Connect with us

Headline

The Rot in Buhari’s Government

Published

on

By Eric Elezuo

The last few days have proved decisive in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari as he battles to convince the Nigerian public of his sincerity in the fight against corruption and graft. The president has been inundated with crises from not a few ministries and agencies, which happen to be neck deep in corruption induced rot.

Setting aside the stories of most senators, who have been convicted and jailed as well as those who escaped prosecution by whiskers as a result of their connections with powers that be, Alhaji Danjuma Goje coming speedily to mind, and those that got freedom after months of incarceration because of yet to be explained reasons bordering of legality of the trial judge among others, there is the mother of all corruption cases involving the boss of the most profound anti-graft agency, Mr. Ibrahim Magu. This is one case the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss himself has described as a case of ‘dog chop dog’. The understanding is very obvious among Nigerians.

Earlier in the month, Nigerians woke to the news that Magu has been arrested by the Department of State services (DSS), and taken into custody. The DSS quickly denied the report. It must be noted that Magu has failed to become the EFCC chairman since he was appointed in acting capacity in 2015. He was rejected by the eight senate, who based their judgment on a damning report by the DSS. Among the reasons the senate cited for not confirming him is the DSS report which accused Magu of various forms of misconduct including living in a N40 million mansion paid for by one retired air commodore who is allegedly involved in shady deals.

The news of his arrest by the DSS, therefore, was not easily faulted.

Magu was however, invited not arrested, by the Presidential Panel headed by Justice Isa Ayo Salami of the Court of Appeal through a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID). He was intercepted on the road along Fomella Street while moving out of the Wuse II office Annex of the EFCC in Abuja.

Further revelations hinted that the anti-graft boss, who failed to make the position of chairman in five years, possibly the longest served acting chairman in any position, was haunted by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, who accused him of 22 weighty allegations, including re-looting recovered loots.

A source reportedly told Thisday that “I can authoritatively tell you that though Magu has survived previous plots to remove him, the AGF’s legal opinion remains the deadliest plot to get Magu out of the EFCC as AGF’s letter to the president contained 22 weighty allegations that require Buhari’s decision on whether or not to send Magu’s name to the Senate for confirmation or replace him.

With denials and counter denials from all quarters, it was later confirmed that Magu was in custody being grilled by the Police at the instance of the Presidency. He spent a whopping 10 days in detention during which he made statements that depicts the rot in the administration of Buhari.

Some of the 22 allegations are as follows:

  • Alleged discrepancies in the reconciliation records of the EFCC and the Federal Ministry of Finance on recovered funds
  • Declaration of N539billion as recovered funds instead of N504b earlier claimed
  • Insubordination to the office of the AGF by not seeking his approval on some decisions
  • Not providing enough evidence for the extradition of ex-Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke
  • Alleged late action on the investigation of Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) leading to legal dispute
  • Not respecting court order to unfreeze a N7billion judgment in favour of a former Executive Director of First Bank
  • Alleged delay in acting on two vessels seized by Nigerian Navy leading to the loss of crude
  • Alleged favouring of some investigators called Magu’s Boys
  • Reporting some judges to their presiding officers without deferring to the AGF
  • Alleged sales of seized assets to cronies, associates and friends
  • Alleged issuance of investigative activities to some media prejudicial to some cases.

In addition, he was alleged to have purchased a property in Dubai, United Arab Emirate using a pastor as a conduit and laundered over N500 billion through a bureau-de-change in Kaduna.

While Magu’s interaction was ongoing, two events took place that put paid to his EFCC career: Mohammed Umar was appointed as his replacement while twelve directors of the EFCC were suspended, lending credence to the fact that more can of worms were unearthed. Unconfirmed report also suggested that the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, benefitted N4 billion from the so called Magu ‘re-loot’.

In a twist of fate, the smell of another rot was oozing out of the Justice Ministry, where Malami was accused of ‘illegally’ approving the auctioning of the sea vessels holding crude oil and diesel, an offence capable of landing him in jail for at least five years. Malami admitted to approving the sale of oil assets seized by the EFCC, but said the sale followed due process. However, revelations have it that most of the directors of EFCC affected by the suspension were allegedly involved in investigating Malami but the office of the AGF linked the exercise to the probe of Ibrahim Magu. Stakeholders continue to wonder what the Honorable Minister is hiding.

But as if it is a season of revelation of rots, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) sprouted to the front even as the Magu and Malami saga fetter. In the tag team showdown, there was the former Acting Managing Director, Mrs Joy Nunieh against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Obong Godswill Akpabio, with both accusing each other of maximum stealing of the commission’s funds.

Nunieh’s replacement, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, has not fared any better as he is engrossed in the misappropriation of N40 billion. Events however, took a drastic turn when Prof Pondei and his team walked out on the legislators probing the alleged irregular expenditure in the commission. Pondei accused the chairman of House of Representative committee on NDDC, Olubumi Tunji-Ojo (APC-Ondo) of corruption, and was not comfortable having him chair the committee.  

In his words, We in the NDDC are not comfortable with the Chairman of this committee, presiding over the matter. He is an interested party and we do not believe that the NDDC can have justice because he cannot sit on his own case.”

“We have no issue of appearing, we appeared before the Senate ad hoc committee, and as long as he remains, we will not make any presentation,” he said.  Consequently, the lawmakers issued a warrant for his arrest. His outburst paints a corrupt image of some members of the legislature.

Pondei had shocked the senate committee earlier when he admitted that the commission spent N1.5 billion for staff as ‘COVID-19 relief funds’ despite paying them salaries.

“We used it to take care of ourselves. We are NDDC, we need to take care of ourselves too,” Pondei boldly said.

The Senate had on May 5 set up a seven-man ad-hoc committee to investigate the “financial recklessness” of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the commission.

The lawmakers said, within the last three months, the commission has spent over N40 billion of the commission’s fund “without recourse to established processes of funds disbursement which has opened up further suspicion among stakeholders of the Niger Delta Region.”

In the report detailing the financial recklessness, chairman of the committee, Olubunmi Adetunmbi, said “N10 million was paid to one person, N7 million to two people, N5 million to three people, 148 people took N3 million each, 157 people got N1.5 million each, 497 people got N1 million each and 464 people were paid N600,000 each.” He added that another N475 million was given to the police to purchase face masks and hand sanitisers. among others.

The avalanche of recurring issues of graft in the open has caused Buhari to issue a caveat via his official handle @MBuhari, promising to get to the root of the problems bedevilling the development of the Niger Delta region.  

“I am determined to get to the root of the problem undermining the development of the Niger Delta, in spite of the enormous national resources dedicated to this annually. This administration remains committed to bringing rapid, even and sustainable development to the region,” the tweet read. 

He called on investigating agencies and audit firms working with the National Assembly Committees to act “with urgency and a sense of purpose” and keep him informed on their actions and progress. 

 

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Headline

Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: Prioritize Existing Unfinished Projects, Peter Obi Tells FG

Published

on

By

Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, has advised the federal government to prioritize existing unfinished projects spread across the country instead of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.

Obi, in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, stated that the project was a misplaced priority given the numerous unfinished roads throughout the country.

The former governor of Anambra State mentioned that the budget allocated to the Ministry of Works is insufficient for significant progress on the country’s various unfinished roads, much less their completion.

Obi therefore, advised that the government prioritize the existing infrastructural projects in the country before embarking on any new and colossal projects like the Lagos-Calabar super highway project.

“The Federal Ministry of Works 2024 capital budget of N892,461,262,656.00, additional funding from multilateral loan projects of N94,828,535,243.00, alongside other expected contributions from sources like the China-Exim Bank and the World Bank, will not be enough for serious work on all the critical roads, some of which I enumerated above, let alone their completion.

So, why embark on another huge project that will not be completed in the next 20 or 30 years?

“To do so will only exacerbate the problem of abandoned, uncompleted projects that are not contributing to economic growth and overall development.

“Therefore, while acknowledging the potential benefits of coastal superhighway infrastructure, I urge prioritization of our existing uncompleted projects. We must allocate resources towards repairing and completing existing infrastructure.

“In any development formula, the primary focus should be on completing and rehabilitating existing infrastructure rather than embarking on colossal new projects that may never reach completion within the next 30 years,” Obi said.

Back in March, the Federal Government began constructing the 700-kilometer Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, designed to extend through 9 states with two spurs leading to the Northern States.

Recall that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had earlier described the project as a fraud.

“Umahi had announced that Hitech would fully fund the project, and based on this, there was no competitive bidding. He (Umahi) then said that Hitech could only raise just 6% of the money for the pilot phase. This smacks of deceit,” Atiku said.

Continue Reading

Headline

2027 Presidential Race: Opposition Parties Under Attack

Published

on

By

By Eric Elezuo

While it is still a whole three years before the next general election in 2027, The Boss has learnt that opposition parties in the countries are being muffled to pave the way for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to return to, and retain power.

From the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the Labour Party (LP), and down to the New Nigerian Peoples Paty (NNPP), crises have engulfed the rank and files, in what a source told this paper was the attempt and making of the ruling party, APC, to decimate, destabilize and make redundant the machineries of the opposition parties.

It is believed that by 2027, the apparatuses holding together the various opposition parties would have weakened irredeemably to the extent the country would seemingly nosedive into the inglorious one party state that every civil right advocate and democrats abhor.

It is alleged that all the crises in all the opposition parties are being engineered by the President Bola Tinubu-led ruling APC, with the hope of getting the fibres of their system weakened, thereby luring the members of the crisis-ridden parties into the APC.

Slightly one year after the last presidential election, the two major opposition platforms, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, have separately been embroiled in a crisis of confidence which has diminished their capacity to provide viable opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The crises in both opposition parties got to a head. The Labour Party led by its national chairman Julius Abure held its much-opposed national convention which was boycotted by its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi; its only governor, Alex Otti of Abia State; federal and state lawmakers elected on its platform, and the organised Labour.

In the Labour Labour, members have been embroiled in endless battle of supremacy with a faction led by Mr. Apapa steadily contesting the leadership of Julius Abure.

Consequently, the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, reverence as a leader in the fold, noting that whatever the party faces presently, that Nigeria’s problems are far bigger than the crises in his party.

The LP has been embroiled in crises — ranging from allegations of misappropriation of funds, and leadership tussle, to calls for the resignation of the party’s national chairman.

TheCable reported that “On March 27, the LP conducted a national convention in Anambra state where Julius Abure was re-elected as its national chairman.

Obi did not attend the convention, fuelling speculations that he may be mulling over ditching the LP for another platform.

Speaking during an appearance on HaveYourSay247, an interactive online session hosted by Rudolf Okonkwo over the weekend, Obi said he is confident that the crises rocking the LP will soon be resolved amicably.

“Whatever is happening in the Labour Party is so minute compared to what is happening in the country,” Obi said.

“So, for me, it is something we will resolve amicably, and it is not anything to worry about. Let us worry about the country.

“Let us worry about how the average Nigerian would be able to have a means of livelihood to be able to eat, that should be our worry.”

Obi said he has no interest in being the party’s leader but only to make sure things are done properly.

“I don’t see what I do in politics as being the leader of any place or not. My position is that just like I always say, I am not desperate to be president of Nigeria, I am desperate to see Nigeria work because I know it can work,” he added.

“We have a more desperate situation. Parties are just a means to be able to contest elections. What is important is that being a leader of a party does not reduce the price of food.

In the PDP, the shenanigans of former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, has practically kept the party in constant crisis with many observers concluding that the now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is working for the APC, and is just a mole in the PDP. Wike has denied the allegation, however,

But news filtered in last week as that the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NEC meeting on Thursday was not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party  state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

While political stakeholders concluded that the outcome of the Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan; every page of what finally transpired at the meeting pointed to the fact.

The much touted removal of the party chairman, who is believed to be a crony of the Abuja minister, Damagum, retained his seat, with his executives.

“It is very clear to everyone that a lot of money politics is being played to cajole many loyal members of the party, forcing them into frustration, and eventually it of the party. The option afterwards, will be the APC. This, will for all intent and purpose actualize the intended one party state as an APC agenda.

The Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso-led NNPP is not faring better either. The only governor under their ticket, Abba Kabir Yusuf, just had the confidence of their party on him withdrawn. He was fighting for his political life until suddenly it was announced the the APC in Kano has collapsed its structure into the NNPP.

“This is just another APC strategy to actualize their hidden intentions. Time will reveal the very sinister agenda they harboring,” an analyst said.

Much as 2027 is still three years away, but intrigues are in play to render Nigeria a one party state, and perpetuate the APC in power. The three other opposition parties are basically under attack to bring to pass this unpopular agenda.

Continue Reading

Headline

Akwa Ibom Government, Governor Umo Eno Receive Top Honors at the 10th Wonders of the World Expo in Lagos

Published

on

By

The Akwa Ibom State Government and Governor Pastor Umo Eno were recognized with Travellers Awards at the 10th Wonders of the World Expo in Lagos for their sustained enhancement of infrastructure, support for local talent, and dedication to investment in the tourism sector. The ceremony took place at the National Museum in Onikan, Lagos.

 

While Akwa Ibom won the Most Active Tourism State of the Year, Governor Eno was adjudged the most Tourism-Friendly Governor of the Year at the event that had Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Lola Ade John in attendance.

 

According to Amb. Ikechi Uko, Founder/Publisher of ATQ Magazine, the organizers of the event which is in its tenth edition, Akwa Ibom State won the top prize “in recognition of its valiant and resourceful efforts to drive and sustain domestic tourism by promoting the industry.

‘In 2023, Akwa Ibom was one of the states that hosted World Tourism Day (WTD ) events. The state also organized the famous Christmas Unplugged, which featured music, food, and cultures from all 31 LGAs as well as ensured friendly policies.”

 

While hoping that the Travellers Awards would spur Akwa Ibom to do more to dominate the domestic tourism industry, the organizers hoped that the state would gradually evolve into one of Nigeria’s top international tourism destinations.

 

That was not all, the state Commissioner of Culture and Tourism, Sir Charles Udoh was also recognized as one of the Top 100 Tourism Personalities in Nigeria for demonstrating exceptional leadership and innovation in the travel and tourism industry, while other Akwa Ibom indigenes and entity were also celebrated: Mrs. Ime Udo, Honorary Special Adviser to the Governor( Tourism) won Tourism Promoter of the Year, Favour Udo won Tourism Photographer of the Year, Loretta Effiong and Prince Uduak Sunday (Qua Tours) were listed among the Tourism Personalities of the Year and Ibom Air won Airline of the Year International.

In his remarks, Sir Charles Udoh, who represented the Governor at the event, thanked the organizers for the awards and noted that Akwa Ibom is certainly enjoying the golden era when it comes to tourism development. He stated that Governor Umo Eno is very keen on making Akwa Ibom a leading tourism destination with his programmes and policies.

He revealed that with the new Victor Attah International Airport nearing completion, the purchase of a ferry for the Oron-Calabar route, new developments along its coastline and the restoration work that will be done at all its major tourism sites, Akwa Ibom is well on the way to becoming the number one destination for all domestic and foreign tourists.

In her speech, Tourism Minister, Mrs. Ade John hailed the organizers for hosting the Expo, where practitioners were lectured by top experts while also rewarding those who have excelled in the past year.

 

She affirmed that her ministry is open to partnership with public and private sector operators, adding that tourism development can only be successful through collaborative efforts.

 

The event, which attracted leading and budding tourism professionals, also featured interactive and entertainment sessions.

Apart from Sir Charles Udoh and Mrs. Ime Udo, the Akwa Ibom State delegation, also included: Mr. Michael Effiong James, Senior Special Assistant (Lagos Liaison) to Governor, Mrs. Eme Bassey, Special Assistant to Governor (Lagos Liaison) and Akparawa John Offiong, Deputy Director ( Culture) Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

 

More photos below:

Continue Reading

Trending