Nigeria Content Online

The trial of the
former chief executive of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Erastus Akingbola,
did not start yesterday as expected as the Chief Judge of the Federal
High Court, Daniel Abutu, transferred it to a new judge.

The trial which was previously handled by Mohammed Idris will now be presided over by Charles Achibong.

Mr. Akingbola is standing trial over an alleged missing N364 billion linked to him by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The former CEO,
who returned to the country two months ago to clear his name over the
allegation of financial impropriety during his tenure as managing
director and CEO of Intercontinental Bank, was also in court yesterday
for the trial before his counsels were briefed about the change of
judge.

A counsel to Mr.
Akingbola, Felix Fagbohungbe, told journalists that no definite date has
been fixed for the trial as the prosecuting counsel were absent from
the trial.

Mr. Fagbohungbe, however said the court registrar would send hearing notices to the parties on the next adjourned date.

Meanwhile, Mr.
Akingbola has resolved to challenge the CBN on how it arrived at the
figures quoted as the amount allegedly misappropriated by him.

From the content
of the charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crime
Commission (EFCC), funds movements as alleged are loans to companies
related to the directors of the banks, reclassified loan portfolio of
the bank; direct investments by the bank into the stock market and staff
performance bonuses.

Mr. Akingbola is
querying the connection of the funds to his name or companies in all the
reports produced by CBN, National Deposit Insurance Commission (NDIC)
or EFCC.

In his statement
of defence, Mr. Akingbola averred that the total amount reported to have
gone as loan to companies related to some directors of the bank is
about N40 billion, out of which N22.9 billion has been repaid with N17.1
billion outstanding but he was accused of permitting the amounts to be
outstanding.

The second
component of the figure in the charge amounting to N87.6 billion
represented the value of bank’s loan portfolio, where, the former bank
chief was accused of allowing this amount to be translated as commercial
paper, which according to the apex bank, understand the bank’s
non-performance loan portfolio.

The third
component of the charge comprises the various sums the bank invested in
the stock market, totalling N179.4 billion; Mr. Akingbola was accused of
approving the investment in order to boost the bank’s share price in
the stock market.

The balance of
about N39 billion out of the N346 billion quoted as misappropriated
represented various staff performance bonuses paid to bank’s staff over
several years which the apex bank considered inappropriate.

The governor of Ondo state, Olusegun Mimiko, has urged the
Independent Electoral Commission to speed up the process for a new voter’s
registration, saying it is the only means to have credible elections in the
country.

While speaking as the special guest of honour at an event
organised by the Campaign for Democracy, the governor said Nigeria’s
development depends on credible elections.

“If I am to give a three point agenda for Nigeria future, I
will say number one credible election, number two, credible election and number
three, credible election. For me, I don’t believe there is a short cut to it;
this Nigeria must rise and shine again.”

Mr Mimiko urged that stakeholders must ensure that there is
healthy internal democracy within all political parties, stating that, “issues
where people that are not even members of a political party emerges as the
aspirants should end. That has always been the beginning of the panic at every
election year.”

Getting it right

also giving a possibility of getting the conduct of election
right in the country again, the convener of the Save Nigeria Group and keynote
Speaker at the event, Tunde Bakare told the audience that the only means for
Nigerians to take charge of the country’s destiny is to understand the power of
their vote and be part of the coming voters’ registration to get one.

“If it is like a supreme sacrifice, and we must pay it. Until
we know the right thing and do it rightly, we cannot get it right. Until what
was wrong was put right and every Nigerian stand and be counted to have a fair,
free and credible election.” He said.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos state, Adekunle
Ogunmola who got to know about the event while on a visit to the office of the
commissioner of Police Lagos state command, Marvel Akpoyibo, also had
accompanied Mr. Akpoyibo and urged the organisers to always ensure that he is
approached and invited for such event in the future.

Mr Ogunmola said Nigerians can take to Mr. Bakare’s advice on
not trusting INEC, believing that INEC is a body that comprises many
individuals, “so until we give what we promised. I only know myself, we can’t
speak for all of us.”

Speaking on a topic, “Security Environment for a free and fair
election,” Mr. Akpoyibo advised Nigerians to help the police by granting
information resource to help its work, claiming that the causes of crime has
always been every ones faults.

“Whenever there is a failure or a candidate has lost an election, of course
the police are always being held accountable, even those who lost lawfully and
those who lost unlawfully. Perhaps there is this fact, that if there has been
any failure in the past, it was a systemic failure.”

A shake up of the
Nigeria Police Force on Monday saw about 16 senior officers, including
the Force PRO Emmanuel Ojukwu, redeployed and another detained for
tampering with officer salaries.

NEXT, gathered that a
group of pay officers had tampered with the salary increases approved
for each cadre of the police personnel stalling the salary payment
process. The officers are accused of deducting up to N20,000 each from
the salaries of the rank and file, while the salaries of more senior
officers were muddled up in such a manner that it will be difficult to
confirm their actual take home pay.

According to police
sources, the officers connived with the commissioner of police in charge
of budget at the force headquarters to perpetrate the act, which has
been a common phenomenon in whenever there is an increase in officers’
salaries.

Other states affected in the scam include Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Lagos.

An officer, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, said his salaries and allowances,
including three-month arrears, were far less than what his counterparts
in Abuja and other parts of the country were expecting.

“Well, I didn’t want to talk until I sign my voucher and collect [my salary],” he said.

“Some of my
colleagues in Abuja here have started writing their petitions that is
why they invited some of the pay officers from about seven states,
including Lagos State, to write statements.”

However, police are
denying the allegations. Yomi Ajayi, Chief Superintendent of Police and
acting force public relations officer, said his enquiry at the budget
office in Abuja revealed scams of any kind and dismissed the reports
‘rumour mongering’.

Officers redeployed
In a related development, the force public relations officer and
assistant commissioner of police, Emmanuel Ojukwu, and 14 other senior
officers have been redeployed from the force headquarters in Abuja to
other state commands and departments.

Mr Ojukwu has been
moved to Imo State as the officer in charge of the State Criminal
Investigations Department (SCID), Imo State Command, Owerri.

The redeployment
letter was signed by the Force Secretary, Suleiman Fakai on behalf of
the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim. The letter said that the
new postings were immediate. Mr Ojukwu is replaced by CSP Yomi Ajayi
becomes.

The redeployment affected eight deputy commissioners, three assistant
commissioners (ACPs) and four CSPs. It is the first major shake-up by
Mr. Ringim since his assumption of office in September.

An Ibadan-based group, Touch-Bearers,
has called on the Olubadan of Ibadan, Samuel Odulana, Odugade 1, to
intervene in the internal wrangling of the Oyo state council of the
National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to avoid the
bloodletting associated with the protracted fight.

The group, in a statement made
available to journalists on Sunday and jointly signed by Muse Popoola
and Dupe Adewoye, Chairman and secretary respectively, also called on
other eminent Ibadan indigenes to call the leaders of the two major
factions in the union, Messrs Lateef Akionsola (aka Tokyo) and Lateef
Salako (aka Elewe-Omo) to order for the peace and tranquility of the
state.

“NURTW crisis should be seen as a tiny
spark of fire that can burn a whole house down if care is not taken,”
says the group, while stressing that since the two factional leaders
are from Ibadan, they must consider sheathing their swords and allow
peace and security of lives and property to reign in the land.

The release also urged the state
government to lift the proscription order on the union and allow it to
continue to function like other registered trade union in the state, as
it equally urged the leaders of the union to stop giving the world the
impression that their union is a military arm of the successive state
governments used to intimidate political opponents.

Reiterating the need for the Oba to intervene, the posited that
“only bastards in the society can disagree with the orders and
directives of a Royal father. The two leaders should see each other as
brothers, after all, Eleweomo is like a son to Tokyo”.

The unresolved
crisis of the Ogun State House of Assembly, which led security
operatives to seal the Assembly complex over a month ago, will be
discussed by the Senate this week.

A Senator in the
National Assembly representing Ogun State, Lekan Mustapha, disclosed
this weekend in an interview with journalists in Ijebu-Ode.

The house had given
the lawmakers a week, which expired at the weekend, to resume
deliberations or have the powers to make laws for the state taken over
by Representatives. The House of Representatives is expected to
announce its decision during the plenary on Tuesday.

Mr Mustapaha said
the Senate has also agreed to intervene in the crisis, which started
after a group of nine lawmakers in the house met to suspend 15 of their
colleagues, including the Speaker of the assembly.

“I can tell you
that within a very short time, a decision will be taken by the Senate,
that decision I don’t know what it will be,” he said. “Definitely, a
decision will be taken. What the House of Representatives has done is a
welcome development. Definitely the reaction of the Senate will also
come.

“We are all members
of the National Assembly, when they do something like that, it comes to
the Senate for our concurrent agreement and if we do it first, it also
go to House of Representatives for concurrent. We have a bond to take a
decision on it.”

Mr Mustapaha, who
is Chairman of the Senate Committe on Interior, said it is the
responsibility of national leaders to take steps to resolve the issue
without minding whose ox is gored.

“A lot of
insinuations is being peddled round that people are not willing to
resolve the matter, because certain individuals are involved and don’t
want to offend those people. I don’t want to believe that, because laws
are not made for specific people, laws are made for the generality of
the people,” he said.

Mr Mustapha, who is also seeking second term in the upper chambers,
added that he was sure something will be done about the matter in the
next few days, “because we can’t continue like this and take people for
granted”.

Chairman of Action
Congress of Nigeria {ACN} in Abeokuta South Local Government Area of
Ogun State, Bisiriyu Semiu Adebare was at the weekend abducted by
suspected party thugs.

Sources say the
victim was forcefully taken from his private office at Quarry road,
Abeokuta by armed men who allegedly demanded for the party’s
registration forms and register, which they needed to increase the
number of party members in the camp of their suspected sponsor.

After the
abduction, the victim was allegedly driven to the home of one of the
party leaders where he was said to have being beaten blue and black as
part of efforts to collect the register from him.

Relief came his way
later after obeying the wish of his abductors, but that was not before
his dress was torn to shreds during his captivity.

On regaining his
freedom, the victim headed straight to the police station where he
lodged a petition to the police authority narrating his ordeal in the
hand of his alleged captors, who have since disappeared into thin air
as at the time of this report.

The petition,
titled, ‘Abduction and Theft,’ was addressed to the Area Commander of
Nigeria Police Force, Zone 2 located in Oke-Ilewo area of the town.

Mr Adebare, while
narrating the ugly experience said: “I was in my office when these
political thugs stormed my place asking for our party local government
membership registration. They threatened to kill me if I do not provide
it for them.

“I told them the
registration register is in the party secretariat and that where they
came is my private office, but this explanation did not go down with
them. They forced me at gun point into the vehicle they brought and
took me away.

“I was abducted,
molested and stripped naked and taken away with one car. They said they
were looking for membership card in which I told them to go to their
various wards to register. I would have been killed if it was not
because one of the boys in my office recognized three of them.” He said
he had equally informed the state chairman of the party, Tajudeen Bello
about the incident.

The chairman of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Vitalis Abba, has said
that the dissolution of the executive committee of the party in the
state by the national secretariat last Saturday, was the handiwork of
mischievous and self-centred elements in the state.

Mr Abba said the
people responsible for the action, who he did not name, took advantage
of a parallel executive committee to mis-represent and instigate the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) into recommending
fresh congress.

The national
secretariat of the PDP, on Saturday, announced the dissolution of the
committee. In a letter signed by Ike Abonyi, the media aide to the
national chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo, the party also set up an
eight-member Congress Committee headed by Anthony Agbo to conduct fresh
congress. Enugu is Mr Nwodo’s home state and he was its governor in the
Third Republic.

“The Enugu State
Chapter of the party wishes to state that the said action is only but
the handiwork of mischievous and self-centered elements in the state,
who want to take advantage of a non-existent parallel executive
committee of the party in the state to misrepresent, manipulate and
instigate the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) into
recommending fresh congress of the party in Enugu State,” Mr. Abba
said.

“It is on record
that the current executive committee led by Engr. Abba was duly elected
through a process that kept faith with the composition of required
delegates for the state congress as stipulated in Article 12(40) of the
PDP Constitution,” he said.

Mr Abba also said
that the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Enugu State, Abdu
Bulama, who monitored the congress with other officials of the
commission did a report on the exercise on March 3, 2008, adding that
the executive committee had always enjoyed the confidence and support
of the national leadership of the party since its inception till-date.

He, however, argued
that it is not the prerogative of any individual to dissolve or
reconstitute a state executive committee, adding that it breaches
laid-down procedures of the party.

The sacked chairman
urged members of the party in the state to remain calm and law-abiding
as measures are being taken to resolve the issue at stake.

“In the face of the
recent contentious development, we urge our teeming party faithful in
the state to remain calm and law abiding as measures are been taken to
constitutionally resolve the extant issues. It is also what noting here
that this matter is currently before a Federal High Court in Enugu
State,” he said.

More states in trouble

Meanwhile, anxiety has gripped the executive committees of the PDP in eight other states where elections are being contended.

The states are Ogun, Kano, Adamawa, Oyo, Plateau, Imo, Bayelsa and Delta.

INEC had in a
letter signed by Regina Omo-Agege, the INEC Director in charge of
political party monitoring, to Mr Nwodo last month, criticised the
manner the committees in the states emerge, saying it breached the
provisions of the party’s constitution.

The letter
generated heat in the party, prompting the national working committee
(NWC) to meet and direct the national legal adviser, Olusola Oke, to
ask the electoral body to stay away from the matter since, according to
it, was an internal one. However, the commission insisted on the party
following the guidelines.

Reports from the affected states on Sunday, indicated that members
of the executive committees jittery that the national secretariat may
also dissolve them. A source said that some of them are planning to
visit Abuja during the week to stop their possible sack.

A new development
initiative between national and international donor agencies and
development groups in the Niger Delta region was launched at the
weekend.

Foundation for
Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) was launched in Abuja
to provide the platform for the advancement of the new development
strategy by Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) to help redress some of the
challenges oil and gas companies operating in the region have been
facing.

Chevron
Corporation, which recently established the Niger Delta Partnership
Initiative (NDPI) Foundation, a new five year $50 million programme to
help explore fresh socio-economic opportunities in the region, said the
initiative will work with other donor agencies in public and private
sectors to administer economic development activities for commercial
agriculture and small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) development.

Other activities,
according to its Project Director, Dennis Flemming, include capacity
building to strengthen local government agencies and civil society
organizations; peace building activities to foster stability and
reconciliation in the region; analysis and advocacy programmes to
identify socio-economic needs of the people of the region.

Mr Flemming said
the organisation will implement its programmes throughout the nine oil
producing states of the region through a careful analysis and
negotiation process to identify viable projects and the most suitable
locations for them.

A new benchmark

Managing Director
of Chevron, Andrew Fawthrop, described the initiative as, “a new
benchmark in Chevron’s approach to help deliver better social and
economic outcomes in the places where we operate”, adding that the
approach to work with other development partners will offer an
opportunity to “develop dynamic new solutions for the development
challenges faced by the Niger Delta region.

Though it is
expected to operate from two main locations – Abuja and Warri – the
initial development partners will include Ministry of Niger Delta
Affairs, German technical Corporation (GTZ), United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), World Bank, United Nation’s Global Fund and the Delta State
government.

Minister of Niger
Delta Affairs, Goodsday Orubebe, said the initiative, which is designed
to help transform the socio-economic fortunes and welfare of the people
of the Niger Delta region, was in line with what the government is
putting together in collaboration with some international development
agencies to establish the Niger Delta Trust Fund (NDTF) to help tackle
the development challenges of the region.

A former vice
president and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant,
Atiku Abubakar has again raised the alarm over the state of the
nation’s economy, and warned that unless something drastic was done, it
might collapse. Mr Abubakar, in a statement sent to media houses
yesterday by his campaign outfit, said the gloomy picture of the
nation’s economy painted by foremost rating agency, Fitch Ratings, is a
matter for urgent intervention, not politicking. But in a swift
reaction, the Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organisation dismissed Mr
Abubakar’s warning, insisting that the economy is doing well.

Mr Abubakar said
the Fitch Ratings report of October 22, which lowered Nigeria’s
investment grade by three notches to BB-minus should be a wakeup call
to all those unaware of the true status of the nation’s economy.
“Citing the depletion of its windfall oil savings and heightened
political uncertainty ahead of elections next year,” Mr Abubakar said
it is fast becoming very urgent for the federal government to pay
serious attention to the economy.” He also recalled his earlier alert
last week following Standard & Poor’s B-plus rating. Mr. Abubakar
said, “rather than taking me seriously on the concerns I expressed, my
advice only fetched me rebuke and insults from the Jonathan Campaign
Organization.”

Lessons from history

He recounted that
it was the same defiant attitude the defunct National Party of Nigeria
(NPN)-led federal government had towards repeated calls by the then
opposition leader, late Obafemi Awolowo. According to him, “they
ignored the warnings of the late sage and when they realised it, it was
too late to save anything. That was the point at which they declared
the economic emergency that gave rise to the ‘hated austerity measures’
of that era.” Mr Abubakar, however, commended the National Assembly for
its exemplary courage in faulting the handling of the economy and poor
implementation of the current budget ahead of the latest negative
report on the economy. He said that no serious government could afford
to ignore these danger signals from international credit rating
agencies as this would amount to nonchalance. He argued that the
management of the nation’s economy, the lifeline for the sustenance of
its democracy should not be sacrificed for political expediency. “Fitch
in its latest rating of our economy said continued withdrawals from the
nation’s excess crude account, into which Nigeria saves crude oil
earnings above a benchmark price, and lower foreign exchange reserves
were a threat to economic stability,” the aspirants said, alluding to
the agency’s warning that “the depletion of the excess crude account
and continued gradual fall in international reserves at a time of high
oil prices and record high oil production is a major concern.”

Political logjam

But the spokesman
of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation, Sully Abu, said that he
(Abubakar) is merely whipping up hysteria on the matter through
selective evidence that can in no way represent the whole picture.
“Former vice President Atiku Abubakar has kept on his drumbeat of doom
and gloom on the state of the economy. We will however not join any
polemical war by those who insist on whipping up hysteria on this or on
any other issue through use of selective evidence that can in no way
present the whole picture,” Mr Abu said. “We want to reiterate that the
fundamentals of the nation’s economy remain promising on the short term
and the long term. Fitch or not, the economy remains on the path of
strong growth.”

The Conference of
Nigeria Political Parties, yesterday, asked the Independent National
Electoral Commission to immediately award the final contract for the
procurement of Direct Data Capture machines and accessories for the
forthcoming voters registration.

The group, however,
commended the electoral body for collaborating with the Bureau for
Public Procurement to appraise the companies bidding for the supply of
the machines in order to guarantee appropriate pricing and quality.

In a release by its
spokesperson, Osita Okechukwu, in Abuja, the CNPP argued that its
shocking that neither the basic award of the contract for procurement
of the equipment was yet to be concluded nor had the training of staff
for the voters registration, initially scheduled for next month before
INEC sought for postponement, commenced.

“CNPP frowns at a
sordid scenario where the National Voters Registration exercise which
could have commenced November 1st a few days time but for the extension
of time; neither the basic award of the contract for the procurement of
the equipment is yet to be concluded nor the training of the staff has
commenced,” it said.

The group said the
electoral body’s collaboration with the procurement bureau to appraise
the 12 companies bidding for the supply of the machines would guarantee
appropriate pricing, quality, value for money and maintenance.

It commended the
commission INEC for selecting an indigenous company – Zinox Technology
– to lead the two other companies which would procure the equipment,
adding as an indigenous company, the company would empower mostly
Nigerians with technological know-how since maintenance would be better
guaranteed and retention of profit would be higher.

“We salute INEC, when we understand that Zinox presented the best
bid both in terms of pricing and proving record of procuring the same
machines at short notice in the midst of confusion for INEC in 2006. As
an indigenous company with offices across the federation we can easily
hold Zinox responsible for any default,” the CNPP said.