Reps to probe NNPC, others over fraud allegations

The House of Representatives is set to investigate activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Department of Petroleum Regulations and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency over allegations of fraud, abuse of due process and irregularities in the award of oil blocks since 1999. 

A statement by the Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Suleiman Kawu, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday, stated that the investigation was necessitated by petitions from the oil sector.

He listed areas where the alleged frauds were noticed to include awards of crude oil lifting, round tripping, lack of due process in oil block allocations, bloated budgetary allocations and breach of procedures in crude oil lifting. 

He said the House was in possession of numerous documents and petitions on the alleged frauds. 

Kawu’s statement reads, “We have in our possession documents on all transactions, the companies involved and individuals accused of different degrees of breaches of laid down rules and procedures, fraud, connivance and bribery in the oil industry. 

“It therefore behoves on us, as the elected representatives of our people and in furtherance of good governance and transparency in our public institutions, to engender an envisaged positive goal that will satisfy the yearning and expectations of our people. 

“Arising from intense consultation and unanimity of majority of members of the House of Representatives and pursuant to the constitutional powers vested in the parliament as enshrined in Sections 88(1) a, b sub-sections 1, 11 and in consonance with the request of major stakeholders in the industry, it is imperative for us to take a cursory look into the way and manner the industry is governed.” 

He said the proposed probe would not refrain from apportioning blames or reprimanding anybody whose conduct was not found to be above board. 

Kawu said the House would, as soon as it resumed, set up “an ad hoc committee to carry out the investigation.” 

He, therefore, called on the general public and other well- meaning Nigerians to furnish the proposed committee with useful information that could assist the House in performing its constitutional responsibilities.

In the meantime, members of the Nigeria Governors Forum met in Abuja on Sunday night to take a position ahead of Monday’s National Economic Council meeting. 

Our correspondent gathered that the governors discussed the issue of revenue allocation and excess crude account. 

The governors, who also discussed the Sovereign Wealth Fund, are expected to table their grievances before President Goodluck Jonathan at the NEC meeting. 

Our correspondent gathered that the governors agreed that Sovereign Wealth Fund would further deplete their accounts and that this was capable of affecting their ability to pay minimum wage to their workers.

By Olusola Fabiyi                              Courtesy Of: Punch

Obasanjo does not reward loyalty –Fani-Kayode

A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has said former President Olusegun Obasanjo does not reward loyalty like a leader is supposed to do.

He equally said Obasanjo should be grateful to ex-military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babagida for being instrumental to his release from prison and emerging the nation’s president in 1999.

Fani-Kayode, however, described the performance of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in office between 1999 and 2007 as first class and second to none. 

Fani-Kayode, who was reacting to the face-off between Obasanjo and Babangida, said such performance had made Obasanjo one of the greatest presidents Nigeria ever had. 

The former minister stated this in an electronic mail he sent to our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday. 

He, however, said it would be wrong to assume that Obasanjo could achieve much while in office without looking at the contributions of Babangida. 

He said, “President Obasanjo has to be eternally grateful to General Babangida because had it not been for the latter he would not have been released from jail, pardoned, rehabilitated, funded and installed as President in 1999. 

“This is an incontrovertible fact. Obasanjo went on from there to become one of the greatest Presidents in our history and his record of performance between 1999 and 2007, in my view, is first class and second to none. 

“The records are there for all to see and the facts speak for themselves. Yet the truth is that Babangida must take some credit for that too because he was instrumental in making him President in 1999.” 

He said credit must also be given to Babangida for refusing to engage in war of words with Obasanjo while in power despite provocations from those in government then against him and his loyalists. 

He said, “When I was in government we had our differences with Babangida from time to time but he always responded to us with restraint, dignity, calm and self-respect regardless of our provocations and our moves against him and his boys. Most important of all he stood solidly by those boys.” 

He also praised Babangida for always staying with his loyalists no matter their condition, but said the same thing could not be said of Obasanjo. 

He said, “The truth is that the loyalty and support that an individual gives to any leader must be reciprocated and any leader worth his salt knows this. 

“A leader that takes his followers for granted and takes pleasure in the destruction, humiliation, travails, shame and political persecution of his own loyalists is not a real leader but something else. 

“On the other hand the leader that stands by his loyalists through thick and thin and that reciprocates the commitment, love, support, compassion and loyalty that he receives from them is a true leader. 

“As far as I am concerned that is the difference between OBJ and IBB. Babangida recognises these things and is loyal to his own whilst Obasanjo does not.” 

Though he also said he did not subscribe to the view or accept the notion that the Obasanjo administration was a failure as claimed by Babangida in an interview with journalists, Fani-Kayode said Obasanjo made a grave mistake and also inflicted a deep spiritual wound on himself by insulting Babangida in the way that he did.

By Tunde Odesola and Olusola Fabiyi                       Courtesy Of: Punch

IBB’s reason for annulling June 12 unintelligent — Former MKO’s aide

Former military President Ibrahim Babangida has been criticised for saying the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, would have been overthrown if he had been allowed to assume power. 

An ex-Personal Assistant to Abiola, Chief Lisa Akerele, who said this in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Sunday, described Babangida’s reason as unintelligent. 

Babangida had claimed in an interview he granted a news magazine that Abiola’s regime would not have lasted more than the three months the Chief Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government stayed in power if he had allowed the late businessman and politician to assume power. 

But Akerele said he had thought that the former dictator would have given Nigerians cogent reasons for hurting them unnecessarily by annuling the election.

He said, “We thought that 18 years after dashing the hope of millions of Nigerians he (Babangida) would now have a more convincing reason for his illegitimate and coward action. 

“But it is unfortunate that he (Babangida) is still singing the same old song. Well, Nigerians know that his he is not a happy man and that his conscience is pricking him daily because of the injustice he meted out to them. 

“It is not too late for him to actually look back and apologise for the wrongs he had done his fellow Nigerians. If he could do this, I know he would be forgiven and he would also have a peace of mind. 

“Without this, I do not know if he would go to bed a happy man. At 70, he should not be ashamed to say he was sorry for his wrong actions. That is one of the qualities of a good leader.” 

On the rift between Babangida and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Akerele said there was no need for Nigerians to intervene because the two former leaders contributed to the annulment of the election. 

He said Nigerians should allow the two generals to fight, adding that such a disagreement would unearth many things they had done together to the detriment of the country. 

By Olusola Fabiyi                        Courtesy Of: Punch

Senate Leader decries state of federal roads

Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba has expressed concern over the deplorable state of the Calabar/Ikom/Ogoja Road and other federal highways in Cross River State.

Ndoma-Egba said he had received criticisms from people in his senatorial district, especially those in the opposition party on the state of the roads.

He said in an interview in Calabar on Saturday that he would not rest until the roads, especially the Calabar/Ikom/Ogoja Road, were rehabilitated

The lawmaker, who noted that the World Bank had taken over the Calabar/Ikom/Ogoja Road rehabilitation, lamented that procurement process had become a source of worry to him and the state government.

Ndoma-Egba said, “For now, that road is my life because my political life depends on it and I have staked everything. I have staked my reputation, I have assured our people that the road will be done.

“I was in touch with the Federal Ministry of Works and I spoke with the Schedule Officer, who is in charge of World Bank project. Part of the Ogoja/Ikom Road has been taken over by the World Bank and you know that the World Bank procurement processes are quite different from our own procurement processes.

“I was discussing the road two days ago with His Excellency( Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke) and he drew my attention to the normal challenges of procurement under the World Bank. It is going to be slow, it is going to be tedious but at the end of the day, what we will get will be solid because it is going to be built not to our own local standard but to World Bank standard.”

The lawmaker appealed to the people to exercise patience as the Federal Government and the World Bank would soon complete the procurement process.

He added, “All I will say is that the patient dog eats the fattest bone. So I believe that sooner than later, the Federal Government will complete the procurement process with the World Bank.”

Ndoma-Egba added that another part of the road “is already part of the African Development Bank- sponsored project.”

He said, “If you are driving on the Ogoja/Ikom Road at the Mbok junction, if you look right you will see a very neatly done road, which is part of Trans African Highway.”

By Mudiaga Affe                   Courtesy Of: Punch

Salami: NBA flays NJC, urges Jonathan to ignore recommendation

The Nigerian Bar Association on Sunday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to ignore the recommendation of the National Judicial Council to retire President, Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami.

The NBA said Salami’s suit, challenging the outcome of the NJC’s probe panels was still pending in court.

It also directed all lawyers in the country, including those to be conferred with the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, to stay away from the inauguration fixed for Friday, which falls on the last day of NBA’s 51st Annual General Conference, holding in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

This was contained in the communique issued after the National Executive Committee of the NBA on Sunday. 

It expressed displeasure with the attitude of the NJC members, who took the illegal and unconstitutional decision of suspending Salami, for “believing that it could ride roughshod over the process of court by suspending the President of the Court of Appeal, after he had filed suits to challenge the recommendations of the NJC in the dispute between him and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alloysius Katsina-Alu.”

National President of the NBA, Joseph Daudu (SAN), declared in the communique that it was wrong for the NJC to proceed with the suspension of Salami, when the suits he filed were pending in court.

The NBA said, “Nowhere in Section 158 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria allows the NJC to proceed with the action it took, regardless of the pendency of court proceedings.

“The aforementioned section is not an ouster clause to the powers of the court to intervene and correct any perceived error made by the NJC which has provided a cause of action to the injured party.

“Section 6(1) of the 1999 Constitution explicitly provides that the judicial powers of the federation shall be vested in the courts.

“If the framers of the constitution had wanted to exclude courts from interfering in the process of the

NJC, it would have been expressly said in Section 158 of the said constitution.

“NBA will not sit idle and watch the legal profession ridiculed and brought into disrepute in the public domain.

“NBA will withdraw its members from the NJC, pending when appropriate amendments to the constitution will be made inter alia; increasing NBA membership from 5 to 10.”

NBA further called for the restructuring of the NJC membership and functions, in such a way as to make the body functional and less prone to dictatorship and abuse of power.

The association added that the decision of the CJN to fix the SAN’s inauguration on the closing date of NBA’s annual conference was an affront and disrespect to the entire bar.

Daudu said he had in February notified the CJN of the NBA conference and was aware that September 19 had earlier been fixed as the date for the inauguration of the new SANs.

NBA insisted that the September date was an appropriate date, as it was traditional to swear in new SANs at the opening of a new judiciary year.

It added, “NEC hence, decided that the bar shall boycott the ceremony and all her members have been advised to stay away, including those to be conferred with the rank of SAN.

“It was resolved that any legal practitioner that attends the ceremony would not be referred to by members of the NBA with any rank he possesses.

“Similarly, if the person is in any NBA body, such as the Body of Benchers, he would lose all privileges and be stripped of membership of any committee or body that the NBA participates in.”

President Jonathan will on Monday (today) at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre, Moscow Road, Port Harcourt, declare the NBA conference open.

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, is expected to be the keynote speaker, at an event to be attended by no fewer than 10,000 lawyers and other stakeholders.

By Agency Reporter                  Courtesy Of: Punch

Falana, CD condemn judicial council

HUMAN rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, has advised President Goodluck Jonathans to ignore the recommendations of the National Judicial Council asking the President to approve the retirement of President, Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami.

Falana, who said this in a statement on Sunday, argued that the NJC’s suspension of Salami and the advice that he should be retired were illegal, unconstitutional and contemptuous.

He said, “By virtue of section 292(1) of the Constitution, the President of the Court of Appeal can only be removed from office by the President acting on an address supported by two-third of the Senate. Apart from recommending to the President of Nigeria the removal of the President of the Court of Appeal, the National Judicial Council lacks the power to remove him through suspension from office. By suspending Justice Salami from office, the National Judicial Council acted ultra vires.

“Under Section 238 of the Constitution, if the office of the President of the Court of Appeal becomes vacant, the President of Nigeria ‘shall appoint the most senior Justice of the Court of Appeal to perform those functions’ pending the appointment of the President of the Court. 

“By directing the most senior Justice of the Court of Appeal to take over the functions of the office of the President of the Court of Appeal, the National Judicial Council has usurped the powers of the President of Nigeria.”

Falana added, “Having publicly acknowledged through an advertorial that it had been served with the originating process in the case filed by Justice Ayo Salami at the Federal High Court challenging the legal validity of the request of the National Judicial Council that he should apologise for allegedly lying on oath, the purported suspension of the President of the Court of Appeal from office is illegal and contemptuous.”

Also, the Campaign for Democracy has condemned what it described as “judicial gangsterism” by the NJC in its suspension of Salami.

This was contained in a statement in Lagos by CD’s President, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin.

Okei-Odumakin said, “It is totally shocking and bewildering that the council will conduct itself in the most lawless manner the NJC has gone about the suspension of Justice Salami.

“It was the saddest, day for the rule of law and justice administration in Nigeria when the NJC refused to accept court summons from Justice Salami’s lawyer and went ahead to take ‘disciplinary’ action on a matter that is already before the court.

“The message the NJC is sending to Nigerians is to lose confidence in the judicial system if the President of the Court of Appeal cannot be protected by the court.

“In the plainest language, what the NJC has done is to resort to self-help to achieve some pernicious agenda which can only bring anarchy to justice administration in Nigeria.”

The CD added, “It is time for all democracy loving Nigerians to stand up in defence of the rule of law by opposing this violation of the rule of law by the National Judicial Council.”

By Agency Reporter                          Courtesy Of: Punch

I inherited undisciplined PDP – Chairman

The Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, on Sunday blamed the past leadership of the party, saying it was responsible for the indiscipline among members of the party. 

Baraje said the National Working Committee of the party, which he leads, inherited a party in March 2008 that was highly undisciplined and devastated by a lack of internal democracy. 

He, however, said efforts were being made to restore due process and rule of law in the party that prides itself as the largest party in Africa. 

A statement from the office of the acting National Secretary, Dr. Musa Babayo, on Sunday quoted Baraje as saying that he would also want his tenure to be evaluated and assessed by its commitment to the preservation of justice and adherence to due process and rule of law. According to him, that this is the only way discipline can be genuinely enforced in the party. 

Apart from indiscipline, Baraje also identified injustice and lack of due process as other vices militating against the establishment of genuine internal democracy in the party. 

Baraje said the only way the ruling party could become Nigeria’s flagship political organisation of the future was to confront all the identified problems squarely. 

He said, “What we need to achieve now is to ensure that people are treated in accordance with laid down regulations of the party and grievances are treated in accordance with the party’s constitution so that people will have confidence in the party and its leadership instead of rushing to the courts whenever they have even the slightest issues. 

“We have been experiencing irregular incidents in the party in the recent past. There had also been irregular solutions with unpalatable outcomes for members thereby creating a situation of agitation, displeasure and discontentment. 

“When people are bottled up for a long time, they resort to gross violation of law and due process. This is why you see our members take the law into their own hands by going to court without necessarily following the due process stipulated by our constitution. I want to assure our members that that era is gone.”

By Olusola Fabiyi                      Courtesy Of: Punch