Pension funds scam: Task Force recovers N151.6bn

Mr. J.O. Otunla

A total of N151.6 billion cash allegedly stolen from pension funds has been recovered by the Pension Reform Task Force.
 Forty-seven bank accounts used to stash away over N100 billion of the funds by a cartel have also been uncovered, according to an investigation in Abuja.
 A status report submitted to the Federal Government confirmed that the task force has so far recovered N151.6 billion pension funds from various accounts in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and the Police Pension Office.
 The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. J.O. Otunla, have already launched a fresh initiative to harmonise pension accounts.
 The seven-man task force, headed by Abdulrasheed Maina, inclides B. G. Kaigama; A.O Leke; I.M. Adoke; G.T. Idris; F.T. Bankole; and I. Abdulkarim.
 The report showed that most of the accounts were opened in violation of Federal Government Financial Regulations.
 It was also learnt that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation was unaware of the operation of the secret accounts.
 The report said in part: “At the inception of the task team, the Office of the Head of Service (OHCSF) operated about 47 bank accounts (some of which had amounts raging from N2 billion downward.
 “As at today, instruction has been given to the banks having account with OHCSF pension to collapse all the operational accounts to one account each, where more than one account is being operated.
 “At the end of the instruction, 14 bank accounts are expected to be in operation even though the Task Team recommended three accounts only.”
 It was learnt that the scattered pension funds have now been mopped up and harmonised accordingly.
A separate memo from the task force gave the breakdown of the N51.6 billion recovered so far as follows:
 N64.6 billion—savings from reduction of Pension Wage Bill from N5 billion per month to N3.4 billion from June 2010 to December 2011.
N24 billion—carted away by former staff of the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.
N35 billion—idle pension funds located in various banks by the Task Force.
N28 billion—saved from the restructuring of the Police Pension Office in three months
 The report added: “The Task Team has adopted an e-Pension Management System where all relevant agencies can log in and monitor the activities of the Head of Service Pension, Police Pension and CIPPO.
 “Smart cards will also be issued to all pensioners so that they can verify themselves at their leisure, thereby cutting hundreds of millions which government expends on quarterly pensioner verification exercise in all the pension agencies.
 “In view of the successes recorded in adopting the e-Pension Management System, the Task Team is of the opinion that all other pension agencies be co-opted into the new platform and links provided to the budget office and other agencies.
 “This will help government in budget and budgetary allocation without having to go through various offices for information and also ensure accountability and transparency in line with best practices.
 As part of the initiative to harmonise the pension accounts, the Minister of Finance, in a memo to one of the banks, said: “You are hereby requested to freeze the accounts. The accounts remain frozen for an amount to be authorised by me for the payment of pension benefits.”
Five other likely sources of pension scam have been uncovered by the task force.
 The report added: “Other untapped avenues for fund recovery under the Old Pension Scheme include Nigerian Railway Corporation, National Universities Commission, Nigerian Military, all parastatals   and Pension Commission (PENCOM).”
 The Federal Government has not made its position known on whether it will look into the pension records of these five agencies. 
 The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced, on Monday, its seizure of six properties valued at N4.5 billion from a former Director of Pension Administartion in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Sani Teidi Shuaibu.
 The seized properties are: No.24, Ahmadu Musa Crescent, Jabi, Abuja; Brefina Hotel at Plot 1106,Abuja; No.1, Shuaibu Close, Idah, Kogi State; Riba-ile Petroleum Ltd; M.R.S Filling Station, Idah; NNPC Mega Station, Ayingba, Kogi State; M.R.S.Filling station, Ganaja, Lokoja, Kogi State; a mansion opposite Federal Polytechnic, Idah; SunTrust Properties Company Ltd; Plot B59, Dawaki Extension Layout, Bwari,Abuja; an estate of 10 bungalows at Nyanyan,Abuja.

Subsidy probe: Senate hires consultants to analyse vital documents

The Senate Joint Committee on the Investigation into the Administration of Subsidy Funds, has engaged the services of consultants to enable it analyse the contents of large volumes of documents submitted to it by agencies in the oil and gas sector.
The agencies include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Department of Petroleum Resources, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and the Ministries of Finance and Petroleum.
The decision to hire the consultants was due to the committee’s inability to analyse the technical details contained in the documents.
It is stipulated in the rules of the Senate that committees could seek the services of consultants and other specialised organisations in gleaning out facts from the records during such investigations.
Although the committee began its investigations in November last year, following a resolution of the Senate to expose the cartel in the oil sector, it appears that it is still a long way from concluding its task.
In a telephone interview with our correspondent, the chairman of the committee, Senator Magnus Abe, said the documents came in big bags and were beyond the committee’s capacity to deal with.
 He said, “We asked for documents. These documents were brought in big ‘Ghana-must-go’ bags. We had to bring in some people to study the documents in an organised way.
 “Since it is an investigative hearing, we had to get consultants to study the documents and process the information that we have there before we can come up with a clean report.
“I don’t have the training, and we don’t have the capacity within the committee to analyse the documents. So we had to get consultants. Until they finish, we will not be able to conclude our work.”
Abe denied that there was pressure from some quarters to frustrate the report, saying that the issues had been brought to the public domain and there was nothing to hide.
He said the committee was not given a deadline to finish its work, but it was prepared to do its best to ensure that the report was completed as soon as possible.
He said during the public hearing, the committee succeeded in uncovering how about 100 oil companies received a total of N1.43trn as at August 2011, adding that at the end of the year, the sum had increased to N1.7trn.
In its response, the PPPRA said a whopping sum of N3.64trn was spent for subsidy payments between 2005 and 2011.
The joint committee was saddled with the responsibility of unravelling the contradictions in the fuel subsidy scheme after a motion initiated by Senator Abubakar Saraki was debated and approved by the Senate last October.
Saraki had indicated that though N240bn was earmarked in the 2011 Appropriation Act as subsidy for petroleum products, a total of N931bn has so far been expended as at August 2011.

Former Governor Bola Tinubu's N1 Billion Birthday Party Leads to Scramble For Food

The celebrant, Bola Ahmed Tinubu

People queue up for food

Governor Babatunde Fashola and Ibikunle Amosun turn to court jesters at the event

A truck doling out fast food hand outs to desperate Lagosians

FG to close MDAs’ accounts in commercial banks

The Federal Government may have decided to withdraw all the funds meant for Ministries, Departments and Agencies lodged with commercial banks nationwide.
This step, it was learnt, is being taken to avert commercial banks colluding with fraudulent government officials to siphon such funds.
A source at the presidency told our correspondent that funds meant for the MDAs would be lodged with the Central Bank of Nigeria as was the case in the past.
According to a source, the move, which would reduce the volume of money in circulation, is a response to the alleged high level of corruption in banks and the complicity of banks in the diversion of public funds.
The source noted for instance that it was the widespread practice among officials of government to lodge huge amounts of public funds with banks by collecting upfront on the accruing interest from the deposit.
It was learnt that the banks, which are always desperate for fund, would accept questionable deposits, pay upfront and roll back the deposit at the expiration of the given period without the fund being used for the purpose for which it was released from the government coffers.
Our investigations showed that the Federal Government, worried by the mind-boggling revelation about the diversion of the billions of pension funds, had taken steps to stop the act in the future 
A highly-placed source said on Thursday that it was the belief in government circles that the system in operation in the country is aiding the theft of public funds by unscrupulous civil servants. 
One of the measures said to be considered by the government was the introduction of Government Integrated Financial Management Information System. 
The application of the system is expected to make it difficult, if not impossible for officials to embark on the diversion of funds as was observed in the raging pension fraud controversy. 
It was learnt that President Goodluck Jonathan had asked a former Minister of Education in the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, to oversee the new financial system. 
The source said the President is keen on engaging Ezekwesili as a special adviser, who would be in charge of the effective implementation and supervision of GIFMIS. 
Ezekwesili, a former Senior Special Assistant to Obasanjo on Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence, just concluded her tenure as the vice-president of the Word Bank for Africa. 
It was learnt that the President was of the view that Ezekwesili’s background as a chartered accountant and her professional competence and prominence in the Obasanjo administration were among the factors working for her in the new job. 
Ezekwesili, a former Minister of Solid Minerals, who worked as an auditor, management and financial services consultant, was said to be a founding director of Transparency International for Africa from 1999 to 2004. 
A source, however, added that a former Special Adviser to Obasanjo on Budget, Mr. Bode Augusto, was also being considered for the same position. 
It was learnt that GIFMIS was being put in place by the FG as a means of ensuring improved efficiency in public expenditure and receipts.
Further investigations showed that the FG would choose the six biggest ministries as a pilot study for the execution of the new system.
The source said that the ministries are most likely to include Works, Transport, Education, Defence, Interior and Agriculture.
The source said, “Of course, the FG is concerned because these shocking revelations about the management of the pension funds and the huge amount of funds that were traced to the accounts of individuals.
“You know that the government had been implementing the Integrated Personnel Payroll system, yet, people are still stealing so much money. The situation is messy and I think the government wants to clean it up.
“So, they are planning to reintroduce the GIFMIS project to arrest the situation.
“Both the IPPIS and GIFMIS are under the World Bank Economic reform, which was started by the Obasanjo administration.
“The FG has concluded an arrangement to introduce the GIFMIS, which has some implications for the banking sector.
“And they are going to start with six ministries, which they are using as the pilot for the programme.
“The Presidency is reaching out to a former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, as the special adviser to the President, who would oversee the project.
“I learnt that another aide of former President (Olusegun) Obasanjo on Budget, Bode Augusto, is also in the picture.
“With that arrangement, the government would move the accounts of Ministries, Departments and Agencies to the CBN.
“The feeling is that the banks are not helping in this situation; the banks are conniving with these people, who lodge huge sums of money with them, without strictly applying the rules.”
In September 2011, the FG organised a three-week training designed as part of the induction for the planned implementation of the GIFMIS.
Materials from the website of the new programme stated that the induction programme, which was held on Sept 13, 2011, in Abuja, was for 30 support consultants.
The 30 consultants were 18 accountants and 12 information technology support consultants.
Facilitators for the programme were said to have been from the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Budget Office, World Bank, the GIFMIS Project Manager and others.

EFCC Press Release: Court Jails Banker Six Months Over N12 Million ATM Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday brought an architect, Nwanne Okengwu Emeh, 41, before the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on 16 counts of stealing.
Ms. Emeh of Dunnel World Wide Limited was charged with illegally obtaining various sums of money amounting to over forty-five million Naira from another architect, Uche Kennedy of Natuhab Consultants Limited.  She pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Opposing the request by the prosecution counsel, Mr. G.K.Latona, for a trial date, defence counsel Odu Hycinth pleaded that Ms. Emeh be remanded in EFCC custody, noting that last year, she suffered multiple complications on account of a series of surgeries.
According to the EFCC, Emeh’s travails began when Natuhab Consultant Limited, her former employer, received a N200,481,894.00 contract from the Nigeria Army to construct some housing units in Abuja.

At the time, she worked with Dunnel World Wide Limited a company, a company that, according to her, belonged to her husband. But on account of a relationship between her and Uchechi Kennedy, Managing Director of Natuhab Consultants Limited, she was contracted to supervise the construction of the army contract.
Thereafter, at her request and ostensibly to facilitate work on the project, payments totalling N131,078,142.00 were made by Natuhab Consultants Limited into Emeh’s accounts.
When Natuhab Consultants Limited inspected the project, however, it was discovered that she had only spent N86,045,000.00 of the sum that she had received, while converting the balance of N45,033,894.00 into her personal use.
Justice Olabisi Akinlade adjourned the case to May 23, and remanded Emeh to Kirikiri prison.
 

How Perm Sec Looted N32.8bn Police Pension Fund — EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday brought a 16-count charge against a permanent secretary, a director and four others in the Federal Civil Service before an Abuja High Court for allegedly diverting a whopping N32.8 billion police pension fund into their private bank accounts.
The presiding judge, Justice Abubakar Talba, who refused an oral bail application, consequently remanded the permanent secretary,  Alhaji Atiku Abubakar Kigo;  the director, Chief Esai Dangabar;  and  four other top government functionaries  in Kuje  prison.
The top government functionaries are Alhaji Ahmed Inuwa Wada, John Yakuku Yusufu, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula and Alhaji Habila Zira.
The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the 16-count criminal charge of conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and diversion of public fund amounting to N32.8 billion that contravened  sections 97 and 315 of the Penal Code  laws.
A breakdown of the charge showed that the accused persons had, between January 2009 and June 2011, diverted a sum of N14, 518,567,724 being part of police pension from an account domiciled at First Bank Plc.
Between January and December 2009 in Abuja, they also allegedly breached the public trust, making away with N8,920,371,822 from  police pension fund kept at First Bank Plc.
The charge sheet indicated that between January 2010 and February 2011 in Abuja, the six accused persons criminally agreed amongst themselves to divert another sum of N4,739,894,896 of the police fund,  while between February and June 2011, N858,301,006 was also siphoned from the same source.
They were also accused of stealing N656,559,289 in January 2011 while ,in March 2009, another N462,963,012 was allegedly looted from the same source.
However, all the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the 16 charges filed on behalf of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by Mr. Rotimi Jacobs
There was a drama, however, when a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and counsel to the first accused person, Chief  Adegboyega Awomolo, applied orally for their bail but was turned down by the court which insisted that the request must be put into  writing with cogent reasons to show why they should be granted bail.
Justice Talba also turned down Awomolo’s subsequent request for the accused persons to be remanded in the EFCC custody pending the determination of their bail application on the grounds that EFCC custody is not, in law, a prison.
Consequently, Justice Talba ordered that they should be remanded in prison custody till April 3 when their applications for bail would be heard.
The court also adjourned to April 25 to begin the trial of the permanent secretary and five other accused persons.

Nigeria's N16bn Deal With Tompolo

Officials have told The Associated Press that an ex-militant leader in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta is linked to a private security company that recently signed a $103 million (N16 billion) deal with the government to patrol the West African nation's waterways to stop piracy.
The commander, who was granted amnesty in 2009, endorsed hiring Global West Vessel Specialist Agency Ltd. to protect the waterways, something Nigeria's navy and civil authorities appear unable to do.
Before the amnesty, men allied with the ex-militant Government Ekpumopolo carried out attacks and killings in the southern Niger Delta.
Nigeria struggles with endemic graft; analysts say the oil-rich nation has one of the world's most corrupt governments.
The government brokered an amnesty deal with militants, but the $103 million contract raises worries about the influence of former militants.

NNPC announces plans to rehabilitate 3 refineries

Enugu – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it has concluded plans to holistically rehabilitate the three refineries in the country.
The refineries are in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna with a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per stream day.
The Group Managing Director of the corporation, Mr Austin Oniwon, announced the plan in Enugu on Thursday in a message to the `NNPC Special Day’ at the 23rd Enugu International Trade Fair.
Oniwon, who was represented by the Executive Director, Port Harcourt Refinery, Mr Dominic Ikpemauzu, said the rehabilitation had become necessary to increase domestic refining and stem products importation.
The group managing director said the NNPC had engaged the services of the original engineering procurement and construction contractors who built the three refineries.
“The strategy is aimed at ensuring an effective implementation of the Turn Around Maintenance and Rehabilitation (TAMR) works of the refineries,’’ he said.
Oniwonsaid the contractors had inspected the three refineries and produced the analyses on how the plants could be revamped to achieve 90 per cent capacity utilisation in the next two years.
“Other infrastructure being put in place by the corporation to drive the economy include the conclusion of feasibility studies on the Greenfield refineries and rehabilitation of product pipelines such as Kaduna-Kano, Kaduna-Gusau and Kaduna-Suleija.
“It should be noted that all our efforts to build facilities in the downstream sector are aimed at increasing local refining to a minimum of 60 per cent of local consumption by 2013 and 100 per cent by 2015.“
Earlier in a welcome address, the President of Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Dr Theo Okonkwo, regretted the continued challenges in the oil and gas sector, especially in the importation and supply of products.
Okonkwoadvised the corporation to address the challenges of corruption and the problems facing full deregulation of the downstream sector.
The president, however, reiterated the support of the organised private sector toward the deregulation, hoping that it would be carried out with strategic and tactical approach to reduce negative impact on the people.
The NNPC team later inspected some stands at the fair, including the NNPC pavilion. (NAN)

SSS parades seven suspected kidnappers of Arab businessman

Abuja — Seven suspected members of a kidnap syndicate accused of complicity in the abduction of one Mohammed Khamis, a United Arab Emirates national, who was lured into the country for a phantom business transaction, were yesterday paraded in Abuja by the State Security Service, SSS.
The suspects reportedly held Khamis hostage for about 60 days at Aboriogun village in Ikoyi town, Isokan Local Government Area of Osun State, feeding him with fruits on the orders of other masterminds who are still at large.

From left: Ojo Ibrahim Ajibade, Lamidi Akinkunmi, Olasunkanmi Temitope (aka) Rasky, Nuremi Lamidi, Siyanbade Musibau Olalekan, Saka Kashim and Jelili Ajag who held one Mohammed Khamis Majed Ishmael Al Ali of United Arab Emirates hostage for 60 days at Aboriogun village in Ikoyi Town, Isokan Local Government Area of Osun State. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

The SSS said it was still on the trail of four other persons identified as the masterminds of the abduction of Khamis whom they lured to visit Nigeria on January 20, 2012 for a ghost business transaction using a fake company, Finuche Investments.
The suspects paraded were Ojo Ibrahim Ajibade, a 29 year-old spare parts dealer; Lamidi Akinkunmi, a 29-year-old video cameraman who also practices voodoo; Olasunkanmi Temitope (a.k.a. Rasky), a 22-year-old saw mill worker and Nuremi Lamidi, another saw mill operator aged 25.
Others are Siyanbade Musibau Olalekan, a 29-year-old plank trader; Jelili Ajagungbade Adeleke (a.k.a. Owuye), a 33-year-old driver; and Saka Kashim, a 27-year-old motorcycle mechanic, who admitted to have taken the hostage on a motor cycle to Ibadan.
Parading the suspects before journalists in Abuja, Deputy Director, Public Relations of the State Security Service, Marilyn Ogar, said all suspects confessed to taking the foreigner hostage and would soon be charged to court while further investigations aimed at tracking and apprehending those at large continue.
Ogar said: “On January 20, 2012, one Mohammed Khamis Majed Ishmael Al Ali, a United Arab Emirates national, who was lured to visit Nigeria for a phantom business transaction by a fake company, Finuche Investments, was abducted by a kidnap syndicate and held hostage for about 60 days at Aboriogun village in Ikoyi town, Isokan LGA of Osun State.
“Upon receipt of the report of Khamis’ abduction, this service immediately initiated investigation. However, Khamis was released by his abductors on March 19, 2012 and dropped off in Ibadan.
“Consequently, on March 20, 2012, operatives of the service arrested the following persons aged between 22- 33 years in connection with the abduction.”
Ogar, however, did not disclose where the suspected kidnappers were apprehended nor the current whereabouts of the Arab expatriate.
Worried that Khamis was held in the Osun community for two months without his presence being noticed or reported by residents, Ogar implored members of the public to be wary of suspicious activities in their localities while expressing the determination of security agencies to rid the society of crimes and criminality.
Quizzed by newsmen, two of the suspects who spoke in Yoruba language,  Ojo Ibrahim Ajibade and Lamidi Akinkunmi, denied that they were kidnappers, claiming they were only hired by one Teslim Raji suspected to be one of the masterminds at large who paid them an undisclosed sum of money to “guard” and cater for the hostage whom they fed for about 60 days with oranges, apples, banana and sardine.
The suspects said they got frustrated when they no longer heard from their employers and ran out of money for Khamis’ upkeep, after which they all contributed N2,000 and commissioned a member of the gang to transport the hostage on motorcycle to Ibadan where he was eventually released.

SSS parades seven for abducting UAE national

Marilyn Ogar

State Security Service on Thursday paraded seven suspects aged, between 22 and 33, in connection with the alleged abduction of a United Arab Emirate national, Mohammed Khamis.
The suspects, who were arrested on March 20, are Ojo Ajibade, Lamidi Akinkunmi, Olasunkanmi Temitope (aka Rasky), Nuremi Lamidi, Siyanbade Olalekan, Saka Kashim and Jelili Adeleke (aka Owuye).
The SSS Deputy Director, Public Relations, Ms Marilyn Ogar, who showed the suspects to the media in Abuja, said Khami, who was kidnapped on January 20, was lured to visit Nigeria for a bogus business transaction by a fake company, Finuche Investments.
According to her, the Arabian was abducted by the syndicate and held hostage for about 60 days at Aboriogun village in Ikoyi town, Isokan LGA, Osun State.
She explained that four other persons identified as the masterminds of the kidnapping were at large.
Ogar said, “Upon receipt of the report of Khamis’ abduction, this service immediately initiated an investigation. However, Khamis was released by his abductors on March 19, and dropped off in Ibadan, Oyo State.
“Ajibade, 29, who is a spare parts dealer, has confessed to participating in the process of luring and abducting Khamis. He was one of the guards that protected the victim in their Aboriogun village hideout.
“Akinkumi, a 29-year-old cameraman, who also practices voodoo, was one of the guards who kept Khamis in the hideout. Temitope aka Rasky is a 22-year-old sawmill worker who also guarded the victim while in custody.
“Lamidi is a 25-year-old sawmill operator, who took part in the abduction and keeping in illegal custody of the foreigner. Kashim is a 27-year-old motorcycle mechanic. Apart from guarding the hostage admitted to having taken the hostage on a motorcycle to Ibadan where he was eventually released.”
Ogar explained that, Adeleke (33) a driver also confessed to taking part in the abduction, adding that the suspects would be arraigned soon.

Army raids Boko Haram hideouts in Kaduna, arrests 65

Nigerian Army has arrested no fewer than 65 suspects in Kaduna between Wednesday and Thursday in a renewed onslaught against the fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram.

While the soldiers arrested 33 suspected sect’s members on Wednesday at the Barnawa Complex of the city, 32 more suspects were picked up on Thursday in different parts of Kaduna metropolis.

Among those arrested, we learnt, were 19 nationals of Niger Republic while a vendor and a fried meat (suya) seller were equally rounded up.

Our correspondents learnt that the soldiers were acting under the instruction of the Army Headquarters to carry out the raids.

When contacted, Defence spokesman, Col Mohammed Yerima, said he was not aware of the development.

“I am not aware of it,” he said on Thursday.

However, a source said the 65 arrested suspects were picked up at different locations in Kaduna town, but added that it was premature to categorise those arrested as Boko Haram members.

It was learnt that the suspects were being detained in separate guardrooms in a military facility in Kaduna.

The source said, “About 65 of them are in custody; after interrogation, we shall be able to establish which of them are Boko Haram members.”

Some residents of the areas, where the suspects were picked up have, however, faulted the arrests, claiming that most of those arrested were not Boko Haram members.

A petty trader in the area simply called Babangida, claimed that the people arrested were not Boko Haram members.

He said, “The soldiers just came to our area without any excuse or reason for arresting those people. They started molesting people who were doing their lawful business and others who come here regularly to buy Suya and other foods.”

He explained that when he went to 1 Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army with some family members of those arrested to know the reasons for the arrests, they were told that the order to arrest them was from Army Headquarters, Abuja.

Also, on Thursday, the District Head (Hakimi) of Barnawa, Kaduna, Alhaji Kabiru Zubairu, faulted the claim of the soldiers, describing those arrested as “innocent”.

He said, “But I am telling you categorically that my people are law abiding citizens and I can vouch for them that they are innocent of the allegations levelled against them.”

Meanwhile, three people were shot dead and five others wounded on Thursday when a soldier attached to the Special Task Force opened fire on a crowd at Tudun Wada area of Jos.

Our correspondent learnt that when a dispute arose between family at about 5.00pm, one of the brothers, identified as Pankis Yusuf, invited the soldier to intervene. On getting to the house where many of their neighbours to the family had gathered, the policeman allegedly opened fire on the crowd.

FG begins probe of polys, colleges of education

Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, on Thursday in Abuja inaugurated visitation panels to examine the state of affairs in 21 federal polytechnics and 20 colleges of education.
The Act setting up the institutions empowers the minister as Visitor to constitute visitation panels to ascertain the extent to which they have fulfilled their mandate during the period under review.
Rufa’i explained that the panels were to review the performance of the institutions in the areas of governance, standard, quality assurance, management of finances, the relationship between management, staff and students.
Other issues to be considered are the condition of physical infrastructure, the quality of instruction as well as instructional facilities, after which they are to advise government.
Rufa’i said, “The panels are to investigate the application of funds, particularly the special grants and loans meant for specific projects in other to determine the status of such projects and their relevance to further funding.
“They are also to examine the law establishing the institution and see in what ways the law has been observed in all its ramifications, particularly with regards to discipline by the polytechnic authorities, staff and students and also suggest any necessary modification to the law in order to enable the institution to achieve its objectives better.
“Examine all the academic programmes, policies and practices as well as the total academic and physical development, performance and direction of the institution and advise as to whether the desired targets have been met and how modifications may be made to achieve maximum academic productivity, excellence and service to the nation.”
According to the minister, the panels are also empowered to study the management structure and performance of the institution, including fiscal and administrative personnel and welfare policies.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, enjoined members of the panels not to see their appointments as an opportunity for a witch-hunt.
He explained that their appointment was based on merit and did not have any political connotation.
According to him, government expects nothing less than a sincere appraisal of the situation on the ground to determine its next line of action.
The panels were given 30 days within which to submit their reports. They are all expected to commence operations on April 10.

Conflicting responses delay fuel subsidy report

Hopes for an early release of the report of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime Monitoring were dashed on Thursday, because of ‘conflicting responses’ from government agencies and companies involved in the importation of petroleum products.

The House had passed a resolution on January 8, mandating the ad hoc committee to investigate the application of subsidy funds by the Federal Government and produce a report within three weeks.

Chairman of the committee, Farouk Lawan, who briefed the House on the progress of the investigation on Thursday, explained that the committee had initially planned to lay the report on Tuesday, April 3, after members would have used the weekend to fine-tune it.

But he said that inconsistencies in the responses from respondents delayed the job.

“On almost every aspect of the fuel subsidy application, we got conflicting responses.

“This made the ad hoc committee to take a longer time to do a meticulous work on the report,” he said.

Lawan, therefore, asked for more time to enable members to clean up the report, which he said was ‘almost ready’.

He said, “The report is almost ready and we plan to submit it next week. I appeal to Nigerians to allow us clean up the draft of the report.

“We want to tender a report that Nigerians will be proud of.”

The House directed the committee to submit the report on April 16, when it would resume from Easter break.

The Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, who presided over the session, obliged Lawan’s request for more time.

Ihedioha said since the House would be adjourning for Easter on Thursday (yesterday), the Lawan committee had up till April 16 to produce the report.

The deputy speaker said the leadership of the House did not interfere with the work of the committee in the course of the investigation.

He said, “There has been apprehension in some quarters over this report; that is why we have to appreciate the request of the committee.

“The leadership of the House has not involved itself in the work of the committee in any way.”

Among the issues to be determined in the report is the actual daily consumption rate of petrol and other petroleum products in the country.

It is also to determine the exact amount spent on fuel subsidy in 2011 by the Federal Government.

In addition, it is to find out whether the management of the fuel subsidy fund has been transparent.

For example, regarding the money spent on subsidy in 2011, government agencies and officials quoted figures ranging from N1.3tn, N1.4tn to N1.7tn when they testified before the panel.

But from preliminary findings, the committee discovered that about N2tn was spent on subsidy.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability, Mr. Kingsley Moghalu, who represented the CBN Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, at the hearing of the committee, said a total of N1.7tn was spent on fuel subsidy in 2011. The disclosure contradicted the N1.4tn figure, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had told the committee earlier.

Moghalu had said the apex bank played a limited role in fuel subsidy management, adding that it only ensured monetary and price stability.

“I am aware there have been some testimonies here giving different figures, but as the banker to the government, we should have the current figure. And although we need to get through documents for the exact figure, the amount approximately is N1.7 tn,” Moghalu said in his testimony.

Also, the Executive Secretary, Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency, Mr. Reginald Stanley, in his testimony before the panel, had revealed that the actual demand for petrol was 35 million litres per day while 59 million litres were being imported daily, translating to a surplus of 24 million litres per day.

Also, it was discovered in the course of the proceedings of the committee that companies that had nothing to do with oil business were given petrol import allocations by the PPPRA.

It was found that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was unable to refine most of its 445,000 barrels per day crude oil allocation in Nigeria and was involved in crude oil swap deals and offshore refining to secure petrol for domestic consumption.

SERAP gets order to check subsidy payments
FROM the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has come a revelation that Nigeria loses $5 billion yearly to local oil thieves and their international collaborators.
The Managing Director of Shell Nigeria, Mutiu Sunmonu, while speaking when he visited the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mrs. Zainab Ahmed in her office in Abuja yesterday, also declared that it is not correct to say Nigeria does not know how much crude oil it produces.
He submitted that there are measurement instruments that have been put in place to determine the figure to render adequate account of how much crude the country exports on a daily basis.
Sunmonu said instead of cacophony of voices trailing how much crude Nigeria produces, emphasis should be placed on stopping oil theft that dispossesses the country revenue yearly.
His words: “Many people are under the impression that the oil producing companies are playing games with the amount of crude that they produce and export. I want to state here categorically that the oil business is an international business. The practice in terms of how you account for what you produce, how you account for what you sell is universal. The companies in this business are very big companies. The code of conduct that governs their activity is so strict that they cannot afford to play games. And Nigeria as a country also has put its own regulatory framework around how you account for what you produce and how you account for what you load. At the port of loading, their security agents are positioned there, there are Customs people and apart from that there are meters which measure what goes from your tank to the tankers.”
Meanwhile, a Federal High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos has granted Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) unrestricted access to information about oil subsidy.
According to a statement, the order granted by Justice Steven Adah, states, “an order of mandamus directing and or compelling the 1st Defendant/Respondent to provide the Plaintiffs/Applicants with up to date information on government/public spending relating to fuel ‘subsidy’ in 2011”.
This includes “The basis and expectations on which the issuance of the sum of N1.26 trillion on fuel ‘subsidy’ was made and detailed information and justifications for the issuance and release of money for fuel ‘subsidy’ which rose from N250 billion for 2011 to over N1.3 trillion by the end of October 2011, N1.5 trillion by December 2011 and subsequently N1.26 trillion without supplementary appropriation authorising the expenditure.”

Reps query N114b withdrawal from stabilisation fund

Senate to probe aviation sector charges
Experts fault govt’s order to foreign airlines
THE House of Representatives yesterday ordered an investigation into allegations that the Stabilisation Fund was being subjected to abuses following alleged indiscriminate withdrawals from the account to the tune of N114 billion.
Adopting without debate a motion sponsored by Haruna Musa Fatah, the House directed its committees in charge of Appropriation and Finance “to investigate the issue and determine the amount of monies so far withdrawn and the legality or otherwise of the expenditure made and report back to the House within four weeks.”
But Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal was quick in cautioning lawmakers from passing judgment in addressing the issue.
Accordingly, he refused to give room for a debate on the matter by simply putting it to question and the lawmakers unanimously agreed that an immediate investigation of the issue be launched.
Introducing the matter to the House, Fatah urged his colleagues to note the following:
• that the revenue sharing laws provide for the remittance of 0.5 per cent of funds accruing to the Federation Account being kept in the Stabilisation Fund;
• that the Stabilisation Account is meant to be used in funding deficits in the budget when the oil price is below the benchmark price;
• that this account being a buffer against oil price shock, spending from it should be guided by caution and great circumspection in order to maintain sound fiscal policy;
• that within a period of eight months, about N114 billion was withdrawn from this account by the Federal Government for some expenditure most of which should ordinarily be budgeted for; and
• that most of the indiscriminate withdrawals are gradually converting the account into a mere slush fund instead of its original mandate.
Meanwhile, disturbed by current developments in the aviation industry, the Senate yesterday accused some Nigerians of colluding with foreigners to rip off travellers going abroad.
Consequently, the Senate mandated its Committee on Aviation to launch an inquest into the matter, with a view to fishing out those behind the “unwholesome act.”
Moving a motion on the matter, Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Hope Uzodinma, alleged that the conduct of British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic (VA) both of the United Kingdom (UK) caused a huge loss of revenue to the Federal Government accruable from the Ticket Sales Charge (TSC).
Uzodinma put the loss at $235 million (about N3.7 billion), besides the heavy financial losses to travel agencies and Nigerian travellers.
He expressed concern over what he described as “arbitrary fees” charged by the foreign airlines, which he further alleged “are above the rates charged on routes of equal distance outside Nigeria.”
According to him, a London-New York return economy ticket is $624; London-Dallas  $787; London-Florida  $730; and London-Atlanta $772, while the cheapest Economy return ticket on the Abuja-London route is $1,200.
Uzodinma also stated that the First Class Lagos-London return fare is $10,816, while Abuja-London return flight is $10,144, stressing that the same booking for a passenger on the Accra-London route is $4,798.
He added that while Business Class Lagos-London return fare is $7,370, Accra-London route is $4,098.
The senator, therefore, called for an investigation into the operations of all foreign airlines, with a view to determining their level of compliance or otherwise with extant aviation laws in the country.
A visibly angry Senate President David Mark said the situation “has been on for a very long time and the Committee on Aviation should find out why.”
Mark continued: “The fares charged Nigerian travellers are completely out of reach. It is unreasonable; it is exploitative. Nobody should come here to exploit Nigerians; our regulatory agencies are colluding with them to exploit Nigerians.”
But some stakeholders in the aviation sector have faulted Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah-Ogiewonyi, over her recent directive to the foreign airlines to reduce their “discriminatory and restrictive fares” on the Lagos-London and Abuja-London routes.
However, Oduah-Ogiewonyi will today hold an interactive session with airline operators, with a view to proffering solutions to lingering problems in the nation’s aviation sector.
The minister has also constituted a committee to examine the adequacy or otherwise of existing requirements for registration of airlines and extant financial guidelines to ensure that airlines are financially healthy to continue in business.
The committee will also look into minimum regulatory threshold of serviceable aircraft that any licensed airline should meet before it is allowed to remain in active operations among several other issues.
The ministerial session comes up at the Accident Investigation Bureau office in Lagos.
Rising from a meeting that lasted several hours yesterday, the aviation stakeholders stated that airfares were not fixed by fiat but arrived at based on the dictates of market forces.
At the meeting were President, Aviation Round Table (ART), Capt. Dele Ore; Chairman, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Dr. Steve Mahonwu and his Scribe, Mohammed Joji; President/Chief Executive Officer, Sabre Network, West Africa, a United States-based airline Global Distribution System, Mr. Gbenga Olowo and travel expert, Olumide Ohunayo.
According to them, demand and mark up factors as well as anti-trust competition rules, among others, are reasons fares are different on certain routes.
The stakeholders stated: “Any profit-driven organisation like British Airways, Air France, KLM, will attempt to maximise its gains in any market for that matter where its market share remains significant and this is slightly evident in the dollar per mile figure for First and Business classes en route Lagos-London but not so in regular economy”.
Stressing that “government cannot control what it does not have,” they described the minister’s directive as “an exercise in futility,” stressing that rather than reading the riot act to the foreign airlines, disturbing the operators, she should channel her energy to strengthening Nigerian airlines to give foreign airlines tough competition.

Police offer cash reward on information in Borno

The Borno State Police Command on Wednesday, offered cash reward of between N500,000 and one million naira to individuals, wishing to give information on arms depots in the state.
Alhaji Bala Hassan, the state’s Commissioner of Police, made the disclosure at his maiden interactive session with newsmen in Maiduguri.
Hassan said that the goal of the reward was to tackle the crises in the state through community policing.
“It is true that the police is willing to offer cash reward to individuals who come forward with useful information on criminals in the state.
“For instance, if an individual supplies an information that successfully leads to the arrest of criminals with say two rifles, we will reward him with N500,000 instantly.
“But, if the arms discovered are plenty then, the money could rise to one million naira,” he said.
Hassan said that the police introduced the system because it placed great premium on community policing.
“The criminals leave among the people in the community, sometimes, individuals will want to come up with information to the police but, they might end up abandoning the idea.
“But, we believe that with small incentives, individuals could take the risk and supply vital information to us,” he said.
Hassan appealed to journalists in the state to help educate the people on the need to cooperate with the police in its bid to safeguard the society against crime. (NAN)

Tukur Moves to Assuage Aggrieved Members, Revisits Ekwueme’s Report

Bamanga Tukur, PDP Chairman

By  Modebe Amechi   

In what looks like hitting the ground running, National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Wednesday  made good his promise to reconcile aggrieved members of the party as he ordered the secretariat staff of the party to ensure he receives the complete report of the reconciliation committee headed by former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme.

Also in a veiled reference to critics that he has not made financial contributions to the party, Tukur gave an insight into how he paid the first two years rent to the pioneer office building of the party located in Katanga Street, off Monrovia Street in Wuse 2, in Abuja.
Last Tuesday, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar paid courtesy visit to the new national chairman of the PDP. Governor Nyako  paid similar courtesy visit to Tukur on Sunday. We gathered that the visits of the duo was to pledge loyalty and support to the new national chairman of the PDP.

Speaking after a facility tour of the Legacy House, the campaign office of the party, the national chairman directed the staff to make available to his office, a complete report of the reconciliation report headed by Ekwueme. The report of the reconciliation report, otherwise known as the “Ekwueme’s Report” has come to represent the manual for reconciliation within the PDP. The committee was set up by the former national chairman of the party, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor. The report set out the fundamentals for the reconciliation of aggrieved members of the party.

Tukur told newsmen that the only way to reconcile dormant founding members and other aggrieved members is to ensure that the committee’s report is implemented in full by ensuring that all aggrieved as well as founding members are reconciled.
He said, “there are many aggrieved and founding members who are now dormant in the affairs of the party and with the implementation of this report, PDP will be working towards a total reconciliation of members.
“The problem with such organisation as big as the PDP is the management of success and it will be in the interest of the party to ensure that all aggrieved members are reconciled and dormant founding members become active in the affairs of the party”, the national chairman explained.

Speaking when he visited the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI), Tukur subtly debunked the allegations that he never contributed to the development of the PDP said, “I paid the rents for the first two years of the pioneer office of the party and yet some people accused me of not doing anything for the party”. He was taken round the PDI, by the Director General, Anthony Ubani

He also visited the 10-storey new national secretariat of the party located at the central business area, where the French construction company, Bouygeous, handling the project told the  Tukur-led National Working Committee (NWC) that the building has reached a 45 per cent completion level.

Tukur told the company that the party will ensure that all challenges militating against an early completion of the building is addressed.

CBN, MDAs abandon currency materials, hospital equipment at ports

Some key government ministries, departments and agencies have abandoned their consignments at the nation’s ports for over 12 months now.

Among the affected government agencies, according to investigation by our correspondents, are the Ministry of Health, which has 34 abandoned cargoes at the ports; and the Central Bank of Nigeria with 20 cargoes.

Others are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, which has two, and the Delta Steel Company with 22 consignments.

While the CBN consignment contains currency materials; that of the Health ministry has equipment meant for hospitals across the federation.

The abandonment of the consignments, according to findings, is in flagrant disobedience to repeated warnings issued by the Nigerian Custom Service to the affected government agencies to clear their cargoes.

Their refusal to clear the cargoes had, for instance, made the Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko, to call on the Federal Government to take punitive measures against the agencies.

Dikko had expressed regrets that several appeals made by the NCS to the defaulting agencies had not been honoured, saying the development had increased congestion at the ports.

But findings by our correspondents in Abuja indicated that bureaucracy at the nation’s ports as well as the change in government policy as it related to standardisation of equipment were major reasons for the abandonment.

The development has led to the accumulation of huge demurrage and delay in the execution of key government programmes by the affected MDAs.

The Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr. Mohammed Abdulahi, confirmed that the apex bank had cargoes containing spiral reinforcement materials for its projects.

Apart from this, he noted that some of the cargoes contained currency processing equipment, adding that officials of the apex bank had begun moves to clear the consignments.

In a text message sent to one of our correspondents, Abdulahi said, “The CBN has the containers at the port containing spiral reinforcement for our projects and currency processing equipment, and we are processing their clearance.

“Indeed, as I am talking to you now, our officials are there. The clearance of such things normally takes long because of the unusual bureaucracy at Nigerian ports.”

It was learnt that the delay in clearing the cargoes had constituted impediments to the targets of the Customs, especially revenue generation.

The Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, lent credence to this when he said that his ministry had secured a presidential waiver for some of the cargoes imported since 2009 by the ministry.

He said the cargoes contained hospital equipment such as incubators, laboratory analysers, endoscopic units, accessories for ambulances and other instruments.

The minister blamed the change in the Federal Government’s policy on standardisation of medical equipment for the delay in clearing the cargoes.

The policy, which was implemented during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, was part of the government’s desire to ensure good quality and economic advantage in terms of negotiation as regards the purchase of equipment.

Chukwu said, “Those were things that were ordered in 2009, and at that time, the Federal Government changed its policy in terms of equipment for the purposes of standardisation. You are aware that during the tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Presidential Committee on the Standardisation of Medical Equipment was set up.

“One of the outcomes of the committee was government’s decision to ensure good quality and economic advantage in terms of negotiation as regards equipment being bought for our hospitals. The new policy now is that anytime we are buying medical equipment, we buy from the original manufacturers.”

EFCC to arraign Perm Sec, five others over N14.5bn pension scam

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will on Thursday (today) arraign six persons arrested in connection with the N14.5bn police pension fraud at an Abuja High Court.

The suspects – Esai Dangabar; a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Niger Delta, Atiku Abubakar Kigo; Ahmed Inuwa Wada; John Yakubu Yusufu; Veronica Uloma Onyegbula; and Sani Habila Zira – were arrested for conspiracy and breach of trust.

The spokesperson for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, who confirmed the development to our correspondent, said, “They are to be arraigned before an FCT High Court, Gudu, Abuja tomorrow (today) on 16 counts of conspiracy and criminal breach of trust in respect of the N14.5bn.”

A statement made available to us by the EFCC spokesman reads, “Esai Dangabar, Atiku Abubakar Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, John Yakubu Yusufu, Mrs. Veronica Uloma Onyegbula and Sani Habila Zira are to be arraigned before an FCT High Court in Gudu, Abuja tomorrow (Thursday) on 16 counts of conspiracy and criminal breach of trust in respect of the sum of N14,518,567,724.36.”

Reports had stated that the agency interrogated three Federal Government officials connected with police pensions two weeks ago.

The three unnamed civil servants had allegedly confessed to looting various sums from the pensions fund.

Kigo, a Permanent Secretary in the Federal Civil Service who had served in the Police Pensions Office, had been quizzed by the EFCC over a fresh N2bn fraud.

THE http://news-and-entertainment.blogspot.com learnt that incriminating documents were found during a search of the Permanent Secretary’s office.

He was arrested alongside seven other directors.

The Senate Joint Committee on the Investigation into the administration of the pensions scheme had during its one week of public hearing, received evidence on how civil servants falsified documents to siphon pensioners’ money.

The PRTT said a whopping N151.6bn and £6m were recovered after the conduct of biometric data capture exercise on pensioners since 2010.

Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, had told the committee that whereas N5bn was paid to the Office of the Head of Service monthly for the payment of pensions, only N1.9bn was actually required.

Also, it was discovered that out of the 141, 790 pensioners listed on the government’s payroll, only 70,657 bonafide pensioners existed.

Maina had also told the committee that the Police Pensions Office collected N5bn monthly as claims for its pensioners, while it actually needed N500m.

He said, “We discovered illegal withdrawals by staff of the Police Pensions Office using multiple cheques in fictitious names in excess of 30 cheques per day to withdraw cash from their bankers.

”Such illegal withdrawals amounted to N14bn. The PRTT, assisted by the law enforcement agencies, has made substantial recovery of the said stolen monies.

“An employee of the Police Pensions Office (name withheld) turned in N1bn cash. Another surrendered three luxury estates with about 27 blocks of deluxe flats he built in Abuja .”

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had also confirmed the fraud uncovered by the Maina-led task force on pensions.

However, Maina and his team were also accused of sharp practices by the Assistant Chief Accountant in the Police Pensions Office, Mr. Toyin Ishola.

But Maina had denied the allegations, saying Ishola presented forged documents to the Senate panel upon which he based his assumptions.

N32.8 Billion Police Pension Scam: EFCC Arraigns Six , Court Remand Suspects in Prison

Ahmed Inuwa with other accused persons

Essai Dangabar and Mrs Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula with others behind in the Court

Atiku Abubakar Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada and a friend

Mrs Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula

By Modebe Amechi

Justice Mohammed Talba of High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, sitting in Gudu, Abuja, on March 29, 2012, sent six suspects who were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for allegedly defrauding police pensioners to the tune of N32.8 Billion naira (Thirty Two billion, Eight Hundred Million Naira) to prison custody.
The six suspects who were arraigned on a 16 criminal charges bordering on conspiracy and criminal breach of trust were: Esai Dangabar, Atiku Abubakar Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, John Yakubu Yusufu, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula and Sani Habila Zira. Kigo was the director of the Police Pension Office, before he was made Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Niger Delta.
There was however a mild drama when the accused were docked and their Counsels announced appearances before the charges were read. Barrister J.N Egwuonwu had announced appearance for all the six accused persons when Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, stood up and told the court that Egwuonwu’s appearance was misnomer as two Senior Advocates were in the court to represent some of the accused persons. Another SAN who was in court for the case was Dr. Awa Kalu.
It was at this point that the Judge asked the accused persons one after the other, who their counsel was. Dangabar, the first accused person told the court that the two SANs were his counsels, while the other five said they contacted the chambers of J.K Gadzama, SAN, for representation. The Judge again asked Egwuonwu if he was from Gadzama’s chambers and he answered in the affirmative.
The six accused persons pleaded not guilty to all the charges, prompting prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs to ask the court for an adjournment to enable the counsels argue the bail application. But Awomolo interjected and said the application for bail has been filed and served. “Your Lordship, having regards to the facts that the suspects are still presumed innocent until pronounced guilty. I will urge the accused to be detained in EFCC custody from where they came to the court this morning.  I urge my Lordship to adjourn till tomorrow so that the bail application can be argued”.
But Jacobs said that while not opposed to the bail application, tomorrow (March 30, 2012) was not convenient for the argument of the bail application.

While adjourning the case till Tuesday April 3, 2012, for argument on the bail application and Monday May 28 and June 4 for commencement of trial, the judge ordered that all the accused persons be remanded in prison custody.
 Count one of the 16 count charge reads that: “That you ESAI ABUBAKAR, AHMED INUWA WADA, JOHN YAKUBU YUSUFU, ATIKU ABUBAKR KIGO, MRS VERONICA ULONMA ONYEGBULA and SANI HABILA ZIRA between January 2009 and June 2011 at Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory agreed to do an illegal act, to wit: criminal breach of trust by public officers in respect of the sum of N14,518,567,724.36 (Fourteen Billion, Five Hundred and Eighteen Million, Five Hundred and Sixty Seven Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twenty Four Naira and Thirty Six Kobo) and that the same act was done in pursuance of the agreement among you and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 97 of the Penal Code Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007”.
 Count three reads: “That you ESAI DANGABAR, JOHN YAKUBU YUSUFU, MRS. VERONICA ULONMA ONYEGBULA and SANI HABILA ZIRA between January and December 2009 at Abuja in the Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, being public officers in the service of the government of the Federation and in such capacity entrusted with certain property, to wit: the sum of N8,920,371,822.24 (Eight Billion, Nine Hundred and Twenty Million, Three Hundred and Seventy One Thousand, Eight Hundred and Twenty Two Naira and Twenty Four Kobo) which sum formed part of Nigeria Police Pension funds in the account domiciled at the First Bank of Nigeria Plc, committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property, and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 315 of the Penal Code Act, Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007”.
 Count four reads “That you ATIKU ABUBAKAR KIGO, JOHN YAKUBU YUSUFU, MRS. VERONICA ULOMA ONYEGBULA and SANI HABILA ZIRA between January 2010 and February 2011 at Abuja in the Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, being public officers in the service of the Government of the Federal Government and in such capacity entrusted with certain property, to wit: the sum of N4, 739,894.896.06 ( Four Billion, Seven Hundred and Thirty Nine Million, Eight Hundred and Ninety Four Thousand, Eight Hundred and Ninety Six Naira and Six Kobo) which sum formed part of the Nigerian Police Pension funds in the account domiciled at the First Bank of Nigeria Plc, committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property, and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 315 of the Penal Code Act. Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007.

Tinubu, Fashola Clash At Birthday Colloquium

 Governor Babatunde Fashola and Bola Tinubu

"If there's no partiality, you cannot be governor yourself," Mr. Tinubu tells Mr. Fashola.
The Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, got a rude shock from his principal and predecessor, Bola Tinubu, Wednesday after he tried to make a case for disgruntled party members.
Mr. Fashola, one of the speakers at the 4th annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium, an event organized to mark the former Lagos State governor's 60th birthday; said that he had been asked by the lower cadre members of the party to prevail on the celebrant to dispense "justice equally" to all members.
Mr. Tinubu refused
"If there's no partiality, you cannot be governor yourself," he told Mr. Fashola, adding that he had not regretted choosing him as governor.
"Ask them not to give me the task, that I'll not be able to deliver," said Mr. Tinubu.
"What I'd done consistently in the past, why would I want to change at 60?
"I've succeeded with that behaviour and sorry I'll not deviate from it," he added.
Earlier, the chairman of the occasion, Emeka Anyaoku, had called on Nigeria to return to true federalism if it must make progress.
"I do believe that a true, rather than our current unitarist federalism, will better promote peace, stability, and development in Nigeria," said Mr. Anyaoku, a former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.
"There can be no doubt that Nigeria was making progress in national development in the early years of its independence when it practiced true federalism of four regions with more extensive powers deployed from the centre to the regions.
"Those were the days of the significant export of groundnuts, hides and skins, and the tin ore from the North; of cocoa from the West; of rubber from the Mid-West; and palm produce and coal from the East of Nigeria," said Mr. Anyaoku.
Political heavyweights meet
The colloquium, which held under a heavy police presence at the Eko Hotel and Suites, was a gathering of political heavyweights across the country.
Adams Oshiomhole and Lucky Igbinedion, present and former Edo State governors; Diepreye Alamieseigha, former Bayelsa State governor; Rauf Aregbesola, Osun State governor; Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, Niger State governor; Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
A bent Maitama Sule, a presidential candidate in the 1979 election, stepped into the venue about 30 minutes late and the praise singers, stationed at the entrance, rolled out their drums.
The octogenarian struggled to shuffle a few feet as he was helped up the three-step staircase that led into the venue.
Mr. Tinubu, arrived over an hour late and proceeded to give a high five to Mr. Igbinedion and other top politicians at the event.
Mr. Anyaoku noted that he accepted to honour the invitation "because of what the man in whose honour it is organized represents."

"Bola Tinubu was of an effective advocate and a dedicated activist for the return of democracy and restitution of Chief M.K.O Abiola's presidential election in Nigeria," said Mr. Anyaoku, who arrived 15 minutes before the 3 p.m scheduled time of the event.
Lagos' battles
With Ade Ipaye, the Attorney-General of Lagos State; and Abike Dabiri-Erewa, a member of the House of Representatives; introducing the speakers for the day; the colloquium delved into graphic presentations of some landmark achievements in the state from 1997 till date.
"Hardly anybody gave us a chance, but on reflections, it was an extremely daunting challenge," said Yemi Cardoso, Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget during Mr. Tinubu's administration.
In his presentation 'Public Finance in an Emerging Megapolis,' Wale Edun, a former Commissioner for Finance, noted how the state grew its internally generated revenue from N600 million in 1999 to more than N15 billion in 2011.
Leke Pitan, a Commissioner during the celebrant's administration, spoke at length on the reforms in the education and health sector since 1999; from provision of free anti malaria and ante natal drugs to building "mega" schools before it was cut short by the audience applauding him in mid speech.
Yemi Osinbajo reminisced about his first meeting with Mr. Tinubu in April 1999 and the state's various litigation with the federal government.
"The creation of the 37 local government councils in 2002 was probably the defining moment in the struggle for true federalism," said Prof. Osinbajo, a former Attorney-General of Lagos State.
Rauf Aregbesola, the Osun State governor, who periodically threw the audience into fits of laughter while speaking on 'Politics: The People First' called on the Action Congress of Nigeria to "throw out" whoever is not ready for the task ahead.
"Lagos is gradually turning out to be that city that we are proud of but it was a lot of effort...
"I would not want to elaborate because when I elaborate, I get myself overworked.
"Our new task is reconstruction of our reclaimed territory," said Mr. Aregbesola.
Mr. Fashola, while delivering the last speech for the evening, said that the state would enforce the legislation to collect taxes.
"How can 2.5 million people be paying taxes in a state of over 20 million people? That is not sustainable," said Mr. Fashola.
The occasion also witnessed the presentation of the book 'Asiwaju: Leadership in Troubled Times'.
About N50 million cash was realized from the sale of the book at the event, with most of the guest preferring to disclose their donations privately.
The organizers said that the proceeds from the sales would be channeled into a fund, the Bola Tinubu Institute for Good Governance.

Pension Funds "Thieves" Arraigned In Abuja

 
Justice Mohammed Talba of High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, sitting in Gudu, Abuja, on March 29, 2012, sent six suspects who were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for allegedly defrauding police pensioners to the tune of N32.8 Billion naira (Thirty Two billion, Eight Hundred Million Naira) to prison custody.
The six suspects who were arraigned on a 16 criminal charges bordering on conspiracy and criminal breach of trust were: Esai Dangabar, Atiku Abubakar Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, John Yakubu Yusufu, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula and Sani Habila Zira. Kigo was the director of the Police Pension Office, before he was made Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Niger Delta.
There was however a mild drama when the accused were docked and their Counsels announced appearances before the charges were read. Barrister J.N Egwuonwu had announced appearance for all the six accused persons when Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, stood up and told the court that Egwuonwu’s appearance was misnomer as two Senior Advocates were in the court to represent some of the accused persons. Another SAN who was in court for the case was Dr. Awa Kalu.
It was at this point that the Judge asked the accused persons one after the other, who their counsel was. Dangabar, the first accused person told the court that the two SANs were his counsels, while the other five said they contacted the chambers of J.K Gadzama, SAN, for representation. The Judge again asked Egwuonwu if he was from Gadzama’s chambers and he answered in the affirmative.
The six accused persons pleaded not guilty to all the charges, prompting prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs to ask the court for an adjournment to enable the counsels argue the bail application. But Awomolo interjected and said the application for bail has been filed and served. “Your Lordship, having regards to the facts that the suspects are still presumed innocent until pronounced guilty. I will urge the accused to be detained in EFCC custody from where they came to the court this morning.  I urge my Lordship to adjourn till tomorrow so that the bail application can be argued”.
But Jacobs said that while not opposed to the bail application, tomorrow (March 30, 2012) was not convenient for the argument of the bail application.
While adjourning the case till Tuesday April 3, 2012, for argument on the bail application and Monday May 28 and June 4 for commencement of trial, the judge ordered that all the accused persons be remanded in prison custody.
 Count one of the 16 count charge reads that: “That you ESAI ABUBAKAR, AHMED INUWA WADA, JOHN YAKUBU YUSUFU, ATIKU ABUBAKR KIGO, MRS VERONICA ULONMA ONYEGBULA and SANI HABILA ZIRA between January 2009 and June 2011 at Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory agreed to do an illegal act, to wit: criminal breach of trust by public officers in respect of the sum of N14,518,567,724.36 (Fourteen Billion, Five Hundred and Eighteen Million, Five Hundred and Sixty Seven Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twenty Four Naira and Thirty Six Kobo) and that the same act was done in pursuance of the agreement among you and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 97 of the Penal Code Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007”.
 Count three reads: “That you ESAI DANGABAR, JOHN YAKUBU YUSUFU, MRS. VERONICA ULONMA ONYEGBULA and SANI HABILA ZIRA between January and December 2009 at Abuja in the Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, being public officers in the service of the government of the Federation and in such capacity entrusted with certain property, to wit: the sum of N8,920,371,822.24 (Eight Billion, Nine Hundred and Twenty Million, Three Hundred and Seventy One Thousand, Eight Hundred and Twenty Two Naira and Twenty Four Kobo) which sum formed part of Nigeria Police Pension funds in the account domiciled at the First Bank of Nigeria Plc, committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property, and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 315 of the Penal Code Act, Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007”.
 Count four reads “That you ATIKU ABUBAKAR KIGO, JOHN YAKUBU YUSUFU, MRS. VERONICA ULOMA ONYEGBULA and SANI HABILA ZIRA between January 2010 and February 2011 at Abuja in the Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, being public officers in the service of the Government of the Federal Government and in such capacity entrusted with certain property, to wit: the sum of N4, 739,894.896.06 ( Four Billion, Seven Hundred and Thirty Nine Million, Eight Hundred and Ninety Four Thousand, Eight Hundred and Ninety Six Naira and Six Kobo) which sum formed part of the Nigerian Police Pension funds in the account domiciled at the First Bank of Nigeria Plc, committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property, and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 315 of the Penal Code Act. Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007.