Nigeria Content Online

Most people tend to know you as an established justice. What was it like as a young lawyer?

That’s not true,
they knew me as a lawyer. I practiced all over Nigeria, Cameroun, and
justice was just one side of the story; we had more impact as lawyers.
Every lawyer will face a lot of challenges. When we were at the Bar,
for instance, we travelled for hours from Onitsha to Lagos for appeal
cases (there was no court of appeal in Enugu) and then if you have a
case in the north, you travel all the way. The train takes hours – two
days to Kaduna, two days from Kaduna to Lagos. So it was a really
trying time. Legal practice was very demanding. Since there were not
many lawyers, the few lawyers available were in great demand. And it
needed tough fibre to face such challenges. We did it until our
appointment to the bench.

Looking back at your career, is there anything you wish you could have done better?

I have few regrets.
I always wanted to be a lawyer. At first, we saw people like Udo Udoma
and (Samuel) Akintola (former premier of the Western region) who was at
the Bar before becoming a premier. We saw them performing and they were
really respected by the community. So it was the desire of every young
man to join the group of learned men. Then in most universities, you
can’t be called to the Bar unless you have a degree. I had a B.A in
history and a B.Sc in Economics before LL.B. So, having done history,
economics and law, you had a wide vision to look at a thing from the
economic angle, legal angle or social angle. Students nowadays are very
much in a hurry. Do a first degree and then LL.B. I wish they will do
that — widen the scope of those who want to be lawyers.

Nigerians have expressed worry about corruption and delay of cases in the courts. What is responsible for these?

Every country gets
the government it deserves. Corruption cannot exist in the judiciary if
it does not exist in the society. So the issue of corruption, we don’t
want to single out a particular group. Everybody is involved in it. If
a society is corrupt-free, it’s everybody’s benefit, and if it is
corrupt, it is to the detriment of everybody. It is a social evil and
the sooner we regard it as an evil, a plague, the better for Nigeria.
Corruption is bad and I don’t see what people get out of it because
those who are corrupt have not done more than those who are not
corrupt. You can only build houses and buy cars.

Tell us about your recent call for speedy trials of cases

If you want a
speedy trial, the lawyers will know what is there to put across.
Suppose we have a case about this house. This house is here, that’s a
fact. Why call three witnesses to prove that this house is here.
Alright, if there is a land case, the location of the land is in Lagos,
there is no dispute there. That should be taken as proved. The dispute
may be who owns the land. A says it is his father’s land, B says he
bought it from C. The question will be: has the man who sold the land
to you the power to sell? If these are deduced as issues, it becomes
easy and the case may not take more than two days. But now you go on a
rigmarole. A land is in Wuse, you call three witnesses to prove the
boundaries of the land which is not in dispute. If issues are properly
settled, no case will last more than three days.

What about corruption trials?

Why should cases of corruption be more important than other cases? It has been at the centre of Nigeria’s developmental failings.

I don’t know about
that. But before a good judge hears a case, he will insist on knowing
what they are asking him to do. Not beating about the bush for three
days. If you settle issues, you know issues in dispute, issues agreed.
Those agreed will be taken as proved. And if you look at it, only few
cases will have more than two contested issues.

What are your thoughts on the refusal of the government to act on the report of the Human Rights Violations Investigation panel?

Why not ask the
government. Why me? We submitted our reports. First of all, are you
sure they didn’t act on it? You are taking for granted that they didn’t
act on it. The mere fact they say we acted on it and the newspapers
will report does not mean they did not. Of course they did act on it.
My duty is to recommend; we submitted our reports and what they do with
it is their own headache, not mine.

Whether I am
satisfied or not is neither here nor there. We made recommendations
that will affect the interest of Nigerians. It is Nigerians who would
say whether they are satisfied after the Oputa panel investigations.

How about insinuations that some of the recommendations were against those in power then?

I don’t like
jumping into conclusions without facts. What were the issues of human
rights violations before the Oputa panel? What is the condition after?
To see whether government acted or not, is it better or worse? If the
conditions were worse, then they didn’t act on it. If the conditions
were a bit improved, then they acted on it.

Does the president need to sign the recently amended constitution?

I don’t like to be
dragged into a controversy that is raging. Let them finish, then we can
come and give our views. It will not be very fair to jump into a
controversy and start expressing your views. That may not be very
palatable. You have to be very careful not to make matters worse. The
place is heated already. When they finish, then we can have a post
mortem.

What do you think about cases of insecurity and kidnapping in parts of the country?

If the laws of a
society are strong enough to protect the citizens, if the economy is
sound enough to cater for the needs of the citizens, then some of these
things won’t happen. If a child goes to school, comes back and there is
no job and you have about five or six in one family roaming about. If
they cannot make it by lawful means, then they will try by unlawful
means. It’s not a legal issue; it’s a social issue. When it gets to a
point whereby living and dying is the same thing, then what are you
living for? Why not go and steal and then if you go to the prison, they
will feed you. You are better off there.

Thelma Amata Iremiren

Mrs Iremiren was
appointed as one of the representatives of the south-south. Born in
Forcados, Delta State in 1946, she studied Sociology in the University
of Lagos before beginning an extensive federal civil service career
which started with the Ministry of Health in Lagos in December 1970, as
an Assistant Secretary 11.

She rose to the
position of permanent secretary in 2001, serving with the Ministries of
Finance, Works and Housing, Federal Civil Service Commission, National
Planning Commission and finally in the Federal Ministry of Internal
Affairs from where she retired in December 2005.

That career
deepened more at the Ministry of Finance, where she held key federal
positions stretching from representing Nigeria at major international
financial meetings, to managing Nigeria’s relations with the Paris and
London clubs.

Between 1995 and
1998, Mrs Iremiren was the Alternate Governor for Nigeria at the
African Development Bank Group. On the bilateral desk, she was
responsible for mutual financial relations between the federal
government and other nations and took part in preparing Nigeria‘s
external borrowing outline.

As a Permanent
Secretary, later at the National Planning Commission, she assisted the
Chief Economic Adviser, and was also the Secretary to the National
Economic Council. She received the national merit awards of Member of
the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2001 and Officer of the Order of the
Niger (OON) in 2005.

Mrs Iremiren is the chair of the staff establishment committee in charge of employment and posting.

Ishmael Jikiri Igbani

Mr Igbani was
appointed for a second term with INEC and became the first ever
re-appointed commissioner. Born in 1941 in Rivers State, he holds a PhD
in Agricultural Extension Education and Rural Sociology from the
University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA in 1971.

In 1979, he was
named the Minister of State for Industries and later Minister of Works
and Housing in 1983, after an early working career that spanned local
and foreign establishments. In 2003, Mr Igbani was appointed a national
Commissioner of the INEC and served out his tenure in 2008. While in
that capacity, he was a member and head of several committees and
chaired the Board of the Electoral Institute, and later the Political
Party Monitoring Committee.

He was the
Director and later Chairman of Board, Intercontinental Distillers
Limited, Ikeja, Lagos, a position held since 1997. Mr Igbani heads the
election monitoring committee charged with the selection and monitoring
of the observers.

Gladys Nne Nwafor

Mrs Nwafor is the
former Director of Abia State Universal Basic Education Board and a
former member of the governing council of Nnamdi Azikiwe University,
Awka. Until his death, she was married to Chima Ogbonna Nwafor, who was
deputy governor of Abia State under Orji Uzor Kalu between 1999 and
2007. Femi Falana accused her of being a PDP member at a rally in June
but she later denied it.

She was nominated
as a member of the Institute for Agricultural Research and Training,
Ile-Ife, by former president, Umar Yar’Adua, in June 2009.

Mrs Nwafor has a
degree in Political Science from the University of Port Harcourt, and
worked as a teacher and held several education administrative positions
in Abia State for 35 years. She was born in 1949 and was appointed as
one of the representatives from the south-east.

She will take charge of staff welfare and discipline.

Lai Olurode

Mr Olurode is the
INEC commissioner in charge of information. An academic from the
University of Lagos, he served as a professor of Sociology and the Dean
of Social Sciences Faculty. In 2003, he was a visiting professor to the
University of California, Irvine, USA.

He holds a
Doctoral Degree (D.Phil.) in Philosophy from the University of Sussex,
UK, and a Law degree from the University of Lagos. He was born in 1952
at Iwo in Osun State, and is credited with several publications. He is
one of the representatives from the south-west.

Philip Etomike Umeadi

Mr Umeadi is one
of the remaining two commissioners who served under the controversial
former chairman of the commission, Maurice Iwu. He is said to have been
third in command at the time of Mr Iwu’s exit. He is said to have
missed out on becoming the acting chairman after Iwu’s removal owing to
allegations that he was once involved in examination malpractice at
UNIBEN, and was suspended.

Before his
appointment as INEC National Commissioner, he worked as a Legal Officer
in Akure Local Government Council in Ondo State. He also worked as
Principal Solicitor & Counsel at Ezebuilo Umeadi & Co. He is
the Director of Philip Green Nigeria Limited and Mid-Runners Resources
limited.

Mr Umeadi holds a
Law degree from the University of Benin and was born 1963 in Onitsha,
Anambra State. He represents the south-east.

Mr Umeadi takes charge of legal matters.

Solomon Adedeji Soyebi

Mr Soyebi became
the most visible member of the old team that was led by Mr Iwu, and
became the commission’s acting Chairman after Mr Iwu’s removal. Under
his brief watch, the commission took a few controversial decisions,
including the release of the Certificates of Return for two House of
Representatives seats that dragged for more than three years.

Mr Iwu has been
accused of deliberately disobeying previous rulings of the courts on
the cases, allegedly on the instructions of former equally
controversial Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa. Mr Soyebi served as
a principal in various schools for about 20 years before joining the
Commission in 2003, where he has served at various times as Resident
Electoral Commissioner in Osun, Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Kano and
Lagos States. He was born on in 1955 in Ogun State, and holds a degree
in Chemistry from the University of Ibadan, obtained in 1978.

He is believed to
have a turbulent relationship with Mr Umeadi after they repeatedly
clashed over the INEC chairmanship. He is the INEC commissioner in
charge of publicity and information.

Amina Bala Zakari

Mrs Zakari is from
Jigawa State and represents the North Central. She was a Secretary in
the Federal Capital Administration between 2004 and 2007 under former
minister, Nasir El Rufai. A pharmacist and alumni of the Harvard
Business School, she has been the head of consultancy at the Songhai
Medical Centre, Abuja.

She has been handed the post of Chair of the Political Parties Monitoring Committee.

Nuru Yakubu

Mr Yakubu is the
former Executive Secretary of the Nation Board of Technical Education
(NBTE) and a former Rector of the Kaduna State Polytechnic. He
represents Yobe State. He was the National Project Coordinator of the
UNESCO-Nigeria Project for the Revitalization of Technical and
Vocational Education in Nigeria.

He was a member of
the committee on the Future of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education
in Nigeria in 1999 and under the administration of former president,
Olusegun Obasanjo, he served as board member of the National
Directorate of Employment (NDE) since 2001.

He was a member, National Implementation Committee on the Review of Higher Education in Nigeria between 1992 and 1993.

Mr Yakubu will head the operations committee and will oversee the conduct of the elections. He represents the north east.

Mohammed Kurmi Hammanga

Mr Hammanga is a retired Army Colonel and an Architect. He is from Adamawa State and represents the north-east.

Mr Hammanga takes
charge of the Logistics and Transport Committee which has the onerous
task of the acquisition of the sensitive (ballot paper and ballet
boxes) and non sensitive materials. He is also responsible for the
acquisition of all vehicles that will be used during the elections.

Abdulkadir Oniyangi

Mr Oniyangi
represents Kwara State where he was Secretary to the State Government
between 1983 and 1985. He holds a degree in Medicine and was the Chief
Medical Director and Consultant of Hassanah Memorial Hospital in Ilorin.

Born in 1935 in
Ilorin, Mr Oniyangi is by far the oldest appointed commissioner. He,
however, recently dismissed suggestions that age would be a deterrent
in carrying out his duties.

“At 75, I am very
fit,” he declared. “If there is any evidence to show that I am going
down, I will be the first to throw in the towel. As I am now, I think I
am going to stay till I’m 105.”

Mr Oniyangi heads
the BOSTEC committee in charge of the boarding and acquisition of
properties, assets, vehicles and other materials.

Ahmed Wali

Mr Wali was one of
the last nominated commissioners in the current dispensation. The
former Ambassador is from Sokoto and represents the north west.

Mr Wali is in charge of the procurement and tenders board committee.

Chris Iyimoga

Mr Iyimoga is from Nasarawa State and represents the north central region.

He heads the
estate and works committee. He will be responsible for buildings and
management for INEC as well as the erection of new structures.

The directors and
management of 224 microfinance banks (MFBs) that failed a recent target
test are to be prosecuted, while those found culpable of abusing their
positions are to be blacklisted, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said
on Friday.

Kingsley Moghalu,
the bank’s deputy governor, Financial Systems Stability (FSS), who
announced the revocation of the operational licenses and closure of the
banks while presenting an update on the status of country’s MFBs in
Abuja, said the affected banks were either ‘terminally distressed’ or
‘technically insolvent’ or both.

Mr Moghalu put
total deposit of the 820 MFBs at about N18.2billion, total loans
exposure at over N19.6billion and shareholders’ funds of N6.1 billion,
explained that 178 of those classified as technically insolvent had
shareholders’ funds, capital adequacy ratio, and liquidity ratios that
were negative.

Besides, 46 others
under the terminally distressed category had either closed shop for
more than six months or failed to submit returns to the CBN as well as
response for requests for verification of their operational status.

He said that since
the launch of the Microfinance Policy Framework in December, 2005, the
industry encountered several challenges as a result of the operators’
lack of understanding of the microfinance concept and the methodology
for delivery of the services to the target beneficiaries.

“Many of them lost
focus and began to compete with deposit money banks for customers and
deposits, leaving their target market unattended, in spite of efforts
of the regulatory authorities to put them back on track,” he explained.

The situation, he
said became complicated by the impact of the global financial crisis,
resulting in credit lines drying up, competition becoming more intense
and credit risk increasing, while many customers were unable to pay
back their credit facilities owing to the hostile economic environment.

Special examination

To identify
factors that accounted for the failure of some MFBs to achieve the
policy objective of economic empowerment of people at the lower end of
the financial market, particularly their ability to meet matured
obligations to depositors, the CBN, in conjunction with the Nigeria
Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), conducted a special examination
for the 820 registered MFBs in the country.

The special
examination, which lasted between February and June, revealed that most
of the MFBs was affected by high level of non-performing loans,
resulting in high portfolio at risk (PAR), which impaired their
capital; gross undercapitalization in relation to the level of
operations; poor corporate governance and incompetent boards; high
level of non-performing insider-related credits, and other forms of
insider abuses.

The test also
revealed other problems, including heavy investments in the capital
market, with the resultant decline in the value of the investment after
the meltdown; poor asset-liability management owing to portfolio
mismatch; heavy investments in fixed assets beyond the maximum limit
prescribed; operating losses as a result of high expenditure on staff
and other overheads; weak management evidenced by poor asset quality,
poor credit administration, inadequate controls, high rate of fraud and
labour turnover.

Mr Moghalu, who
said the decision to wield the big stick against the erring banks was
pursuant to the provisions of section 12 of Banks and Other Financial
Institutions Act (BOFIA) of 1991 (as amended), said the NDIC would pay
a maximum of N100,000 as insurance coverage to each depositor in the
closed banks.

The action by the Bank, he said, sets the stage for the completion
of the ongoing comprehensive review of the microfinance policy
framework, which would soon be made public, warning that in line with
the reforms in the banking sector to ensure corporate governance and
prudent risk management, MFBs must henceforth operate as responsible
institutions by abiding with the regulatory guidelines.

As politicians
jostle to secure their parties’ ticket for next year’s election, it is
not clear yet how the executives of the parties plan to deal with the
many tainted individuals who are currently jostling for elective
offices.

Despite the
threats made by the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), Farida Waziri, promising to stop corrupt politicians
from contesting in the coming elections, the political parties,
especially the PDP, are gearing up to field aspirants who have been
indicted by anti-corruption agencies, including some who are being
prosecuted in various courts.

Last month, Mrs.
Waziri said her agency would strive to prevent corrupt individuals from
contesting next year’s general elections.

“There is no way
that we will allow the political parties to field corrupt people.
Legally, we are empowered to look into some of these issues,” Mrs.
Waziri said.

“How do we allow
these people to come back and say that they are going to lead us? The
world will laugh at us. We see that some of them are already printing
posters and I will see how they are going to work that out. We are not
going to allow that. We want to ensure that only the proper persons
will represent us.” However indications are that Mrs Waziri’s threats
seemed of no consequence to the candidates and their parties.

Various newspapers
last week quoted a PDP source as saying the party would work with
security and anti -corruption agencies, in the screening of its
candidates. The party also submitted a list of some aspirants to the
EFCC for screening.

“The PDP has sent
us a list of some of its aspirants. We are presently going through it
and will advise them on the present corruption status of each of the
names,” a source at the EFCC stated.

Folu Olamiti, the
resident consultant on media to the ICPC however stated that the
commission was yet to be formally notified of the PDP’s intentions.

“We’ve not received any formal letter to that effect. So, we don’t know what they really want from us,” the ICPC spokesman said.

Mr. Olamiti
however stated that the ICPC would not do anything that was against the
law in order to help parties screen their candidates.

“There is a court judgement that only the court can disqualify a candidate,” he said.

When contacted for
clarification on the true position of the party as regards corrupt
political aspirants, Rufai Alkali, the PDP national publicity secretary
refused to pick our calls or respond to our text message.

Politicians at risk

Should the PDP
decide to go ahead with the planned use of anti-corruption agencies to
screen its candidates, some of its aspirants who may have trouble in
the screening include Jibrin Isah, a Kogi State gubernatorial aspirant;
Nicholas Ugbane, a serving senator and Kogi State gubernatorial
aspirant and Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, a serving senator and daughter of
former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Jibrin Isah

A former director
of AfriBank, Mr Isah alongside other directors of the Bank was indicted
by the EFCC for their involvement in the scandal that rocked the bank
which led to the removal of all the directors by the governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi.

The EFCC, on April
13, 2010 filed a 28-count charge against Mr. Isah and the other
directors of the bank. The charges include illegal approval of loans,
manipulation of bank balance sheet etc. He is currently vying for the
Kogi State governorship ticket on the platform of the PDP.

Nicholas Ugbane

Mr. Ugbane is the
chairman of the senate committee on power. He, alongside his former
counterpart in the house of representatives, Ndidi Elumelu are facing a
158-count charge by the EFCC for their alleged involvement in the
mismanagement of about N6billion meant for the Rural Electrification
Project. They were accused by the EFCC of using 21 companies to siphon
the funds. The ICPC says its investigation on the scandal is still
ongoing. He is currently vying for the governorship ticket of Kogi
State under the PDP.

Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello

The senator,
representing Ogun Central Senatorial district, has indicated interest
in running for her senatorial seat again. Mrs. Obasanjo-Bello, however,
is yet to clear her name with the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC).

She was named in
the popular N300 million unspent budget scandal which led to the
resignation of the then Minister of Health, Adenike Grange, in 2008.
Mrs. Obasanjo-Bello, who was the chairman of the senate committee on
Health at the time, and continues to head the committee, was allegedly
involved in spending N10 million out of the amount. Following her
arrest by the EFCC, she was released on bail. The case is still in
court.

Dimeji Bankole

Though Mr.
Bankole, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has been and is being
investigated by both anti-corruption agencies, EFCC and ICPC, over
different financial scandals, he is yet to be prosecuted for any.

An EFCC investigation report of the N2.8 billion Peugeot car scandal is still unaccounted for by the EFCC.

Though Mr. Bankole
has at press time not submitted his nomination form at the PDP
secretariat, he is believed to be running for the governorship of Ogun
State. However, a non-governmental organisation, the National Forum for
Transparency and Good Governance, has petitioned the PDP to bar Mr.
Bankole, and the deputy speaker, Bayero Nafada from contesting under
the party’s platform.