Nigeria Content Online

No
separate Value Added Tax (VAT) was paid by the House of Representatives
on the 380 units of cars Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited sold to the
legislative chamber in 2008, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the
agency saddled with the task of collecting taxes and remitting same to
the government, has said.

The agency’s
statement was meant to clear the air following weeks of speculation and
allegation that the leadership of the House of Representatives paid the
tax on the cars.

The issues were
raised and cleared at a board meeting of FIRS, held on Tuesday at the
agency’s headquarters attended by a NEXT correspondent.

Speaking at the
meeting, Samuel Ogungbesan, the Acting Executive Chairman of the
agency, said from the records available, the House of Representatives
did not pay VAT on the cars.

Mr. Ogungbesan, the
Coordinating Director of Tax Operations Group (TOG), is holding the
brief for Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, the executive chairman of FIRS, who is
currently on leave. He said FIRS was disturbed over the speculative
reports in the media on the issue.

“At FIRS, the VAT
element of our business is a multi-staged system. But what we advocate
is that it should either be paid between the earliest point of sales
and the end point of consumption. The truth of the matter is that VAT
was not paid by Reps on those cars.

“The reason why it
was not paid is that the price quoted and submitted by PAN was already
inclusive of VAT. PAN had said that the price it was quoting was
inclusive of VAT.”

Explaining how PAN
could demand VAT as part of the contract cost of the cars’ purchase,
Mr. Ogungbesan said it is possible under the multi-stage system of
paying VAT in the country.

“Of course, as a
trader, PAN could insist on collecting the amount for VAT so as to be
in charge. This might account for the reason they will demand for the
payment of VAT in the original cost.”

A non-governmental
organisation, the Human Rights Justice and Peace Foundation (HRJPF),
had accused the leadership of the House in separate petitions to the
EFCC, the Presidency, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister
of Justice, as well as the Federal Inland Revenue Service of paying
double VAT on the cars and making about N530 million on the 380 units
car deal.

According to the
group, the payment of N117 million to the FIRS was unlawful as it
amounted to double taxation and a waste of tax payers’ money since VAT
was already included in the N2. 3 billion quoted by PAN paid for the
cars by the House.

But Dimeji Bankole,
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has denied the allegation
and urged the EFCC to investigate and prosecute anybody found to have
contravened the laws.

However, Mr. Ogungbesan could not state categorically whether the
House of Representatives was exempted from paying VAT on public goods
and services as was also speculated before now.

Jerome Mourinho is
stressed. As the Chief Operating Officer of Bi-Courtney Aviation
Services Limited, the concessionaire of the Murtala Mohammed Airport,
Ikeja, Lagos, he is charged with making sure the airport is run
efficiently and profitably too. To do this, he needs to work closely
with the Federal Airports Authority (FAAN), the statutory body that
supervises the management of facilities at the airport and which
concessioned MMA2 to Bi-courtney in a Build Operate and Transfer
agreement.

Yet, this
relationship, which should be a close and fruitful one, is strained.
The reasons border on accusations and counter accusations of debt and
refusal to honour contractual agreements.

At a Senate
Committee appearance in May, Richard Asuebeogun, managing director of
FAAN, said the organisation was being owed N714 million by Bi-Courtney
for revenues collected on its behalf and which Bi-Courtney is yet to
remit.

But Bi-Courtney was
quick to counter FAAN claims, saying that it is infact FAAN which is
owing the company N11 billion. According to Bi-Courtney, the concession
agreement it has gives it control over all scheduled domestic flights
in and out of Lagos State.

Relying on a court
judgement on March 3 2009, which says Bi-Courtney should run the
General Aviation Terminal, GAT, the company said FAAN is supposed to
relinquish control of the terminal to the concessionaire and also remit
all revenue it has so far collected because, as far as it (Bi-Courtney)
is concerned, those monies are revenue which should legitimately come
to the company.

FAAN insists that
GAT is not part of the concession agreement, and so does not form part
of the revenue expectations of the concessionaire. “What they say we
owe them is for take-off and landing of aircraft at the General
Aviation Terminal (GAT). They are relying on a judgement which stated
that Bi-Courtney has right over GAT.

The concession
agreement does not include GAT, so they cannot be laying claims to
services rendered at that terminal. In any case, we have briefed our
lawyers. In the previous case, they listed only the Attorney General as
defendant. We now want to be joined in the case,” said Akin Olukunle,
general manager, public affairs of FAAN.

Bi-Courtney insists
that its counter-claims were genuine, based on obligations under the
concession agreement between it, the Federal Government of Nigeria, and
FAAN, dated April 24 2003, and as varied by the supplementary
concession agreement, dated June 26, 2004, and the addendum on February
2, 2007.

“You can have cargo
flights, or international flights but all scheduled domestic flights in
and out of Lagos state are covered by the agreement,” Mr. Mourinho
said, adding, “it is on these terms that the banks loaned us money.”

“MMA2 has capacity
for 4 million passengers a year; I am doing only 1.5 million. Will I
now tell the banks that I am now making less than 40 percent of my
projected revenue?” He asked rhetorically.

“This is an issue
that has been heard at the High Court, Appeal Court, and Supreme Court
and all judgements are in favour of Bi-Courtney”, Mr. Marinho said.

Efforts to get
response from FAAN on these particular issues were unsuccessful, as the
spokesman refused to respond to further enquiries.

Before now, the
late President Umar Yar’Adua, perhaps seeing the futility of
government’s position, directed the ministry of aviation to abide by
the terms of the agreement, since it is valid. At a meeting held in
July 2009 involving the parties, the late Yar’Adua said the review of
the concession period to 36 years, though valid, would need to be
reviewed. In the document of the special meeting on aviation, held on
July 7 2009, made exclusively available to NEXT, Yar’Adua directed that
the concessionaire be given the right of first refusal to develop GAT.

“Whatever
infractions that may have occurred are internal matters of government
who will revert to Bi-Courtney if there is reason to do so,” the report
added. The document concluded that the reviewed period will have to be
ratified by the Federal Executive Council before it can be binding on
government. The FEC is yet to ratify this part of the agreement.

Regulatory and legal issues

A competent source
who spoke on condition of anonymity, attributes the current imbroglio
to government’s penchant to always leave important things undone. He
said as at 2003, when the federal government was signing the first
concession agreement with Bi-Courtney, there was no existing framework
on how it should operate, practically giving the concessionaire the
liberty of dictating the terms. According to him, concession
arrangement were novel, and there was little in terms of competence on
the side of government agencies to draft an agreement that would be
beneficial to the country. This created a lopsided background for the
concessionaire to arm-twist the government to concede certain
privileges.

Not until November
2008, over a year after the final draft of the agreement had been
signed, did the government inaugurate the Infrastructure Concession
Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the agency that is to regulate all
concession and public private sector partnership (PPP) agreements and
infrastructure development.

But Mr. Marinho
dismissed this claim as unfair, saying the government had the Bureau of
Public Enterprises (BPE) protecting its interest. “This document was
with BPE for months They had consultants and lawyers who were working
on it on their behalf,” he said.

According to him,
Bi-Courtney was not the initial winner of the concession bid. “There
was a company called Sanderton, which was supposed to build the MMA2.
They were on it for nearly nine years and they could not develop the
project before we came in. So they already had a framework they were
working with before we came in,” Mr. Marinho said.

He said the
concession documents were with the BPE, Ministry of Aviation, Nigeria
Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and FAAN and so they are familiar with
the contents. “If it were these institutions that are making these
accusations, then I would be worried.”

However, our source
said the concession agreement was drafted mainly by Bi-Courtney, as
FAAN was reluctant to submit its own position. “FAAN showed no
preparedness to draft the document; thus Bi-Courtney took over. So the
perceived lopsidedness of the agreement cannot be blamed on
Bi-Courtney,” he said.

Ibn Na Allah,
member, House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary,
collaborates this. According to him, the airport concession agreement
was skewed in favour of the concessionaire, and for this, he is
furious. Na Allah said FAAN lacked the human capacity to be able to put
up a decent agreement that would be in the interest of the country,
thus giving the concessionaire undue advantage of drafting the
agreements to suit them.

“Any staff of FAAN
legal department who took part in the drafting of that agreement should
by now be rotting in jail because they sold out Nigeria,” he said.

Spokesman for the
ICRC, Gbenga Odugbesan, said the commission is making an effort to
correct an already bad situation, adding that the commission met with
the parties in January and followed up two weeks ago in order to reach
an amicable settlement.

“ICRC is working
hard to resolve the issues and experts have been engaged to offer
inputs into the agreements. The interest of the commission is not to
jeorpadise each party, because the government needs massive sum to fix
infrastructure and it cannot do it alone”, he appealed.

Ope Banwo, a
lawyer, said the development is a reflection of government not being
accountable to the people. According to him, many of the interested
parties in the agreement were not carried along, hence the
disagreement. “While it is the responsibility of government to ensure
all interest groups are taken care of, they don’t do that. In fact,
there should be public hearings for people to debate any proposed
government concession before the government gives it out, but we only
see when they are signing the contract.”

No Continuity

The high turnover
of ministers and officials in the aviation industry may also be a
factor in the lingering crisis. From 2003, when the first concession
agreement was signed, to now, there has been seven ministers of
aviation, with five appointed since 2005. The story is the same with
FAAN. Since 2005, there have been four managing director in FAAN, with
the current helmsman, Richard Aisuebeogun, appointed in 2007.

“I am apportioning part of this problem to the breakdown in business continuity,” said Mr. Marinho.

“Every minister
comes with his own ideas and programmes. With the appointment of a new
minister or managing director, we have had to start the process of
explaining and negotiating all over again,” he said.

On this, Mr. Banwo
believes that there should be continuity in government policies .“Our
politicians do not practice government continuity principle. Every new
governor or president wants to start over by cancelling the previous
contracts or arrangements made by their predecessor simply to put their
own people in place, and that is hurting us.

“Developed nations
do not do that, regardless of which government is in power. They simply
wait for renewal time or new projects to start taking care of their own
agenda,” he explained.

According to the
lawyer, agreements are sacrosanct. “Our governments should consider
public interest before signing agreements. It is absurd to cite public
interest later to dodge your responsibilities under an agreement. That
is why they call it contract or agreement. It means you agreed to be
bound. You may review if there are clauses for review in the contract,
but you can’t just wake up and say I don’t like this agreement you
signed voluntarily on grounds of public interest,” he said.

He said government
should be careful about the type of facilities that it concessions, as
some amenities are too important to the wellbeing of the masses for
government to hands off entirely.

“I personally think
a lot of the concessioning is really bad for the country. I am an
unapologetic capitalist, but there are some things that should not be
concessioned like major roads,” he said.

Implications for investors

This scenario, no
doubt, has implication for the government’s drive to attract foreign
investments. Mr. Banwo said with the way government is handling the
issue, no serious investor would be willing to put money down for any
long term capital project. “Governments are supposed to live by their
words and agreements. It is called national credibility. If we lose
that, no serious company will risk investing major money here. ” Mr.
Banwo said.

According to Mr.
Marinho, it even has implications for local investors. “What about the
banks, they provided the funding. There are five airports across the
country that government has earmarked for concessioning. What is
happening to them?”

He said the banks
are refusing to advance credit to other parties interested in the
airports because of the way the Lagos airport is being handled. “When
they ask for loans, the banks tell them, go and meet Bi-Courtney and
let them tell you what they are going through. These banks need to get
their money back,” he said.

Grey areas

He admitted,
though, that there may be some grey areas in the agreement that may be
causing disagreement. “It’s a build, operate, and transfer. I am only
operating it now. At the end, it will go back to FAAN.”

He said the banks
that provided the capital for the project need to remain in business.
According to Mr. Banwo, the government is not often mindful of the
implication for investors. “We all know that most times that government
claim public interest, they are really trying to share the loot for
their own people. Anytime I hear ‘public interest’ in Nigeria, I know
somebody is about to screw us in Nigeria,” he said.

On his part, Mr.
Marinho blames the disagreement on the learning process that comes with
a novel idea. “Because we are pioneers in this relationship, there have
been challenges. There have been issues here and there, but nothing
that cannot be settled. We need FAAN to stay in business and FAAN needs
us for the revenue we generate. It was a federal government decision to
privatise, and the necessary parties signed.”

The hope is that
all parties will be magnanimous and shift ground. Mr. Marinho said all
the documentations are with the minster of aviation, Fidelia Njeze, who
is looking into the issue with the view of brokering an amicable
settlement. It is obvious that all the parties will have to shift some
ground in the interest of all concerned. This may be a tough one on
government, as Section 11 of the ICRC regulations states that “no
agreement shall be arbitrarily stopped or cancelled.”

What this means is that government still needs the cooperation of the concessionaire before any change can be effected.

I
have just finished Foreign Policy, an international magazine that
prides itself in in-depth reporting of international affairs around the
world. It is a magazine I respect very much and make it a point of duty
to read whenever it is published. The latest edition, which I’ve just
read, is devoted to the state of the world and the ranking of countries.

My concern here is
not about the ranking of countries, but the extra thing that the
magazine did about the compilation of what it calls “The worst of the
worst.” In this segment, the editors listed about 23 world leaders whom
they considered the worst leaders in their various parts of the world
and countries. Out of the 23 worst leaders listed, 13 are from Africa.

I am in no dispute
with the list because all the Africans on it are, by my own assessment,
eminently qualified for the disreputable compilation. In no particular
order, I will mention all the 13 disreputable leaders and run a brief
commentary on them, hoping that this would provoke a robust discussion
of the fate of the continent and show us why we are the way we are and
why we are where we stand today.

There is Paul Biya
of Cameroun, who the editors describe as “a suave bandit.” He has ruled
his country for 28 years and does not look as if he is ready to cede
power to anyone. He is, at least, not like his predecessor, Ahmadu
Ahidjo, who left power to him, even if not too willingly.

There is also Paul
Kagame, who came, like most others did, as a “liberator”, and has today
turned himself into the tin god of Kigali. He has spent just 10 years
in power and is determined to go further. With recent events in his
country, the killing of a rival military general in South Africa and
one or two other journalists, by the time he is done, he may have
beaten the record of the butcher of Kampala. Though I agree that Kagame
may have been able to bring some stability and development to his
country, the monopoly of knowledge and how to stabilise the country
should not begin and end with him.

In this infamous
company is Yoweri Museveni, a man who, when he was leading the rebel
army against the government of the late Milton Obote, was quoted as
saying, “No African head of state should be in power for more than 10
years.” Today, the shoe is on the other leg.

He is no longer in
the bush fighting to get to power, so it is easy for him to have
forgotten what he said. Museveni has, today, become the alpha and omega
of Uganda. On a recent visit to the country, I sat a few rows away from
his seat and he looked as harmless as a next door uncle.

He looked frail,
not as fearsome as the Museveni one hears of in the media. I pointed
this out to a Ugandan journalist who was at the event with me, and he
said I should not be deceived. I am not. Museveni has spent 24 years in
power and has forced down the throat of all, his everlasting rule!

Not left out of
this odious company is Blaise Compaore. This man who murdered his close
friend has stayed in power for 23 years. He has silenced all opponents
and has even received the endorsement of his colleagues in the West
African sub region, by chairing the ECOWAS.

The greatest
buffoon of them all is perhaps the joker in The Gambia, who goes by
some long honorific name and claims to have the power to cure HIV/AIDS.
Sixteen years after seizing power as a low ranking military officer, he
has sentenced more people to death over alleged plots to overthrow him
than any other African leader in his league.

Let’s take a break here and continue with the others next week.

The airport workers’ unions are
angry with the concessioning of the Lagos Airport, saying government
has replaced a public monopoly with a private monopoly.

Gideon Ogbuji, general secretary,
National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), argued that FAAN is
losing enormous revenue to concessionaires operating in the airports,
“We have on different occasions carried out peaceful protests against
concessioning of not just that terminal (GAT), but of other revenue
yielding arms of the airport, and this is because most of the
concessionaires are not keeping to agreements,” he said, adding that he
terms of the agreements are not being adhered to by the concessionaires

“FAAN has lost huge sums, some of
which cannot be accounted for because of the inability of these
concessionaires to remit as at when due, and that is why we are
determined not to allow the error of handing over GAT to Bi-Courtney,”
he said.

Jerome Marinho, chief operating
officer of Bi-Courtney, said the unions were not party to the
concession agreement. “Bi-Courtney has no relationship with the unions.
We deal with the unions on the legal front. The issue with the unions
has to do with GAT transactions. They came in and aired their views.
The agreement was signed by the Attorney-general, minister of aviation,
the managing director of FAAN, and under the supervision of the Bureau
of Public Enterprise. So we have no direct relationship with the
unions.”

According to Mr. Ogbuji, the House
of Representatives Committee on Aviation asked the unions to resolve
their differences with the MMA2 operators instead of disrupting
activities at the airports, stressing that up till now, both parties
have not being able to agree.

“We (unions and Bi-Courtney) were
asked by the House Committee to discuss and come up with a resolution,
but so far no positive agreement has been reached. But the case is
still pending in court and we hope that we will reach agreement,
otherwise the situation remains the same; which is, GAT (general
aviation terminal) was not, and is not, in the concession agreement
between FAAN and Bi-Courtney,” he said.

Aturu Samuel, second national
president for the union, said the concessioning of the airports will
“definitely lead to serious job cuts among FAAN staff. They have taken
MMA2, and if they succeed in concessioning MMA Lagos, Kano, Port
Harcourt, Abuja, and Calabar from us, then FAAN will no longer exist,
and it is already collapsing if we allow them to do so,” he warned.

Mr. Aturu, however, disclosed that
workers are not against investors who wish to invest in the sector, but
maintained that the government should make “judicious use” of funds
meant for the industry. “We are not averse in foreign investors coming
to invest in Nigeria, but the government should abide by the rules
regulating the aviation industry globally,” he said, adding “Where is
the N19.5 billion naira aviation intervention fund?”

The leadership of the Action Congress (AC) has said
the party will field a strong candidate against President Goodluck
Jonathan if the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fields him as its
candidate. The party however refused to comment on whether Nuhu Ribadu,
former anti-graft czar, was a primary contender for its presidential
ticket.

A guarded affair

The National Chairman of the party, Bisi Akande, who
addressed the press in Abuja yesterday, said that the PDP has again
foisted another crisis on the country as a result of its zoning
arrangement. He also accused Mr. Jonathan of being too “inconsistent.”
Mr. Akande said that the AC has closely watched as the PDP has tried to
elevate the internal problem within the party to the level of national
discourse. “It has become an unnecessary distraction,” he said. The
ruling party, he remarked, is being pushed by a large pool of confusion
that may rapidly swell into “the abyss of destabilization, disunity and
abject poverty.” He added that the PDP has allowed the daunting
challenges of unemployment, poverty and security challenges to go
unchecked. Instead, he said, it has shifted its focus on where the
presidency should be zoned to.

Mr. Akande did not directly address which AC party
members are likely to run for office but took another swipe at the PDP
by saying that zoning is not an issue. “We have 50 well qualified
presidential candidates drawn from various parts of the country, he
said. “We are out to encourage and persuade a younger generation of
Nigerians to seize the moment and fashion out creative and practicable
solutions to the myriads of problems facing the country.” Mr. Akande
added that good and capable hands abound across the country,
irrespective of geo-political location or ethnic background.

According to him, while the ruling party has stolen
enough and is presently fighting on sharing formula for the heist,
those of them in AC have set up a high level committee to go round the
entire country to consult widely on what should be their attitude to
the issue of geopolitical, religion and ethnic separateness. On the
rumoured merger between the Progressive People’s Alliance and PDP, he
disclosed that the AC face pressure to merge with other political
parties, associations, groups and individuals.

“We are keeping this in view with an aim of expanding membership
composition and renewing our thinking horizon about leadership roles
that would encompass inspiring a shared vision and keeping hope alive,”
he said.</

EDO

Edo State House of
Assembly has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) to
take immediate steps to stop the oil spill at Urhokuosa N’owa and
Oke-Akhianmwan communities in Uhunmwode Local Government Area. A member
representing Uhunmwode, Amadasun Uwamose, drew the attention of the
House, under matters of urgent importance, to the leak on Monday. Mr
Uwamose said the pipeline that passed through the villages was recently
vandalised by some hoodlums resulting in the spill. He explained that
the farmland and the source of water (Akhianmwan Stream) had been
polluted by the spillage in the last two days. The Majority Leader of
the House, Philip Shaibu, and the Deputy Speaker, Paul Ohonbamu
condemned the activities of the hoodlums. The House resolved that it is
the responsibility of the government to ensure the safety and welfare
of the citizens, adding that NNPC should take steps to stop the
spillage and to avert explosion.

EKITI

The Ekiti State
Chapter of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has suspended
the three-month-old strike embarked upon by members of the union.
Chairman of the union, Michael Ibiyemi, confirmed the immediate
suspension of the strike in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday. Mr Ibiyemi said that
though the state government was yet to fully address their demands, its
decision to call off the strike was informed by the need to allow for
collective bargaining. He said that the state government had agreed in
principle to meet with the union’s demands as soon as its finances
improved, but that the workers resolved to return to work out of
patriotism. He called on all JUSUN members working in various courts
and offices across the state to resume work immediately

IMO

The Court of Appeal
on Thursday, in Owerri, dismissed the application by the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Abia State, Onyema
Ugochukwu, challenging its earlier decision in the state’s governorship
poll in 2007. The court had earlier upheld the April 14, 2007 election
of the serving governor, Theodore Orji, but Mr Ugochukwu filed a motion
praying the court to reverse its decision. It had earlier set aside the
Abia Election Tribunal’s nullification of Mr Orji’s election on the
ground that he belonged to a secret cult; the Okija Shrine. Delivering
judgment, the presiding judge, Suleiman Galadima, said the court
dismissed all the applications for lack of merit and substantial
evidence after thorough examination.

RIVERS

Properties worth
millions of naira were recently destroyed following a heavy downpour in
Opobo, Rivers State on Tuesday. The worst hit areas were Brown
compound, Pombe area and buildings close to Opobo New Layout. The
Chairman of Opobo Local Government Area, Maclean Uranta, who conducted
journalists around the disaster area on Thursday, said that the council
had concluded arrangements to tackle the perennial flooding in Opobo
town. Mr Uranta said the council had engaged experts to study the
causes of the flooding and advise the council on the best approach to
combat it. He sympathised with the victims and assured them that
arrangements were ongoing to assist them. A victim, Clement Daasang,
described the disaster as unprecedented, “I have not witnessed this
kind of flood in this town in the over 30 years that I have lived in
Opobo.”

ABUJA

Chief Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, on Thursday, announced the
appointment of Sunday Olorundahunsi as the Acting Chief Registrar of
the Supreme Court. Mr Katsina-Alu announced Mr Olorundahunsi’s
appointment at the swearing of eight new high court judges in Abuja. He
said the move followed the elevation of the former Registrar, Usman
Musale, as a high court judge of the Federal Capital Territory. Mr
Katsina-Alu said the appointment is was with immediate effect.

The Abia State House of Assembly, on yesterday, commenced impeachment moves against the Deputy Governor, Chris Akomas.

The impeachment notice, which was
brought under ‘matter of urgent public importance’ by the member
representing Aba Central, Uzor Azubuike, was signed by 21 out of the
24-member legislature. The notice accused Mr. Akomas of gross
misconduct in the performance of the functions of his office. In the
six point allegation of misconduct, Mr. Akomas “has since May, 2010,
willfully and consistently absented himself from office and duty
without any lawful excuse or permission.”

Disrespect and fraud

In addition, the petition alleged that
the deputy governor refused to attend the official ceremony held in the
state Executive Council Chambers Government House, Umuahia, in May
2010, for the signing of the Abia State Appropriation law 2010, after
he was invited. He was also accused of failing to show up to receive
the Governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi, who was accompanied by
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a respected Igbo leader on July 2 ,2010.

The notice, which was dated July 7, 2010, also accused him of
converting public funds to personal use. “That Comrade Akomas, as
Deputy Governor of Abia State, between January 2009 and March 2010,
unlawfully converted public funds to his personal use by causing and
directing proceeds from official cheques meant for government work to
be paid into his private bank account,” stated the notice. Mr. Akomas
was also accused of stating publicly that the only achievement of the
Abia State government in the past three years was in the field of
cocoa. The lawmakers also stated that he allegedly said that the office
of the deputy governor is only a spare tyre, and also abbused his
office “when as a result of amorous relationships with staff of his
office, his wife, Uchechi Chris Akomas, engaged a female staff in
physical combat thereby bringing the state government to ridicule.” The
legislators prayed the Speaker to direct Mr. Akomas to respond to the
charges brought against him. However, political analysts in the state
say the move is not a surprise considering that Mr. Akomas did not join
his boss, Theodore Orji, in defecting to the APGA. </

Determined to address ecological problems such as
flood, soil erosion, desertification, and general environmental hazards
holistically, the federal government is to set aside N30 billion for
ecological projects before the end of the year.

Ibukun Odusote, permanent secretary of the ecological
fund office, disclosed this on Thursday, in Abuja, while briefing
journalists on the ecological fair scheduled to hold next week in the
federal capital.

Environmental challenges

“The federal government is looking at investing N30
billion into ecological projects this year,” she said, adding that
because ecological projects are weather prone, most of the projects
would commence in the last quarter of the year.

This year’s emphasis, according to her, will be laid
on afforestation programme, in which not fewer than 30 million trees
will be planted across the country.

“The afforestation programme covers every part of the
country. For this year, it is in plan that 30 million trees will be
planted. We are developing nurseries for at least 30 million seeds and
based on what we are able to do, we will follow up next year and in no
time, there will be trees planted everywhere in Nigeria,” she added.

While funding for this year’s project is being
processed, the office, according to her, is currently handling about
200 projects left over in 2009, revealing that they are being funded
directly from the federation account.

On how the fund will be disbursed, she said “The
fund, which originally constitutes one percent of the federation
account, was upwardly reviewed to two percent in 1992, and later, one
percent of the derivation allocation was added; making the total
percent of the ecological fund as of today to be three percent.

“Of the amount, 48.5 percent goes to the federal
government, while 24 percent and 20 percent are for states and local
governments respectively.”

The federal government had recently approved a new
guideline for the disbursement of Ecological Funds. Under the new
guideline, drought and desertification control will receive 60 percent;
soil erosion, flood/gully control takes 25 percent; pollution control
has five percent, while administration of Ecological Fund
Office/National Committee on Ecological Problems and other emergencies
will gulp 10 percent, which will be disbursed at the discretion of the
president.

Mrs. Odusote equally hinted that all ecological
projects will be assigned to competent contractors who will deliver
value for money in terms of quality work and timely completion of
projects.

This underscored the need to organise a fair designed
to attract experts, contractors, and consultants with requisite
experience in the ecological sub-sector.

“Eco-Fair 2010 is a further demonstration of the
efforts of the federal government to create awareness among people on
its intervention to alleviate consequences of ecological problems.

“It is also intended to draw people’s attention to ecological
problems in Nigeria with specific reference to erosion, pollution,
desert encroachment, deforestation, and flood, and lay emphasis on
prevention and reducing the adverse effect of ecological problems in
the country,” she said. </

Senior officials of
the Oyo State government, including Layiwola Olakojo, who is the
Secretary to the State Government, were yesterday quizzed by operatives
of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences
Commission (ICPC) at the commission’s head office in Abuja. Other
officials interrogated alongside Mr. Olakojo are the Commissioner for
Lands, Housing and Survey, Moshood Oyebamiji; the Commissioner for
Finance, Adebayo Bankole; and the state’s Accountant General, Florence
Okeniyi. The officials were quizzed for over five hours over
allegations that they purchased choice property belonging to the state
government in Ibadan, the state capital at “ridiculously low prices.”

Illegally purchased property

Some of the
property allegedly purchased include the state government quarters in
Iyaganku, and other posh areas of Ibadan. The petition against the
officials, NEXT learnt, was sent to the ICPC, by indigenes of the state
last week. The officials, who were accompanied by the state’s Attorney
General, Abdul-Salam Abdullahi, were later granted administrative bail.
Mr. Abdullahi applied for their bail and also stood as a surety for the
accused persons. The involvement of the state Governor, Adebayo
Alao-Akala, and his deputy Taofeek Arapaja, in the said property grab
could not be ascertained. Both men, being immune from prosecution, were
not invited for interrogation by the agency. The officials later left
the ICPC premises at about 3.00pm. The media consultant to the ICPC,
Folu Olamiti, while answering questions on the reason for the state
officials’ presence at the commissions head office stated that “we are
carrying out investigations on a petition we received. We questioned
them over their involvement in allegations of underhand dealings in the
purchase of Oyo State government quarters.”

The interrogation of the officials is coming less than two months
after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) interrogated
Mrs. Okeniyi, three other officials of the state, including the
Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hosea
Agboola, over allegations of an N8.2 billion fraud. In that case, the
state officials were alleged to have deducted N250 million each from
the 33 local government areas in the state for the construction of
155km “special roads project.” When contacted, Dotun Oyelade, the media
assistant to the Governor Akala, declined knowledge of the invitation
and interrogation of the officials by the ICPC. “No, I am not aware,”
he said, and asked this reporter to call back by 6.15pm. However, his
number could not be reached by that time.

Striking workers in Adamawa State have called off their six week long strike.

Mr Mohammed Tuki,
the chairman of the state Joint Public Service Negotiating Council,
communicated the decision to workers at the Labour House.

Nevertheless,
labour officials insisted they were calling off the strike only for a
two-week duration as a result of arbitration; they vowed to return if
negotiations with the government during that period fails.

The state
government had taken labour in the state before the Industrial
Arbitration Court in Abuja, as way of resolving the dispute with the
angry workers whose action grounded social and economic activities in
the state.

A two-week truce

“We urge you
workers to go back to work tomorrow. We are only calling off this
strike for two weeks only, and if the government fails to meet our
demands within this time, we shall call on you to continue the strike
action,” the chairman of the joint public service negotiating council
in the state said to the workers, also thanking them for their support.

Mr Dauda Buba, the
state chairman of the Labour Congress, in his statement, said the
workers were honouring the arbitration by the National Industrial Court
on the matter directing both labour and the government to go back to
the negotiating table. He said they were expected to submit a signed
and sealed agreement reached by both parties, to the industrial
arbitration court.

“On that basis, the
court appealed to the labour side,” he said. “So we are now suspending
the strike for two weeks to enable us complete all necessary
agreements.”

As the court awaits
both parties to appear before it with an agreement reached by both
parties, it remains to be seen what would transpire. However, the state
Attorney General is confident that the matter will be resolved amicably.

The bone of
contention in the dispute which has crippled governance in Adamawa
State, is Labour’s demand that the government re-instate 56 workers
claimed to have been arbitrarily sacked from two parastaltals in the
state – the College of Legal Studies and the state-owned Transport
Company. The state government on its part disagrees, accusing Labour of
“blackmail”, and maintaining that the striking workers have seen all of
their demands agreed to except its “refusal to remove the provost of
the College of Legal Studies and the General Manager of the State
Transport Company”.

Until the recent truce reached through arbitration, both the
government and labour had remained adamant, neither refusing to
compromise.