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A group of lawyers,
known as Lawyers of Conscience, have accused President Goodluck
Jonathan of allowing corrupt Nigerians to become the major operators in
his government.

In a statement
signed by its national coordinator, Benedict Ezeogwu, and public
relations officer, Sadiq Mohammed, the group alleged that many of those
indicted in corruption and fraud scandals in the country are still
free, with no serious effort to bring them to justice.

“Several cases of
graft and abuse of offices, particularly in the areas of budgetary
irregularities, inflation of cost in contract awards, unauthorized
expenditures, award of contracts, allocation of oil blocks to
questionable companies of cronies, have continued unchecked,” read the
statement.

The group accused
the government of shielding those involved in high-level corruption
such as legislators and those in the Haliburton, Siemens, and Chevron
cases. It said the government had gutted anti-corruption agencies such
as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by ignoring its
demands and denying its staff protection.

“Individuals and
companies implicated/involved in corrupt practices and fraudulent
activities are now given recognitions and honours by the present
government.

“Over N500 billion
is alleged to have been stolen by the current legislators in the
country, and [the EFCC’s] demands that those involved should be brought
to book have been rebuffed by the Jonathan-led government,” the
statement read.

Major examples

The group singled
out the Halliburton corruption case and the case of Julius Berger as
particularly egregious examples. It accused Mr. Jonathan of working to
cover up and protect major culprits in the scandals because they are
godfathers of his government.

“The clear
unconstitutional and suspicious efforts of the Attorney General of the
Federation to shield Julius Berger from criminal prosecution, even when
the company accepted guilt, is a typical example of what we are
saying,” it said.

It pointed to
several reports that the presidency had amassed over N20 billion for
the funding of Mr. Jonathan’s 2011 presidential campaign through the
misuse of money from the Ministry of Environment’s Ecological Fund, the
Ministry of Works; and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC).

It noted that
governors who have been implicated in the looting of their states’
treasuries have become major campaigners for the president, in exchange
for a second term ticket or protection from anti-graft agencies.

“No government in
the country has condoned corruption or destroyed the anti-corruption
war like the Goodluck Jonathan-led government,” said the statement.

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that kidnapping in Nigeria has reduced significantly and would shortly be wiped out from the country.

At an interactive session on Sunday with Nigerians resident in Chad Republic, the president described kidnapping as a receding nightmare, in response to a question on how kidnapping had prevented some Igbos from visiting home in Nigeria, assuring them that government has put in place elaborate measures to counter the menace and restore the peace.

Mr. Jonathan told Nigerians in Chad Republic that their “complaints of constant harassment of Nigerian fishermen and others on legitimate businesses by Chadian security agencies would be addressed with the host authorities.”

On the absence of good English-speaking schools in Chad Republic, the president underscored the importance of quality education for the future development of any child, while suggesting the “establishment of private schools in partnership with government, like other country-specific run educational institutions elsewhere, as private ventures but under controlled fees.”

He promised to look into the issue of building a permanent office and residence for the Nigerian ambassador, to secure the country’s pride of place in Chad.

He thanked all the speakers at the event who wished him success at next year’s polls, stressing that himself and the vice president, Namadi Sambo, “are totally committed and will do our best.”

Those who spoke during the meeting included representatives of various Nigerian ethnic groups resident in Chad Republic, as well as the chairman of the Nigeria-Chad Association, Stephen Osagie.

The Nigerian ambassador to Chad, Abdullahi Omaki, who disclosed that Nigeria established diplomatic relations with Chad in 1963 and the latter reciprocated in 1965, described the northern neighbouring country as strategic to Nigeria’s security.

Governor Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno State; the minister of water resources, Obadiah Ando; and the minister of state, foreign affairs, Salamatu Suleiman, were among top Nigerian government officials at the interactive gathering.

A High Court in Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday gave an order
restraining the Lagos State House of Assembly from further probing the
state’s governor, Babatunde Fashola, over allegations of financial
misappropriation.

The presiding Judge, Opeyemi Oke, said that it is
unlawful for the legislators to continue with their investigation since
there is a substantive suit before the Court of Appeal. In addition,
the court gave an order of perpetual injunction restraining the
defendant and any of its agents, officers, servants, committees, in
particular the Ad Hoc Committee set up on April 15 from further
investigating the governor.

A group which calls itself the “True Face of Lagos’’
had levelled allegations of financial impropriety against the executive
arm of the government.

The judge said that the Originating Summons filed by
the claimant was different from the earlier issue dispensed by Justice
Habib Abiru of the Ikorodu Division of the Lagos judiciary. The
applicant, Richard Akinnola, had gone to the Appeal Court to contest
some gray areas in the judgment of the lower court.

Justice Oke, in her judgment, noted that it was the
duty of the counsel to educate their clients on the hierarchy of the
courts. “This court has an inherent duty to ensure that due regards,
due respect and due honour is given to the Court of Appeal which is a
superior court.

“Where a counsel fails to do this by not bringing
this to the knowledge of his client, it is the duty of the honourable
court to compel the party to do so through the order of the court by
granting the injunctive order,’’ she said.

Justice Abiru had on March 30 declared
unconstitutional, null and void, the probe instituted by the House
against the governor based on an advertorial placed in a national paper
by the New Face of Lagos.

Justice Abiru upheld the relief sought by the
petitioner, Richard Akinola, who had asked the court to stop a six-man
investigation panel set up by the legislature to investigate the
executive.

Mr. Akinnola in his Originating Summons dated May 4,
2010 prayed the court to stop the probe of Mr. Fashola, saying that the
action by the House was unlawful and constituted an affront on the rule
of law and administration of justice.

He also asked the court to determine whether the
House was right to set up an Ad hoc Committee to probe Mr. Fashola
despite a pending litigation seeking to stop it.

The Senate Committee on Education warned on Monday
that without adequate funding of the education sector, the improvement
of the Nigerian educational system will remain a mirage.

Chairman of the committee, Abubakar Bangudu, made the
observation yesterday in Abuja when the committee paid a working visit
to the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Education Trust
Fund.

“The NUC as a central organ is not adequately
funded,” he said. “It has led to a number of problems: children cannot
find enough spaces for admission; there are complaints about low
teacher and graduate quality from those institutions. There is need for
a rethink about how to fund the institutions.”

New alternatives

Mr Bangudu said the government could not afford to
cover all the costs in the sector and suggested greater partnerships
with private organisations.

“It is almost impossible that the government alone
will ever come up with the funding requirement for the sector,
therefore we must be ready to find out alternative means of funding,”
he said. “Institutions should be given the freedom to find alternative
sources of funding.” He pledged the Senate’s commitment and said that
efforts were being made, so that the Education Trust Fund law is
amended to ensure that education quality improves.

Julius Okojie, executive secretary of the NUC, agreed
that the release of funds to the sector has not been inadequate and
that it had affected the execution of capital projects by the
commission. He cited poor access to education as well as inadequate
teaching and research facilities as some of the other challenges faced
by the sector.

“The situation has remained the same over time
because it is a tuition-free environment and we [can only] grow at the
rate at which we are receiving resources.”

The deplorable
state of power supply cannot be solved by privatisation but through
“determination, commitment, and eradication of corruption,” according
to a communiqué issued on Monday at the end the seventh All Yoruba
Youth Conference, which held in Lagos.

The conference,
organised by the Coalition of Oodua Self-Determination Groups (COSEG),
called “on the Jonathan-led federal government to stop forthwith the
planned privatisation of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).”

The communiqué also
asked Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the Independent Electoral
Commission, to “as a matter of urgency, remove Mrs. Adebayo Ayoka, the
present resident electoral commissioner posted to Ondo State, after her
shameful and disgraceful conduct of the elections in Ekiti State,
because her dignity and integrity have been ruined by the judgement of
the Appeal Court.”

The group described
President Jonathan’s “antagonism to the convocation of a Sovereign
National Conference” as anti-people, and warned that it will only
support a presidential candidate “that is ready to implement, to the
details, the Yoruba Charter.”

Where are the leaders?

The conference featured several lectures that highlighted national issues and agenda for 2011.

Wahab Shittu, a
lawyer, in his lecture titled ‘Misuse of Oversight Roles of
Legislatures in Modern Democracy’ asked lawmakers to focus only on the
business of lawmaking and desist from impeding governance under the
clout of oversight functions.

However, Dipo
Fanimokun, who represented Alani Akinrinade, a retired army general and
the occasion’s chairman, drew attention of the gathering to the dearth
of “worthy leaders” in the Yoruba nation.

“Almost every
occasion that has to do with Yoruba will have General Akinrinade as one
of the dignitaries, whether in Ondo, Ekiti, or Lagos. This is
worrisome, and we have started asking ourselves where the leaders are,”
he said.

Other lectures
included ‘The Contribution of Women in National Development” by Abiola
Akiode, a lawyer and the executive director of Women Advocates Research
and Documentation Centre; and ‘Youth Crises and Our Collective
Challenge’ by Kayode Olagunju.

Mrs. Akiode posited that there has been a “historical injustice” against the womenfolk, which must be corrected.

“Women have played
great roles in national development but their contribution is hardly
given appropriate prominence in history books,” she said, drawing
analogies from the example of late Kudirat Abiola.

“Until we begin to talk about women’s roles prominently, and men and
women begin to sit together to discuss national issues as ‘our issues’,
there cannot be appropriate progress in Nigeria,” she said.

The Goodluck/Sambo
Presidential Campaign Organisation yesterday debunked claims by the
Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) that the forthcoming
general elections will be highly monetised because of funds it raised
last week to prosecute President Goodluck Jonathan’s election.

Spokesman of the
organisation, Sully Abu, said in a statement in Abuja, that the
fundraising dinner was organised with the entire campaign of the
president in view, and not only for the primary election.

“The Goodluck/Sambo
Campaign Organisation wishes to state in very clear terms that the
position of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties(CNPP) that the
2011 general election will be highly monetised because of its unfounded
claim that Corporate Nigeria donated N500 million for President
Goodluck Jonathan’s primary election is patently mischievous.

“Our fundraising
dinner of Friday, October 29, 2010 was done with the entire
presidential campaign in view, and not solely for the prosecution of
the battle for the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) presidential ticket at
the primary election,” the organisation said.

Mr. Abu explained
that some prominent Nigerians such as Oba Otudeko, Aliko Dangote,
Abdulsamad Rabiu, Jimoh Ibrahim, and Femi Otedola, who the CNPP tagged
as “the motley crowd of Corporate Nigeria,” came to the fundraising
dinner in their individual capacity and made some donations.

He accused the CNPP
of deliberately misrepresenting the fact when it claimed that these
individuals raised N500 million; whereas, other persons, including a
number of governors, made donations at the event.

He added that the fact that those Nigerians came was indicative of the appeal of the Goodluck/Sambo ticket.

Mr. Abu added that
rather than bandying claims as well as figures that cannot be
substantiated and making innuendoes that tend to disparage innocent
entities, the CNPP should organise its fundraising dinner where it
could get similar support.

He noted that as a campaign organisation, “we are confident with our
programme to transform our country. The Goodluck/Sambo ticket is the
most attractive option for Nigerians.”

The national
chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Ogbonnaya Onu said at
the weekend that the party will take back Bauchi State from the Peoples
Democratic Party during the 2011 gubernatorial elections.

Speaking during his
visit to the state, Mr Onu said it naturally belongs to the party,
until its governor, Isa Yuguda defected to the PDP. He said that the
party structure in the state is still intact and vowed that it will
return to power unfailingly next year.

He called on
Nigerians to give the ANPP a chance to govern the country, noting that
since the PDP came to office, it has not changed the lives of Nigerians.

The ANPP boss said
with free and fair elections next year, the party will win in many
state and at the same time produce the president of the country because
it was not formed to be an opposition party.

He added that the
position of the party during the recent public hearing on the amendment
of the Electoral Act 2010 is that electoral results must reflect the
wishes of the people of Nigeria and anybody who wins election on a
party’s platform and decides to defect should surrender the mandate to
the party and go for a fresh election.

Register to vote

While in Adamawa
State, Mr Onu urged members of the party to participate in the
forthcoming voters’ registration “because it is the first step of
attaining victory.” According to him, their participation will help to
eradicate the mysterious names that exist in the register and which
were used to rig elections. Mr Onu informed the party members that the
national leadership has constituted a Contact Committee charged with
the responsibility of reaching out to the members of the party, who
left the party for different reason and bring them back.

He also urged members of the party to go all out and get more
supporters so that PDP will have no place to run to in Adamawa State.

The ministers of
defence and finance, Adetokunbo Kayode and Olusegun Aganga, are among
top government officials expected to be questioned this week by the
House of Representatives over the spending and status of Nigeria’s
accruals from United Nations Peacekeeping operations.

The two ministers
were earlier billed to address the House committee on defence last week
on how the funds earned by Nigeria from years of foreign peace missions
in Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Lebanon, and Sudan were applied.

Mr. Aganga was also ordered to appear before the lawmakers’ plenary over poor funding of federal capital budget.

Both meetings were suspended and no excuse officially given.

The chairman of the
House defence committee, Oluwole Oke, said the ministers, amongst
several other summoned public officials, will be expected to tell the
lawmakers “what they know about the funds”, said to be in billions of
dollars.

In the past, the
disbursements of funds to security personnel who took part in Nigeria’s
several United Nations-backed peace missions, have stirred controversy,
with mostly junior officers complaining of being short-changed.

Twenty eight
soldiers, who represented the Nigerian mission in several conflict
areas, were court-martialed and jailed for life in 2009, after staging
an open protest in 2008 about the non-payment of their entitlements.

The House committee
is to review the allocations from the UN made to Nigeria since 2007,
and how the monies were used and where they were lodged.

Mr. Oke confirmed that the meeting with the ministers and others will now hold on Tuesday.

Also to appear are the group managing director of Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Austin Oniwon; the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) governor, Lamido Sanusi; the managing director of Unity
Bank Plc, Falalu Bello; the director general of the Budget Office and
Accountant General of the Federation, Ibrahim Dankwabo.

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, over the weekend, advised the federal government to consider meting out
appropriate sanction to the country of origin of the arms and
ammunitions intercepted recently at the Apapa Port, Lagos.

Mr Fashola, while
speaking to journalists at the Tin Can Island Port where he had gone to
inspect the impounded consignment, said taking such action will
reinforce the successful interception and send a positive message to
the international community that Nigerian ports are not for terrorism
acts. “This is a huge trading port,” he said. “Our port and the
businesses that it brings in terms of export to other countries create
international commercial benefit that must never be abused against the
safety of citizens. So this is the time we should be finding out where
this cargo originated from and summoning their diplomatic
representative if we have not done so.

This is where we
should be considering whether or not we should suspend import from that
country to send the strongest signal to every other countries that ship
goods to Nigeria that our port are ports for development of the
prosperity of Nigeria and Nigerians and not port for being agents of
destruction. I want to see the Minister of Foreign Affairs summoning
the Ambassador of the country who owns the vessel, the people who are
named on the bill of lading, even if
they are not in Nigeria. This is not different from what happened to us
when one of our citizens was caught in an aircraft. They de-categorised
and reclassified our airport. The seaport is not different.”

India, or Iran

According to the
Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Dikko Abdullahi,
the ship came into Nigeria, in transit, from India, but its country of
origin is yet to be ascertained. The seized weapons, contained in 13
containers, were intercepted by a combined team of State Security
Service and Customs officials.

However, the
shipping company that shipped the crates of weapons, CMA CGM, a French
company, said the ship was loaded in Iran and its next destination
after Nigeria is Gambia. The company, in a statement made available to
Reuters, claimed it had been a victim of false declaration. “The
shipment in question was booked as a ‘shipper’s owned container’ and
supplied loaded and sealed by the shipper, an Iranian trader who does
not appear on any ‘forbidden persons’ listing. The containers were
loaded in Bandar Abbas and discharged in Lagos in July,” stated the
company.

Mr Fashola, who described as unimaginable, what would have happened
if the consignment had escaped, commended the Nigerian Customs Service.
“I think the message to be sent is: What do we do with the latest
success? Do we want to climb a slope or climb a hill? I think we must
use this success to climb a slope and progress from here”, he said.

A group, The Justice and Law
Enforcement Reformation Organisation of Nigeria, has kicked against the
plan by the Federal Road Safety Commission to introduce new number
plates, with expiry dates, as well as new drivers’ licence.

In a letter to the corp marshall and
chief executive of the commission, the group said the FRSC has no right
under the constitution to undertake the task.

Copies of the three-page letter, signed
by its executive secretary, Israel Nwagabor, was also sent to the
Senate president, David Mark; Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Dimeji Bankole; the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aloysius Katsina-Alu;
secretary to the government of the federation, Yayale Ahmed; the 36
state governors; the director general of the state security service;
the Inspector General of Police; and the Minister of Justice, Mohammed
Adoke.

Losing focus

The group, in the letter, said: “The
role of your commission is primarily to provide safety for traffic on
federal trunk roads, as provided in item 63 of the exclusive
legislative list of the 1999 Constitution.

“That the provisions of Section 15,
Section 5 (f) (g) (h) and section 10 (3) (c ), (e), (g), (u) of the
FRSC Establishment Act 2007 are inconsistent with the spirit and
provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

“The introduction of new vehicles
registration number with expiry dates and the new drivers’ license is
an attempt by your commission to continually rip the public of funds.
The introduction of your proposed vehicle registration plates with
expiry date and drivers’ licence will in no way help to improve your
primary duty of ensuring safety of traffic on federal trunk roads.”

The group asked the commission to stop
further encroachment into the functions of the police and state
agencies, particularly vehicle inspection officers.

It also threatened to mobilise civil society organisations against
the commission over its involvement in motor vehicle administration
duties of states if it (the commission) insists on changing the current
number plates/drivers’ licence without the consent and approval of all.