Ten of the newly admitted students of The

Polytechnic, Ibadan have been asked to leave the institution for

presenting forged credentials to secure their admission.

Tosho Ayanwale, the Registrar of the institution,

said on Monday that the affected students presented fake Ordinary

National Diploma (OND) results to support their application for

admission into Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes for the

2009/2010 academic session.

“The culprits are currently awaiting the final

results of the part-time OND programmes they commenced three sessions

ago, but, perhaps, out of desperation, chose to procure fake results to

secure admission into regular HND programmes,” he said.

Mr. Ayanwale explained that the students were

found guilty by the institution’s Students’ Disciplinary Committee who

examined their cases after their antics were discovered during the

screening of applicants’ credentials.

Eight of the affected students were said to have

applied to study Business Studies, while each of the remaining two came

from Computer Studies and Insurance departments respectively.

The management of the institution implored employers of labour to

always endeavour to contact the Directorate of Academic Affairs of The

Polytechnic, Ibadan to verify the authenticity of any certificate or

notification of result purportedly issued by the institution to avoid

employing fake graduates.

A Federal High
Court sitting in Abuja yesterday ordered the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) to provide proof that the chairman of the
House committee on power, Ndudi Elumelu, and eight others who are
standing trial over allegations regarding a N5.2 billion Rural
Electrification Agency contract, actually stole the said money.

In his ruling on a
motion on notice, the trial judge, Adamu Bello, ordered the EFCC to
provide proof of evidence in all the 135 count charges proffered
against the accused persons and adjourned the matter to March 17, 2010
for hearing.

Mr. Elumelu and
others, in their motion, asked the court to compel the graft agency to
bring its proof of evidence before the court to enable them prepare
adequately for their defence. The application, which came via Motion on
Notice, was brought in pursuant to section 36(5) (c) and (d) of the
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, asking for an
order compelling the prosecution in the case to make available to the
accused/applicant the proof of evidence to be used or relied upon by
the prosecution.

Specifically, in
the application, they asked the court to take notice that the proof of
evidence in the case was not attached to the charge sheet and that fair
hearing entails fair trial as enshrined under the provision of section
36(c)and (d) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
1999.

Need for evidence

In an
eight-paragraph affidavit, the eight accused person, Ndudi Elumelu,
stated that he needs the facts against him to enable him prepare
adequately for his defence and that unless the proof of evidence is
made available to him, he will not be able to prepare adequately. He
noted that the court has the powers to compel the EFCC to do so.

Counsel to Elumelu,
Olushola Dare, brought the application, and the counsel to the other
eight accused persons simply adopted his arguments and also urged the
court to grant the application.

But the EFCC
counsel, Godwin Obla, told the court that section 33 of the Federal
High Court, Act Cap F12 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 provides
for the procedures guiding criminal trials in the Federal High Court
and it states that all criminal cases or matters before the court shall
be tried summarily.

He also stated that
this position is confirmed by the Court of Appeal in the case of Chief
Diepreye Solomom Alamieyeseigha vs The Federal Republic of Nigeria
& 7 others {2006] 16 NWLR [Pt1004] 1 @ 96.

In his counter
affidavit in opposition to the eight accused person’s motion on notice,
deposed to by one John Okopi Alu, a legal practitioner, the prosecution
counsel stated among other things that the court has properly read and
explained the charges to the accused persons in the language they
understand, and that as at the time the charges were read, none of them
objected to the clarity or comprehension of the charges. The
prosecution counsel then urged the court to dismiss the application for
lack of merit.

A plea for bail

The court had
previously granted bail to the chairman of the Senate committee on
power and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Nicholas
Ugbane. They are standing trial over an alleged N5.2 billion Rural
Electrification Agency (REA) contract scam.

Also released on
bail were the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Abdulahi
Aliyu, and the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency,
Samuel Ibi Gekpe, Simon Nanle, Lawrence Orekoya, Abdulsamad Jahun,
Kayode Oyedeji, Jibo Mohammed, who are equally facing prosecution by
the EFCC over the same issue.

The accused persons
were remanded in EFCC custody last month, when the graft agency amended
its count charges to 135 of meddling with procurement procedures in the
award of N5.2 billion contract in the REA of which they pleaded not
guilty, and were granted bail after a formal bail application before
the court.

The other defence
lawyers, who argued in like manner, prayed the court to grant their
clients bail, having not defaulted since June 23 when the matter was
mentioned and would continue to stand their trial as responsible
citizens.

In addition, they
told the court to release the accused persons on bail since the
prosecution counsel, Godwin Obla, did not oppose the bail and did not
file a counter affidavit to challenge the bail application. Some of the
135-count charges read, “While being public servants/officers and in
such capacity involved in the processing of public procurement on the
rural electrification Agency (REA) agreed among yourselves to do
unlawful acts, not conducting procurement, fraud by means of fraudulent
and corrupt acts, unlawful influence and undue interest in the awards
of grid extension and solar electrification projects unlawfully awarded
from the 2008 amended budget of rural electrification agency and,
thereby, committed an offense contrary to section 58 (4) (b) and
punishable under section 58 (i) and (5) (a) and (b) of the public
procurement Act 2007.

“While being public
servants and in such capacity involved in the process, public
procurement in the REA failed to advertise the intention to bid for 1
(N0) solar electrification project awarded to Aviva Global Concept for
the sum of N32, 814, 631. 28, unlawfully drawn from the 2008 amended
budget of the REA and, thereby, committed an offense contrary to
section 25 (2) (i) and punishable under section 58 (1) (5) (a) and (b)
of the public procurement Act 2007.

The Minister of
Petroleum, Rilwan Lukman, yesterday apologised to the House of
Representatives’ members for allegedly being referred to as liars by
the spokesperson of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Levi
Ajuonoma. Mr. Ajuonoma, was reported in the media to have accused
members of the House committee on Petroleum, Downstream, of “lying”
about the state of the Kaduna Refinery.

The committee, led
by Clever Ikisikpo had, after a visit to the Refinery, in the wake of
continuous fuel scarcity in the country, said the refinery’s units were
not functioning even after a Turn Around Maintenance.

The lawmakers said
the information they gave was based on structures they sighted during
the visit and on a briefing by the Refinery’s Managing Director,
Bolanle Ayodele. They said Mr. Ayodele had promised that the units will
become functional shortly after the visit.

However, Mr.
Ajuonoma, according to some national dailies, said it was untrue that
the units had not functioned. He allegedly said the committee members
had “lied”. At the Committee’s meeting on Tuesday, Mr. Ayodele
supported the position of the lawmakers, that they were briefed by him
during the visit.

Mr. Lukman who only
appeared before the committee after a threat of sanctions, said he
offered no apologies on Mr. Ajuonoma’s behalf but on the Ministry’s
behalf.

“He can speak for
himself,” he said. “In my view, that comment was uncalled for.”
Lawmakers turned down the apologies and pressed for an order that will
summon Mr. Ajuonoma whom, they said, had habitually made remarks
disrespectful to the lawmakers. Mr. Lukman told the lawmakers that the
Ministry of Petroleum will “take on” Mr. Ajuonoma for his comments.

Imminent deregulation

Yesterday was the
first time Mr. Lukman had appeared before the committee since fresh
shortages of product started in August 2009. The committee had asked
the general assembly to summon the Minister and the Group Managing
Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Mohammed
Barkindo, at a plenary after both men stayed away from several
committee invitations.

During his meeting
with the committee, Mr. Lukman also talked about “problems of the
sector” which have resulted in the shortage of petroleum products.

He said the lasting solution to the challenge lies with deregulation and the passage of the Petroleum Sector Bill.

“We cannot change
things overnight,” he explained. “If you truly want the petroleum
sector to work, then I urge you to pass the Petroleum Sector Bill as
quickly as possible.” The Minister called for patience over the
shortages which he blamed on vandalism. He said vandalism has forced
the corporation to convey products mainly by fuel tankers, thereby
creating logistics problems.

Mr. Lukman also
talked about the state of the refineries, many of which he said had not
been given a Turn Around Maintenance for more than 10 years. The Kaduna
refinery, for instance, was last given a turned around maintenance in
1998, before the recent effort.

“All of these will be taken care of by the PIB (Petroleum Industry
Bill) and deregulation, which will spell out the sector rules and open
participation in the sector,” Mr. Lukman said. “There is no country of
the world that is running the petroleum sector the way we run our own.”

The reputation and
integrity of Punch newspapers is on trial over allegations of unethical
practices and financial impropriety levelled against Azubuike
Ishiekwene, its executive director, publications, by the immediate past
editor, Steve Ayorinde.

The allegations
against Mr. Ishiekwene, more known as Azu, the name with which he
writes his weekly column, is contained in a petition dated 1 March and
addressed to the Chairman of Punch Nigeria Limited, Ajibola Ogunsola,
the parent company that publishes the Punch titles.

Mr. Ayorinde had
alleged in the petition that has been widely circulated over the
Internet and Facebook, a popular social networking site, that Mr.
Ishiekwene forced him to resign his position as the editor.

Contacted over this
story, Mr. Ayorinde merely said, “I can’t grant you any interview. It
is a private correspondence to my boss. The matter is litigious. I
would advise you not to touch it.”

But the petition
has generated a lot of concern and apprehension among Nigerian
journalists and citizens alike, just as they awaited the newspaper
company’s reaction to the allegations.

Mr. Ishiekwene too
would not respond to phone calls and text messages for his reaction to
the memo by the former editor. However, in his back page column of
Tuesday, 9 March edition of The Punch, Mr. Ishiekwene wrote,

“My attention has
been drawn to the allegations against me by the former Editor of The
Punch, Mr. Steve Ayorinde. I am constrained to respond at this point
because it would be unbecoming of me to do so over a matter that is now
before the Board. Let justice, the inevitable justifier of the
innocent, take its course.”

The chairman, Mr.
Ogunsola, was not available for comments as calls to his phone went
unanswered, just as he did not respond to text messages.

It will rub off on the media industry

But a journalism
teacher at the Lagos State University, Tunde Akanni, expressed disgust
at the situation. Mr. Akanni added that the allegations contained in
the petition are capable of leaving an irreparable dent on the nation’s
media industry and therefore, should not be swept under the carpet.

“As a journalism teacher I find it extremely tragic,” Mr. Akanni said.

“It is going to rub off on the entire media industry. Particularly for Punch. It is terrible.”

Explaining that it
might be difficult for Mr. Ishiekwene to deny some of the allegations
that have been levelled against him, Mr. Akanni added that Mr.
Ayorinde, by this petition, had revealed that his hands are also not
clean.

“The allegations
are as indicting of the accuser as they are of Azu. How come he knew
all these and didn’t say anything until he finds himself at the
receiving end?”

He added that the allegations are particularly damaging to Mr. Ishiekwene’s reputation.

“The international profile he has managed to garner is crashing.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Guild of Editors has adopted a wait-and-see approach to the allegation.

“As far as the
Guild of Editors is concerned, it is an allegation and remains an
allegation until they are investigated”, said Gbenga Adefaye, the
President of Nigerian Guild of Editors.

However, he
promised that the Guild is investigating a section of the petition that
claimed that journalists were forming clubs to make money.

The late Olu Aboderin, a chartered accountant, started The Punch in 1971.

Read a copy of the petition here

The National
Economic Council (NEC) yesterday called for the probe of the N1.15
trillion outstanding claims of subsidy and related expenditures
presented to the Federal Government by the Nigeria National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC).

The controversial
money allegedly covered the payment for the goods, movement, and supply
of petroleum products across the country between the 2005 and 2010
financial year.

Speaking after over
five hours of meeting, which was presided over by the Acting President,
Goodluck Jonathan, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday, the
minister of finance, Mansur Mukhtar, said the Economic Council has
directed that a thorough audit of the amount of money be carried out to
verify the true state of the subsidy before going ahead to make any
payment to NNPC.

Others present at
the meeting included Delta State governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan; governor
of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel; and Lamido Sanusi, governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“We have been doing
the auditing systematically,” the minister said. “For all payments, we
have an independent auditor that audits whenever the PPRA makes
submissions. That is why the payment circle takes over 45 days. We
submit it to external auditors and they bring it back to us.”

Mr. Mukhtar said
the finance ministry has an invoice from the NNPC for N1.15 trillion
for various expenditures it allegedly incurred on behalf of the federal
government, including cost of crude and products lost owing to pipeline
vandalism and losses incurred from supplying petroleum products at
regulated prices.

“Out of this,
N45billion has not been remitted by NNPC to the federation account,”
Mr. Mukhtar said. “This was in respect to previous months in terms of
February to December 2008, where they were not able to pay. They had to
make direct withholding of the money and, of course, there is about
700billion or so that we are now talking about, in relation to the
outstanding.

When you consider
the size of the capital expenditure of the Federal Government and even
the amount that we have been able to spend over a period, assuming 60%
of the budget execution as at the end of December 2009, for a budget
that is just about N1.1trillion, that is less than what has been used
for the subsidy.”

He said there is
now a need to conduct a process audit, especially in relation to the
movement of the trucks and supplies to the various depot.

“The audits we are
talking about will relate even down to the filling stations and again
that is where the BPR has been trying to make sure that these prices
are enforced, but when you have only about 440 staff responsible for
overseeing 15,000 filling stations, there is no way you can succeed in
ensuring full compliance,” he said. “Even the NNPC claims are being
subjected to very rigorous audit, he added.”

Not enjoying the benefit

Mr. Uduaghan said
that, despite the N35 per litre subsidy being paid by the Federal
Government, the masses who were supposed to be the ultimate
beneficiaries of the subsidy end up not enjoying the benefit.

“All of that we are
going to audit, because all the subsidy ends up in the hands of the
very few,” he lamented. “There is nowhere in the country today where
fuel is sold for N65 per litre. In the Delta areas, fuel is sold for up
to N150. So, who is enjoying the subsidy? A few individuals and we are
saying that this should stop.”

The governor said
the council particularly frowns at the Joint Venture Cash Call (JVCC)
being operated jointly by state governments and the NNPC, and noted
that the Council was of the view that the present arrangement be
reviewed for maximum benefits to the states.

“The other thing
the states are worried about is the Joint Venture Cash Call, in which
money is deducted directly by the NNPC to their joint venture funds.
Last year, for 4-5months, NNPC did not make any contribution to the
federation account. For 4-5 months, there was no money coming from oil
revenue to the federation account because the money that was got by
NNPC is directly paid into the joint venture account and that really
affects us,” he said.

Mr. Daniel, the
Ogun State governor, said the NEC meeting also discussed the new tax
policy, deregulation, the 50-year jubilee of Nigeria, Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) initiatives on supporting the real sector of the economy,
and revenue issues in the country.

About 1,000 policemen are to be
mobilised for duty on Saturday during the by-election for the vacant
assembly seat of Maradun 11 State Constituency in Zamfara,

Longinus Ibe, the state command deputy commissioner of police, said on Tuesday.

A Federal High Court in January had
voided the election of Yahaya Giwa of the ANPP and ordered a fresh
election. Five political parties: the AC, AA, PDP, APGA and the ANPP
are fielding candidates in the by-election.

Mr. Ibe said that the police was adequately prepared for the March
13 by-election. “We have adequately mobilised our men and ordered them
to ensure strict monitoring of political activities before, during and
after the election, so as to maintain peace in the state,” he said.

The progress made in the empowerment
of Nigerian women is the result of their male counterparts’
cooperation, Dora Akunyili, the Minister of Information and
Communications, has said during an interview in commemoration of the
2010 International Women’s Day.

According to Mrs. Akunyili, 15 years
after the Beijing Declaration, Nigerian women have closed ranks and can
now speak for themselves.

“I believe that in Nigeria, women have
a lot to celebrate because in those days women were not part of
decision making; women were not even heard in families but things have
changed.

“Now women are heard and respected in homes and they take part in
decision making in families, in institutions. And at the government
level, women have actually been part of governance in Nigeria and we
have been given a chance to be a part of the system at all levels,” she
said.