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VAT: More States To Challenge FG’s Power To Collect Tax

By
Bayo Bernard
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0

By Tosin Olatokunbo

There are indications that more state governments will go to court to challenge the power of the federal government to continue to collect value added tax or personal income tax in their states, following the ruling by a federal High court in Rivers state which ruled against the status quo where federal authorities such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS collect such taxes.

Before the ruling, many analysts have contended that the current arrangement is against the spirit of fiscal federalism where the states are expected to collect the taxes, and remit some percentage to the federation Account.

They insist that some states are benefitting from VAT without making serious contributions, while states which have banned the consumption of certain items are sharing from VAT collected from the same items in others states.

For instance, some Northern states such as Kano, Kaduna, Zamfara which operate the Sharia legal system, where alcohol consumption is not allowed are sharing from VAT collected on the same items from other states, particularly in the south where the consumption of alcohol is not banned.

In May, the Kano State Hisbah Board, a local police authority confiscated 8,400 bottles of beer in Dawakin Kudu and Kura Local Government Areas, LGAs. The decision, according to the Commander-General of the board, Dr. Harun Ibn-Sina, was taken because “Hisbah Board has prohibited the sale of beer in the state to avoid being intoxicated.”

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS close to N500 billion was collected from VAT in the first half of the 2021 financial year, and shared by all the 26 states of the federation and FCT. A huge chunk of that amount was collected from on VAT from alcohol.

The perceived injustice in the sharing of VAT prompted the Rivers state government to go to court, a matter in which the court has now given a judgment.

Presided over by Justice Stephen Dalyop Pam, the court also issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining the FIRS and the Attorney General of the federation, both first and second defendants in the suit, from collecting, demanding, threatening and intimidating residents of Rivers State to pay to FIRS, personnel income tax and Value Added Tax.

Justice Pam made the assertion while delivering judgement in Suit No. FHC/PH/CS/149/2020, filed by the Attorney General for Rivers State (plaintiff), against the Federal Inland Revenue Service (first defendant) and the Attorney General of the Federation (second defendant).

The Court, which granted all the eleven reliefs sought by the Rivers State Government, stated that there was no constitutional basis for the FIRS to demand for and collect VAT, Withholding Tax, Education Tax and Technology levy in Rivers State or any other State of the Federation, being that the constitutional powers and competence of the federal government was limited to taxation of incomes, profits and capital gains, which did not include VAT or any other species of sales, or levy other than those specifically mentioned in items 58 and 59 of the Exclusive Legislative List of the Constitution.

The judge dismissed the preliminary objections filed by the defendants that the Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit and that the case should be transferred to Court of Appeal for interpretation.

Justice Pam, who also dismissed objection raised by the defendants that the National Assembly ought to have been made a party in the suit, declared that the issues of taxes raised by the state government were issues of law that the court was constitutionally empowered to entertain.

He declared that after a diligent review of the issues raised by both the plaintiff and the defendants, the plaintiff has proven beyond doubt that it was entitled to all the eleven reliefs it sought in the suit.

The court agreed with the Rivers State Government that it was the State and not FIRS that was constitutionally entitled to impose taxes enforceable or collectable in its territory of the nature of consumption or sales tax, VAT, education and other taxes or levies, other than the taxes and duties specifically reserved for the federal government by items 58 and 59 of Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the 1999 constitution as amended.

Also, the court declared that the defendants were not constitutionally entitled to charge or impose levies, charges or rates (under any guise or by whatever name called) on the residents of Rivers State and indeed any state of the federation.

Among the reliefs sought by the Rivers State Government, was a declaration that the constitutional power of the federal government to impose taxes and duties was only limited to the items listed in items 58 and 59 of Part 1 of the second schedule of the 1999 constitution as amended. The Rivers State Government had also urged the court to declare that, by virtue of the provisions of items 7 and 8 of the Part II (Concurrent Legislative List) of the Second Schedule of the constitution, the power of the federal government to delegate the collection of taxes can only be exercised by the State government or other authority of the state and no other person.

The State government had further asked the court to declare that all statutory provisions made or purportedly made in the exercise of the legislative powers of the federal government, which contained provisions that were inconsistent with or in excess of the powers to impose tax and duties, as prescribed by items 58 and 59 of the Part I of the Second Schedule of the 1999 constitution, or inconsistent with the power to delegate the duty of collection of taxes, as contained in items 7 and 8 of Part II of the Second Schedule of the Constitution, were unconstitutional, null and void.

Lead counsel for the Rivers State Government, Donald Chika Denwigwe (SAN), who spoke to journalists after the court session, explained that the case was all about the interpretation of the constitution as regards the authority of the government at the state and federal levels to collect certain revenue particularly, VAT.

“So, during the determination of the matter, some issues of law were thrown up like, whether or not the case should be referred to the Court of Appeal for the determination of some issues.

“The court noted that the application is like asking the Federal High Court to transfer the entire case to the Court of Appeal. In which case, if the court so decides, there will be nothing left to refer back to the Federal High Court as required by the constitution.”

The magazine learnt that some states already brazing up to go to court over the issue will further be spurred to do so following the judgement by a federal court in Rivers state.

Meanwhile, some analysts who spoke to the magazine over the issue said, when states are allowed to collect VAT it will reduce the financial problems they are facing, particularly states that are making efforts to generate economic activities in their various jurisdictions.

Apart from this, the contention is that when states are allowed to collect VAT it will address the problems of fiscal federalism that have formed the planks of major agitations across the country for years, as the federating units demand that they be allowed to control their resources.

 

Imo: Black Day For Okorocha; Loses NBillions, Oba Withdraws Traditional Title

By
The Source
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0

By Gideon Njoku

Monday, August 9, 2021 was a very bad day for former two-time Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, now the Senator representing Imo West at the Senate.

24 hours after he declared that he would build an Islamic University in Daura, Katsina State, an Imo State High Court stripped him and his family,  permanently, of properties worth billions of Naira, including the Eastern Palm University, Ogboko, which he, allegedly, looted from the State during  his controversial eight year tenure as Imo State Governor.

Okorocha had, on August 8, 2021, declared that he would build  the Islamic University in Daura in appreciation of the Emirates relationship with him. He said it would be free accommodation and feeding for students.

President Muhammadu Buhari is from Daura.

But the next day, the Hon. Justice Fred Njemanze stripped him of multi billion Naira properties he allegedly looted from the state. And, as if that was not enough, a Yoruba First Class Traditional Ruler, Oba Akintude Akinyemi, the Eselu of Iselu kingdom,  withdrew the Traditional title  he had officially offered Okorocha, and canceled the installation ceremony.

The Eselu withdrew the title in a letter dated August 9, which he addressed to the embattled Senator.

The withdrawal letter reads in part: “I, Oba (Dr) Ebenezer  Akintude AKINYEMI, JP,  FCIMN, (Akaosu 1), the Eselu of  Iselu Kingdom, a First Class Monarch in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State. regretfully write to WITHDRAW Your Excellency’s appointment as Otunba Asoludero of Iselu Kingdom in Yewa North Local Government of Ogun State. I am using this medium to inform Your Excellency of the CANCELATION of the proposed installation ceremony.”

The canceled installation ceremony had been scheduled for September 19, 2021. The Oba said the withdrawal was in the interest of peace.

And ordering the absolute forfeiture of over a 100 properties, Justice Njemanze ruled that “all the properties in pages 226 to 272 of the Imo State Government White Paper report by a Judicial Panel of Enquiry on Recovery of Lands and Other Related Matters” are hereby absolutely forfeited to the Government.

Okorocha’s Counsel, he noted, woefully failed to give concrete and verifiable reasons why the Court should not order an absolute forfeiture in favor of Imo.State Government.

He also said that the defence was not properly filed, and the statements therein, useless.

Some of the properties forfeited to the Imo State Government include, but not limited to the following:

*Eastern Palm University, Ogboko.

*Royal Spring Palm Hotels and Apartments.

*Acres of land for IBC Staff Quakers which Okorocha illegally took over for his Rochas Foundation  College.

*Owerri Magistrate Quakers Orlando road/cooperative office/Girls Guide converted to private use housing market square and Kilmanjoro eatery.

*Public building situated at plot B/2 Otamiri South extension Layout given to the Ministry of Women Affairs for establishing a Skills Acquisition Centre for Women, allegedly acquired for the benefit of Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha’s all-in Mall, along Aba road.

*Plot P5, Naze Residential layout initially part of Primary School Management Board but now annexed to All-In Mall, along Aba road belonging to Mrs Nkechi Okorocha.

*And all the properties contained from pages 226 to 272 of the Government White Paper on the recommendation of the Judicial Commission of Enquiry into Land Administration in Imo Starwood from June 2006 to May 2019.”

The Eastern Palm University  has since been renamed the Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University.

The Judicial Panel was set up by former Governor Emeka Ihedioha, but was inherited by Governor Hope Uzodinma on assumption of office. Uzodinma sustained all the Judicial Commissions of Inquiry, resisting all pressure  on him to disband them.

The non-disbandment is one of the main reasons Okorocha fell out with Governor Uzodinma.

NEBPRIL Uncovers Massive Fraud In National Lottery Commission

By
Bayo Bernard
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0

By James Orji

The Director General of the National Lottery Commission, Lanre Gbajabiamila has been accused of perpetrating fraud running to several millions of naira in the commission. The allegation was made by a civil rights organization, the Network for Best Practice and Integrity in Leadership, NEBPRIL which has now written to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to investigate the matter with the aim of bringing all those allegedly involved in the fraud, to book.

NEBPRIL raised the alarm over what it described as the sordid developments bothering on official malfeasance at the Commission.

The organisation said the Commission under the watch of Gbajabiamila has seemingly enabled acts that “bother on official deceit, financial fraud, administrative infractions, impunity and other forms of official malfeasance, that run contrary to the civil/public service rules, Procurement Act as well as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC Act.”

According to a statement by NEBPRIL Chairman, Victor Afam Ogene, in Abuja, on Monday, August 9, 2011, the organisation whose main objectives are transparency, integrity and democratic accountability in public service, disclosed that it has petitioned both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and the supervisory ministry to the regulatory commission, Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Relations, to investigate the allegations of financial fraud in the Commission.

Ogene, a former member of the House of Representatives disclosed that NEBPRIL on April 6, 2021, wrote a letter to Gbajabiamila, which was received and acknowledged by his office on April 7.

The letter, he said “sought clarifications on about 143 bank transactions that were made using the bank accounts of about 20 specific staff members at different times. It should be noted, and curiously too, those 20 staffers are mostly from the Finance & Accounts, Internal Audit departments and the office of the Director-General.”

He said that NEBPRIL had sought the information, as a responsible organisation “with strong advocacy for best practice, integrity in leadership and fairness to all parties, but sadly, till date no official explanation has been received from the Commission in response to our letter.”

Victor Ogene
Ogene: NEBPRIL Chairman

Ogene further disclosed that on April 13, 2021, a certain aide of the DG, “Dr. Musa Mohammed Bagana, who introduced himself as the Media Adviser to the DG, visited our office, on the directive of his boss. While he didn’t present any official position of the Commission, he made verbal acknowledgement of the authenticity of some of the allegations of financial infractions, which he, however, suggested were perpetrated among other things, to provide funds to patronize the National Assembly Committees that oversee the activities of the Commission.”

This unwitting disclosure necessitated further probe into the financial records of the NLRC, and our findings were sordid.

The petitions dated August 6, 2021, read in parts: “financial transactions in the Commission involving multiple staffers of the agency evidentially suggest a disturbing collusion of the Director-General of the commission with some Accounts and Audit staff, to enable brazen, unethical activities that amounts to financial fraud.

“A close study of a few of the Finance and Audit documents of the Commission, revealed multiple, systemic official financial fraud, financial infractions, official impunity and less that transparent internal financial governance structure in NLRC, under Mr. Gbajabiamila.”

The petition listed some of the fraud allegations thus: “It is evident based on the documents at our disposal, that some members of staff of the Commission, especially in the Finance & Accounts and also Audit departments, have made themselves willing members of the financial fraud syndicate in the commission.

“Evidently, between March and December 2019, about N348,200, 950 was diverted through the use of the bank accounts of 20 staffers, in a total of 143 transactions.

* In March 2019, the sum of N26,024,000 was fraudulently mopped-up in 11 transactions, via bank accounts of nine members of staff.

* In April 2019, N27,140,000 in 12 transactions by nine staff accounts

* In May 2019, N9, 483,000 in 5 transactions through four staff accounts

* In June 2019, N23, 414,400, was mopped-up via nine members of staff accounts in 10 transactions.

* In July 2019, a total of N61,130,350 was mopped-up in 27 different translations through the bank accounts of 10 staff.

* In August 2019, N17,786,800 was mopped-up in eight transactions through the accounts of six staff.

* In September 2019, N56,466,200 was mopped-up in 24 transactions, using the accounts of 16 staff.

* In October 2019, N21,276,200 was mopped-up in 10 transactions via nine staff accounts.

* In November 2019, N39,650,200 was mopped-up in 18 transactions, using the accounts of 12 staff.

* In December 2019, N65,829,600 was mopped-up in 29 transactions, using the accounts of 14 staff.

“In 2020 financial year, a total sum of N42,650,400 was mopped-up in 18 transactions using the accounts of nine staff.”

The petition also listed the names of the alleged perpetrators and the roles they played as follows: “For instance , Oviawe Edwin of Finance & Accounts department (Other Charges), was involved in 25 different transactions where a total sum of N58,891,800 was mopped-up through his account.

* Tunde Ezomon, also of Finance & Accounts (CPO), was involved in 16 different translations and a total sum of N37,355,800 was mopped-up through his account.

* Adesina Ekundayo of Internal Audit was involved in eight different translations, where N19,026,800 was mopped-up through his account.

* Gelengu Jibrin, another staff in Internal Audit department, was involved in four transactions and a total sum of N9,777, 400 was mopped-up through his account.

* Bamodeoku Oyebode, a Personal Assistant to the DG was involved in four transactions and N8,557,000 was mopped-up through his account.

* Other accomplices whose bank accounts were used in these Illicit transactions include: Oluwatosin Osanyinbola, Momohjimoh Abdulmutalib ( F& A and DFA’s Office assistant) Hassan Audu, Musandah Godwin, Funmilola Akinlami (F&A and DFA’s secretary), Deborah Uziagbe, Nneoma Vivian Chinonyerem , Ukah Solomon, Oladipo Odion Joyce, Akanmode Peter Femi, Ewuje Joy Akinwalere Seunfunmi, Ene Dominic Marcellina and Ayeni Adebukola.

“Also contravention of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 and Section 2906 and 2916 of the Financial Regulations and other key extant rules in awarding multiple million naira contracts above the DG’s approval limit.

“For instance, on October 23, 2019, the sums of N15,000,000 and N17,000,000 were disbursed for the same purpose on the same day to Kabir Abdullahi, a pool staff redeployed from the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, to head the checking unit of the Finance & Accounts department of NLRC.

“The same amount was disbursed to him the following day, for the same purpose (payment for computer consumables), totaling N64,000,000 in two days!

“In December 2020, sundry other questionable payments above the DG’s approval limits were also made, in breach of extant financial and civil service laws.”

According to the petition, every mechanism of checks and balances put in place by government by way of creating various units in the Finance and Account department of the Commission to check and double check every transaction from approval to payment levels, have been fraudulently by-passed, owing to the fact that all those put in place to carry out these functions are the very ones committing the fraudulent acts.

NEBPRIL therefore implored the Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa to use his good offices to investigate these allegations and bring the culprits to book, adding that “such action being in tandem with the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration’s anti-corruption stance, would also help reconcile the faith of the ordinary Nigerian to the often stated position that under your headship of the EFCC, there will be no sacred cows – especially against the backdrop of the privileged standing of the DG, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Lanre Gbajabiamila, as a younger sibling of Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker, House of Representatives, and Nigeria’s No.4 citizen.”

OPINION: Buhari: 658 Days to Go

By
The Source
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0
Lasisi Olagunju

By Lasisi Olagunju

“I pity Buhari; I do not pity him. How deep will the misery of the last man on earth be? How does it feel to be a city’s last ruler, the President of a former country? Nations die if they resist regeneration.

William Wordsworth says so in his Westminster Bridge where the lines of a city’s “splendor” and its “mighty heart” end in “lying still.” There is only one way to avert the looming crash of Nigeria’s vehicle as it is – give it a park-and-repair treatment. But we are not prepared for that option. We are searching for another driver to continue maneuvering the brakeless vehicle to its nowhere. It may soon be over – and we should be worried.”

Six hundred and fifty eight days from today, Nigeria will be free from Muhammadu Buhari and his government. To count down is to wait for something to happen. You are counting down when you consciously take note of every day or moment as it passes until the end comes.

In a democracy, you are allowed to start counting down for the incumbent. It is neither treasonous nor treasonable to look forward to the end of an era, unpleasant, pleasant – especially unpleasant.

Buhari’s end-of-reign countdown started the day he became our President. I don’t think he knows his time will ever end – if he does, his gait, comportment and work ethic have not shown it.

I am assuming that today is August 9, 2021 and that the incumbent would leave us alone on May 29, 2023. So, if my assumption is correct, the next question should be who or what succeeds the present?

Some Northern youths have weighed in on this – the North loves power. They issued a statement on Friday and said that they won’t accept another old, weak and sick president in 2023. It was their positive reaction to IBB’s recommendation of a cut-off age for the next president.

General Ibrahim Babangida had earlier said in a TV interview on Friday in preparation for his own 80th birthday, that the next Villa person should be in his 60s, not 70 and above.

Gutsy, adventurous IBB does not want another old, creaky President for our country after the current bated breath. But 60-69 years is the age bracket that appeals to our once-upon-a-time Military President.

I am surprised that IBB did not remember that Barack Obama was 47 years 169 days old when he became President of the United States. Obama turned 60 last week, almost five years after his retirement from the White House. If he were a Nigerian, he would just be maturing for consideration as a candidate for our presidency – or even as an adviser.

There are current examples that should have caught the General’s attention.

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is 49 years old. He was born on December 25, 1971. Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain is 57 years. He was born on 19 June, 1964. President Emmanuel Macron of France is 43. He was born on 21 December, 1977. They are all doing well as leaders of their first world people but they are all not qualified yet to be president of Nigeria.

I know that the argument is right there before me that age is just a number, that Obama was truly 47 when he moved into the White House thirteen years ago but in the same country, Joe Biden, 78, is the sitting president. I would have said that Mark Twain, author of The Prince and the Pauper, believed as much because some commentators credited him with saying that “age is an issue of mind over matter” but Twain was the same person who told his readers that “seventy is old enough. After that, there is too much risk.”

So, I say too that age becomes an issue in leadership when the aged leader’s inner being and his ideas get wrinkled by the length of his years. That is what we suffer in Nigeria and it is the reason the country is dying, the reason it is irritable, suffers violent heartbeat and has breathing difficulties.

We are talking elections again even while many of our existential questions remain unanswered. How much help is the terrorized going to get from the next man – whether young or old?

Euripides, in Orestes, said “when one with honeyed words but evil mind persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.” Every wounded Nigerian would relate quickly with those wise words.

The last leadership recruitment exercise was a mob action. Yet, we are debating how to give a renewal licence to the bosses and their mobsters to further mess with our lives. But as Abraham Lincoln said, “elections belong to the people. It is their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” We are sitting on the blains from the last polls. They remain sorely painful. That is why many down south sound tired of looking at 2023 and its elections. They are insisting on a redefinition of the association called Nigeria.

The heat is on. But for those looking forward to 2023 and the election of Buhari’s successor, General Babangida added other conditions. He said the next President must be literate in economics; must be nationalistic, cosmopolitan in outlook, and pan-Nigerian in words and in action. Nice ideas; no employer would squirm at the prospect of such a spic-and-span candidate getting the job. But, Nigeria does not make its choices using the criteria of excellence. It was not created for such lofty heights.

“I’ve never fooled anyone. I’ve let people fool themselves. They didn’t bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn’t argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn’t.” Hugely successful American actress, model and singer, Marilyn Monroe (born June 1, 1926) has continued to rule the world of American pop culture even after her death on 4 August, 1962. She has many legacies – including quotable quotes that keep her memory green forever.

The above is one of them and it speaks directly to the Nigerian people and the choices they make – and how they make them. Every word Monroe used in that quote could as well belong to Nigerian leaders at all levels. Three years ago, I asked on this podium why it was difficult – even impossible – for us to get the best for ourselves as leaders. The cliche is there that the best should rule the rest. That is a cardinal order even in the animal world.

But Nigeria is sold to mediocrity. It is not as if we do not know the difference between what is mediocre and what is excellent. We draw the line regularly at the personal level. We do due diligence on every ‘unknown’ person seeking the hand of our child in marriage.

Without being told, everyone carefully chooses their cooks, their drivers, the doctors who treat them. No one takes bribes to subvert those personal decisions for oneself.

We carefully choose the mechanics who fix our old and new cars with our eyes and every other sense very well open. We don’t accept counterfeit2 currencies nor do we knowingly inject expired drugs. But we crown counterfeit persons as our kings and exhume the past to rule our present and dictate our future. And we say we want to be well!

We are not even sure there will be a country after this era. A national newspaper reported on Sunday that in 38 days, bandits murdered about 50 police officers and 211 other Nigerians. The kidnapping industry, the report said, netted 321 victims with a demand of N1.415 billion made of them. And the madness continues all over the country. With heavy heart, every person, except the derelict doctors by the bedside, mourns our dying nation. The end signs bloom with the endgame.

Doctors say when someone is dying, they lose control of their breathing. They suffer irregular heartbeat, their blood circulation slows down; their brain and vital organs decelerate as they receive less oxygen than they need. These are horrifying signs of the end and victims of Nigeria are witnesses to these symptoms. But the doctor is not bothered – because he is sick too in body and spirit. When the head is not well, the entire being suffers. What do you call hospitals without doctors? We have that in Nigeria presently. Our doctors are on strike but the Nigerian president, old, sneaky (and sick?), is abroad consulting his reliable doctors. It makes no difference that the president is home or he is abroad. When he was in Nigeria, school kids were not safe; they suffered abduction in hundreds. In his absence, they remain unmourned in captivity.

In Borno, soldiers now escort primary school pupils to school. The video is trending. I saw very determined fires in the eyes of those defiant kids and in their bold steps. They want education. Nigeria appears to want something else; it talks about the next election – although it needs air, it is gasping.

General Martin Luther Agwai, retired, was our Chief of Defence Staff in May 2007. He was the Chief of Army Staff from 2001 to 2003.

On Sunday, he gave the Vanguard newspaper a clinical analysis of the insecurity that is eating the heart and liver of Nigeria. What is the cause of the problem and will it ever end? His verdict sounded almost like what a cancer patient gets from his doctors. Terminal. Agwai said that in today’s Nigeria, “there are no economic activities taking place anywhere. Nobody knows what is happening.

Everybody is creating illegal administrations in their area and, once that is not checked, you find out that a little success by them will open more space. That is where we found ourselves today.” In other words, the country is on a free-fall – the rock below will win the war. Aristotle said every person that thinks himself wise should be able to deliberate well about the things that are good and advantageous to himself. But any sincere deliberation about Nigeria is treason. Aristotle added that the wise should not find it impossible to identify “things conduce to health and to physical strength, and the things conduce to the good life in general.” Here, even when we identify those things that are needed to buoy our wellness, we stop and ask which soil grew them and what god they worship.

I pity Buhari; I do not pity him. How deep will the misery of the last man on earth be? How does it feel to be a city’s last ruler, the president of a former country? Nations die if they resist regeneration. William Wordsworth says so in his Westminster Bridge where the lines of a city’s “splendor” and its “mighty heart” end in “lying still.” There is only one way to avert the looming crash of Nigeria’s vehicle as it is – give it a park-and-repair treatment. But we are not prepared for that option. We are searching for another driver to continue maneuvering the brakeless vehicle to its nowhere. It may soon be over – and we should be worried. It is 94 weeks or 658 days to the end of Buhari’s own era as our president. What happens between now and then – and after? Only time will tell if he will be succeeded by someone or by something.

Olagunju, PhD, is commentator on national and current issues

How Niger State Spokesman Was Kidnapped

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0
Mohammed Sani Idris

By Akinwale Kasali

As the Government Spokesman, it was his job to brief the people of the state on the state of kidnappings in the State. But no longer.

He, himself, is in the custody of Kidnappers.

The Niger State  Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Idris, has been kidnapped.

Idris was kidnapped in his hometown, Baban Tunga in Tafa Local Government Area of the state around 1 am, in the early hours of, Monday August 9th, 2021.

The Secretary to Niger State Government, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, confirmed the incident, and explained that security agents were already on his trail and hope they would be able to trace and rescue him unhurt.

“He was kidnapped in the early hours of today around 1am at Baban Tunga in Tafa local government. Security are already on the trail of the kidnappers and we hope they will rescue him unharmed,” the SSG remarked.

PDP Crisis: Governors Forum Fails To Support Removal Of Uche Secondus

By
Ayodele Oni
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0

By Ayodele Oni

As voices rise against Prince Uche Secondus, National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) the emergency meeting of the PDP Governors Forum rose in Abuja on Monday without any resolution on the fate of Secondus.

Chairman of the Governors Forum, Governor Aminu Tambuwal told anxious Journalists at the end of the meeting that it continues on Tuesday.

He explained that the Governors resolved that there must be peace in the party and they were working towards it.

According to him, the Governors resolved to continue dialoguing with all stakeholders and that the crisis would be resolved.

As the PDP Governors were meeting, some youths, claiming to be members of the party stormed the national secretariat in Abuja and aligned their voices with the calls for the removal of  Prince  Secondus.

Earlier on Monday, the Southwest Vice Chairman, Ambassador Arapaja, alongside other Vice Chairmen asked Secondus to resign.

In a swift reaction, through a statement by his media adviser, Mr Ike Abonyi, the embattled chairman insisted that he would not resign, saying those calling for his resignation were in the minority.

Some PDP youths under the auspices of Save PDP Group stormed the Wadata Plaza, demanding the immediate sack of Secondus as they cited the recent defections of some governors from the party’s fold to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC as well as Secondus’ leadership style, among others.

Bearing various placards with inscriptions, “Uche Secondus Must Go”, “We have lost confidence in your chairmanship”, “We cannot afford to lose more governors” among others, the youths called on the national chairman to heed the call and quit his office to pave way for the repositioning of the party ahead of the 2023 general elections.

While addressing news men, leader of the protest, Comrade Tamunotonye Inioribo accused Secondus of polarizing the party for his own selfish interest, saying he is to blame “for the defection of three governors and dozens of Senators from the party.”

According to him, organs of the party including, the PDP Governors’ Forum, National Working Committee, National Executive Committee “are all divided.”

Tamunotonye also accused the chairman of creating factions in states for his own selfish ambition even as he noted that most departments of the party have been crippled, owing to what he called a deliberate attempt to weaken the party for selfish reasons.

Also on Monday, the PDP House of Reps Caucus in a letter, asked Governors’ Forum to persuade Uche Secondus to resign.

The Caucus wrote to the party’s Board of Trustees, as well as the Governor’s Forum, requesting for firm decisions to be taken to salvage the party, which has been enmeshed in a series of crises lately.

Among its prayers in the letter, the Caucus asked that the party National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus be persuaded to resign honourably, in order to get the party refocused, to save Nigeria from bad governance.

The letter, which was signed by the Leader, PDP House of Reps Caucus, Rep. O. K. Chinda enumerated the huge losses recorded by the party as a result of the inactions of the national leadership of the party, and stated that the situation calls for urgent and effective steps to be taken towards effecting a real paradigm shift and quick installation of a vibrant leadership in the party.

2023: Youth Group Call On Osinbajo To Succeed President Buhari

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

As the 2023 Presidential Election  gathers momentum, a  Youth Group, under the aegis of Osinbajo Grassroots Organisation, OGO, has given reasons why Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, should be President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023.

The Group said with the current level of developmental projects scattered across the country, Nigeria needs continuity devoid of bitter politics and political witch-hunting. They therefore, called  on the Professor of Law to throw in the hat in the Presidential race in 2023.

The group stated that it would be a disservice to Nigeria and Nigerians if gains recorded during the Buhari-led administration were allowed to be eroded by another crop of leaders who do not understand the dynamics of the country and what it means to effectively manage the nation’s diversity to assume the leadership of the country.

The National Convener of the Group,  Folusho Ojo, said that with Osinbajo’s vast experience and his blend of knowledge across all walks of life, he is better positioned to take the mantle of leadership and continue from where Buhari stops in 2023 and consolidate on his achievements.

Speaking at the weekend during the group’s second edition of ‘OSINBAJO  DAY’, Ojo stated that he was convinced that project Osinbajo 2023 was worth investing in and that the group would begin mobilising for the actualisation of his mandate.

According to him, Osinbajo is one who can inspire hope in the young. One whose word is his bond. One who is not after personal aggrandizement. One who in our nation has given a new meaning to loyalty and dependability.

Continuing in his address delivered at the event, titled ‘Unhappy Is The Land That Has No Heroes’, the group’s National Convener said that with his antecedents, it was obvious that Nigerians can entrust their future in Osinbajo’s hand.

“This is not a time for long speeches.  It is rather a time to reflect and celebrate an iconic leader, who by God’s grace is destined for a greater role. Our purpose of gathering here is not for any reason other than to celebrate the unique leadership qualities of Prof. Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo. We are celebrating him because if we have lost hope, he has given hope back to us. If the future looks dark and bleak he is shining light on it.

“As we have said in our earlier releases this is our initiative. We no longer will sit on the sidelines and wait for some self-serving individuals and politicians to saddle us with a leadership that will bring us misery and sadness. President Buhari has built a solid foundation, we therefore must ensure that whoever comes after him will rather build a beautiful edifice on it than demolish it.

“We have seen in this man that person who shares the vision of Mr President and has similar selfless attributes as him.  The theme of this year’s celebration is clear: ‘Osinbajo: The Future Beckons’ and with it, we are appealing to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to throw his hat into the ring and take up higher responsibility having worked diligently with the President and with great results to show.

“We are also calling on all of us gathered here today to assume the role of apostles by going out there to preach the gospel according to Osinbajo. He is our leader ,he is our  actualiser and I want you all to become the brand ambassadors . We should go out and market him across Nigeria as that man who has the magic wand to take us to the promised land,” Ojo said.

He added “this country, and our generation,  requires a hero , one that can inspire us to great deeds. It was Andrea , a philosopher who in an exchange with Galileo a fellow  philosopher declared that ‘unhappy is the land that has no heroes.‘ As young people we have longed for a hero. We have found  heroic attributes in Osinbajo.

“Even if he were not a politician, even if he will not contest for public office now nor in the future, this man deserves to be celebrated for who he is and for the symbols he offers and projects to young Nigerians. It is for this reason and many more that we have chosen, at personal sacrifice, to build a movement aroud him.

“If Heaven does not completely abandon this land of the Gods, there must be an uprising of grass-roots heroes.,” so says Yoshida Shoin a Japanese politician . It is that uprising we want to unleash as young men and women to create our own heroes with whom we shall salvage this country.

“Who knows, your voice, my voice and Osinbajo’s voice  may be the redeeming voice for our nation which is presently being badgered and buffeted by shouts of divisiveness and disunity. Osinbajo may be the one to point our teeming youths to the right path. He may be the one to awaken in us that creative energy that will bring our country back to reckoning and make all Nigerians proud once again of their God given country.”

Many Nigerians, including some Northerners, think the South should occupy the position.

Osinbajo is within the age bracket former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, in his recent interview with ARISE TV, said should occupy the position.

Super TV CEO Murder: Chidinma, Another, Goes To Prison

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0
Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu

By Akinwale Kasali

If Chidinma Ojukwu, the self-confessed murderer of Super TV CEO,  Usifo Ataga, thought the whole gory incident  was a joke, reality dawned on her Monday, August the 9th, 2021.

She was arraigned before a Yaba Magistrate Court along with another suspect, Quadri Adedapo, for Ataga’s inexplicable gruesome murder which froze Nigerians.

And, at the end of the brief Court session, they were hauled from the fairly respectable custody of the Police to the Prisons. They will be there for the next 30 days when the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, will advise on their case.

The Magistrate, Adeola Adedayo, gave the order following a remand application by the police prosecutor, Cyril Ajifor, who said the application was made pursuant to section 264 subsections 1 and 2 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

The 21 year old Mass Communication student of the Lagos State University, in her first Public confession said she stabbed Ataga to death under the influence of drugs and alcohol. A couple of weeks later, she recanted and said she went out to buy drug and food, and met him already killed when she came back.

To Ajifor’s  remand application was attached  a 12-page affidavit, statements of the defendants, and exhibit to show that the file has been duplicated to the Department of Public Prosecution, DPP for legal advice.

“We are praying for the remand of the defendants for the first count,” Ajifor said.

Representing the first defendant, Babajide Martins, Director of the Office of Public Defender said the remand application is “inevitable.”

Martins did not opposed the application, but enjoined the prosecution team to make necessary documents available to the defence before being brought to the court for the next hearing.

In her ruling, the Magistrate granted the remand of the defendants for 30 days.

“In the absence of anything to the contrary, the two defendants are remanded for 30 days in the first instance,” Mrs Adedayo said.

She adjourned the matter to September 5 for the review of remand and legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecution.

Chidinma, a 300-level Mass Communication student at the University of Lagos, allegedly murdered Ataga at a Short-let apartment on June 16, 2021, on Adebowale Oshin Street, Lekki Phase I, with multiple stabs.

Chidinma was consequently arrested on June 23 in her father’s house in Yaba and paraded at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja.

She confessed to stabbing Usifo with a knife under the influence of alcohol and withdrawing N380,000 from the victim’s account with his ATM card. She, however, backtracked later in a video, absolving herself from the murder. The

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, dismissed the retraction as the thoughts of  an active criminal.

PDP Crisis: Secondus Bluffs NWC, Rep. Caucus, Says He Will Not Resign; Legal Adviser Backs Him; Elumelu Tackles Caucus

By
Adesina Soyooye
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0
Uche Secondus

By Adesina Soyooye

The crisis which has enveloped  the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, escalated on Sunday with both  the National Working Committee, NWC, and the Party’s House of Representatives Caucus, calling on the Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus to resign immediately.

But a defiant Secondus has called their bluff. He said he would not resign under the pressure of a minority. He, also, throws a challenge to them. He wants them to publicly list for him where he went wrong.

In a statement on Sunday, the Caucus described the Chairman as grossly incompetent, insisting that leaving him to remain as Chairman for the next three months would be a monumental disaster.

The statement signed Kingsley Chinda, Chairman of the Caucus, and Chukwuma Onyema, Deputy  Chairman,  said Secondus was more concerned about his office as Chairman than the Party’s success in future elections.

“The  National Chairman seems much more contended with occupying the office and, therefore, preoccupied with holding onto his position rather than  preparing for nextelections.

“Further three months under the rulership of the Chairman will do great injustice to the Party and put us in a precarious situation as every hour should matter now”, the Caucus said.

And as if pouring petrol in an already burning house, six out of  nine members of the National Working Committee, NWC, who attended  a meeting on Sunday, voted for the resignation of Secondus.

The six members who voted for his resignation were:

*Senator Suleiman Nazif, Deputy National Chairman, North.

*Alhaji Mai Adamu Mustapha- National Auditor

*Rt. Hon. S.K.E. Udeh-Okoye

*Amb. Taofiq Arapaho – National Vice Chairman, SW

*Chief Dan Orbih, National Vice Chairman, SS

*Chief Dr Ali Odefa, National  Vice Chairman.

Those who voted in favour of Secondus were:

*Chief Theophilus Dakas, National Vice Chairman, North Central

*Abdullahi Maibasira – National Financial Secretary

*Senator Umar Ibrahim Tsauri

Denouncing the NWC meeting, the Party’s Legal Adviser, Emmanuel Enoidem, dismissed the meeting as illegal. He said only the National Chairman has the authority to summon an NWC meeting with two thirds of the members, present.

Also, the Minority Leader of  in the House of Representatives, Hon Ndudi Elumelu, has dismissed the meeting on the Caucus. No such meeting was held, he said in a statement. He described the publication of any such meeting as embarrassing and misleading.

Secondus in a statement, entitled: Why I will not resign-Secondus, signed on his behalf by Ike Abonyi, his Media Adviser, said:

“The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has said that he will not resign his position.

“Prince Secondus said in a short statement from his media office that nothing so far warrants his resignation from the party position and those tiny minority calling for his resignation should come clean and tell party members across the country his offense why he should resign.

“He said he will remain focussed and committed to the ideals of the party which he swore to protect and defend upon his election to lead this great party 44 months ago.”

In his own statement. Enoidem raised Legal issues

PDP National Legal Adviser, raises legal issues in an address to the NWC over their Sunday meeting.

It reads:

“I just saw the above somewhere and as a committed member of this party and by the special grace of God a member of NWC  I have the following points to make:

“1.By Section 29 (3) of the constitution of our party it is the national chairman or a summon backed by 2/3 members of the NWC that can validly convene a meeting of the NWC.

Subsection (4) provides for 2/3 members of NWC to form a quorum for a meeting of the NWC.

“2. As a bona fide member of the NWC, to the best of my knowledge am not aware of any meeting of NWC summoned by the National chairman or in the manner provided aforesaid.

“3. It is therefore of grave concern, and indeed, very sad to read the above position purportedly taken by some distinguished members of NWC in utter disdain and violation of clear  extant provisions of our constitution.

“4.The issue of resignation of any officer of our party at any level is a personal decision as stipulated in Sections 45(1) & 47 (5). There is no provision of our constitution which donates powers to any organ, individuals or group of persons to ask an officer of the party to resign for any reason whatsoever as was purported in the so called press release.

“5.The powers to remove any member of the NWC and indeed any national officer is reserved in the national convention which is due for December 2021.

“6. The said press release is an unfortunate assault and blatant violation of the provisions of our constitution and so it is illegal and unconstitutional.

“7. This is more so when the purported meeting was said to have been convened on Sunday August 8, 2021 against the widely published position taken by the BOT advising members and leaders of our party to maintain peace until a committee set up has deliberated on the raging controversies.

“This bad press caused the party at this critical time is most uncalled for, needless and wanton and must be discontinued if we are mindful of the interest of the party.”

An angry Elumelu in his statement entitled

PDP Reps Did Not Meet Over Secondus

“The attention of the minority leaders of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, has been drawn to false and misleading publications, purporting that the PDP caucus in the House of Representatives met online and resolved that the National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus should resign.

“The publication is indeed embarrassing to PDP lawmakers in the House of Representatives, as no such meeting took place.

“For the avoidance of doubt, no online meeting or any meeting in any form whatsoever of PDP members in the House of Representatives was held, to discuss, let alone arrive at any decision regarding the National Chairman or any issue related to the disagreements in the PDP.

“Our caucus in the House of Representatives is fully aligned with the intervention and decisions of the  Board of Trustees (BoT); the elders and leaders of our party, in finding solutions to the leadership challenges confronting our great party and we await the outcome of their intervention.

“While we caution those behind this false and misleading publication to retrace their steps and desist from such, we also urge our party leaders, critical stakeholders, PDP members, teeming supporters and the general public to completely disregard the said publication.

“We call on all PDP members to remain calm and focused as the elders and leaders of the party will come out with solutions at this critical time.”

The battle to remove Secondus from office is allegedly being led by his kinsman and Governor, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

Incidentally, it was Wike who rallied round and installed Secondus as Chairman. But the two men fell apart over what Wike calls incompetence on the part of Secondus. But Secondus insists that Wike’s problem is his vaulting ambition.

Hon Chinda, the Chairman of the PDP Caucus in the House of Representatives is   a Wike staunch loyalist.

To stay or not to stay, the next few days will decide Secondus’ fate.

Doctors Strike: APC Chieftain Drags Buhari’s Ministers

By
Bayo Bernard
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0
Chris Ngige

By James Orji

The Director General of the All Progressives Congress, APC Governors Forum, Salihu Lukman has descended on two ministers in President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, Chris  Ngige (Labour) and Osagie Ehanire (Health) for not being ‘creative’ in the manner they have so far handled the ongoing strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD.

The doctors working in public hospitals have, last week, embarked on the strike following disagreement with the government over their salaries and allowances.

Ngige has threatened to sack the doctors if they refused to go back to work, even as the striking doctors insisted that their demands must be met. The stalemate has led to untold sufferings by hospital patients and their families who are now seeking alternative health care in expensive private hospitals across the country.

Lukman said the two ministers must take the blame for not being proactive to stop the doctors from down tooling.

According to a statement he issued on Sunday, Lukman said “It is quite frustrating, when political appointees, such as Ministers of Labour and Health are unable to proactively pre-empt strikes of health workers in the country. As loyal members of APC, being the governing party, we must appeal to our Ministers of Labour and Health to wake up to their responsibility and end this political embarrassment coming with huge cost to lives to citizens.

“It is scandalous that the agitation by the leaders of NARD is not about qualitatively reviewing those conditions that goes beyond cheap naira and kobo negotiations.”

“Eventually, no doubt, everything comes down to naira and kobo. But there are provisions with very high monetary value, which may not cost a dime to the government.

“For instance, assuming that being a resident doctor or a health worker in a state government establishment qualifies one to be on priority list for land allocation for the purpose of building personal accommodation.

“Also, assuming state governments can facilitate financing arrangements with banks to NARD and other organisations of health workers for their members with valid Certificate of Occupancy to build personal accommodations. There are so many non-monetary incentives, which have very high monetary value to the beneficiaries that can be arranged.

“Sadly, both governments and leaders of workers organisations in these essential service sectors are locked in the limited negotiations of monetary awards, which at best whittled down the profile of a very special category of an important sector such as health, which is required to provide uninterrupted services dearly needed by all citizens for our survival and wellbeing.”

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a land allocation for the building of  a special clinic  in Aso Rock, Presidential Villa, Abuja. The president who traveled to the United Kingdom, UK for medical treatment, two weeks ago has yet to return.

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