APC has not proven it won 2015 elections — Adamu Ciroma

                                                               Malam Adamu Ciroma

A founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Malam Adamu
Ciroma, said yesterday that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has not
proven to Nigerians that it won the 2015 general elections.
Ciroma said the APC-led federal government has not impacted positively on the
lives of ordinary Nigerians, and should be challenged for not delivering the
desired change to the nation.
Addressing members and leaders of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), led by
Senator Walid Jibrin, who visited him at his residence in Abuja, yesterday,
Ciroma said the PDP remains the party to beat in the 2019 general elections.
He called on the APC to play what he called “the rightful role”, by ensuring that
“ordinary Nigerians” feel the impact of its governance.
“Politics must always be there and there must be people to participate in it. But
we must ensure the economic stability of the ordinary citizens. Every party that
has the chance to rule also has the chance to make mistakes, but, I insist,
people must play the right role in politics and that role must impact positively
on the ordinary people.
“I want the APC to play the rightful role. They talked about the PDP now as if
the APC does not exist. The APC must make mistakes, so, all of you (PDP
leaders) must be ready.
“I warned PDP leaders before the elections, that they should be ready for any
eventuality that takes place.
“Today, PDP didn’t lose and APC didn’t win because APC has a lot to do,” he
said.
BoT chairman Walid Jibrin said the visit was to seek advice from Ciroma on
how to deepen internal democracy in the PDP and Nigeria at large.
Also, a former minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana, who was part of the
delegation, said “Nigeria is going through difficult times.” Dailytrust

Enemies within Buhari’s government, National Assembly frustrating anti- corruption war – Femi Falana

The anti-corruption campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari

is being repelled on two fronts from beneficiaries of corruption
in the previous administration, and “enemies within” the
government, a senior lawyer and activist, Femi Falana, has
said.
In his lecture at the investiture of Dele Ologbede as the
President of Rotary Club, Ikoyi, in Lagos on Sunday, Mr. Falana
said after Nigerians had backed the government to reject claims
of lopsided prosecution of anti-corruption campaign by those
“from outside”, it was time for Mr. Buhari to fight the enemies
within.
As enemies within, he made references to Minister of Interior
and former Army Chief, Abdulraman Dambazzau; Chief of
Army Staff, Tukur Buratai; Comptroller-General of Prisons,
Jafaru Ahmed; and the National Assembly.
“Since the Buhari administration commenced the war against
corruption last year it has enjoyed the support of the Nigerian
people,” Mr. Falana said in his speech which he sent to
PREMIUM TIMES. “However, corruption is fighting back on two
fronts. From outside the battlefront, the beneficiaries of
corruption have accused the government of selectively targeting
its political opponents in the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).
The allegation has been dismissed by Nigerians as all the
suspects arrested by the EFCC have not denied their
involvement in the mega looting of the treasury. Apart from the
fact that majority of those who have been arrested are military
officers and government contractors a number of the suspects
who are members of the PDP have actually refunded part of the
loot.”
He continued, “From the home front, it is evidently clear that
some highly placed public officers who have been linked with
corruption are trying desperately to discredit and sabotage the
war. Disturbed by the clamour for the removal and prosecution
of such individuals the government has urged Nigerians to stop
making baseless allegations against serving public officers. In
spite of the clarification by the government the online media
have continued to substantiate the allegations of corruption
against the Chief of Army Staff and the Minister of Interior.
“Instead of attacking the imaginary enemies of the government,
the anti-corruption war calls for an urgent review of strategies.
For instance, it was recently reported in the media that 3 ex-
chiefs of army staff had been indicted by the arms procurement
panel. But when the report was eventually released the name of
one of the 3 security chiefs who is a serving minister was
missing. Not unexpectedly, allegations of cover up were raised
in the media. Embarrassed by the development the government
reacted by denying any cover up and explained that the panel
had not investigated the arms procurement from 2007-2010
when the minister served as the chief of army staff.

investigated the arms procurement from 2007-2010 when the
minister served as the chief of army staff.
A fact-check by PREMIUM TIMES, showed that contrary to
government claims, the arms procurement (2007-2015) probe
panel investigated Mr. Dambazzau’s tenure as Army chief.
However, when the report was released, neither Mr.
Dambazzau or Mr. Buratai were indicted, amidst allegations
that the report was doctored. The federal government later said
the probe exercise did not cover Mr. Dambazzau’s tenure as
Chief of Army Staff.
“Before the release of the controversial report a group had
alleged that the Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai had
purchased some properties worth $1.5 million in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates,” Mr. Falana said.
“In defending the allegation the Nigerian Army claimed that the
general bought the properties from his legitimate earnings. In
confirming that the properties were declared the Code of
Conduct Bureau claimed that the army chief had declared them
in the name of his wife! Aside the statement the CCB should
proceed to investigate and confirm that the properties were
legitimately acquired from the income of the general. This
investigation should be speedily and transparently conducted to
assure the Nigerian people that there are no sacred cows in the
prosecution of the war against corruption.
“Another official whose conduct ought to be investigated by the
government is the comptroller-general of prisons, Mr. Jafaru.
According to media reports which have not been denied the
prison boss is alleged to have reduced his age by two years.
Since two judges were recently dismissed for reducing their
ages and ordered to refund the money they had illegally
collected the comptroller- general of prisons ought to be
removed from office without any further delay. Similarly,
having identified the top civil servants in the Presidency who
padded the 2016 national budget the federal government should
hand them over to the EFCC for prosecution.”
In his speech, Mr. Falana expressed worry that the All
Progressives Congress-led National Assembly is also allegedly
frustrating the anti-corruption war.
Apart from the hot scandal of budget padding to the tune of N40
billion involving top members of the House of Representatives
including the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, Mr. Falana said both
Senators and House members short-changed Nigeria by sitting
below number of days constitutionally stipulated but collecting
full “jumbo” pay.
“Whereas section 63 of the Constitution provides that the Senate
and the House of Representatives shall each sit for not less than
181 days in a year section 68 thereof states that any legislator
who fails to attend the proceedings of the house or senate for
less than one third of the required number of days shall
automatically lose his or her seat. For the first legislative year
which ended on 9/6/16 the 8th session of the national assembly
did not meet the constitutional requirement. Specifically, due to
incessant recesses the House of Representatives sat for only 104
days while the Senate sat for 96 days. This means that the
senate sat for barely 50 percent of the required sitting period.
Indeed, some of the senators who had to attend criminal courts
where they are standing trial for corrupt practices did not seat
for up to 70 days throughout the legislative year.

“The Senate was actually shut down on a number of occasions
to enable the senate president, Dr Bukola Saraki to attend the
proceedings of the Code of Conduct Tribunal where he is
standing trial for false declaration of assets. And in solidarity
with him, a number of senators abandoned their duties to
accompany him to the Tribunal. Since the labour policy of “no
work no pay” is applicable to all public officers the federal
legislators ought not to have been paid when they did not
perform any legislative duty. In other words, having failed to sit
for the mandatory period of 181 days the legislators were not
entitled to payment of full salaries and allowances for the whole
legislative year.
“Having been paid full emoluments when they failed to sit for
the required number of days the federal legislators ought to
refund some money to the treasury. In the circumstance, the
Accountant-General of the Federation should ensure that the
legislators are made to refund the money collected for the
number of days they failed to sit in the national assembly,” he
said.
He asked the Government not to compromise the anti-
corruption war. He also said that officials who cannot explain
sources of their wealth should be thrown out. He called for
prosecution of suspected corrupt officials.

Buhari, Obasanjo in closed-door meeting

President Muhammadu Buhari is currently in a

closed-door meeting with former President
Olusegun Obasanjo in his office at the
presidential villa in Abuja.
Mr. Obasanjo arrived the villa at about 12: 30
pm and headed straight into Mr. Buhari’s office.
The reasons for Mr. Obasanjo’s visit are
unknown at the moment.
The former president is a frequent visitor to the
villa since leaving office in 2007 and most of his
visits were to discuss national issues with sitting
presidents.
Mr. Obasanjo was in the Villa last month and
reports said he visited Mr. Buhari to discuss
and offer advice on the seeming disagreements
among heads of the nation’s security agencies.
Meanwhile, FIFA president, Gianni Infantino,
and the secretary general of the world football
governing body, Fatima Bangoura, are also in
the presidential villa on a visit to the president.
The FIFA bigwigs were accompanied into the
Villa by the Minister of Youth and Sports,
Solomon Dalung and the President of the
Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick.

Muslims Will Retaliate If Attacked -Supreme Council For Sharia

The Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN) has warned that

Muslims have the right to protect themselves in Nigeria and cautions
against attacking Muslims anywhere in the country.
Reacting to the clarion call of the Christian Association of Nigeria
(CAN) for Christians to defend themselves over the incessant attacks
on its faithful, the secretary of the Sharia Council, Malam AbdurRahman
Hassan, described the call as unfortunate, even as the Sultan of Sokoto,
Alhaji Saad Abubakar III, urged calm, pointing out that Muslims are not
supposed to force their religion on other faiths.
In a text message sent to our correspondent, the SCSN scribe noted, “It
is unbecoming of the so called clergy men to give such unguarded
instructions.’’ He noted that the CAN directive will not augur well for
anybody in the country, “not even the agitators.’’
Malam AbdurRahman maintained that, “Despite the fact that Islam is a
peaceful religion, should anyone attack any Muslim anywhere in Nigeria,
we have the right to protect ourselves.”
He reiterated that Islam is a peaceful religion and anyone who is a true
Muslim cannot attack anybody, if not in selfdefence. According to him, it
is wrong for CAN to assume that the attacks on Christians are being
perpetrated by Muslims because “we have many instances in the past
where a Christian dressed in Muslim attires and attacked his fellow
Christians, just to cause chaos and disharmony.”
The SCSN said that CAN should have been more diplomatic in its
approach to the issue instead of being confrontational. He noted that
“Nigeria needs peace and tranquillity to achieve meaningful
development.”
Speaking to Sunday Telegraph on telephone, the former Special Adviser
to Governor Muktar Yero of Kaduna State on Islamic Matters, Sheikh
Haliru Maraya, advised CAN to withdraw the directive because “It will
result in people taking the law into their hands whenever they are
aggrieved.’’ The Islamic cleric said that this will bring a major crisis in
the country, which will be greater than the problem which CAN sought
to solve by giving the directive in the first place, “because it will
unleash a chain of killings across the country.”
The former Special Adviser counselled Muslims and Christians to live
together in peace because they are all descendants of Adam and Eve,
adding that both Islam and Christianity preach peace and respect for
life. Sheikh Maraya pointed out that Islam forbids anyone from killing a
fellow human being no matter the offence.
“An aggrieved person is expected to report to constituted authority,
which is responsible for meting out the appropriate punishment,
including death, if the situation warrants it,” he said, adding that “self-
help has no place in Islam.’’
“In Islam, if you kill just one person, no matter his offence, without
following due process as prescribed by the religion, it is like you have
killed the whole of humanity, including those yet unborn,” he pointed
out. Maraya further said that it is wrong to visit another man’s offence
on someone who had nothing to do with it.
“For example, Islam does not allow you to kill a Christian in Kaduna, to
retaliate the murder of a Muslim in Port Harcourt or Enugu,” he
stressed. On his own part, the Director General of Interfaith of Kaduna
State government, Engr. Namadi Musa, asked CAN to provide solution
to the incessant killings bedevilling the country rather than asking
Christians to defend themselves.
“It is after the association has given several advices to government on
the way out and nothing is done that CAN should now have given that
kind of directive to its members,’’ he added.
According to the Director General, government can’t be everywhere
because even in advanced countries, which have adequate security
personnel and modern gadgets, “such things happen from time to
time.’’
Engr. Musa advised the public to volunteer information to security
agents in order to curb the incidence of unnecessary killings, adding
that: “This is how Boko Haram has been contained in areas where it
had been operating with impunity.’’ However, speaking in Ilorin on
Friday at the National Conference organised by Dawah Coun- cil of
Nigeria, the Sultan said, “Whoever wants to fight you, do not fight him,
leave him alone.
Be very patient. The only thing that will make me to act or ask you to
act is only if somebody or a group or some other nations decided to
stop us from performing our religious obligations. That is the only way
we can fight somebody. But if I am allowed to pursue my religious
obligations, say my prayers and pay my Zakat and so many other
things, I have no problem with anybody.
“We do not force anybody to join Islam. There is no compulsion in
Islam. But our good deeds, good actions and good interactions as
Muslims will give that very bright light to everybody what Islam is and
that is what brings people to join us”. Alhaji Saad Abubakar III also
pleaded for religious harmony in the country saying:, “Please continue
to live in peace and continue to observe your Islamic tenets, do not
take laws into your hands.
There are courts in this country and we believe courts will give us
justice whenever we take such matters to them because we believe we
are on the right path.
But do not expect the courts to give you justice when you are on the
wrong path, I will not even ask you to go to court when you are on the
wrong path.”
Also speaking at the same event, Kwara State Governor, Abdulfattah
Ahmed, charged Muslim clerics to strive for peace and condemned
attacks on churches.
“Islamic preachers must be advocates of peace and brotherliness at all
times. We must also condemn attacks on churches and other places of
worship by any group under any guise for this violate the rights of
others to freedom of worship. “As we all know, Islam preaches peaceful
coexistence between neighbours and with adherents of other faiths. We
must therefore treat each other with mutual respect in the spirit of
cooperation and peaceful co-existence in line with the tenets of Islam
as a religion of peace.”
Culled from: https://newtelegraphonline.com/muslims-will-retaliate-
attacked-supreme-council-sharia/

Nigeria’s Central Bank in foreign PR contract scandal

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has given itself a new mandate and

it has nothing to do with money matters. It does not even have
anything to do with stabilising the foreign exchange regime or
strengthening the naira, desirable as that task is.
The new role of Nigeria’s apex bank is to launder Nigeria’s image
abroad.
In what is the latest in a trend of frivolous and wasteful spending of tax
payers’ money, the apex bank in April engaged the services of APCO
Worldwide Inc., a public relations and political consultancy firm based in
Washington DC, to help launder the image of President Muhammadu
Buhari’s administration and the country in the United States.
In the last three years, the icirnigeria.org has tracked many of such
controversial contracts amounting to over $6 million dollars awarded by
different agencies of the Nigerian government to foreign firms to
launder the country’s image abroad.
From our investigations, such contracts, it appears, are mere conduits
for siphoning public funds.
Previous similar questionable contracts tracked by this news website
include a $3 million lobbying contract awarded by the National Security
Adviser’s office in September 2013 to Patton Boggs, an American law
firm that specialises in lobbying and a $1.5 million PR contract awarded
by the News Agency of Nigeria to Levick Strategic Communications, a
Washington-based PR firm.
There is also a $700,000 PR contract awarded by the Nigerian Embassy
in the US to Mercury Public Affairs.
The latest image laundering contract awarded by the CBN has an initial
fixed payment of $95,000, more than N33 million at the parallel market
exchange rate today, and is for a period of three months beginning from
April 18 to July 17, 2016. The contract agreement, however, gives
wide room for APCO to negotiate further fees when necessary during the
life of the contract.
According to a document obtained from the US Department of Justice
by icirnigeria.org , APCO is expected to provide media relations,
stakeholder engagement, and strategic communications services for
Nigeria within the United States.
“Registrant (APCO) has contracted with Davebrook Digital PR Services
Limited to provide services for the foreign principal (CBN) within the
United States to promote positive relations between the United States
and the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the document states.
The document states further: “A copy of the Registrant’s agreement
with Davebrook Digital PR Services Limited is attached. The Registrant
commenced services within the United States for the foreign principal
starting on June 1, 2016.”
The CBN contract raises too many questions with nobody purportedly
involved in it ready to provide answers. There are also many curious
things about the contract.
First, the CBN did not award the contract directly to APCO but
purportedly hired a Nigerian public relations firm, Davebrook Digital PR
Services , to engage the US PR consultants. Davebrook, according to the
document is located at No 1, Asabi Cole, Ikeja, Lagos.
“THIS MASTER ENGAGEMENT AGREEMENT (Agreement) made and
entered into as of April 18,2016 (Effective Date) with offices located at
90 Long Acre, London by and between APCO Worldwide Limited WC2E
9RA, United Kingdom (“APCO”) and Davebrook Digital PR Services
Limited…(“Client”)…” are the exact words of the agreement.
Another curious point in the contract is that although APCO is an
American firm, the contract is enforced by laws of the United Kingdom
and Wales, not US statutes. Thus, the person who signed the document
for APCO, which is headquartered in Washington, is James Acheson –
Gray, the managing director of the firm’s London office.
Of the questions the contract raises, perhaps the most obvious is why
the Buhari administration, which has enjoyed worldwide support and
goodwill since its emergence in May last year, would need to embark on
any image laundering exercise.
Besides, why would the CBN be the government agency to award a PR
contract when the ministry of information and the office of the media
adviser to the president exist?
Also, what will the Buhari administration benefit from a three-month
image laundering job in the US?
But, most importantly, was due process followed in the award of the
contract? For this kind of contract, the Public Procurement Act requires
that the contract be advertised in at least two international newspapers
and a bidding process conducted, among other due processes. From our
investigations, it is unlikely that any of these processes was followed.
What clearly proves the contract to be bogus, however, is that the
Nigerian firm which the CBN purportedly hired to award the contract to
APCO denied any knowledge of its existence.
When our reporter contacted the Managing Director of Davebrook,
Adesida Adelekan, who is shown to have signed the document for the
CBN, to speak on the PR job, he expressed shock that his company was
linked to a contract awarded by CBN. He said his company had never
handled or been involved in any public relations contract with or for the
apex bank.
“This is news to me. Please I want more details about this contract
because this is the first time I’m hearing about it. We don’t have any
contract with either the CBN or the federal government,” he declared,
adding that some people might be using his company’s name to feather
their nests.
But the biggest scandal of all is the denial by the CBN of any
knowledge of the contract. When our reporter contacted the spokesman
of the regulatory bank, Isaac Okorafor, to clarify issues surrounding the
contract, he said that it does not exist as there was nothing in the
records of the bank regarding it.
When he was first told of the contract, Mr. Okorafor denied any
knowledge and said he would not “respond to a rumour.” He asked
whether the reporter had evidence of the contract to which he got an
affirmative response.
Mr. Okorafor then asked the reporter to “do an email stating the details
of the contract.” On Tuesday morning, the CBN spokesman called our
reporter to say that he had searched everywhere and asked everyone,
but there was nothing about the contract in their books.
“I have searched through our system, I’ve asked around and looked out
for what you said at every corner of our office and I can’t find anything
like that. If you have any evidence or document to show me, you can
scan it and show it to me,” he stated.
Asked if he confirmed from Kingsley Obiora whose name is provided as
the liaison person for the bank, Mr. Okorafor said the CBN governor’s
aide also denied knowledge of the contract.
“I am telling you I haven’t seen anything. I’ve asked everybody. So if
you have any document to show me you can scan and send to me…” he
said.
He refused further discussion on the matter and added that the
newspaper could go ahead and publish falsehood.
“I have answered your question. If you want to go ahead and publish
falsehood, you can go ahead. You can’t expect me to comment on a
document I have not seen. I am a professional.”
Also curious is the refusal of APCO to respond to issues concerning the
contract. An email sent to Mr. Acheson last week Thursday was not
replied until press time. Margery Kraus, founder and executive chairman
of APCO, who is based in the US, also did not reply an email sent to her
email.

By U S law, specifically the Foreign Agents Registration Act OF 1938, as
amended, every firm providing services for a foreign principal is required
to provide detailed information about any contract signed.
The document in the possession of the icirnigeria.org was filed and
signed on June 9, 2016 by Terry Judd, a senior director at APCO on
behalf of the PR firm. He gives the registrant’s name as APCO
Worldwide Inc. and its address as 1299 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite
300 Washington, D.C. 20004.
In the filing, the foreign principal is given as “Central Bank of Nigeria
(through Davebrook Digital PR Services Limited)” with address at “Plot
33, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Way, Central Business District, Cadastral
Zone, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria.”
Also, in the document, the name and title of the official with whom
registrant deals with is given as “Kingsley Obiora, Special Adviser to the
Governor (Economic Matters) Central Bank of Nigeria.”
The detailed activity for which the PR firm will provide the CBN for three
months at the cost of $95,000 is “media relations, stakeholder
engagement, and strategic communications services within the United
States to promote positive relations between the United States and the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The contract document was signed on April 20, 2016 by Acheson- Gray
and Adesida.
However, the contract document itself was not filed as an annexture
with the US Department of Justice as required by law. When our
reporter checked www.fara.gov , the contract document was missing
and he had to physically go to the Washington office of the Department
of Justice to collect it. The official who provided the full contract
document could not explain why it was missing in the documents filed
with the Department of Justice.
The chief executive officer of the Public and Private Development Centre,
PPDC, which advocates transparency in budget and public procurement
processes, Seember Nyager, questions the entire contract and
condemned the trend whereby public funds are being frivolously
expended by several agencies of government to launder the country’s
image.
“All government contracts must be bound by the Public Procurement
law as long as state resources are involved. All contract will have to be
through competitive bidding unless there is a reason to use a restricted
method, and even then there has to be a justifiable reason,” she said.
“In any case why is CBN the one to award a PR contract for
government? Is it because they have the resources?” she queried.
“I don’t think it is a good use of our resources. The unfortunate thing is
that these things keep happening,” she said.
This report was first published by the International Centre for
Investigative Reporting. We have their permission to republish here.
Culled from: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/features-and-
interviews/207264-investigation-nigerias-central-bank-in-foreign-pr-
contract-scandal.html

Naira rises to 307/dollar at interbank market

The naira rose slightly against the dollar at the interbank market to 307

on Friday, up from 310 it closed on Thursday.
The naira had hit had a record low of 330 per dollar at the regular
interbank trading on Friday, falling 9.5 per cent as traders tested lower
levels seeking to attract liquidity in the absence of the Central Bank of
Nigeria interventions.
The naira slipped to 298.50 per dollar on thin volumes at market open
and extended losses to trade a total volume of $26.97m by 1203 GMT,
Reuters reported.
On Thursday, the naira crossed 300 for the first time and hit 330.50 in
off-market trades.
Traders were expecting the CBN to intervene to ease dollar shortages,
which did not materialise.
According to traders, the CBN has not intervened for most of this week.
Instead it was mopping up naira liquidity to support the currency.
“We are looking at what will be a comfortable rate for sellers to come
back to the market,” one trader said, referring to foreign players.
“Most banks are quoting around 300 levels but liquidity is still thin. The
central bank hasn’t participated this week,” he said.
The CBN ditched its 16-month-old peg of N197 to the dollar last
month. But the lack of liquidity has curbed activity, leaving the CBN as
the main supplier of dollars.
Culled from: http://punchng.com/naira-rises-307dollar-interbank-
market/

‘Nigeria can be restructured without war’

Contrary to the opinions by some Nigerians, a former Delta State Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial aspirant, Chief Sunny
Onuesoke, has said that Nigeria can be restructured without necessarily going
to war.
Speaking to journalists in Kano weekend”, Onuesoke pointed out that Nigeria
has developed to a state where it could be restructured without shedding a drop
of blood, saying that Nigeria got her independence from the British government
without fighting despite the fact that people from some part of the country were
opposed to the independence then.
“If we could get our independence from our colonialists without going to war, I
wonder why we cannot restructure our system to reflect true federalism without
shedding blood”, he stated.
The former governorship contender, who said Nigeria has been restructured so
many times without fighting, said that although it was not the right type of
restructuring, but every time there is a constitutional change,
“That is restructuring because such constitutional provisions are either giving
power or authority to those in government or to the people.
“Since independence, Nigeria has been restructured from four regions that made
the regions self- sufficient, to 12 states, to 19 states and now 36 states
including the removal of the federal capital from Lagos to Abuja.
“In all this restructuring no war was fought,” he recalled.
The PDP chieftain maintained that Nigerians must renegotiate their union in
order to make it stronger, arguing that greater autonomy, power and resources
for states and local authorities would give the federating units greater freedom
and flexibility to address local issues, priorities and peculiarities.
It would be recalled that Alhaji Tanko Yakassai last week granted an elaborate
interview to Nigerian pilot, were he declared that Nigeria constitution has no
provision for re-negotiating its unity and entity.

Farmer-herder clashes force Agatu kids out of schools

Burnt classroom in Government Day Junior Secondary School, Okokolo

The alleged clashes between farmers and herdsmen in Agatu Local Government
Area of Benue State have taken a toll on primary and secondary school
education as most children in the affected communities no longer go to school.
A group of students were seen cutting overgrown grasses within the compound
of the RCM Primary School, Aila. In front of the administrative block, the
headmaster and some teachers sat on broken wooden benches discussing their
plight.
The RCM Primary School appears to be one of the schools left standing in
Agatu in the aftermath of the crisis between farmers and herders. This,
according to the headmaster, Yakubu Damian Dennis, was because it was
initially used as a camp for military personnel drafted to maintain peace in
Agatu.
Although the school was said to have also come under attack in the wake of
the crisis, it was not set ablaze. However, it was not completely spared as the
headmaster said “the attackers broke some doors, vandalized furniture and
carted away some books.”
The military personnel later relocated from the school to another location,
making it possible for school activities to resume but things seem no longer the
same there anymore.
Dennis said the school lost 10 weeks before resumption for the third term and
the students’ population has reduced as some parents have relocated their
wards to other schools presumed safer for fear of further attacks.
“Our school calendar has been disrupted by the crisis and we cannot meet the
required academic performances. As you can see some of our pupils don’t even
have uniforms anymore,” he said.
Shehu Daudu, the community leader of Aila, called on the relevant authorities to
renovate the RCM Primary School and other schools in the communities
affected by the violence to enable their children return to school.
A visit to the affected areas shows that primary and secondary school buildings
that were either destroyed or set ablaze during the crisis are still standing in
ruins thereby bringing school activities to a halt.
Consequently, some of the schools have been deserted and overgrown by thick
grasses making them habitats for reptiles and rodents. It was gathered that
some pupils of the affected schools whose parents could not afford to relocate
to schools in neighbouring local government areas have either taken to farming
or hawking around the streets.
At the RCM Primary School Akwu-Agatu, only the school’s signboard is left
standing. The school was said to have been attacked by invading herdsmen in
the wake of the crisis, who allegedly set its building aflame. A visit by our
reporter shows there were no activities going on in the school as the
administrative building and blocks of classrooms have been destroyed.
At the Agbaduma Community Secondary School and the Government Junior
Secondary School all located in Okokolo, it was a sorry sight as both schools
have been overtaken by weed. The buildings have also been reduced to rubble.
The signboard at the Government Junior Secondary School could hardly be seen
as it is almost buried in green grasses that have overtaken the school
compound.
Etonu Peter, chairman of Okokolo Elites Forum, decried the state of primary and
secondary schools in the area as a consequence of the farmers/herders crisis.
“There is no more schooling in our communities because the schools have been
burnt down. Our children are now scattered all over as some parents have been
compelled to relocate their wards to schools elsewhere,” Peter said while calling
on government to quickly rehabilitate the schools and other affected public
utilities such as clinics to alleviate the suffering of the people.
A youth at Adagbo, Danjuma D. Danjuma, said, “Now that we have returned to
our homes after taking refuge at the IDP camps in neighbouring local
government areas, we are still living in fear even as our younger ones are no
longer going to school. Government should come to our aid by rehabilitating the
destroyed schools so that our younger ones can stop roaming the streets and
return to schools.”
Some children in the affected communities who have taken to hawking along
the streets say they were tired of staying at home and would love to return to
school.
The village head of Adagbo, Ogboche James, also decried the impact of the
farmers/herders conflicts on child education in the area and implored the
relevant authorities to do the needful.
Governor Samuel Ortom described the situation in Agatu and other places
across the state affected by the farmers/herders crisis as a huge challenge.
“Our children no longer go to school in these areas. Primary schools, hospitals,
churches, houses, farms and economic trees have been destroyed. You have
gone there and seen things for yourself and you can appreciate the magnitude
of the destruction that has taken place.
“So we’re calling on the federal government and other good spirited individuals
or groups or NGOs to come in and support the state. We are really down. The
state government does not have the money to fund the rehabilitation of these
people and if help does not come from the federal government and other good
spirited individuals, it is going to be very difficult for our people to settle down,”
Ortom said.

INEC threatening Nigeria’s democracy with inconclusive elections- Fayose

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekit State has expressed worry over inability

of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct
credible and conclusive elections since the advent of the
President Muhammadu Buhari led All Progressives Congress (APC)
government.
The governor, who reacted to the alleged manipulation of the Imo North
Senatorial election, which was declared inconclusive, said "democracy in
Nigeria is being threatened by INEC and this should call for
national and international reflection."
Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communications and New
Media, Lere Olayinka quoted the governor as saying that, “If we have done
more than 15 elections since President Buhari assumed office and
all ended inconclusive, it is obvious that we are tending towards anarchy.
"It is becoming very clear that votes of Nigerians are no longer allowed to
count under this APC government and one wonders if President Buhari
would have been elected if the system then did not allow free and fair
elections."
Governor Fayose said Nigerians should be more concerned with
institutionalising democracy than the issue of who wins election, adding
that, "The only duty the APC government owes Nigerians is to allow for a
system that will make them to be able to elect their leaders freely.
"This system was created and allowed to flourish by the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) government. The APC, which is obviously
desperate to hijack power at all levels through open manipulation of the
electoral process must know that preventing people's votes from counting
is a clear invitation to anarchy.
"As it is, APC stalwarts are using security agents to unleash violence on
Nigerians during elections because they know that the president won’t lift
a finger provided his party members are the ones perpetrating electoral
evil."
The governor said the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu should be
worried about the image of the electoral commission under him.
While urging INEC to be mindful of its importance to the sustenance of
democracy in Nigeria, Governor Fayose said the electoral body must
maintain its independence and impartiality at all times.
"Nigeria was already getting that important aspect of democracy, which is
election right before the advent of this APC government and the
government, especially INEC should be mindful of what history will present
concerning them," said Fayose.
Vanguard

FIFA President, SG arrive Nigeria, meet Buhari today

FIFA President, Mr. Gianni Infantino and the Secretary General, Ms Fatma

Samoura, accompanied by executive assistants Mattias Grafstrom and Veron
Mosengo-Omba arrived Abuja yesterday on a two day visit.
The world football governors were received on arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport by NFF President Amaju Pinnick and General Secretary
Mohammed Sanusi, vice presidents Seyi Akinwunmi and Shehu Dikko, and other
members of the NFF Executive Committee and Management.
A 10-year old girl handed the 46-year old multi-lingual Infantino a bouquet of
flowers as the train emerged from the arrival hall, and a cultural troupe
entertained in the foreground as Infantino and Samoura walked on the red
carpet to waiting cars.
At the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Pinnick accompanied Infantino to the presidential
suite, and meetings between the FIFA President and the NFF Board and with the
visiting FA presidents from other African countries, as well as a cocktail dinner
later yesterday night.
A total of 17 FA presidents from other African countries arrived in Nigeria on
Saturday to join the NFF in receiving Infantino.
They are Kwesi Nyantakyi (Ghana), Lamin Kaba Bajo (The Gambia), Isha
Johansen (Sierra Leone), Musa Bility (Liberia), Juneidi Basha Tilmo (Ethiopia),
Nicholas Kithuku (Kenya), Andrew Chamanga (Zambia), Philip Chiyangwa
(Zimbabwe), Frans Mbidi (Namibia), Chabur Goc Alei (South Sudan), Walter
Nyamilandu (Malawi), Abdiqani Said Arab (Somalia), Vincent Nzamwita
(Rwanda), Moses Magogo (Uganda), Jamal Malinzi (Tanzania), Augustin
Senghor (Senegal) and Souleman Waberi (Djibouti).
Infantino and Samoura, alongside Sports Minister Solomon Dalung, NFF
President Pinnick, chairmen of the Senate and House sports committees, NFF
General Secretary and other NFF board members, and the visiting FA presidents
from other African countries will today pay a courtesy call on President
Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
Also on the programme for today is an U-13 exhibition football match at the
National Stadium, visit to the new NFF headquarters and a business dinner with
Nigeria’s political heavyweights and captains of industry.
Dailytrust

Bola Ige: Police move to unravel financiers

Abuja — As investigation into the re-opened, unresolved murder of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, continues, the Special Investigative Team set up by the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to probe the matter is said to be working on unravelling some mystery financiers who provided large sums of cash for the operation to kill the ex-chief law officer. This followed tthe discovery by investigators that four days beforenBola Ige was murdered, the prime suspects in the murder hadntravelled to Abuja to collect huge sums of money with which to pay for theboperation.nA source close to the investigation told Vanguard , weekend, thatntwo of thensuspects in thenmurder case confessed in their statements that the ‘Ogas’ told them to give themnsome time to enable them travel to Abuja to get money to sort out the cost of the operation. “In fact, about four days to the date of Bola Ige’s murder, one of the prime suspects travelled to Abuja for funds. Even during the first encounter, the visit to the palace of the Ooni of Ife, where the cap of Bola Ige was removed and thrown away, the prime suspects had returned from

Abuja with cash,” a source told Vanguard. It was gathered that information about the money was let out of the bag by one of the suspects because the sharing formula did not favour him. Though the source said none of the suspects could ascertain or point out
who the mystery financiers were, he noted that with new technology and information being sought, the police were now well positioned to fish out the most important suspects in the murder puzzle. When Vanguard tried to ascertain if the wanted financier, who was Abuja-
based, may have been a government official or otherwise, the source said: “For now, that is the mystery we need to unravel but with modern methods of investigation and new technology, the person will benuncovered." Vanguard has now learned that if the Special Investigation Team closes the investigations and suspects are taken to court for prosecution, other unresolved murders, such as those of Harry Marshall, among others, will
be re-opened.

PDP’s Alfa wins Kogi East Senate seat

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday declared the

candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), retired Air Vice Marshall
Isaac Alfa, as winner of the Kogi East Senatorial re-run election held on
Saturday.
Alfa, a former Chief of Air Staff, polled 57,575 votes to defeat five other
candidates that contested in the rerun election.
The ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not participate in the
election following an appeal court judgment, which banned it from fielding a
candidate.
Returning Officer for the rerun, Prof. Lucky Ovwhasa, said Alfa was declared
winner after polling the highest number of votes.
He said the candidates of ACPN, KOWA, MPPP, UPP and the LP scored 1,793,
888, 498, 349 and 11,908 votes respectively in the rerun election.
The senatorial election was held in eight out of the nine local government areas
in Kogi East Senatorial district. These included Bassa, Dekina, Ankpa,
Olamaboro, Ofu, Idah, Igalamela/Odolu and Ibaji.
Meanwhile, the result for the Ofu state constituency re-run election is still being
awaited.

Governors’ trip to Germany not a jamboree — NGF

The planned trip to Germany by six governors under the Nigeria Governors’

Forum (NGF) is to seek partnership with investors, the forum said yesterday.
Reacting to the comments by lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana
(SAN), the forum said through its spokesman, Abdulrazak Bello-Barkindo that
the lawyer’s postulation that the trip was a jamboree was far from the truth.
“Six governors are embarking on a 3-day trip to Germany to discuss areas of
partnership and cooperation with a select group of German technocrats and
investors, with a view to seeking other options for economic partnership,
against their over-dependence on oil, which has consigned the country to a
mono-product economy,” the forum said.
It said while it did not intend to join issues with Falana, “it is obvious that the
real essence of the trip had not been explained to the lawyer, since he was
reacting to a story, whose content had not even fully reached the reporter that
was asking Falana questions.
“Six of them are going on behalf of the others in order to assimilate the true
import of the presentation by the German ambassador, and work out ways of
domesticating the advantages.
“The partnerships they are seeking will cover non-oil sectors such as
agriculture, health, renewable energy and vocational training institutions that
could employ our teeming unemployed and jobless youths.
“The trip that is being embarked upon is as Spartan as possible as no governor
is traveling with more than an aide, who is also responsible for the area of need
as it relates to their region, and they will be visiting several industrial
installations, vocational training centres and theme-parks to get a firsthand feel
of how they are organised so as to replicate same in their domains.”

Barcelona, Real Madrid to tour Nigeria

Football loving Nigerians have been promised a huge prospect of

the Spanish La Liga big guns, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid
visiting the country on a playing tour in a no distant time.
President of La Liga, Javier Tebas gave the assurance over the
weekend in Abuja during the official opening of the Nigeria La
Liga office

The new office which has a full compliment of both Nigerian
and Spanish staff is part of the collaborative agreement
between the League Management Company of Nigeria (LMC)
and the Spanish league organizers.

Tebas said the bilateral agreement will be a win win venture for
both countries because there will always be one thing or the other
the two leagues can learn and gain from each other.
He noted that Nigerian players have been plying their trade in
Spain for a long time adding that with this relationship, it only
means that more Nigerians will be gracing the turfs of various
clubs in La Liga.
The La Liga boss further stated that the already scheduled game
between the Nigerian Premier League stars with their Spanish
counterparts next week in Spain is part of the dividends of the
mutual relationship which he added will afford both sides to learn
one thing or the other from the encounter.
In his own remarks, Chairman of the LMC and first vice president
of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mallam Shehu Dikko
said they chose the La Liga because it is the best league in the
world and that Nigeria stands to learn a lot from them.
According to him, the effort of making Nigeria be like Spain in the
administration of football has started yielding results as no fewer
than 10 leagues across Africa have already signified interest to
come and understudy the Nigerian LMC.
Dikko however appealed for the support of everybody to ensure
that Nigerian football was developed to its full
potentials.vanguard

Man fights robbers with bare hands: ‘I fought robbers because they beat my wife’

LAGOS— Not many will have the guts to confront robbers, but that was

what one Viho Segun did when robbers beat his wife to a pulp in their
residence last week in Olodi-Apapa, Lagos.
Narrating his encounter with the dare devil robbers when Rapid Response
Squad, RRS, of the Lagos State Police Command paraded the arrested
robbers, he said after dispossessing him of his documents, phones and
N15,000 at gunpoint, he was led into his flat with intention to collect
more valuables from his family.
He said at his flat, the suspect, Bashir Wasiu, 22, threatened to kill him in
the presence of his children and wife if they fail to produce more
valuables.
When the wife refused to surrender what they wanted, Bashir smashed
Viho’s head with a gun butt and beat the wife to a pulp.
Explaining what happened, Viho said: “When he started beating my wife, I
summoned courage to engage him. As soon as we started fighting, his
colleague took to his heels.
“He too tried to run, but I held him, called out to neighbours, seized his
gun and just in the nick of time, RRS officers on patrol arrived and they
arrested him.”
Robber’s tale
According to the suspect, “we have been monitoring Viho. We know he
goes to work early in his car and we decided to ambush him. We were
three, Michael and I followed him into his flat to collect more money,
while Joseph was monitoring the situation outside.
“The three of us met at a point near boundary in Ajegunle. That is where
we plan our operations. We operate early in the morning and late evening.”
While parading the suspect, Bashir Wasiu, 22, from Oyo State and Tunde
Adedeji, 23, from Abeokuta, Ogun State, also at Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos,
Commander RRS, Superintendent Tunde Disu, said several items, including
a gun, jewelleries, a laptop and 18 mobile phones were recovered from
them.
Disu disclosed that Adedeji and his 10-man robbery team invaded Muslim
and Omotayo Streets, where they robbed all the occupants of the three
buildings.
Over 25 victims narrated their ordeals in the hands of the gang, when they
besieged RRS Headquarters in Alausa after reports reached them that RRS
officials have arrested one of the robbery suspects.
Most of the victims sustained several machete cuts to the head and body.
They were conveyed to Alausa in three buses and, one after the other,
identified the suspect and also collected their belongings from among the
things recovered from the backpack of the suspect.
On how they planned the Muslim and Omotayo operations, Adedeji
narrated: “At about 12 midnight on that fateful day, Sadiq, Sule, Ijoba,
myself and six others, whose names I don’t know, met and discussed
about the robbery.
“I was invited by Sadiq. We met at Ikotun Egbe. We discussed the plan
and at around 2a.m., we converged at Ikotun Roundabout.
“The arms we used for the operation were cutlasses, wood and sticks.
None of us had a gun. We used legs to break doors and took phones,
jewelleries and laptops from our victims.
‘We have a ready buyer’
“All the recovered items in my hand were from the victims. Sule and I were
coming from the operation around 4a.m. when a local security man
intercepted us.
“He collected Sule’s bag. We ran away just as he was opening the bag. I
was later arrested by RRS officials on patrol after seeing the contents of
my bag.
“This is my second operation with the team. In June, we also robbed
another house in Ikotun. We also took from them phones and money.
“We sell our loot to one guy called Tablet. Sule would call him on phone
after the operation and we meet him at Olugbede in Egbeda area.”
While Bashir Wasiu was transferred to Special Anti-Robbery Squad, RRS,
Ikeja, Adedeji was transferred to Ikotun Police Station along with the
recovered items for further investigation.
Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmus, who confirmed the arrest,
said police will not rest in going after armed robbers and other criminals.

How 10 standing committees inserted N284bn projects in budget – Jibrin

THE embattled former chairman of House of Representatives Committee on

Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin, yesterday, gave a startling revelation on
how 10 standing committees allegedly inserted constituency projects worth
N284 billion into the 2016 budget without the knowledge of their members.
He also alleged that the speaker, Yakubu Dogara, secretly persuaded him
to smuggle N20 billion into the budget through Service Wide Vote. Jibrin,
who stated this in a statement in Abuja, alleged that some cabals had
hijacked the speaker to always do their bidding.
Abdulmumini Jibrin He, however, exonerated the Majority Leader, Femi
Gbajabiamila, and three other principal officers from the alleged scandal
now rocking the padding of the 2016 budget by the House leadership,
adding that the budget inputs inserted on their names were exclusively
carried out by the speaker, his deputy, Yussuff Lasun; Chief Whip, Ado
Doguwa and the Minority Leader, Leo Ogor. Jibrin said: “I am compelled
again for the purpose of emphasis to state categorically that my
allegations are against the quartet of speaker, Yakubu Dogara; deputy
speaker, Yusuf Lasun; House Whip, Alhassan Doguwa, and Minority Leader,
Leo Ogor, not the Honourable House as an institution nor other members of
the body of principal officers. “I have to state this very clearly because this
quartet has resorted to desperate moves to drag the entire House of
Representatives into the case of gross abuse of office I have leveled
against them as individual presiding and principal officers of the House.
This is a mischievous move to set me on collision with the entire house.
“They have also recruited four from the very few members of their cabal to
use some elements of the Nigeria police to kidnap, harass, blackmail and
intimidate me into silence. Until yesterday, the police were laying siege to
my house, blocking the entrance and exit, shouting that they wanted
budget documents. “They embarrassed my entire family with a nursing
mother and a seven-month-old baby that cried all night.
The game plan was to arrest me and dump me in police net while a heavy
media propaganda will be carried out to mislead the world that I have been
sacked and police have picked me up as a culprit in 2016 budget. “When
ever I am released, an irreparable damage would have been done to my
person that will stick for life. “As God Almighty will have it, I had traveled
out of town before they could execute their evil plan. God is always with
the innocent.
The members in the tick of this plot are Jagaba Adams, Jika both chairmen
interior and police affairs respectively, Muhammed Bago, Muhammed
Zakari and the last one I need not introduce him to Nigerians. “During the
budget period, when they discovered that I was not the kind of person they
could use to perpetrate their illegality, Mr Speaker and the three other
principal officers took away the entire Appropriation Committee secretariat
to a secret location where all sort of insertions were made into the budget.
“The blackmail has always been, Abdul people will laugh at you if anything
goes wrong between you and Dogara because of the lead role you played
and the many toes you stepped on to get him elected. It’s been a painful
experience. “Again the secretariat was taken away from me on Speaker
Dogara’s instruction for the second time to a location I didn’t know and all
sort of insertions into the budget were made and returned to me for
signature.
“I said over my dead body! It was a massive crisis behind the scene until
the early morning of the Friday that Mr President assented the budget. It
was Sen Danjuma Goje that brokered a compromise that since the deputy
speaker led the harmonization committee, he should also sign such that
the harmonization committee will share responsibility with us. “Senator
Goje pleaded with me so hard all night and later shouted heavily at me
reminding me that he was not talking to me as a senator but as a father. I
cried heavily all night. “When the budget harmonization committee, headed
by Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun, gave out 80% concession across board to
the executive demands during the harmonization negotiation, it was agreed
that the remaining 20% should go to the entire NASS. The deputy speaker
excused himself that he wanted to go and consult with Mr speaker.
“He came back after few hours and in an unprecedented display of greed,
presented to me a hand written note distributing the remaining 20% to only
principal officers. 70% of the 20% was reserved for Mr Speaker and himself,
while the remaining 30% of the 20% went to other principal officers. I am
sure he will recognize the hand writing when he sees it.” My colleagues
didn’t know all of these. “Mr Speaker also directed me to create what I
advised him will be a controversial line item under service wide vote to
introduce about N20 billion projects using the name of NASS. He directed
me to see a highly placed PDP politician which I did and collected the
documents.
I advised him repeatedly against it but he kept pressuring me until I bluntly
told him I will not! “When the Appropriation committee received all the
budget reports from standing committees, an analysis was conducted. We
discovered that about 10 of the 96 standing committees of the House
introduced about 2,000 (two thousand) projects without the knowledge of
their committee members, amounting to about N284 billion.’’
“I was alarmed. But I was cautious because at our pre budget meeting with
the committee chairmen, I was clearly warned not to touch their budgets. I
reported the matter to the speaker. He did nothing about it obviously
because he was working behind the scene with the committee chairmen.
That was the beginning of the whole budget problem from the side of
House and the whole exercise had to go through several versions before it
was passed.
“So, is it Abdul that introduced 2000 projects into budget worth 284
billion? But I quietly bore the pain and abuses from all over the country and
continue to defend the committee inputs as a show of loyalty to the
institution I represent which I so much love and still have many great
minds in there. Apart from Chairman Agriculture Hon Mongunu who owned
up and explained his inputs at the only executive session I was allowed to
attend, the other few chairmen who loaded the budget kept quiet and
watched me bashed from every angle by angry Nigerians.’’ Continuing,
Jibrin said:
“Speaker Dogara has completely derailed, remains clueless, keeps on with
an unmatched ego and surely leading the House to the biggest scandal it
may ever experience. ‘’He has failed to live above the fog in public duty and
private thinking, a direct opposite of what my favorite American Poet,
Josiah Gilbet Holland, prayed Lord to grant us leaders.
“All I am asking for is my right to be heard by my colleagues which they
denied me. I am calling on my colleagues to plead with Speaker Yakubu
Dogara, Deputy Lasun, Whip Doguwa and Minority leader Ogor to stop
obstructing justice and allow me my right to be heard by the House. ‘’It is
the House that will institute a special investigation on this matter to allow
me testify and provide evidence. Vanguard

Buhari to IBB, Gusau : Tell Nigerians why you removed me from office

Abuja: Thirty one years after his administration was toppled in a military

coup, President Muhammadu Buhari has finally opened up on why he was
sacked.
Buhari said in an exclusive interview granted The Interview, that he was
removed from office because he was planning to purge the military
hierarchy of corruption.
Buhari, who has not spared the military even in his ongoing anti-
corruption war, said senior military leaders, led by former military
president, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Aliyu Gusau, removed
him in August 1985, to save themselves from his wrath.
In an exclusive interview published in the current edition of The Interview
magazine, Buhari challenged Babangida and Gusau to tell the truth on why
they carried out the coup against him.
“I learnt,” he said, “that Aliyu Gusau, who was in charge of intelligence,
took import licence from the ministry of commerce which was in charge of
supplies and gave it to Alhaji Mai Deribe.
"It was worth N100,000, a lot of money at that time. I confronted them
and took the case to the Army council in a memo...I wanted Gusau
punished."
In a statement on www: theinterview.com.ng, the Managing Director/
Editor-in-chief of The Interview, Azu Ishiekwene, said, “This is one edition
that won’t let sleeping dogs lie.”
But in an earlier edition of the magazine last December, Babangida had
said that that there was nothing in the memo which Buhari said he
submitted to the Army council.
IBB said: "Don't forget that I was one of Buhari’s closest aides. I was the
chief of army staff. So, I had an important position, an important role to
play within that administration. I don't think it had to do with a memo.”
But in a tone which suggested that the past may neither have been
forgotten nor forgiven, Buhari
challenged Babangida and Gusau to come clean on why they removed him,
asking The Interview to choose whose story to believe.
He also fielded questions about his health, the 2016 budget, the pace of
his government, former President Goodluck Jonathan and why Mr.
Babatunde Raji Fashola was handed three ministerial portfolios.

Publish Dasuki’s statement, my accounts, Fayose dares EFCC

 Ado-Ekiti —Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has faulted the

refusal of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to make
public the statement it extracted from the former National Security
Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, in its ongoing probe of money meant for
the purchase of arms and the funding of the last general elections in the
country.
Fayose, who also asked the anti-graft agency to publish his personal
accounts it froze to let the whole world know what is contained therein.
According to him; ‘’Dasuki’s statement, will at least show whether the ex-
NSA gave money to former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu
Obanikoro or anybody to give me (Fayose).’’
The governor threw the challenge, weekend, while featuring on an
interview programme on a radio station, Fresh FM.
In a statement yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi,
the governor said: “What I am facing in Ekiti is a war of the elite and
incidentally, it is the masses that vote people into office. We know some
failed Ekiti politicians who now resume daily in EFCC office to concoct
stories and give same for publication. It is only one or two newspapers
that always have their so-called exclusive stories and they follow the
same pattern.
“The EFCC is only engaged in a mind game. They think they can wear me
out. That is not possible as God is on my side because I stand for the
truth. EFCC has not told Nigerians how money was wired to me. What
the EFCC and their collaborators are trying to do is to set the people of
the state against me and they have failed.
“For my two accounts they frozen, I have N300 million in the fixed deposit
in one and N82 million in the other. Both accounts and my properties were
duly declared in my Asset Declaration Form. They are treading the same
2006 path and they will fail woefully by the grace of God. What they did in
2006, was declared illegal by the Supreme Court and I came back to office
exactly eight years after. It means one of us lied,” he said.
On the June 21, 2014 governorship election that brought him to office,
Fayose said Dr Kayode Fayemi and APC leaders conceded defeat and that
both local and international observers described the poll as free and fair.
“After the APC leaders failed to stop my inauguration, get me impeached,
they know that they will still lose again in 2018. What they are trying to
do is to create a wedge between me and the people of the state who love
me. As far as I am concerned, their project is dead on arrival. The voice of
the people is the voice of God,” he stated.

Worries over INEC's inability to conduct credible, conclusive polls

Meantime, Governor Fayose has expressed worry over inability of the
Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct credible and
conclusive elections since the advent of the President Muhammadu
Buhari- led All Progressives Congress, APC, government.
The governor, who reacted to the alleged manipulation of the Imo North
Senatorial election, which was declared inconclusive, said “democracy in
Nigeria is being threatened by INEC and this should call for national and
international reflection.”
Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communications and New
Media, Lere Olayinka quoted the governor as saying that; “If we have done
more than 15 elections since President Buhari assumed office and all
ended inconclusive, it is obvious that we are tending towards anarchy.”

Senate divided over Bill seeking to establish National Peace Corps

ABUJA —AHEAD of the establishment of the proposed Nigeria Peace

Corps, the Senate has given President Muhammadu Buhari the power to
hire and fire the National Commandant General of the corps.
Senators are, however, divided over an aspect of its general principles
which proposes that only the President can nominate the national
commandant of the corps and forward same to the Senate for
confirmation.
The Senate has also recommended seven years imprisonment or a fine of
N100,000 for erring staff of the corps when it finally becomes a new
legally-backed organisation by the Federal Government.
The recommendations of the Senate were sequel to a report by the
Committee on Interior on a bill for the creation of National Peace Corps.
Presenting the report in Abuja,weekend, acting chairman of Senate
Committee on Interior, Senator Bayero Nafada, said the national
commandant of the corps would be answerable to the President and not
the Senate as canvassed by the lawmakers.
Prior to the presentation of the report, lawmakers, who opposed the
proposal of the committee have, however, insisted that the national
commandant of the corps should be answerable to the President and not
the Senate as proposed by lawmakers.
Senators had argued during the earlier debate on the general principles of
the proposed law, that the President could only nominate national
commandant of the corps and forward same to the Senate for
confirmation .
In his presentation of the report, Senator Nafada said the Bill for an Act to
establish the Nigerian Peace Corps would empower, develop and provide
employment for the youths, as well as help facilitate peace and
community services as that would give legal backing to the already
existing corps nation wide.
According to him, when established, besides ensuring peace in the country,
it would provide alternative employment for the youths, community
development services and nation building.
The House of Representatives had earlier passed the bill .
The two legislative houses are, however, expected to raise a conference
committee to harmonize their differences, if any before it can be forwarded
to President Buhari for assent.

Nigeria Custom Boss, Hamid Ali, Violates Buhari’s Directive, Flies First Class From London

T he Comptroller General of Customs, Hamid Ali, a well known ally of

President Muhammadu Buhari, was spotted on Tuesday flying first class
on British Airways flight from London to Abuja, in clear violation of
President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive banning public officials from flying
first class.
The BA flight BA83 which took off from Gate 43 of Heathrow Terminal 5,
London, on Tuesday, nearly an hour behind its scheduled 10.43pm departure
time, arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Wednesday
morning at about 5a.m, with Mr. Ali on board.
The reasons for Mr. Ali’s travel to London remained unknown as at the time of
publishing this report, but customs insiders said the trip was official.
Several passengers on the flight told PREMIUM TIMES they saw Mr. Ali seated
in the First Class compartment of the aircraft during the flight.
“It was a major talking point among some passengers whether the policy
(barring public officials from flying first class) is being implemented with
exceptions or whether it is meant for the shelves,” one passenger on the flight
told this newspaper.
There were notable Nigerians on board and a number of them confirmed to this
newspaper that the customs comptroller-general was in the first class cabin of
the aircraft during the flight.
A first class ticket to and from London costs $11,423.23 (about N3.4million).
Besides being a close friend of Mr. Buhari, Mr. Ali, a retired army colonel, is a
man seen by many Nigerian as frugal and incorruptible.
When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the customs spokesperson, Wale Adeniyi, on
Thursday, he confirmed Mr. Ali was on the BA flight, but that he travelled on a
business class ticket.
Mr. Adeniyi was not on the flight, and he responded to our reporter’s enquiry
without checking with Mr. Ali.
But our sources, some of whom travelled business class, said Mr. Adeniyi’s
claim was inaccurate.
“That is not true,” one passenger said. “I was on business class, and I was
awake most of the flight. So if you line up those on business class during that
flight, I can identify them.”
President Buhari had in April caused the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, to
issue a circular to all government agencies barring top officials from travelling
first class.
The measure was to cut the high cost of travelling by public officials, Mrs.
Adeosun said.
The minister said even travels with Business Class tickets remained strictly
restricted to only ministers, permanent secretaries, chairmen of Federal
Government committees as well as chairmen and chief executives of parastatals
and agencies.
That means other categories of government officials, including directors and
special assistants, are to travel on economy tickets.
Mrs. Adeosun said the measure was part of the recommendations by the
Efficiency Unit of her ministry to cut travel expenditure by about 20 per cent.
The recommendations were as a result of the review of the provisions of some
extant government circulars on overhead expenses on official travels, the
minister said.
The review was carried out in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary to
the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and the Office of the Head of the Civil
Service of the Federation (OHCSF).
Administration insiders said the appointment letter issued to Mr. Ali by the
office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation indicated clearly that
he could only fly on business class tickets.
It however remained unclear Friday how the Ministry of Finance is monitoring
and enforcing compliance with the circular on travel expenses by officials.

Akwa Ibom govt gets injunction; says EFCC can’t probe “federating units”

A state High Court in Akwa Ibom has given an interim injunction, restraining the Economic

and Financial Crime Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and the Inspector General of Police from investigating the finances of the Akwa Ibom State government. PREMIUM TIMES confirmed that the injunction was given on July 13. The suit was filed on behalf of the state government by the state Attorney General, Uwemedimo Nwoko. Justice NFN Ntong, the presiding judge of the State High Court, Ikot Ekpene, in granting the injunction, ruled that EFCC, ICPC, and the police should not arrest, detain, or investigate “anynperson or persons whether past or present official in the Akwa Ibom state governmentnwithout any report of indictment by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, pending the hearing and the determination of the Motion on Notice filed in this suit in order to forestall a breakdown of law and order”. The judge barred the state accountant general, auditor general, and the state House of Assembly, including five banks – Zenith Bank, Keystone Bank, FCMB, Skye Bank, and UBA – from disclosing information on the state finances to investigators from EFCC and other federal agencies. The court fixed August 5 for hearing of the Motion on Notice. EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, told PREMIUM TIMES at about on Friday that he was not aware of the restraining order. The Attorney General of Akwa Ibom state, Mr. Nwoko, in an interview on Friday with PREMIUM TIMES, said the state government went to court because EFCC wrote letters to banks requesting documents on state government transactions. Mr. Nwoko said Akwa Ibom is a federating unit in the Nigerian federation, and that EFCC being an agency of the federal government isn’t empowered by the Nigerian Constitution to investigate the finances of the state. “It’s not about whether there’s anything wrong with the accounts of the Akwa Ibom state government! Why should the EFCC look into it? Is the state looking into the federal government account?” Mr. Nwoko said other state governments that allowed EFCC and other federal agencies to investigate them may not have had the wisdom and courage to challenge the federal government. “As the attorney general of Akwa Ibom state, I am setting a precedent,” he said.

Oxygen bag for Nigeria’s economy

NIGERIA’S economy is on a progressive slip downhill and this

should be of great concern to everybody. All the indices seem to
have gone haywire. Last week, the naira, once the nation’s pride,
nose-dived further in both the parallel and inter-bank markets. The
local currency went down to an all time low of N375 to US$1 at
the parallel market on Thursday and crossed the N300 to the
dollar mark at the inter-bank market due to dollar supply
shortages. Inflation rate for June 2016 is a huge 16.5 per cent, an
11-year high.
This is against the backdrop of an official announcement by the
Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun last week, acknowledging
that the economy was progressing into recession. Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) had earlier come out with this verdict. Another
scary doom prophecy came Wednesday last week from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) which disclosed that the
economy was likely to contract by -1.8 per cent this year. This is
against the international lenders April 2016 growth forecast of 2.3
per cent for Nigeria. It also reduced next year’s growth projection
from 3.5 per cent to 1.1 per cent. Nigeria’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) growth contracted to -0.36 per cent in the first
quarter of this year compared to 2.11 per cent in fourth quarter of
2015.
The CBN two weeks ago came out with the report that Purchasing
Manager Index (PMI) for June showed a decline in economic
activities in the country with manufacturing sector production level,
new orders, employment level, raw material and inventories
decelerating at a very fast rate.
The report also indicated that the non-manufacturing sector did
not fair better as business activity, new orders and employment
level slowed down at a faster rate while raw materials inventories
declined at a slower rate.
According to the apex bank, the manufacturing PMI dropped to
41.9 index points in June 2016, as against 45.8 points in the
preceding month. The composite PMI for the non-manufacturing
sector recorded decline for six consecutive months as the index
dropped to 42.3 points, showing a faster decline than in the
previous month of May.
Unemployment is at a nerve-breaking level while food prices have
gone beyond the reach of the poor, even as local and international
debts are climbing higher.
All these miseries are being poured on Nigeria because crude oil,
once the country’s poster commodity has suffered massive
setbacks both in production and price level.
Analysts agree that something urgent has to be done to
resuscitate the economy, with many calling for a Marshal Plan,
something akin to the treatment given to the economy of Germany
after the second World War.
What is suffocating the economy is nothing but paucity of foreign
exchange, caused by the fall in the international price of crude oil
and the recent onslaught on oil pipelines and fields by Niger Delta
Avengers.
However, one way of tackling the crisis is for the Federal
Government to seek other sources of generating foreign exchange.
It is not enough for the government to trumpet nonexistent efforts
it claims to be making to diversify the economy, while on ground,
nothing seem to be happening.
Government’s economic managers should begin to think out of the
box in order to bring lasting solutions to the myriads of problems
plaguing the economy. Government should go beyond parochial
partisan and ethnic interests and set up an economic team
comprising of eminently qualified Nigerians from both the private
and public sectors to act as a think tank on the economy. The
team should come up with practical answers to the country’s
numerous economic woes. Government should also enunciate the
right policies and implement them properly.
Some financial analysts are of the opinion that a way out of the
quagmire is for government to pour money into the economy. This
is the view of the Director -General, West African Institute for
Financial and Economic Management, Professor Akpan Ekpo. He
said “the economy is in recession, what we need now is a robust
fiscal policy. Government has to spend, pour more money into the
economy, not just on capital projects. The recession is a special
type, it has effects on both the supply and demand sides, so the
way to solve that is massive government capital and recurrent
expenditure. Monetary policy will not be effective.” He, however,
expressed the fear that the country may not have enough money
to inject into the economy. This has given rise to a suggestion
that the country should create a conducive environment for Ni­
gerians in the Diaspora to be involved in the sourcing of foreign
exchange for use at home.
This view tallies with the current plan by the government to
borrow up to $10 billion offshore from the third quarter of this year
to help make up the budget shortfall heightened by massive oil
price slump.
The Minister of Finance last week intimated reporters of
government’s plan to borrow offshore. She said “we have been
borrowing largely from the domestic market,because we needed to
get the exchange rate sorted out to enable us to borrow from the
international market. The international borrowings will begin to
come in Q3.” Government said it wants to change the balance of
its debt portfolio so that 40 per cent of its borrowing could come
from offshore lenders, compared with 16 per cent now. It also
wants to extend the average maturity of its debt profile.
Adeosun met international investors in June on a non-deal road
show in London as Nigeria explored fund-raising options to
finance its budget deficit. This is cheery news, but government
should exercise great caution while plunging into the murky
external borrowing terrain, a road the country has passed before.
All hands, however, should be on deck as Nigeria grapples with
this economic asphyxiation of a kind.