Saraki To Political Office Holders: We Have No Choice But To Deliver

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Monday said the nation’s political office holders have no choice but to deliver on their promises to the people.

Saraki who stated this in a goodwill message he delivered at the 2016 National Political Summit in Abuja said those who fail to deliver would risk being voted out by the electorate in the next elections.

He also said that the 8th National Assembly will work closely with the executive to eliminate corruption and entrench accountability across all spheres of the public sector.

According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu in Abuja, said that discretionary spending of government resources, unbudgeted expenditures, procurement abuses and diversion of public monies for personal gains must stop.

Saraki said: “The 2015 general election has changed Nigeria for good. Its implications will continue to redefine the Nigerian political space for sometime to come. For the first time, the voice of the Nigerian people was definitive and unmistakable. They wanted change.

“For those of us who by this election have been entrusted with shaping the destination we travel from now, there is a clear and distinct warning, the change demanded by Nigerians from the 2015 election are not without consequences. The victory was won out of turmoil and strife. It was an election won on the belief that Nigeria, together, is our best chance of becoming the greatest of all black nations.

“This victory represents the abiding desire and struggle of the Nigerian people to build a just and decent society where the people matter and are the reason for government.

“This was a victory won with sweat and blood for Nigeria to turn this page. The change Nigerians demanded from the 2015 electoral victory is based on the idea that Nigeria can be made great again through a dedicated and law respecting political class with the right political value and vision,” he stated.

He said that the present hardship is a blessing in disguise as it would definitely challenge the leaders and Nigerians at large to think out of the box and evolve innovative solutions to weather the present economic storm.

He said that the National Assembly is reinforcing its oversight role to ensure procedural and output integrity in the administration of the country.

Saraki said: “Our people have called us to stamp out corruption, improve governance, accountability, transparency, service delivery and human right protection, and the National Assembly is ready to roll out an array of reforms on, accountability, revenue management, budget processing, policing and public service performance monitor that would see our resources better used, engender better public participation in governance, oversight and virile public service that is service oriented.

“Let me make our position absolutely clear, the present National Assembly is working and will continue to work hand-in-gloves with the executive arm to rout corruption and entrench accountability across all spheres of our public sector.

“The days of business as usual are over. Discretionary spending of government resources, unbudgeted expenditures, procurement abuses and diversion of public monies for personal gains must be eradicated.

“As part of our agenda, the National Assembly is strengthening her oversight systems to ensure procedural and output integrity. All public spending must be within the Appropriation Act. We can no longer afford waste,” he said.

The Summit with the theme: “2015 General elections: Consolidating the gains and building positive political culture for sustainable democracy in Nigeria,” according to the the Senate President represents the surest way to deepen the nation’s democracy.

He said: “Our problems are too complex for simple slogans and simple solutions to take them away in one fell swoop. We cannot solve them without effort and sacrifice. But we have the will and we have the way necessary to surmount all our challenges.

“We need platforms like this for those in government and other leaders outside to talk to ourselves. This is the surest way to deepening our democracy. The situations we face, be they economic, political, or insecurity, demands thoughtfulness, steady nerves, resolute and focused attention.

“They demand national will, cohesion, political wisdom, economic sacrifice and a willingness to pull together in one direction not pull apart,” he said.

Signed:

Sanni Onogu

Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President

Attempt to indict me in arms scam a joke – Okonjo-Iweala

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

A former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has described as a joke attempt by Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, to link her to the raging $2.1 billion arms scandal.

A statement issued by her media adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu, said the ex-minister “has absolutely nothing to do with the alleged misuse of $2.1billion by the office of the former National Security Adviser.”

The statement said, “Falana and his sponsors are simply trying to invent a connection where there is none.”

Okonjo-Iweala she sought and received the approval of former President Goodluck Jonathan for the release of part of the returned Abacha funds to the ex- NSA, Sambo Dasuki, for purchase of arms which is totally separate from the $2.1 billion.”

She added: “Some of the funds recovery was done under the regime of Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and the first term of President Olusegun Obasanjo when Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was not even in government.”

During her time as Finance minister in the Obasanjo administration, Okonjo-Iweala said $500million was recovered by the government.

“As documented by the field study conducted by the World Bank with the assistance of national and international NGOs, this amount was properly applied. Falana’s insistence on the contrary shows how despicable he is and how he is ready to ignore facts and concoct a fiction in the service of his sponsors,” the ex-minister stated.

Source: The Nation

Nigeria’s Poor Economy – Blame Ibrahim Babangida!

I woke up this morning to a report in the media that Chief Audu Ogbeh is holding former dictator, Ibrahim Babangida and SAP, responsible for the current poor state of the economy. Babangida introduced SAP and led Nigeria to an over-reliance on oil and that is why we are where we are today. There is nothing wrong with historical illumination. There is everything wrong when it becomes a tired cliché constantly mobilized as alibi when you don’t appear to have the answers to setting a new course.

That is the trouble with President Buhari’s ministers. When a few months ago, Lai Mohammed blamed President Jonathan, I urged Nigerians to be glad that he did not blame it on Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The rate at which President Buhari’s Ministers are scrambling irresponsibly to blame the past instead of doing their work and facing the future – and let the anti-corruption efforts proceed on other fronts – is alarming. If President Buhari does not rein them in, they will blame Lord Lugard. I am compelled to reproduce an apt excerpt from “Building Rome in One Day”, the inauguration lecture I delivered in Kaduna for Nasir El Rufai on May 28, 2015. Read on:

“The sky is falling! Nigerians, please bear me witness: my predecessor has emptied the treasury o. My predecessor has shackled me with debts o. He has borrowed money that we must pay for the next sixty years o. Things are so bad. There is nothing to work with. I will probe him; I will not probe him; yes, I will probe him.”

As true as these statements are in terms of the actualities they describe, it is also true that they are cliché, repeated ad nauseam by every in-coming administration. Nigerians heard it from Chief Obasanjo and all the governors in the 1999 set; they heard this rhetoric again in 2003; heard it in 2007; heard it in 2011. To hear it in 2015 would be the very definition of continuity because there is nothing in that rhetoric that the people have not heard before.

It is because they are tired of this rhetoric of continuity that they voted massively for people they believe can perform miracles and deliver on miracles. And this is why I do not envy our Governor-elect and also General Buhari at the centre. This is why I have only bad news for them. All the realities which led to a rhetorical culture of blaming outgoing administrations are still here with us and have even worsened beyond our wildest imagination under the outgoing administration.

Make no mistake about it, President Jonathan and the outgoing ministers and governors have exercised no prerogative of mercy on Nigeria. They have wrecked and destroyed this country. In South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, or China, they would have been tied to the stakes and executed as economic saboteurs. Yet, I must signal solemnly to Mallam Nasir El Rufai and President-elect Buhari that we are at a moment in our national history when the corruption and brigandage of an outgoing administration can no longer be mobilised as legitimate points of departure by an in-coming administration.

The outgoing administration repeatedly told us to be patient; that transformation and the dividends of democracy could not be delivered with a magic wand; they said that Rome was not built in a day. Then they went ahead to unleash all the goats in Rome on all the yams in Rome and the city of Rome was set on fire in the ensuing commotion. Those who said that Rome was not built in a day then fiddled and danced azonto, even as the city of Rome burned.

This is why Mallam Nasir El Rufai does not have the luxury of saying that Rome was not built in a day. I have already heard that rhetoric from our President-elect and I hope that Mallam Nasir will pass the message on to him that we, his supporters, ask him to desist from using that language forthwith.

At the national level and here in Kaduna state, we have elected leaders who we believe can do precisely that: abandon the rhetoric of the old leadership and build Rome in a day. And because there is currently no money anywhere – the outgoing government having looted everything – the new leadership must build Rome in a day with only one kobo. This is what the people expect and it is not up for discussion or negotiation by the new leadership.

For the people, therefore, change begins when the leadership in which they have invested such an overwhelming mandate makes a radical departure from that rhetoric and its associated mental universe and invents a rhetoric bordering on the possibility of miracle. The new leadership must not say that they are not miracle workers because that is precisely what the people voted for: miracle workers.

The new leadership must tell the people: “I knew that things were bad, very bad, really bad, before I offered myself for service. Hands-on, proactive approach to delivery will now replace the rhetoric of excuses. No action of the outgoing government, no matter how horrible, will be valid enough an excuse for me not to deliver. We shall punish their corruption. Those who looted shall face the full prosecutorial force of the laws of the land. But we shall not use their crimes as justification of inertia on our part.”

By: Pius Adesanmi

SAVE THE NATION MOVEMENT A GROUP OF BLACKMAILERS AND MISCHIEF MAKERS

NIGERIA ARMY PRESS RELEASE

The Nigerian Army has noted with dismay the attempt to rubbish the hard earned name and reputation of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai and the Nigerian Army by a faceless group that called itself Save the Nation Movement (STNM) through orchestrated campaign of calumny in the media. In a release signed by Steven Chilaka, its National Secretary on Sunday, they wanted the Chief of Army Staff to be included among those indicted in the ongoing probe of abuse of funds meant for the procurement of arms simply because he was the Director of Procurement at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ).

The public will recall our earlier warning of this type of campaign of calumny against the Nigerian Army and the Chief of Army Staff. This has reared its ugly head again. Unfortunately, the movement could not get their facts right as has always been the case with people with dubious intents.

Contrary to their mischief, it should be noted that General Buratai was Director of Procurement at Defence Headquarters from March 2014 to May 2015, not from 2012 to 2015 as they wished to mislead the public. Furthermore, there is the need to educate the ignorant group that, Defence Procurement in Nigeria is decentralised each Service is responsible for its procurement. It is advisable for the group to look elsewhere if they want to attack the Chief of Army Staff. For the avoidance of doubt, the Chief of Army Staff has never been involved in any questionable act throughout his career as military officer let alone when he was at the DHQ.

As a matter of fact, the Chief of Army Staff has always been a reference point in exemplary conduct, probity and integrity. It is on record that he voluntarily declared his assets both as Commander MNJTF and as Chief of Army Staff. In addition, he has directed all Nigerian Army officers to do so. One wonders what the faceless groups motive is and why they are in a hurry to rubbish the good name of the Chief Army Staff and the Nigerian Army, when there is a Presidential Panel already working selflessly. Why is the group trying to jump the gun. Let these mischievous elements which Steven Chilaka represents, allow the Panel to discharge its duties dispassionately as it is doing.

It is advisable also that the faceless group should get their facts right and not just merely speculate or disturb us with their wishful thinking. They should further understand that whatever mischievous intentions they have against the Chief of Army Staff and indeed, the Nigerian Army, both would not be deterred, we shall remain focused and never to be distracted. Consequently, the public is please requested to disregard the so called Movements evil machinations which would surely fall back on them.

Thank you.

Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman
Acting Director Army Public Relations

Treason: Court To Decide On Nnamdi Kanu’s Bail Application Friday

Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed next Friday January for ruling on the bail application brought by the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and founder of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

Mr. Kanu and two others are charged with treason. 

The court today heard legal arguments over his bail application. Prosecution counsel Mohammed Diri argued that the application put up by the defence does not satisfy the requirements of the Evidence Act. 

He urged the court to consider the weighty evidence against the accused, including a statement in which he admitted that he was a British citizen; that he sneaked into Nigeria without a passport, and that he was the operator of Radio Biafra in London, and asked that the application be refused. 

Objecting, the defence counsel, M.U Udechukwu, told the court that the document being cited by the prosecution has not been admitted by the court in evidence, and that the prosecution therefore lacks the right to make reference to it before the court. 

He argued that there are procedures to be followed before such a document can be admitted as an exhibit, and therefore prayed the court to grant the defendant bail as the offence committed is not a capital offence. 

Earlier, a mild drama ensued in the court premises when Kanu was brought in handcuffed, but refused to come out of the prison vehicle because of the press cameras.  His co-accused, who were also in handcuffs, had already alighted.  

An alternative entrance in the back of the court was eventually found and Kanu was ushered into the court through the elevator that is normally reserved for judges.

A similar drama followed the hearing when Kanu, exchanging greetings with friends and relatives, was reluctant to move towards the elevator as demanded by prison officials, pointed warning fingers at them and dared them to hurt him.  

The situation nearly led to fisticuffs before it was brought under control and he was led into the prison vehicle.                        

Kanu is standing trial on six of treason preferred against him by the federal government of Nigeria.

Source: Sahara Reporters

PDP Spokesperson Metuh Gave Me $2 Million In $100 Bills To Invest – Witness

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday opened its case with two witnesses against the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh, in the charges of money laundering involving the sum of N400m which he allegedly collected from the Office of the National Security Adviser in November 2014.

Mr. Olisa Metuh arriving court today from prisonSahara Reporters Media

The trial commenced before a Federal High Court in Abuja after the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, overruled objection by Metuh’s lead counsel, Mr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) to adjourn the trial.

Ikpeazu also informed the judge on Monday that since Metuh had been unable to meet the bail conditions granted him on January 16, the defence had filed an application for variation of the terms.

He urged the court to adjourn the proceedings as the inability of his client to meet the bail conditions had adverse effect on his preparation for the defense.

The prosecution led by Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, opposed the application for adjournment and his objection was upheld by the judge.

Tahir then proceeded to open the prosecution’s case on Monday with the testimony of an employee of Asset and Resource Management Company Limited, Nneka Ararume, who narrated how he collected a total sum of $2m cash from Metuh at his house in Prince and Princess Estate, Abuja.

Ararume who described her position with the company as Wealth Manager, said the instruction given to her by Metuh was that the money should be invested.

She explained further that she went ahead to change the money to its naira equivalent through two bureau de change operators she engaged.

She said, “He gave me the sum of $2m in $100 bills. It was taken to bureau de change operators who would then transfer the money to ARM. From there (Metuh’s house) I proceeded to Mr. Sie Iyenome’s office at Wuse 2 where I gave him the sum of $1m.

“I also invited Mr. Kabir Mohammed and I also gave him the sum of $1m to transfer the naira equivalent in favour of Destra Investment Limited. Later on the same day, December 2, 2014, Mr. Kabir and Mr. Sie Iyenome confirmed the receipt.”

The prosecution also called Iyenome as its second prosecution witness, who also narrated how he changed the $1m to its naira equivalent and paid it to ARM.

Both witnesses were cross-examined by the defence counsel.

Trial has been adjourned till tomorrow for the prosecution to call more witnesses.

The prosecuting counsel said he had 16 more witnesses.

Source: Sahara Reporters

Metuh Requests For Variation Of Bail Conditions As Trial Begins, Witness Testify Confirms the PDP chief gave her $2m!

The trial of the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Olisa Metuh, has started, with the opposition party’s spokesman requesting for a variation of his bail conditions. 

Mr Metuh made the request before his trial began on Monday.

However, because the prosecution was just served, the trial judge, Justice Abang Obong, deferred hearing on the issue to January 27.

Witness Testify

He, however, declined to adjourn the trial, asking the first prosecution witness to testify.

The witness, one Miss Nicole Ararume, claimed she was the wealth manager for Mr Metuh and his company Destra Investment Limited.

She narrated to the court how she received the sum of two million dollars paid in 100 dollar bills, which she took to a Bureau De Change for onward transfer to the Asset and Resources Management account of Mr Metuh and his company.

The lawyers to Mr Metuh, however, asked for an adjournment for him to prepare materials required for cross examination.

“Her allegations are serious and there is a need to get the necessary documents to enable me adequately cross examine her,” Mr Oyeachi Ikpeazu told the court.

However, the counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Tahir Sylvanus, objected to the application.

He said: “It has been known to the defence that trial will commence today, as such, it should have adequately prepared for the case”.

Mr Sylvanus also told the court that he had front loaded all the account details relating to the transaction as such there was no cogent reason why the hearing should be adjourned.

Again Mr Ikpeazu argued that he could not cross examine a prosecution witness based on its document.

He told the court that the defence would also rely on its own generated document to do so.

The council to Mr Metuh further complained that it had been difficult to adequately prepare for trial as the prison officials have made interaction with his client’s difficult.

On Friday, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court granted Mr Metuh bail in the sum of 300 million Naira and two sureties in like sum.

In the ruling, the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, Justice Ishaq Bello, stressed that the sureties must be resident in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.

Mr Metuh is facing a seven-count charge of criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering.

Source: ChannelsTV News

U.K. man must give cops 24 hours’ notice if he plans to have sex

LONDON – A British man has been ordered by a court to give police 24 hours’ notice if he plans to have sex with a female.

The unusual “interim sexual risk order” will be in effect until a further hearing is held in four months. A longer restriction may be sought at that point.

Sexual risk orders are used in cases where a person has not been convicted of a sex crime but is judged by police as posing a potential threat to the public.

The order was sought by North Yorkshire Police and issued by York Magistrates’ Court. It replaces an earlier order limiting the man’s sexual activity that was about to expire.

He must give police the name, age and address of any female he plans to have sex with at least 24 hours before engaging in such activity.

The man can be sent to prison if he does not provide proper notification or if he violates other terms.

He is also prohibited from using the Internet unless he uses a device equipped with police-managed software that is to protect against online offending.

The only exception to this rule gives him permission to access the Internet while seeking work at government-run employment offices.

The man cannot be named for legal reasons and his address cannot be revealed. Police declined to comment on the case Monday.

© The Canadian Press, 2016

Lagos gives 7-day ultimatum to residents on gated streets

• Ambode

Lagos State Government has given seven days ultimatum to residents to keep to the directives that gates or barricades leading to major roads in the state, is locked between 12 mid night and 5am with manned security guards to allow free flow of vehicular movement.

State Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Mr. Muslim Folami, who revisited the directive yesterday at a press conference, said the government will not hesitate to remove gates of streets where residents fail to comply.

According to him, “this is a serious issue and we are not taking it likely with anyone, residents have within seven days to comply with this directive or have their gates remove.”

He assured residents of security, saying that government officials will go round to make sure that people comply with the government directives.

Earlier, Special Assistant to the Governor on Community Affairs, Mr. Tajudeen Quadri, who addressed journalists alongside the commissioner and Special Adviser to the Governor on communication and Community Affairs, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan said recent trends revealed that some residents have abandoned the directives.

He said the development have given rise to come back of street gates even streets that never had them before are now erecting theirs fortified with all manner of objects.

Quadri recalled that before 2009 when the government came up with the directive, it was observed that streets where gates are under lock and key constitutes serious bottleneck and makes it difficult for police, fire service and vehicle on emergency to go through when carrying out their legitimate duties.

He said it also constitutes obstructions to traffic, especially in areas where such streets gates or barricades are on the roads meant to serve as thoroughfares or alternative links.

Also affected are pregnant women in Labour and sick people of which some has lost their lives because they were unable to get through to hospitals because their gates where lock with no security guards to attend to them.

He recalled the inconveniences the situation has cause, stressing that henceforth leaders of community must ensure that residents comply with the directives to avoid pulling down their gates.

He recalled the inconveniences gated streets have caused residents who have to walk round to access their area, while adding that some gates are deliberately locked for purposes of allowing roads to be used for parties.

He said government is revisiting the directives on the gates and barricades, with the aim of solving the challenges posed by the unrestricted erection of street gates all over the state.

Source: The Nation

Fashola to PENCOM: invest N5tr pension fund in real sector

Tweet0

Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola has urged the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and other operators to invest the over N5 trillion pension fund in construction of infrastructure.

He mentioned such infrastructure as roads, housing, Fourth Mainland Bridge, coastal road linking several coastal states from Lagos to Bayelsa and the new seaports in Lekki and Badagry.

The minister spoke in a keynote speech at the Nigerian Pension Industry Strategy Implementation Roadmap Retreat organised by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and pension operators at the weekend in Abuja.

His paper was titled: “Overcoming the Challenges and Managing the Risks and Constraints that Inhibit the Investment of Private Capital and Funds in Nigeria’s Infrastructure Landscape to Make a Visible Economic Impact”.

He also recommended investment of the fund in refineries, such as Dangote’s, Ajaokuta Steel, petrochemical plants, resuscitation of textile mills; prisons to strengthen justice system and decongest prisons; hostels for universities, power plants for universities, especially those with teaching hospitals, health care and others.

To sceptics, who may be scared to invest pension assets in the real sector, Fashola said “diversification has forced itself on us as a nation and those investible vehicles exist”.

The minister said he could see a future of Africa, where Nigeria is leading in the use of people’s resources to build a future that includes the people.

He said he developed a topic from the challenges encountered by the pension regulator and operators in finding suitable investable vehicles to invest.

Fashola noted that the risks that stand in the way of the pension managers in investing the fund without any hitch were caused by some businessmen, who for their selfish reasons ensured that projects and contracts were tied down in courts.

He identified five areas that needed to be addressed to assure investors of low induced risks and these included politics, government’s action, socio-cultural, legal and judicial factors.

He stated that while the journey of a new pension system started with the coming together of some Nigerian minds like President Olusegun Obasanjo and Fola Adeola and was nurtured by the dedicated hands of men and women, it has reached a major milestone from where it must reinvigorate itself.

The minister, who said it was time to invest in the real sector, added that the biggest opportunity presented itself for the nation to act towards diversification rather than sloganeering it.

Fashola, who lamented infrastructure deficit in Africa, said: “This is the time to show that our nation and our national economy is bigger than the challenges posed by dwindling oil prices. This is the time to diversify and change the face of our economy. But the risks that stand in the way of investing the fund are caused by us and they must be changed by us.

“Perhaps, the appropriate starting point will be to acknowledge that pension reforms are just beginning to gain a foothold across most of Africa in jurisdictions as Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Kenya and Uganda, to mention a few.

“Perhaps the biggest and most advanced of the pension funds, especially in sub-Saharan Africa is the South African Pension Fund. But while the sizes of these funds are happily growing, and the number of contributors increasing, the impact in the quality of life on the continent is not yet anywhere near minimum globally acceptable standards.”

The minister advocated the adoption of a collective national attitude to make it possible to invest the over N5 trillion  fund constituting the contributions of the nation’s working class into real sectors as a means of diversifying  the nation’s economy and achieving inclusive growth.

He noted that the attitude that once mired pension funds management in scandals and lack of transparency, had led to stringent legislative interventions that limited the scope of activities that pension funds could participate.

Fashola acknowledged the amendments being made to address the situation.

Source: The Nation