P&ID Case: UK Court Orders Release Of $200m Deposit To Nigeria
A commercial court in London has ordered the release of $200 million used as a deposit in the case against Process & Industrial Development (P&ID) to the Nigerian government.
The Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele who confirmed the development on Tuesday, said the ruling follows the establishment of prima facie fraud before the court.
Commenting on the outcome, Emefiele said: “due to the substantial evidence of prima facie fraud established before the court, we are pleased that the judge has agreed to release the guarantee. We are also pleased that the Court has rejected P&ID’s application to increase the guarantee, which was clearly intended to be a diversionary tactic and entirely misconceived.
“This release which is an accretion into the reserves will further enhance the nation’s management of the exchange rate of its domestic currency, the Naira while ensuring monetary and price stability.
“This is a further and significant victory for Nigeria in our ongoing fight to overturn the US$10 billion award procured through fraud and corruption by P&ID and former government officials.
“P&ID and its backers, Lismore Capital and VR Advisory, are increasingly seeing their case slip between their fingers. They continue to resort to employing delay tactics, disseminating misleading claims, and taking every step to obstruct our investigations across multiple jurisdictions.
The FRN will not rest until we secure justice for the people of Nigeria – no matter how long it takes.
Investigations are ongoing, and we are confident that more of the truth will be revealed over the coming months.”
The court also rejected P&ID’s application to increase the guarantee.
Source: channel
ICPC Uncovers N2.67bn School Feeding Fund In Private Accounts
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered an N2.67bn fund, meant for feeding federal colleges and secondary school students, paid into private accounts.
“We discovered payments to Federal Colleges, secondary schools for school feeding, amounting to N2.67bn during the lockdown when children were not in school and some of these monies we traced ended up in personal accounts,” the Chairman of the Commission, Bolaji Owasanoye, said during the 2nd National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector in Abuja on Monday.
“We have accosted those who are involved and investigations are ongoing towards who they fed when the children were at home and there was a lockdown.”
We discovered payment of N2.67bn during lockdown when the children were not in school, and some money ended up in personal accounts. We have commenced investigations into these findings.
Giving further updates about the agency’s activities, the ICPC Chairman added that the Commission, based on intelligence, seized over N16bn from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture because the money was moved under suspicious circumstances below the threshold of monitoring by the Accountant- General.
He equally said the ICPC has found payments to agriculture contractors for no job done or overpayments for jobs done and appropriation of projects on private farms of senior civil servants of the Ministry
Court Dismisses El-Zakzaky’s No Case Submission, Orders Continuation Of Trial
A Kaduna State High court sitting in the state capital has dismissed the motion of no-case-submission filed by the embattled leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zazaky and his wife Zeenat.
Both of them are standing trial on eight counts of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of the public peace, among other allegations.
The IMN leader who was brought to court on Tuesday morning amid tight security, had asked the court to quash the Kaduna State government’s case against them for lack of evidence.
During the last sitting on August 7, the presiding Judge, Justice Gideon Kurada fixed today for ruling on the, after counsel to the defendants, Abubakar Marshall, holding the briefs for the lead counsel, Femi Falana, had asked the court to quash the charges preferred against the IMN leader by the government for not “disclosing an offence known to law contrary to Section 36 (8) and (12) of the 1999 constitution as amended”.
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Court Dismisses El-Zakzaky’s No Case Submission, Orders Continuation Of Trial
A Kaduna State High court sitting in the state capital has dismissed the motion of no-case-submission filed by the embattled leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zazaky and his wife Zeenat.
Both of them are standing trial on eight counts of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of the public peace, among other allegations.
The IMN leader who was brought to court on Tuesday morning amid tight security, had asked the court to quash the Kaduna State government’s case against them for lack of evidence.
During the last sitting on August 7, the presiding Judge, Justice Gideon Kurada fixed today for ruling on the, after counsel to the defendants, Abubakar Marshall, holding the briefs for the lead counsel, Femi Falana, had asked the court to quash the charges preferred against the IMN leader by the government for not “disclosing an offence known to law contrary to Section 36 (8) and (12) of the 1999 constitution as amended”.
Read Also: ICPC Uncovers N2.67bn School Feeding Fund In Private Accounts
The Prosecution Counsel, Dari Bayero, also adopted his final arguments in the matter.
The presiding judge, Justice Gideon Kudafa, thereafter, dismissed the no-case submission, saying that it is premature to rule on the application to quash the charges against the defendants in view of the clear provisions of the Kaduna State Administration of Criminal Justice.
The judge also noted that such application should be ruled on after the defendants might have taken their plea and after hearing on the whole matter has been concluded.
El-Zakzaky and his wife, however, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before them.
The case was adjourned to November 18 and 19, 2020 for continuation of trial and to enable the prosecution counsel to present his evidence before the court.
In their separate interviews, both the defence and prosecuting counsels differed on the court ruling.
Elzakzaky and his wife were arrested and detained since December 2015 following a bloody clash between IMN members and the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna State.
Source: channel
Onitsha Port Will Commence Operation in April 2021- Queen
The process for the concession of Onitsha River port which is currently on going may be completed in the first quarter of next year when the full operations will commence.
The Onitsha Area Port Manager of National Inland Waterways Authority, (NIWA) Mrs. Queen Uba, stated this at the Onitsha River port complex saying that the commencement of haulage operation at the River port will soon commence at Onne port, Portharcourt, Rivers State.
The Area Manger flanked by the Port Manager Mr. Baba Adams Spencer, in a briefing said that once the barge started coming from Onne, the port would be viable and cheaper for businessmen to bring their goods from Onitsha River port.
Spencer said: “since inception of Clarion Shipping operation in the port, all containers were transported by road and now that Connect Rail Services limited has come up with a better and improved option via the use of barge, it is a welcome development as it tends to promote transportation on our waterways. Much more than this, the operational activities at the port will be increased and will equally serve as revenue booster to the authority”
“On this basis, the presence of Clarion Shipping and Connect Rail Services at the port if synergized will promote commercial activities and attract more investors”.
She expressed satisfaction with the effort of the NIWA MD in ensuring a functional Onitsha River port.
Uba said the concession which process is going on now, when completed, Onitsha port will generate revenue for the government and create employment to the unemployed youths”
“The lagos, onne, among other ports will be decongested and goods transported to Onitsha at a cheaper rate”, she stated.
Source- Sun
Buhari May Be Nigeria’s Last President— Prof Akintoye
Eminent scholar and President of Yoruba World Congress, Prof. Banji Akintoye, has declared that Nigeria’s breakup is imminent and that President Muhammadu Buhari may be the country’s last President. According to him, agitation for self-determination is a legitimate struggle, and not an act of treasonable felony as the federal government wants Nigerians to believe. As such, he vowed that there will be no going back on the renewed push for an Oduduwa Republic for the Yoruba nation, even as he advised against using force or taking any action that may cause harm to those calling for Nigeria’s breakup. He spoke further on this in this interview with Saturday Sun.
On this agitation for Oduduwa Republic, some Nigerians are saying that it is a fluke, and another attempt ……
Cuts in…Those saying that should wait until October 1st to know whether it is real or not. But I want to declare here that nobody should harbour any doubt about the determination of Yoruba for self-determination. There is no going back, and come October 1st, we are going to make a formal declaration about it, and nobody including federal government can stop us. The whole world is already aware of our mission, and there is nothing federal government can do about it because what we are doing is not in any way illegal. It is within our legitimate right to determine whether we want to stay or not in the union called Nigeria. There is no way we can be held against our will if our people have already made up their mind to leave Nigeria. Nigeria is living on borrowed time, and it is just a matter of time before we all go our separate ways. There is no going back, Oduduwa Republic has come to stay. It has become a reality.
There is so much injustice in Nigeria, and it is only here you have this kind of injustice, and oppression. There has been so much Fulani domination, and oppression of other groups in the country, and we can’t continue this way and this is why we feel that the best option for Yoruba is to exercise their right to self-determination. A country where one group is always aspiring to conquer other sections can no longer be called a country. The situation in the country today is so bad that it has gone beyond restructuring, which some people are even calling for. The Fulani people have a hidden agenda, and unfortunately President Muhammadu Buhari is helping the Fulani to actualise their agenda of dominating other Nigerians through his political appointments and general ways he has been running his government, and other Nigerians can no longer fold their hands and continue watching things going on this way. Another annoying thing is that the Fulani in Nigeria are even bringing Fulani from outside Nigeria to participate in the conquest of other Nigerians. This is no longer acceptable. Countries fight wars but when they do so, it is against outsiders, and not against their own people like the Fulani are doing to others in Nigeria. A country where a section is aspiring to conquer other sections can no longer be referred to as a country. The Fulani say Nigeria belongs to them, and that they are going to take lands that belong to other ethnic nationalities, and this is why you have all these invasions taking place in the Middle-Belt, Southern Kaduna, and other parts of the country. The reality of the situation is that we the Yoruba can’t continue to live with another group that believes in the subjugation, and conquest of others.
Will you say this is part of the reasons why the clamour for Biafra, and North-Central Republic has been growing louder?
The Fulani invasion of other parts of the country has destroyed Nigeria, and majority of Nigerians no longer have faith in this country again. This is no longer the Nigeria of the dream of the founding fathers. Since majority of Nigerians no longer have faith in being together again, the best solution is for people to go their different ways but we don’t have to do it in a chaotic manner. The best way to go about it is to generate a process of negotiation, whereby we would sit around the table, and discuss in frank manners so that we won’t be enemies of one another for ever like the situation you have between Israel, and some Arab nations. It must be done in such a way that there will be no bloodshed or loss of lives. Other countries especially in Europe have done it that way, and so there is no reason we can’t do it also. There is nothing strange about Nigeria breaking up, and not only that, I believe the break-up can be done peacefully.
Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo recently convened a dialogue with leaders of five socio-cultural groups across the country where he raised the alarm that Nigeria was drifting fast to a failed state. Do you agree with him?
Nigeria is already a failed state, a country in which some citizens of the country are invading other sections, and the federal government couldn’t stop it. If this is happening, and those who are supposed to stop it are not doing so, then in what other way do you refer to Nigeria other than being a failed state?
All the indices point to the fact that Nigeria has not only failed but it is disintegrating, fast. Although I don’t know the time-line but definitely breakup is imminent, and there is nothing anybody can do to stop it. I also want to state categorically here that any attempt to stop agitating for breakup will fail. Already the United Nations, and other members of the international community are aware of what is happening in the country. Any attempt to suppress people expressing their interests to self-determination will fail.
Obviously, the former President is pushing for restructuring, and a new constitution rather than the amendment the National Assembly is working on, is that the way to go?
The National Assembly is not working on any amendment. They are just deceiving Nigerians. This is what they claim to be doing every year, and it has been discovered that this is nothing but deceit. Almost every year the National Assembly claims to be doing this but Nigerians have discovered that they are not being honest so there is nothing to talk about on that. And like I said earlier, Nigeria has even gone beyond restructuring. What we should be talking about now is negotiated break up. That is the only solution to Nigeria’s problems.
For those saying that Obasanjo is a hypocrite for calling for restructuring when he failed to carry it out when he was in power, I will just say that Nigerians should remember that Obasanjo is just a human being, and to err is human. Moreover, what is not clear to him that time may have been clearer to him now. For him to even have the courage to call for restructuring now shows that he is a patriot, and a man of honour. But for me, and some other Nigerians, the situation in the country today has gone beyond restructuring, it is only breakup that is the answer. Obasanjo is a citizen of the world whose opinions and views are taken seriously, so whatever he is saying I will advise those in authority to take him seriously.
Nigerians asked for deregulation of power, and fuel supplies, and now the government is doing that, it seems to be coming out with periodic hike in prices, what do you say about this?
It is very unfortunate. The aim and objective of governance should be to make life comfortable for citizens but in this clime, it seems to be the other way round. It is unfortunate that Nigerians are being overburdened. This is part of the reason why many are already fed up with the country. It’s sad that most of the policies of the government are making Nigerians to be frustrated, and when you add insecurity to all these, then you can imagine the pains Nigerians are going through.
Opposition and labour leaders are angling for protest over this, do you support their plan?
Although I would have preferred talking about the agitation for Yoruba self-determination, I believe it is within the democratic rights of those wishing to go on strike to do so. They have the constitutional rights to embark on that course of action. More so when you have a government that appears not to be sensitive to the plight of the citizens, then the labour leaders, and members of the civil societies can rise up to the occasion to be advocates for the masses, especially the poor Nigerians.
There have been recent concerns that Boko Haram is moving gradually towards South with the military confirming their presence around Kogi, and Abuja. How do you see that development, and how do you think Yoruba can protect themselves?
It is a shocking development. But in all this the question you ask is how prepared is government for such an ugly development? To make matters worse, it is not only Boko Haram that we have to contend with now as other terrorist groups from Syria and Libya have infiltrated Nigeria. You also have the Al-Queda from Iraq in the country now. All these terrorist groups have one aim, and their objective is to use resources of Nigeria to conquer other parts of West Africa. The situation in Nigeria today is dire and we should not deceive ourselves, and Yoruba, and other ethnic nationalities should be prepared to defend their homelands. Anybody or group waiting for government is deceiving himself. You will remember that there was a time General TY Danjuma warned that Nigerians should be prepared to defend themselves, that anybody waiting for government is doing so at his own peril. The federal government is not showing any inclination to defend anybody.
Why has it been difficult for the Armed Forces to defeat Boko Haram?
We should ask those in authority. Every time they keep on boasting that they have defeated Boko Haram, but we keep on seeing Boko Harm getting more ferocious, and deadlier. What we are seeing is the unfortunate situation where Boko Haram is getting stronger and stronger. To checkmate the ugly situation something drastic has to be done. What is the problem with our military? Is it that they are not getting the right equipment, and the logistics? Another factor we also have to consider is the issue of corruption being raised in the military, because we hear of massive corruption taking place within the military which many are saying is affecting not only the performance of the troops but also lowering their morale.
Nigerians are tired of excuses, and propaganda but what they want is concrete action being taken to neutralize Boko Haram, and other terrorists who have infiltrated the country.
How effective can you say Operation Amotekun has been?
So far, those in charge across the states have been trying their best to protect the Yoruba homeland from terrorists, and other infiltrators. Although they are taking off slowly, they are demonstrating their resolve to live up to the task of protecting Yoruba from external aggressors. The South-West state governors are in charge, and my appeal to them is that they should do everything possible to give the outfit the support required to make it an effective tool in demonstrating to any external aggressors that the Yoruba have what it takes to defend themselves from external attack without waiting for the federal government.
So much fraud in billions is daily reported from probes into NDDC, Amnesty programme, and the EFCC, what do you make out of all these?
Corruption is the culture of governance, and leadership in Nigeria. It has become part and parcel of our culture. In 2014, when Buhari was campaigning to be elected, he made so much promise to tackle corruption, but today has anything changed? No. Corruption appears to be more thriving, and the situation is not helped by the fact that Buhari himself is not running a transparent government. He appears to be running a government with hidden agenda to promote the interests of one section of the country over others.
Although they’ve set up probe panels on some of these cases but what is going to be the outcome? Nigerians no longer have confidence in the government again. But Nigerians can’t continue this way. My fear for this country is that if we continue this way, Buhari may be Nigeria’s last President. There is a lot of bottled emotions, and anger across the country, and this is why the agitations for self-determination have become stronger today than ever before.
But agitations for self-determination, some have declared, amount to act of treasonable felony, what do you say to that?
It doesn’t, and I don’t agree with those saying so. Even the constitution guarantees freedom of association. It was the amalgamation of 1914 that forcefully brought different nations together. Nigeria is made up of so many nations. Moreover, this is not the first time that people have been calling for breakup of Nigeria if that will bring the desired peace. Notable Nigerians including late Chief Anthony Enahoro, and Prof. Ango Abdullali, the leader of the Northern Elders Forum have publicly done so, without anybody harassing them, and this agitation will continue as long as oppression and injustice continue to pervade the country.
Source: Saturday Sun
Let’s go back to regional, parliamentary system — ADF
THE First Republic Minister of Aviation and elder statesman, Chief Mbazulike Amechi, former national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, have called for the return to regional system of government in Nigeria as a panacea for the economic and political insecurities in the country. Also, Igbo elite group, Alaigbo Development Foundation, ADF, has recommended regional system of administration as the best way forward, saying that it will give regions comparative advantage and propel faster development.
Mbazulike Amechi urged Nigeria to drop the unitary system of government which he said was a creation of the army because it was convinient for them. “Let the country go back to the original design whereby the states managed their own affairs. It’s easier to control. Let us go back to the parliamentary system of government because this Presidential system is not working. The unitary system of government was the brain child of the military because it was convinient for them.` “In the parliamentary system, with a mistake of a majority vote of one in the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister goes.But this time, it is almost impossible to remove a non performing President, it will be almost impossible to remove a non performing governor from office”, Amechi said. He also contended that there is so much corruption in Nigeria which is the reason Presidential system of government is not working, adding that the people expected to steer the affairs of the country are very corrupt, and also making it impossible for the fight against corruption to succeed. “The fight against corruption has to start from the top. No doubt, the job of fighting corruption will not be easy because the people who are in power or in control of things are the corrupt people.
There are the former governors who stole their states dry finding themselves in the Senate and wielding power and control in the Senate and in the country. “So, very soon, you will have a Senate that is almost 65% former corrupt governors and so, it is not going to be easy for the man in charge of the country. They will circumvent any effort he is making to fight corruption. “Look at what they are doing with the former Chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Magu. That was a man the Senate rejected two or three times based on the reports against him, yet the President imposed him on the country. He ended “Maguing” the country. “Yes, everybody has seen the way he was exposed, that was a lesson for Nigerian leaders. The Senate had the boldness to say we reject this man, no we do not want him; DSS wrote a report against him and exposed the man to the Senate, that they were going not to allow him to head EFCC. The government insisted on having him and his name was sent to the Senate again and they said that he should not be made EFCC chairman but the government insisted on him. So, he did what he did and do you blame him? It is the government that you should blame. “This is the only country where rats and other animals swallow millions of Naira and Dollars and it is swept under the carpet. How can you run a country like that? “There is injustice and marginalization against some sections of the country particularly the Igbos, while some sections of the country behave and are treated as if only they own Nigeria. “So, if there will be peace in this country, there must be equity, because what the government is doing now is very unfair. There is a very powerful section of Nigeria, the Igbo side of Nigeria, you cannot say they do not exist but you don’t care about them.
You will never have peace because their brothers know what they are going through now. “If there will be peace in this country, there must be an assurance to Ndigbo that they belong to this country and by this, there must be an Igbo President of Nigeria, a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction. “The Igbos on the other hand must accept the reality that the North has the majority population and that broken bridges between the Igbos and the North must be repaired if we will have anything in this country”, Amechi declared. Current system of governance not working—Nwodo Nwodo, in his view, said the crude oil which is the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy was no longer sustainable and therefore, the need to return to the system of government which enables each region of the country to exploit their divergent natural resources to develop at their own pace
Nwodo who was a former governor of Enugu State also said that parliamentary system of government would save Nigeria from collosal wastage of funds during elections. “In the first republic, even though there was a Nigerian constitution, the federating units had their constitutions as well. So, the states were semi-autonomous and independent. Therefore, they raised their internally generated revenue from the resources in their regions. They were able to meet their regional budgets and at the same time, contribute a quota to the central purse of the federal government. “They had opportunities to partner with foreign investors and to exploit the natural resources within their regions and there was no exclusive list as such that debarred them from venturing into any aspect of governance and economic activity which they wanted to do. “Today, the reverse is completely the situation. Here, all funds accruing from our natural resources are gathered in a central purse and now, we have one feeding bottle, feeding the 36 states and the the federal capital territory, Abuja. The main source of the revenue happens to be a single economy: oil and gas and as the market value of the commodities are dwindling in the international market and with coronavirus shutting down the world economy, that feeding bottle cannot go round again. “Since the federating units have no power to utilize the natural resources in their states or engage in the development of key infrastructure which can help them to develop because of the exclusive list of the federal government, they are all tending towards malnutrition. Only six of them now are self-sustaining without federal allocations. “So, you can see the magnitude of the difference between the regional government which we had in the first republic and the states as we have them today. The current situation is neither providing economic nor political stability as we had it in the first republic.That’s why a lot of people are clamouring for the restructuring of the country. “We need to restructure Nigeria into a proper federation. We can’t be having a unitary government and call it a federation; it is an abnormality. In a federation, the units agree to survive and having survived, come together for common interest and provide for that common interest. I think, it is a better arrangement,” said. While talking about different milestone achievements recorded during the first republic, Nwodo said: “Let me start with the North. They had large farmlands and because of that, they farmed cotton which they added value to by producing cotton materials and exporting the cotton raw as well. The Northern Region also farmed groundnuts and because of that, they had groundnut pyramids. They also exported hides and skin from their cattle business. They made a lot of revenue from agriculture from which they built the Ahmadu Bello University and constructed many roads across the region. “Their revenue was largely agrarian. They provided healthcare and other basic amenities to the people of the region. They didn’t lack anything. “Western Nigeria exported cocoa and rubber and they were the mainstay of their economy. Because of the rubber, some tyre factories such as Michelin were set up in Lagos and Port Harcourt for the production of vehicle tyres and other components. The region made their money from that. “The first television station in Africa was built in Ibadan from that revenue. They built the University of Ibadan and good road network from the revenue. They provided basic amenities and gave free education to their people, from primary up to university level from the revenue. There is no state in Nigeria that is doing that now. “If you come to Eastern Nigeria, we depended mainly on palm produce. From the revenue, we built the first university in Nigeria, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The East had the biggest network of roads in the whole of West Africa; we had electricity generated from coal in the region; coal was equally mined and exported for foreign exchange. Indeed, Eastern Region was the fastest growing economy in the world under Michael Okpara. We built the first iron and steel industry in Nigeria at Emene and we had our television. In fact, when I was growing up, I didn’t know anything like blackout because of the quality of electricity we enjoyed in those days “These regions survived very well on their own and were favourably competing to out-perform one another. We have really lost it with the system we are operating.” On the need for parliamentary system of government, he said: “I am one of those who want us to go back to the parliamentary system of government. The amount of money we are spending to elect our political office holders is colossal. “In parliamentary system, you become the premier of your region or the prime minister of the country by winning election in your region; not in the whole federation. You become prime minister because you are the leader of your party and you appoint ministers from those who had won elections in their constituencies. “You can imagine the amount of money it costs a member of the House of Assembly to contest election in his constituency and then he becomes the governor of a state, compare to what somebody spends under the system we operate now to be governor.”
ADF through its spokesman, Abia Onyike said that in the regional system of administration, regions would cash on what they have and develop at their place. He cited the First Republic when the Eastern Region leveraged on comparative advantage in palm oil and agriculture to develop
Source: vanguard
Nigeria may break up, it has cracks – Boss Mustapha
The secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has said that Nigeria is at the brink of breaking up if nothing is done to avert it. Disclosing this at an interdenominational church service to commemorate Nigeria’s 60th independence anniversary in Abuja, on Sunday, Boss according to TheCable said: It’s only that kind of Nehemiah’s love that will make us, as Nigerians, to rebuild the cracks we have in our walls today.
His words, “For us in Nigeria, Nehemiah should be taken as a metaphor for those Nigerians who either reside in Nigeria or outside, to cry to God to use the abandoned opportunities in Nigeria to address our challenges of nation building. “Fortunately for us, our walls are not yet broken but there are obvious cracks that could lead to a break if not properly addressed.
Source: vanguard