defunct ANPP.

    It has a reputation for causing political upset and tension is already building up on account of the disagreement between the APC governor and some leaders like Speaker Yakubu Dogara and those regarded as Abuja-based politicians.

    If the APC resolves its intra-party squabbles, it can laugh last, otherwise the PDP may bounce back with the support of heavyweights like former Governor Isa Yuguda and ex-FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed.

    Dogara who comes from a minority group in the state may not wield much influence unless he works with the Hausa-Fulani.

    The APC and PDP can boast of being well entrenched in Adamawa, the home state of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar  who is determined to  make a strong showing to prove a point.

    The  First Lady Aisha Buhari, Governor Jibrilla Bindo, SGF Boss Mustapha, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Aisha Dahiru Modibbo (Binani),among others, to contend with.

    Ex-Governor Aliyu Wammakko of Sokoto State seems to hold the ace in deciding   the fate of APC and PDP in the state.

    The Senator, who was made the chairman of Northern Senators Forum last week in a palace coup, has proved to be a game changer. It is taken for granted in APC that Governor Aminu Tambuwal might exit PDP because of his political friend (Governor Nyesom Wike) who is working day and night to get him the PDP presidential ticket.

    The presidency is battling to hold Wammako down in APC with a wild card to state his terms. Yet, he is a loyalist of Senate President Bukola Saraki whose next political destination remains unknown.

    Kwara State looks a seamless ride for the Saraki Dynasty but the jolt it suffered from PDP during the last local government elections in the state is a pointer to a dangerous pattern that an upset is not impossible.

    It is uncertain if Saraki will remain in APC or return to PDP.

    There are strong rumours that he is headed for PDP which sparked a protest last week by some PDP members in the state.

    There are also reports about his most trusted ally, one Tunde Morakinyo, being regularly sighted with the National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus. There are fears that something is in the works. But if Saraki returns to the PDP, the fight with APC in 2019 may turn out very dirty.

    The heavyweights in PDP are mostly products of the dynasty who have turned against their political roots. These political “rebels” may shift base to APC to tackle Saraki. The low performance of Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed has created much dilemma and liability for Saraki. Although the Senate President has launched a subtle plot to regain lost grounds, he needs to do more homework than a cosmetic solution.

    In Jigawa, the PDP is giving the APC sleepless nights with the rebound of ex-Governor Sule Lamido who is much loved by the people of the state.

    Concerning Nasarawa,  Governor Umar Tanko Al-Makura needs all the tact in the world  in choosing his successor to create a sense of belonging for all, otherwise the PDP may take advantage of any implosion in APC to win the state.

    The earlier the APC allows the Tinubu Committee to reconcile all without let or hindrance, the better for it.

    The forthcoming National Convention of the party will go a long way to define its stake in 2019.

    For PDP, it is already consolidating its gains by poaching APC members in the National Assembly.

    A source said: “PDP has perfected plans to decimate APC through mass defection, playing the religious card and propaganda.

    “The abduction of 105 girls from the Science College in Dapchi, Yobe State has put APC on electoral edge even in the North.  A timely rescue of the girls can boost the chances of APC. Or else, the incident will be a political weapon for PDP.

    “APC has a long road to travel. It needs to reconcile, renegotiate and reunite. Above all, the President is central to the unity of APC because he has not been politically large -hearted enough to many leaders of the party who toiled for him to win the 2015 poll. They are all afraid of giving him a second chance.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Osun PDP and its war of attrition

    Osun PDP and its war of attrition

    There seems to be no end in sight to the protracted crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State. Correspondent SOJI ADENIYI writes on the implications of the division on the party as it prepares for the governorship poll.

    There is a hurdle for the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State to cross  ahead of next year’s governorship election. None of the two factions of the party is ready to sheathe its sword. Instead of ending the strife and rancour that was sustained by  the rift between the former national chairmen, Ali-Modu Sheriff, and Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the chieftains of the PDP in the state have continued to tear the party apart. They are concerned about their personal interests. Efforts of some leaders to reconcile the warring factions, led by Soji Adagunodo and Bayo Faforoji, are not yielding any positive result as the their supporters are at logger heads.

    The caretaker committee set up to resolve the crisis failed in its mission. Sarafa Isola from Ogun State was the chairman of the caretaker committee to oversee a congress to produce a new acceptable executive committee after the parallel excos have been dissolved, following the court ruling sacking Sheriff. He was attacked by irate members, who accused him of manipulating the process to produce the new exco. They alleged that he was working for a faction with sympathy for Senator Iyiola Omisore, who was nursing a governorship ambition. Omisore from the Osun East Senatorial District had run twice on the platform of the party against Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who incidentally is from the same senatorial district  with him. It took the intervention of the men of the State Security Service (SSS) to normalcy after some gun men invaded the venue of the congress.

    Apparently, there is no solution to the lingering crisis after the Isola caretaker committee’s attempt  to resolve issues, accusations and counter-accusations by members had failed.  However, Faforoji, a factional chairman said the committee had tried to be neutral. A member of the caretaker committee,  Bamidele Salam, defended  the fight at the party’s secretariat along Gbongan-Ibadan road. He said: “There was a fight and men of the State Security  Service (SSS) had to fire shots into the air to get somebody who was attacked away from the scene. Some people came to complain and there was a fight, but you know the usual security strategy to scare people away. That was what happened. The caretaker committee chairman was not attacked by gunmen. That is not true. Some four local governments had issues concerning the ward congresses and they mobilised people to the secretariat and a fight broke out.”

    Moves by leaders in and outside the state to  settle disputes among members, which portend danger to the party’s electoral victory in 2018, have been largely unsuccessful. The Adagunodo faction  rejected the arrangement by the national leadership to harmonise positions among the factions Faforoji group is loyal to Senator Omisore when the congress in many wards were inclonclusive. According to Adagunodo, the harmonisation proposal was unacceptable. He maintained that the arrangement would not reflect the wish of the majority members of the party. He insisted on free and fair congress which when attempted ended up in fiasco.

    Some party leaders had earlier sent a letter to the former National  Caretaker Chairman, Makarfi, to express their disaffection with the harmonisation agenda of the party.  In the letter, it was made clear that through due consultation with the leadership, stakeholders and members of the party across all the local government areas, it was clear that the harmonisation was not acceptable. They insisted that the due process and internal democracy must be followed, explaining  that the majority of the people that would benefit from the harmonization are those that did not obtain nomination forms during the congress.  The letter read in part: “We demand for the certified true copy of the results of the ward congress. We are not confrontational but leadership demands that we convey the position of our teeming party members in the state.”

    The crisis has escalated with recent expulsion of some leaders of the party,  including the former National Secretary of the  Prof. Wale Oladipo, and a factional chairman, Soji Adagunodo.  Also expelled were the former chairman, Ganiyu Ola-Oluwa, and the secretary of the Soji Adagunodo’s faction, Bola Ajao. The development, according to a member of the party,  who preferred  anonymity, has dashed the hope of the PDP bouncing back in Osun State. He queried the authority of the Faforoji faction to expell members at a congress held in its secretariat on Gbongan Road. He said: “It was laughable that a faction set up a disciplinary committee to investigate alleged anti-party activities of  some members with a mandate to submit its recommendations to an unrecognised executive. Faforiji, said the the committee had recommended sanctions against those affected to instill discipline in the party. What kind of discipline?” He lamented that it was sad that the PDP in Osun State was yet to get its act together and act decisively to face challenge of the forthcoming poll.

    Many people are of the opinion that the PDP has not provided a platform for the opposition against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and therefore, may not be an alternative to the party. They forsee mass defection in the near future as the PDP leaders are only busy fighting among themselves to acquire power to be used for “selfish reasons.” The people said what they expected from the PDP is constructive criticism of the policies and programmes of the APC to keep the governor and his party on their toes and not the in fighting among PDP members. To them by now, credible candidates ought to have signified intention to run on the platform of the party and roll out their programmes which should be beneficial to the people and be an alernative to that of the APC.

    Omisore is believed to be at the centre of the crisis because of his governorship ambition. To some people, he deserves to have a shot again at the governorship as a major financier  of the party and a ralling point. Others are calling on him to face the reality of the time which they say, demand for a vibrant candidate. They also said  if the PDP is to go by the rotational principle, the people of Osun East where Omisore and Aregbesola hail from had come spent their time.

  • Molfix wins diaper war with 44% market share

    Molfix wins diaper war with 44% market share

    Two years after Hayat Kimya made entry into the Nigerian market, its premium diaper brand, Molfix, has taken 44 per cent market-share, according to the market report of AC Nielsen. Molfix which was previously a market challenger has eventually eclipsed Pampers share of the market. Pampers, the initial market leader now struggle to hold a 37.3 per cent market-share while Huggies, Nice Baby, Dr. Brown, Dry Love, Little Angel and other brands have been pushed to a lean market-share of 18.4per cent.

    Earlier in the year, Molfix invested $100 million into production, erecting an ultra modern diaper/tissue factory in Agbara Industrial Layout, Ogun State. Molfix drove the competitors into a price war and supported its operations with backward integration and power generation. Molfix has surpassed its projections of owning 30 per cent of the market by 2018 by 14.3 per cent and also achieved within 2/3 of the targeted period.

    Molfi’s brand slogan is “happy babies” with a focus on global quality. The brand has earned an ISO 9001 quality assurance certificate. Mothers who use it for their babies said “it provides dryness and comfort”.  With a combination of physiological and psychological attributes, Molfix  has warmed its way into the hearts of Nigerian women, who previously shopped for foreign alternatives and cost effective diapers.

    Molfix, produced by Hayat Kimya Nigeria Ltd, is said to be cheaper and significantly offers quality. The manufacturer says the product is designed to give “babies full protection and keeps their skin dry and healthy around the clock”. Hayat Kimya, which started producing Molfix baby diapers in 1998 in Turkey, presently has production centres in Algeria, Iran and Egypt. The company came into Nigeria in 2015 when Pampers owned 41.9 per cent of the market share. However, marketing drives and product development strategies have helped the company to take market leadership in a short time.

    Commenting, Managing Director of Hayat Kimya Nigeria, Hakan Misri said: “I’m very proud to be part of this success and lead great Nigeria team.” The company plans to churn out more innovation and also produce more customer-centric products for the “happy babies”.

  • ‘Buhari should re-assess his anti-corruption war’

    ‘Buhari should re-assess his anti-corruption war’

    The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to re-assess his anti-corruption war and recover looted funds, rather than prosecuting looters.

    Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, who is the president of both unions, said this was necessary because prosecutors have not been very thorough in handling the cases, while counsel to the accused persons are prepared to delay the judicial process, and the judges are not helping  the process of prosecution.

    Speaking with The Nation, Kaigama said if the government could be more strategic and focus more reducing  time on prosecution, it would go a long way to help the system to recover much.

    He said the emphasis on prosecution has given the corrupt officials a breathing space, adding that government also needs to review the judicial system. “And I will suggest that government should establish a special court to prosecute corrupt cases. We also urge that due processes are taken in the fight against corruption so that the international communities and Nigerians in particular, would have confidence that this fight has come to stay.

    “That is the more reason why we, as a union, wholeheartedly support the anti-corruption initiative of the current administration and its resolve to repatriate to the country all looted funds. This is the only way sanity can return to the system.

    “I also think the current administration underestimated the strength of the personalities, or the clique of the corrupt cabals in this country,” Kaigama said.

    He said the administration probably thought it will be so easy, but the system is regretably corrupt beyond their estimation.

    “The level of corruption in the country is so high to the extent that even the judiciary is corrupt,” he said.

    To  save the nation’s economy, Kaigama said the government needs to immediately pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law, adding that Nigeria has lost hundreds of billions of dollars in oil and gas investment due to its  non-passage.

    His words: “The truth is that investors have continued to adopt a wait and see attitude, refraining from making any new investment, pending the passage of the bill.

    “Since 2009 when the Yar’Adua government first introduced the PIB, no new Final Investment Decision (FID) has been taken on any oil and gas project in Nigeria, not even on the government-promoted Brass LNG project. While we are dithering in Nigeria, there are new oil discoveries all over Africa, attracting investors just as new technology is making hitherto unreachable and uneconomic hydrocarbon deposits accessible in Europe and North America, thus attracting investors to those environments.

    “Nigeria, therefore, cannot afford the luxury of time while politicians indulge in unnecessary bickering over such an important bill on a sector that is the mainstay of our economy, accounting for over 90 per cent of our foreign exchange earnings, about 40 per cent of the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and 80 per cent of government revenue.”

    On the bailout and the Paris funds, he said these have become the latest source of corruption among the political leaders.

    He said the agencies should extend the investigation beyond the governors to the commissioners and the accountants-general in the states, and make necessary arrests to curtail the abuse.

    “The governors have seen themselves as untouchable and that is the reason they do what they like, but their commissioners, accountants-general do not have that immunity. Besides, the governors, if found culpable, can be arrested and made to face the law immediately they leave office.

    “The plight of workers has become more unbearable with non-payment of salaries and high cost of living due to the downturn in the economy.”

    Kaigama condemned government’s deliberate delay in constituting the 29-member committee for National Minimum Wage for the country: “And I want to say that labour would soon take a drastic action. The Federal Government should stop taking labour for granted.

    “I think we have been patient enough and we are ready to take the bull by the horn to ensure that the government sets in motion the review of the National Minimum Wage.

    “We call on the Federal Government not to task the patience of workers beyond the limit as the current wage structure is no longer tenable, when viewed against the economic realities on ground,” Kaigama said.

  • Anti-graft war: Buhari okays 2, 250 job slots for EFCC

    Anti-graft war: Buhari okays 2, 250 job slots for EFCC

    •Magu draws only 37 per cent of security vote

    As part of plans to beef up the anti-graft war, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved 2, 250 job slots for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The agency is expected to recruit 750 new employees per annum over three years.

    The anti-graft agency in collaboration with the Federal Character Commission (FCC) has started the recruitment test nationwide based on the zonal offices of the EFCC in order to create a level-playing ground for candidates.

    The commission was also said to have resorted to zonal basis in order to avoid a repeat of the stampede which affected a similar exercise in the Nigerian Immigration Service.

    The President approved the slots to increase the commission’s number of core and support staff since the anti-graft war is moving to the next stage.

    It was however learnt that some highly-placed Nigerians want the recruitment to hold in Abuja so as to be able to wield influence.

    A document obtained by our correspondent indicated that the EFCC has written to the Federal Character Commission (FCC) and obtained approval to go ahead with the recruitment.

    The document showed that each zonal recruitment test is being coordinated by a Director of EFCC, two commissioners from the EFCC and other top staff of the anti-graft agency.

    A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The approval letter was specific that we should employ at least 750 workers per year for the next three years. We have brought this approval to the notice of the relevant committees in the National Assembly. There is no question of secret or under-the-table recruitment.

    “We decided to take the recruitment process to the zonal offices to create a level-playing ground for all. And given the high number of applicants, we chose zonal procedure to avoid recruitment stampede,

    “But we are not waiving our recruitment procedures under any guise for the new hands. Apart from screening their certificates, we subject them to covert investigation and ask them to write tests.

    “In order to be fair to all candidates, we are conducting the recruitment process at our zonal offices and after selecting the best, the relevant desks at the headquarters will further evaluate their performance based on our tight regulations.

    “At the end of the day, the best candidates will proceed to the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna for training.

    It was also learnt that Magu has drawn only 37 per cent of the N150million security votes appropriated for the EFCC chairman in 2017.

    This is contrary to insinuations that the Acting EFCC chairman had been getting N15million monthly as security votes.

    Another official said: “The records are clear. With a month left to the end of the year, Magu has only collected 37 per cent of the statutory N150million security votes (per year) for the office of the EFCC chairman. This is the least the commission has ever recorded.”

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  • Is anti-corruption war compromised?

    I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody” —President Muhammadu Buhari

    It was May 29, 2015 when that speech was made by the then newly inaugurated President Muhammadu Buhari. That punchy line resonated across the country, from the vast landscape of the north to the forest region of the south. The long awaited nemesis of the chronically corrupt and unrepentant enemies of good governance has arrived. It shall no longer be business as usual. The optimism on the part of the citizens was infectious.

    From a backdrop of a beaten and battered economy, widespread insecurity and a massively looted treasury, President Buhari served to the citizenry a three-pronged dosage as antidote, namely- Anti-corruption war, security and economic rejuvenation.

    It is common knowledge that the most potent weapon in the kitty of Buhari was the famed iron cast integrity earned over the years in the course of his service to fatherland. To clean the Augean stable of 16 years of filth left behind by the former administrations of the retreating PDP, he had committed himself to taking on corruption in every area where it reared its ugly head and there was no doubt on the part of Nigerians and other watchers that this difficult battle was capable of being won given the antecedents of its exponent.

    The zeal and seeming determination with which the onslaught against graft commenced gave hope that, indeed, the nation was undergoing a rebirth; that a new Nigeria, free of malfeasance, was here.

    But recent developments have given Nigerians and, indeed, international observers cause for serious concern. Is this war on course? Is the battle arsenal being evenly deployed to all troubled spots? Are some toes getting too big and too sacred to be stepped upon? More and more frightful questions continue to run through the minds of many. And rightly so, their doubts have not been unfounded.

    As this is being written, the media landscape is saturated with, perhaps, the most scandalous and most embarrassing story that promises to deliver the biggest blow to the anti-corruption drive of this government. It is the story of the former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina who the EFCC had declared wanted for monumental fraud, but was helped back to the country and reinstated to the public service with promotion.

    Only recently, the federal government approved the appointment of a 14-member board to boost the arsenal of one of the duo of the country’s anti-corruption specialized agencies, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC. On that list of anti-corruption warriors was Maimuna Aliyu. She would have made her way through but for the prompt intervention of the fourth estate of the realm, the press and other concerned Nigerians who took it upon themselves to keep watch over our fragile democracy.

    In reaching a conclusion on such sensitive appointments, one must have thought that proper background security checks would have been carried out to ensure a high level of uprightness in character and reputation of those in whom we would be placing our collective aspirations in routing the disaster that corruption and all its vice have bedeviled us with.

    But as it was later made known, bringing Maimuna Aliyu’s name for such a position was a grave error that shouldn’t have happened in the first place, given that there was an ensuing topnotch investigation into alleged corrupt activities by Maimuna by agencies of the federal government, the Nigerian Police and the EFCC.

    Littering the media landscape were series of incriminating documents on how Aliyu, an ex-banker, allegedly used her position to confer corrupt advantages upon herself, appropriating to herself property valued at over N1billion.  The ICPC Board appointment misstep is just one of the series of unfolding events that are daily rubbishing the gains of the anti-corruption campaign and depleting the credibility this government initially enjoyed at the onset of the battle.

    Take the recent open altercation between the Minister of State, Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu and the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru. Pointedly, Kachikwu accused Baru, among others, of awarding contracts totalling $24 billion without due process and without recourse to the board of the corporation. The contracts include: the crude term contracts valued at over $10billion, the Direct Sale Direct Purchase, DSDP contracts valued at $5 billion, the AKK Pipeline Contract valued at $3 billion, various financing allocation funding contracts with the Joint Venture oil Companies to the tune of $3 billion.

    Baru’s defence was that the said contracts went through due processes and was approved by the President.

    After all sides have stated their cases and all dirty linen washed in the open, one major take away was that impunity and corruption are still firmly entrenched in the nation’s oil sector and that some sacred cows can still get away with any malfeasance even without the proverbial slap on the wrist. How does this help the war against graft? How does this help to build confidence and engender trust in the government’s much touted determination to fight corruption to a standstill?

    All these questions are being raised even while the grass-cutting contract scandal which led to the suspension of the Secretary to the Federal Government, SGF, Babachir Lawal and the riddle surrounding the discovery of millions of dollars at a location in Lagos are yet to be laid to rest. Following the decision of the president to set up a high powered committee to look into these two unsettling developments and come up with all the facts, and subsequent submission of the report to the President since August 20, Nigerians had largely awaited a presidential pronouncement on them. The silence from the seat of power since then has remained very deafening.

    Does this not amount to a major setback for the war against graft? Does this not take a big chunk out of the credibility rating of this government regarding its avowed desire to stamp out corruption?

    Concerned citizens were still analyzing the disturbing turn of events and taking stock of the reverses the anti-graft battle has recorded when the Maina bombshell dropped. Now, this is a major devastating and damaging blow on whatever may have been left of the anti-graft campaign.

    Abdulrasheed Maina, the former pensions Czar who was accused of fleecing retired people of billions of naira and fled the country to escape arrest and trial, was, under the watch of a corruption fighting government, smuggled back into the country and not only reinstated but given double promotion, a reward (?) for the agony and deprivation he threw hundreds of tired and retired senior citizens of this country into.

    Although President Buhari intervened and ordered his sack and investigation of how this happened, the fact that it happened at all, under the watch of a regime that parades itself as anti-corruption warriors, has left a permanent dent and irreparable damage to the campaign. Can this government still reverse the losses already suffered and rev the anti-corruption battle back to life?  The answer lies in the womb of time.

     

    • Osi wrote in from Ajaokuta, Kogi State.

  • Sustaining war on cultism in Imo

    SIR: The reported killing, on Thursday, October 5, of the two most wanted cult leaders and kidnappers in Imo State, Tochukwu Egbelu, aka black face, and Enyia Iwu, aka Sparrow, by the operatives deployed by the state police command to the Assa, Obile and Awarra communities of Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area brought unspeakable joy and much needed relief to the traumatised villagers who have been under a siege for years now.

    According to reports in the media on Friday, October 6, the two suspected criminals, “leaders of the Iceland cult, which had been credited with the killing of over 20 people and the destruction of  over 30 houses”, were killed during a shootout in the Nwagbakobi forest in Assa community.

    The state police commissioner, Chris Ezike, deserves all the accolades because his determination to stamp out crime and criminality in the state has been yielding huge dividends in our communities.

    Following the success recorded so far in the fight against cultism, violent crimes and banditry in Assa, Obile and Awarra by the police personnel, civil life is gradually returning to communities that were hitherto deserted following an orgy of killings and destruction of property by rival cult groups that held the communities hostage for years. Markets, schools and churches that were closed for a long time are being reopened.

    However, CP Ezike and his men should not rest on their oars until all the suspected criminals arrested so far by the various security agencies, according to media reports, in connection with cult activities in the area are properly investigated and made to face the full wrath of the law so as to serve as a deterrent to other deviant elements in the communities. In particular, the 35 suspected kidnappers, cultists and criminals handed over to them by the operatives of the Operation Python Dance 2 on Wednesday, October 11, should be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted where found culpable.

    Besides, the police should not succumb to any pressure of any kind or campaign of calumny from any quarters but should take the fight to its logical conclusion. We cannot afford another round of the heinous reign of cultists in our communities.

     

    • Emenike Uzomba,

    Ohaji, Imo State.

  • ‘War’ on NGOs

    Almost throughout its post-independence existence, the Nigerian government has struggled with the provision of essential services to the populace while being perpetually unable to deal with the country’s infrastructure deficit. In July this year, at the quarterly presidential business forum held at the presidential villa, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, admitted that the country had no money to deliver essential services. The public service gap thus created has been filled for decades by domestic and international Non-Governmental Organisations, NGOs, that out-do local authorities in the provision of basic public services, recommendation of vibrant policies and development of vital research and data.

    It is, therefore, shocking that a hare-brained scheme now in process at the House of Representatives, is set to frustrate the work of NGOs in the country. It will generally destabilise the third sector (civil society) that plays a key role in providing constructive criticism and checking the excesses of government. The Non-Governmental Organizations Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2016, which is widely referred to as the “NGO Bill”, is not only a step in the wrong direction,  but coming after recent moves to regulate and control social media, it is also a signal of the direction that the government is headed – totalitarianism.

    One of the first disturbing features of the bill is the establishment of yet another commission, one that has powers to establish subsidiary organs and borrow money, adding to a perpetually growing and oversized government and increasing government overhead. This means that more funds in a vastly insufficient treasury will be drawn away from capital projects. The waste and recklessness proposed alone should be enough to defeat the bill, but there is more. Beside the fact that most of the functions of the commission are already being handled by other government agencies, the import of all the provisions is that the government will be essentially in control of the resources and activities of NGOs. The bill aims to place civil society in a government designed box, where dissent and criticism will be impossible and where straying out of the box will be punishable by imprisonment.

    The provisions of the Bill are so hostile and the red tape it contemplates so cumbersome that it is guaranteed to lead to a fast decline in assistance from international organisations presently involved in operations in the country. In the past few years, hundreds of organisations have entered Nigeria, and continue to do so, most recently in the north where Boko Haram and low level of education and development are crushing hopes for a better future for citizens in that region. To create an environment where these organisations have to contend with multiple legislation and scores of agencies to perform traditionally government roles, is unfair to the potential beneficiaries and will surely be counter-productive in the long run.

    When pressed about the rationale behind the bill, Hon. Umar Buba Jibril from Kogi State, the sponsor, was quick to point to similar legislation within ECOWAS and Africa generally. Surely, it is not news that African countries continue to display legendary bad judgment in decision making when it comes to regulation and governance in general. His response is made further exasperating by the fact that there is readily available precedence within the continent for the damage this particular bill can do.

    A similar Act, which by all indications was instrumental in preparing our current NGO bill, was in operation in Kenya. The operative word here is “was”. The said Act came into operation in Kenya in 1992, during the regime of President Daniel Arap Moi. In actual fact, the 1980s and 1990s have been described by some as the darkest in Kenyan political history, as Mr. Moi and his Kenyan African National Union, KANU, party actively and brazenly shut down dissent and suppressed critical voices in the country. Only last year was the Kenyan twin of the bill, the Non-Governmental Organisations Co-ordination Act (Kenya), repealed by the Public Benefit Organisations Act (2013) which although was a vast improvement, was still met with controversy in the country.

    The Kenyan version of the bill contained vague grounds for the denial of registration of an NGO as does our current bill and it set up a board made up of government appointees and an insignificant number of representatives of the NGOs. Our bill has 15 government appointees, including the “Executive Secretary” and only three representatives of the NGOs as members of the board. What we know about the Kenyan NGO board is that it got corrupt, lacked accountability, harassed NGOs and generally abused its powers. We also know that the Act led to reduced funding from international organisations in Kenya. Yet, Hon. Jibril is prepared to lead a charge backwards by 20 years, despite the warnings in the Kenyan example.

    Also, last year, another African country, Egypt, passed a similar legislation that attracted widespread international criticism. Maina Kiai, a UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of assembly and association, described it as a law that threatens to “devastate the country’s civil society for generations to come and turn it into a government puppet”. This is exactly what this NGO bill threatens to do here in Nigeria.

    NGOs are named as such because of their necessary independence from government. This independence extends to their choice of projects and sources of funding. As we are a civilised society, everyone knows that rights are qualified only at the point where they intersect with other rights or come into friction with laws. Despite some shortcomings, we have an elaborate system of laws that properly cover the activities of NGOs.

    The bill portrays the NGO landscape as a free-for-all market where anything goes, but this cannot be farther from the truth. There are already provisions for their registration, records and documentation at the Corporate Affairs Commission, under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act which also regulates their activities. NGOs also have to file annual returns under the Companies Income Tax Act with the tax authorities, submitting audited accounts amongst other things, while their respective integrated tax offices are mandated to monitor their activities to ensure compliance with their financial objectives. The Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, also registers NGOs and is empowered to monitor their cash and currency transactions.

    Another laughable feature of the bill is the totality of Part IV that mandates “self-regulation” and establishes a “Nigeria National Council of Voluntary Agencies”. To seek to gather together, by force of law, “voluntary agencies” and demand that they self-regulate, defies logic. Sane governments encourage self-regulation with incentives, whereas the Nigerian government is forcefully taking control of voluntary organisations and using the incentive of duty waivers as bait. The sponsor has also alleged that some NGOs in the North-east fund insurgents. He needs to be asked whether the Terrorism Act (and many others) is there for window dressing.

    In the end, the NGO bill is a waste of legislative time and the fact that it has passed first and second reading in the House shows a desire to complicate charity through irresponsible law-making. A recurrent theme in the bill is the idea that NGOs are partners of the government engaged to follow government’s development agenda, however flawed. NGOs rather, are partners of the people in their everyday struggles and have no obligation to foster any interests of government as an institution. This is where Hon. Jibril, the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara and their team of honourables get it wrong.

    While everyone is concerned about their precious religious bodies, the bill threatens to do deeper and more lasting damage than we realise. Our lawmakers are taking us backwards and plan to erode the civil society space with the corrupting touch of government. We must, therefore, resist this move, for the sake of the many victims in our society whose only recourse are the NGOs rendering selfless service. Indeed, we are all victims, so we must not again fall victim to Jibril, Dogara and their cohorts.