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Corruption: NDDC IMC Says The Nation Will Break If It Names Those Stealing From The Commission |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

The Interim Management Committee, IMC, of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, says Nigeria would break if it names those stealing from NDDC,  and milking its treasury.

The IMC of the NDDC warned sternly that if it releases the list of those involved in looting the commission, the country will break.

The IMC also accused members of the National Assembly of plotting to stall the forensic audit ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Executive Director in charge of Projects at the NDDC, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, made the allegation while speaking to newsmen in Abuja, noting that Nigeria would be shocked if the Commission releases the names and calibre of persons involved in contract scam in 2017 and 2019 especially among members of the National Assembly.

Recall that the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday last week approved the forensic auditing of 12 thousand NDDC contracts. One billion Naira  was approved for the exercise.

But Dr. Ojougboh alleged that the recent pressure by the National Assembly to probe the activities of the IMC was instigated by the fear of the forensic audit.

He said that the mission of the IMC to the NDDC and the Niger Delta region is to ensure that every naira that had been put into the region through the commission is accounted for and vowed that the committee would dare every odd to ensure that the mission is accomplished, not minding whose ox is gored.

Ojougboh however took a swipe at the National Assembly for condemning the N51 million monthly imprest for the office of the Acting Managing Director of the Commission and the N18 million imprest for his office, saying that such monies are not personal money but for the upkeep of the place especially in security.

He alleged that a highly placed member of the National Assembly from the South-South whom he accused working against the IMC has a cumulative imprest of about N100 million monthly without the kind of security challenges the NDDC management faces on daily basis.

According to him, “My MD feeds 100 policemen every day and in Port Harcourt as an executive of NDDC, you need security more than anything, till tomorrow, you know of it. When they are sending these policemen, the instruction is fed them, cater for them, that is what is in the letter the police hierarchy sent.

“So people are talking about 51 million of imprest for the MD, it is a security vote, it’s not for his personal pocket, the money does not go to the MD’s account. Myself, N18 million, it does not go to my account, it goes for security and other expenses and it is retired, there is no fraud in it.”

He disclosed that when President Buhari nominated them, and they arrived at NDDC office Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, the first thing they noticed was that the two Chairmen (NDDC Committee) in the National Assembly, were the “De Facto management, managers and the executive of NDDC.”

He said as a former member of the National Assembly and a former liaison officer to the President, he has been in the Chambers and in all his life he has been in government since 1999 till date. “So I know what time of the day it is in politics and in governance. So we told them it cannot be business as usual, then they said we must leave.”

Asked what was responsible for the sudden interest of the National Assembly in the activities of the IMC, he said,” God bless you. It’s the forensic audit that the President has instituted because the National Assembly is culpable. At the end of the forensic audit, you will see members of the National Assembly…

“A Senator came and said that in the list of 2016 they brought, that he had only six contracts, I said no, that he had more. What he didn’t know is that we did not release the list for 2017 and the one for 2019. If we release it this country will break.”

Also asked why the country should break, he said, ” Oh because of the people looting, the calibre, the names and people looting the NDDC. And who engineers it? The Chairmen of the NDDC in the senate and House of Representatives in the National Assembly.

“So, when I explained, I told Mr. President to look, my job here is very simple. Mr. President looks, even if it is the only thing I achieve in my life to make sure that things are put right for the people of the Niger Delta to have the benefit of the NDDC. You can call me any name, you can do anything, you can say anything, I don’t care but I must do the right thing and the right thing is that no one penny will be missing.”

He further alleged that the National Assembly had planned to truncate the progress of the forensic audit through various means; first by using the probes by the committees and later by refusing to sign the budget, saying the refusal to sign the budget is an instrument of blackmail against the IMC.

He said, “Mark you, the National Assembly sabotaged, through the instrumentality of the Chairmen of the House and Senate, they sabotaged … if you give them to report, they will say you did not bring performance report. We brought everything that they’ve asked us to bring, but they used the budget as the instrument of blackmail.

“So they have blackmailed the nation and the Niger Delta in the last 20 years, that is why you see that you cannot go to the Niger Delta today and see ten kilometres of dualised roads done by the NDDC, no. What do you see, 500 meters here, 200 meters there and all of them one billion each”, he said.

He, however, said despite efforts of the National Assembly to muzzle the IMC and frustrate the forensic audit, the audit process had progressed as the first leg of the job had already been concluded and the second and final leg would soon kick-off.

He said, “It has started. Why are we here if it has not? The National Assembly wanted to truncate it, they said they will not pass our budget. You know the forensic audit is in two stages; we have procured the lead auditors and they are at work, they have all the files of all the contracts at the NDDC from inception till date.

“The second stage is to send the various auditors to each of the states, the National Assembly people know that’s where they are culpable so they stopped our budget, but the President said the forensic audit must continue that he will fund it.

“The lead auditors have finished their initial job, they have written their report, now each of the states will have one auditor looking at all the contracts and projects in it. That’s what we came here for today. These auditors will now go back to the states tomorrow, once we finish here today and the Council approves it.”

On the allegations of misappropriation against the IMC by the National Assembly committees, Ojougboh said the allegations were just another attempt at blackmail, explaining that the IMC had not awarded a single contract, but had been sorting out what he described as obligatory debts of the NDDC to its contractors.

“That’s the problem. The reason they are touting those multiple billions is just to give us a bad name, the multiple billions that are payments for obligatory debts. The payment is not for me, every year the NDDC spends as much as four to five hundred billion, it is the debt we met on ground.

“People have done their jobs, are we going to say they should not be paid? We have not awarded one contract, people are taking us to court every day. So we look at the projects, we clear them and we pay. They said we spent, but we didn’t spend, rather we paid historic debts”, he explained.

He further said, “They are talking about COVID-19 payment, the federal government is given every citizen N30,000 each, do you know how much federal government has spent? The CBN and many other corporations have been giving COVID-19 allowances, which are within their purview, just like NDDC did.

“In the National Assembly, each of the senators got N20 million, while the House of Representatives members got N15 million for COVID-19 from the National Assembly. They all received COVID19 allowances.”

Asked if the money spent by the commission on COVID-19 palliatives was budgeted for, he said the money was spent under emergency.

He said, “It was not budgeted for because it was an emergency, it’s allowed. It comes under emergency. The N30,000 per person that the federal government is giving to the citizen, was it budgeted for? Did anybody budget for COVID-19? Nobody budgeted for COVID-19. The SGF is the Chairman of the COVID-19 Task Force in Nigeria, was that task force budgeted for? It’s an emergency and it’s allowed.

“What we are saying is that Nigerians must appreciate Mr. President. Like when we got to the headquarter building, no one thought that building could be completed. Today we have completed it, we are inside it, but they will come to tell you that we are inside an uncompleted building, which is a very huge lie.

“We are inside the building that is where I go to work every day. It’s all propaganda by Omo-Agege (Deputy Senate President) and his cohorts just because they want to throw us out of the place because of politics and if we didn’t go there that headquarters building would not be completed.

NDDC Throws Another Bomb, Says NASS Shared Over N7bn For COVID-19 |The Source

By
Bayo Bernard
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0
Senate President Ahmed-Lawan

By Tosin Olatokunbo

The ongoing war of attrition between the NDDC and the National Assembly has worsened following Cairo Ojugbo’s revelation the lawmakers shared over N7 billion as COVID 19 palliatives.

Senators and House of Reps members, he said, were paid N20 million and N15 million each to cushion the effects of the pandemic after the federal government announced a total lock-down of the country in March this year.

Ojougboh is the Executive Director, Projects of NDDC and had been grilled, alongside the managing director and the Niger Delta Minister, Godswill Akpabio by the National Assembly over alleged mismanagement of funds belonging to the Commission, among which is the N5 billion shared by the management and staff of the interventionist agency to cushion the effects of the pandemic.

“In the National Assembly, each of the senators got N20 million, while the House of Representatives members got N15 million for COVID-19 from the National Assembly. They all received COVID19 allowances,” Ojougboh told journalists in Abuja

There are 469 members in assembly, bringing the total amount allegedly shared to N7,580 000,000 (seven billion, five hundred and eighty million naira.)

The agency under Professor Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei  has variously blamed the lawmakers for NDDC misfortunes after receiving multi- billion contracts, many of which have not been executed.

The revelation, yesterday that the lawmakers awarded themselves billions of naira worth of COVID 19 palliatives may further worsen the cat and mouse relationship between the two foes and a new vista in the counter allegations has been opened, watchers of events say.

The former lawmaker who blamed the deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege for the crisis rocking the agency, insists that the National Assembly is trying to truncate the ongoing audit of the agency, to further entrench the corruption that has rocked it for many years.

According to him “Mark you, the National Assembly sabotaged, through the instrumentality of the Chairmen of the House and Senate, they sabotaged … if you give them to report, they will say you did not bring performance report. We brought everything that they’ve asked us to bring, but they used the budget as the instrument of blackmail.

“So they have blackmailed the nation and the Niger Delta in the last 20 years, that is why you see that you cannot go to the Niger Delta today and see ten kilometres of dualised roads done by the NDDC, no. What do you see, 500 meters here, 200 meters there and all of them one billion each”, he said.

“It has started. Why are we here if it has not? The National Assembly wanted to truncate it, they said they will not pass our budget. You know the forensic audit is in two stages; we have procured the lead auditors and they are at work, they have all the files of all the contracts at the NDDC from inception till date.

“The second stage is to send the various auditors to each of the states, the National Assembly people know that’s where they are culpable so they stopped our budget, but the President said the forensic audit must continue that he will fund it.

“The lead auditors have finished their initial job, they have written their report, now each of the states will have one auditor looking at all the contracts and projects in it.

That’s what we came here for today. These auditors will now go back to the states tomorrow, once we finish here today and the Council approves it.”

Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari approved over N700 million for the forensic audit of the problematic agency.

Guinness Plc In Biggest Debt Crisis, Loses N17bn |The Source

By
Bayo Bernard
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0

By Fola James

Guinness Nigeria Plc, Nigeria’s leading brewer is facing a big debt crisis that is capable of crippling its operation.

The British firm has struggled in the last one year due to the country’s economic crisis that has hit businesses but the debt problem could hamper growth, according to analysts.

The beer making giant is currently in debt to the tune of N27 billion to various creditors but has faced difficulty in servicing the loans, due to acute dollar scarcity in the country, according to Stanley Njoroge, the company’s Finance and Strategy Director, who said the situation is really frustrating for the multinational.

Njoroge said in Lagos recently that “We want to refinance” our debt ‘but there is currently no foreign currency in the market. Foreign exchange is a big concern for us.”

The situation is not funny at all, for the second biggest brewer in Nigeria which has faced declining revenue and profitability in the last one year, analysts say.

The details of the financials released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE five months ago had somehow prepared stakeholders and investors for what’s to be expected from the Brewer.

For instance, the firm had reported in March that its nine month profit after tax stood at N1.672 billion, a plunge of 60 per cent from N4.252 billion recorded in 2019.

Revenue within the same period also stood at N96.08 billion for the nine months, a fall of 5.3 per cent compared with N101.40 billion recorded in the corresponding year of 2019.

While declaring its annual report which ended in June, the company said it has incurred an annual pre-tax loss of N17.07 billion.

What this means, is that shareholders will not be paid dividends for the last financial year, analysts say, adding that incidences of job loses cannot be totally ruled out.

Guinness has blamed the misfortunes on COVID-19 which disrupted its operations.

Meanwhile, watchers of the company say the nation’s economic problem, combined with the federal government policy on excise duty have greatly hampered the company’s fortunes.

The Buhari administration has increased excise duties on beer and stout by 30 kobo per centiliter in 2018, which it further increased to 35 kobo in 2019.

Former Ondo SSG, Abegunde, Makes U-Turn, Backs Akeredolu Second Term |The Source

By
Ayodele Oni
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0
Ifedayo Abegunde

By Ayodele Oni, Akure

Former Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Ifedayo Abegunde, has returned to his vomit. He is back to the political fold of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

Abegunde, popularly known as Abena, resigned his appointment as SSG in July, and announced his intention to team up with one of the governorship aspirants, Segun Abraham against Akeredolu.

The Akure born former scribe did not stop at that. He announced to the public that Governor Akeredolu did not win the 2016 election and that he knew how results were fixed for him.

He had since denied this following calls for his arrest and prosecution.

Abegunde ran into troubled waters when two aspirants, one of them, Abraham, the one he was supporting, withdrew from the Governorship race and teamed up with Governor Akeredolu.

Report has it that like a lost and found ram, he was brought to Alagbaka Government House, Sunday evening, and held a meeting with the Governor, and some of his campaign team members.

It was learnt that the reconciliation was made possible by a serving Commissioner, and a group of politicians from Owo, the country home of the governor.

With his return to the political dynasty of Governor Akeredolu, the former scribe is expected to join other chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) in Akure, and work for the victory of the governor in   the October 10 polls.

The former SSG is, now, expected to campaign alongside Governor Akeredolu.

AfDB: Adesina To Be Sworn-In For A Second Term, Tuesday |The Source

By
Adesina Soyooye
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By Adesina Soyooye

Newly re-elected President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, Nigeria’s Dr Akinwumi Adesina, will be sworn into office for a second five-year tenure in office on Tuesday, September 1, 2020.

Adesina was unanimously re-elected by  all the members of the Board of Governors and other stakeholders on August 27, 2020.

The ceremony will be attended by Heads of State, Governors, and external stakeholders in strict compliance with COVID-19 protocols.

Adesina, Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture under former President Goodluck Jonathan, is a globally renowned development economist and,  World Food Prize Laureate.

He was first elected the President of AfDB on May 28, 2015.

Strange: How Chika, The Crashed Helicopter Pilot, Was Put In A Bag Hours Before He Was Killed |The Source

By
Adesina Soyooye
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0
Ernest Prudence Chika

By Adesina Soyooye

The event which unfolded hours before the death of Helicopter Pilot, Ernest Prudence Chika, on Friday, August 28, 2020, in a crash, is strange than fiction. It’s so uncanny, so eerie.

Recall that a Helicopter, belonging to Quorum Aviation Limited, crashed in-between two residential buildings on Salvation Road, Opebi Area of Ikeja, Lagos.

The flight took off from Porthacourt, Rivers State, and was two minutes away from landing at the Lagos airport when it crashed.

Captain Chika, and Engr Clement Ndiok, died on the spot, while another unnamed soul, died at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, hours later.

What was not immediately known to the members of the public was the eerie pranks played by the Captain and his colleagues in PH hours before the crash.

In a video which is gradually going viral, Chika was seen inside a large bag, not quite zipped up.

They were about four in the room. A colleague of his, a white man, was trying to carry the bag, with Chika inside, while they were all chanting: “Chika must go, Chika must go”. They were laughing.

Then, the Captain, lifted his head, laughing too, and said: “I am not going anywhere ooo. I have no visa.”

They were said to have stayed up till about 10.pm that Thursday. On Friday, he took off to Lagos, crashed,  died, and finally, ended up in a bag, this time, a real body bag, securing an unwanted visa out of mother-earth.

Not a few people have wondered about the coincidence between Captain Chika, alive, joking in a bag, and Captain Chika in a real body bag, a few hours later. Destiny? A bad joke? Or what?

Thousands of Nigerians have hailed him as a hero. In the thores of a terrible emergency, wavering and dangling between life and death, he had the presence of mind to de-fuel the helicopter, and did everything to avoid crashing into a school, a market, on the road with several cars plying, or a Church.

He managed to crash in between two buildings, killed nobody on ground. Only three of them inside the helicopter died.

Meanwhile, aviation investigators have gone to work, to unravel the cause of the accident, just as Aviation authorities have denied speculations that the helicopter was not airworthy. They insist it was.

On a visit to the crash site on Saturday, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, promised to help those whose homes were affected to get their lives back.

2023: Nwodo Celebrates Madu; Asks FG To Stop The Persecution And Marginalization Of The Igbo |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

The President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, John Nnia Nwodo, has sent a congratulatory message to Nigerian-born, Kelechi Madu, who was recently appointed the Minister for Justice and Solicitor General in Alberta State, Canada.

Nwodo said with this giant stride of an Igbo son, the nation will witness a turnaround in the fortune if an Igbo man emerges President of the country in 2023.

Signed by Emeka Attamah, his media adviser, Nwodo said Madu’s achievement in Canada shows that if an Igbo man is elected as President in 2023, Nigeria will be transformed. He appealed to the Federal Government to stop marginalizing and victimizing the Igbo in the country so that their latent creative potentials could be harnessed for the good of all Nigerians.

The statement:

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo is highly honoured by the exploits of Kaycee Madu in far away Canada as an Igbo Son. Mr Madu had contested and won a seat into the Legislative Assembly Of Alberta, Representing The Electoral District Of Edmonton-south West From Where He Was Appointed And Sworn In As Minister Of Justice And Solicitor General By The Premier Of Alberta, Jason Kenney, On April 30, 2020.

On Behalf Of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, I Commend The Sterling Qualities Of Mr Kaycee Madu, As Well As Other Igbo Sons And Daughters Who Have Excelled So Much Outside The Country, Such As The Recently Appointed First Black Vice Chancellor Of Leeds Trinity University In The Uk, Prof Charles Egbu, And Many Others.

The Exploits Of Igbo Sons And Daughters Both Within And Outside The Country Are Indices Of The Cerebral Capability And Ingenuity Of The People Which Nigeria Could Exploit To Advance Its Development.

The Federal Government Should Stop Marginalising And Victimising The Igbo In The Country So That The Latent Creative Potentials Could Be Harnessed For The Good Of All.

Nigeria Would Witness A Turn Around In Her Fortunes If A President Of Igbo Extraction Was Allowed To Emerge In 2023.”

CAMA: Group Urges Churches To Reposition For Accountability, Growth |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0
CAMA 2020

By Akinwale Kasali

The Church Administrators Society of Nigeria, CASON, says there is a need for Churches in Nigeria to see the new Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 as a call to reposition themselves; improve self-regulation, and entrench proper administration, rather than see it as persecution by government.

Addressing professional members, invited Pastors, Church administrators and members of the public at a webinar hosted online in Lagos, Nigeria, CASON’s  President, Pastor Seyi Oladimeji, said: “Understanding the law and applying it to the way churches are run is an administrative issue. That is why we seek to educate The Church today.”

CASON Board Member and Adviser on Legal Matters, Mr. Tomi Vincent, submitted that if Nigerians embraced CAMA 2020, the law would help in building more credible businesses and not-for-profit institutions, including Churches.

“The new law also grants power to the Corporate Affairs Commission, with the approval of the Minister of Trade, in cases of misconduct or mismanagement to suspend trustees for the purpose of protecting the property of the association or for public interest or for abatement of fraudulent administration, which also include frivolous remuneration or reward of persons acting in the affairs of the association or other frivolous administrative expenses e.g. indiscriminate honoraria for guest speakers without established policy or protocol” Vincent said.

It was noted at the webinar that certain features of CAMA 2020 provide for prosecution, fines and suspension of Trustees where falsehood, misconduct, criminal negligence etc are discovered in the registration, activities and operations of a church under ‘Incorporated Trustees.’

Also speaking, CASON Treasurer, and Governing Council Member, Mr. Segun Shelleh, who is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, explained that CAMA 2020 specifies clearly, the legal framework for the registration of Churches as incorporated Trustees’ appointment, qualification and removal of the Trustees, constitution of the church, appointment of its Governing body, application of its income and property, rendering of accounts, annual returns and dissolution of the organisation.

Shelleh said, “It is advisable to apply the funds of a church strictly for the purposes set out in its constitution. Proper steps should be taken to include in the church constitution, every legitimate purpose of the church that is not already in its constitution, which may include approaching the CAC to alter such constitution in line with section 833 of CAMA 2020.

“Any trustee of the church who needs to draw salaries from the organisation, should immediately consider removing himself/herself from the trustees’ body and remain just a staff of the organisation rendering his/her service to the church dutifully in compensation for every salary or remuneration received” Shelleh advised.

CASON has promised to issue a communiqué following the webinar on CAMA 2020 as an advisory to its constituents who are the founders, leaders and administrators of churches in Nigeria.

In concluding his address, CASON’s President, Oladimeji, said: “If Churches are better self-regulated, we would not need to be externally supervised by any government agency for we would function by the law. That is why CASON organized this webinar even as we get ready to host our 2020 annual conference in September.

“Our detailed professional advice to the Body of Christ in Nigeria shall be contained in a communiqué soon to be published and circulated to all our constituents”

N800 Billion Looted Funds: SERAP Sues Buhari For Failure To Publish Details |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0
President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari

By Akinwale Kasali

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over the failure to publish details of the N800BN recovered loot.

In a statement issued on Sunday by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the group wants the Federal Government to “disclose information and documents relating to the names of people from whom N800 billion in looted public funds have been recovered, specific dates of the recovery, and details of projects on which the money has been spent.

”The group recalled that during the Democracy Day on June 12, 2020, President Buhari revealed that his administration has recovered looted funds more than N800 Billion which were being used for infrastructural projects.

But in the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1064/2020 filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP sought for “an order for leave to apply for judicial review and an order of mandamus to direct and/or compel President Buhari to publish a comprehensive list of names of people from whom N800 billion in looted funds have been recovered, the details of spending of the money, and the specific dates of the recovery.”

Joined in the suit, as Respondents, are the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed.

Following, details of SERAP’s statement.

SERAP sues Buhari over ‘failure to publish details of N800bn recovered loot’

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over failure to “disclose information and documents relating to the names of people from whom N800 billion in looted public funds have been recovered, specific dates of the recovery, and details of projects on which the money has been spent.

”The President had in paragraph 78 of his speech to mark the occasion of the Democracy Day on June 12, 2020, stated that: “the government has recovered looted funds in excess of N800 billion. These monies are being ploughed into development and infrastructure projects.”

In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1064/2020 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP is seeking: “an order for leave to apply for judicial review and an order of mandamus to direct and/or compel President Buhari to publish a comprehensive list of names of people from whom N800 billion in looted funds have been recovered, the details of spending of the money, and the specific dates of the recovery.

”SERAP is also seeking: “an order of mandamus to direct and compel President Buhari to instruct appropriate anti-corruption agencies to promptly, thoroughly and transparently investigate alleged payment of N51 billion of public funds into individual private accounts in 2019.”

“Joined in the suit as Respondents are Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and Mrs Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that: “The court ought to compel the Respondents to disclose the details and whereabouts of the public funds. There is no legally justifiable reason why the information should not be made widely available to Nigerians, especially as the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) requires the government in section 15(5) to abolish all forms of corruption.

“That means ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of public resources and wealth.”

The suit followed SERAP’s Freedom of Information (FoI) request dated 13 June, 2020 to President Buhari, stating that: “The public has a right to know how recovered N800bn loot has been spent, and the details and purpose of the alleged payments of N51bn into individual private accounts. Transparency over transactions by the government is critical to ensuring public confidence in the integrity of management of public resources and wealth.

”SERAP is also arguing that: “Granting the reliefs sought will ensure transparency and accountability, as the information sought to be published will reveal the truth of where money is going and why it is there, and allow Nigerians an opportunity to assess the impacts of any projects carried out with the recovered loot and the alleged payments into individual private accounts.

Filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi, it continues: “As a signatory to the UN Convention against Corruption, the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Nigeria has committed to ensure transparent management of public resources, and unhindered access to public information. These commitments ought to be fully upheld and respected.

“Transparency and accountability in governance is in the public interest. Publishing the details regarding the N800 billion recovered loot and investigating the alleged suspicious payments into personal accounts would be entirely consistent with Nigeria’s international anti-corruption commitments.

“The authorities are required to set the highest standards of transparency, accountability and probity in the management of these resources and wealth, and the programmes that they oversee.”

“Disclosing the details of projects on which the N800bn recovered loot have been spent and publishing a comprehensive list of names of people from whom they have been recovered, as well as investigating alleged payment of billions of naira into individual private accounts, would be entirely consistent with the oft-expressed anti-corruption commitments by the government.

”It would be recalled that BudgIT, a civic tech organization, recently reported that “the open treasury portal by the federal government allegedly showed that payments totalling N51bn were made into individual accounts in 2019.”

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

China ‘Gifts’ $50m University To Buhari |The Source

By
Bayo Bernard
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0

By Fola James

President Muhammadu Buhari’s may not have benefited personally for his administration close ties with the Peoples’ Republic of China, but the communist nation seems to appreciate relations with Africa’s biggest economy considering its decision to build a $50 million Transport University in the president’s home town, Daura, Katsina state.

The administration has been trenchantly criticised for borrowing a multi-billion dollar loan from China which it says are needed to bridge infrastructure gap in the country.

But the ultra-modern university, which will be complemented with a primary and secondary school, according to Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transport, will be built at no cost to the country.

Amaechi’s ministry of Transport received a huge part of the Chinese loan and has dismissed Nigerian’s outbursts against the government’s quest to seek the financial assistance of the Chinese government to develop critical infrastructure across the country.

The minister said the country will derive huge benefits from the University during his inspection tour of the project in Katsina state, which he said will be maintained free by Technics  Engineering Architectural Marketing, TEAM after completion.

The Transportation Minister further disclosed that the $50 million university is expected to provide manpower for the railway system currently being built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Company, CCECC after the exit of the contractor.

According to Amaechi “What they are doing now is clearing. They have promised to build a primary school and a secondary school in the university. This university is a donation by the Chinese government through the China Engineering Construction Corporation, CECC.”

He said “The Technics, Engineering, and Marketing (TEAM) has also accepted to do the consultancy job.”

The minister further disclosed that the university will serve as a training ground for Nigerian students who will take over from the Chinese, the maintenance of the railway system in the future, adding that the school belongs to Nigerians.

“All Nigerians from all parts of the country are entitled to come here for studies, In the same as lecturing. Those who will teach are not only going to come from Daura, they will come from all parts of the country.

So, we agreed with CCECC to build the University, and we chose Daura. We believe that the school would be completed next year hopefully, and then we can start studies”, Amaechi said.

The university’s groundbreaking was performed last December by President Buhari and is expected to take off for academic session next year.

Meanwhile, some analysts consider the university a Greek gift by the Chinese government, accused of nursing an expantionist agenda in Africa.

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