The Special Presidential Panel for the Recovery of Public Property is to recover the seven billion dollars bailout fund granted commercial banks between 2006 and 2008.
The panel Chairman, Mr Okoi Obono-Obla, said in Abuja on Friday that the banks had yet to refund the money over a decade after.
Obono-Obla said that the bailout fund was not a gift to the commercial banks and so must be recovered and returned to government’s coffers.
“We are currently doing a lot of investigations to recover monies that have been taken away from the people of Nigeria.
“One of them is the almost seven billion dollars bailout fund that the Central Bank of Nigeria granted commercial banks in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
“After 13 years or so, these commercial banks have not returned that money to the coffers of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“When we enquired from the CBN the status of that money, the banks told us that the money was ‘dashed’ (given free) to the commercial banks,’’ he said.
The panel chairman said that the money belonged to the people of Nigeria and so could not be given away like that to commercial banks owned by private individuals.
He pledged the panel’s determination to recover the money and return it to the Federal Government.
Obono-Obla said the panel was also in the process of recovering a large piece of land belonging to a parastatal agency under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
“That land was encroached upon, parcelled out and sold by unpatriotic people.
`I can assure you that we are going to recover it and prosecute all those who are responsible.
“We are also investigating and in the process of recovering a lot of landed property belongìng to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Calabar, Warri, Koko, Sapele and Lagos ports.
“We are equally doing recoveries for the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, and other federal government agencies, across the country,’’ the panel chairman said.
He called on Nigerians to assist the panel with information that could lead to the recovery of stolen public property by unpatriotic individuals.
National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiohmole
National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiohmole
By Emmanuel Ado
“In war you can be killed only once. In politics, many times”. Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British Politician
That Comrade Adams Oshiomhole the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress(APC), is facing a rebellion is an understatement,a revolt captures more appropriately the situation he has found himself,and for which he must take blame considering that he squandered the tremendous goodwill that saw him emerge in June as the National Chairman. But Adams Oshiomhole is on a familiar terrain,which he seems to enjoy. As General Secretary of the Textile Workers Union,the workers had revolted against his leadership,and in the process burnt down part of the textile workers secretariat,Adams was lucky to have escaped being lynched.
Adams Oshiomhole,like his good friend Shehu Sani has a great knack of sufficiently angering and pushing people to the wall. Both men under late Sani Abacha more or less forced Abacha to administer them the standard “Abacha” treatment. While Shehu Sani was hauled before the Special Military Tribunal for managing an illegal organization,Adams Oshiomhole was stopped by Senator Uba Ahmed, the then Minister of Labour from becoming the President of the Nigerian Labour(NLC). Like the Siamese twins that they are, both men are facing huge political problems that are largely of their own making. For instance the poetry writing Shehu Sani, has been suspended indefinitely by the kaduna State Chapter of the APC and faces a bleak political future, while Adams Oshiomhole seems to have his hands full,with threats of a vote of no confidence on his leadership.
It’s obvious that in the APC today Adams Oshiomhole who was recently elected to wide acclaim can count his friends on the tips of his fingers,considering the reaction from about 26 states to some issues threatening to tear the party apart, especially that of direct or indirect primaries for the selection of candidates for the various offices for the 2019 general elections. The only APC States that are safely with the embattled Adams are Osun and Lagos States, which are firmly under the firm grip of the war Lord Bola Ahmed Tinubu and this is largely due to Adams lack of tact and understanding that managing a political party is different from managing a mass movement like the NLC, where the issues are largely that of bread and butter.
That Adams Oshiomhole faces real threat are not in doubt, if there was any doubt about this, the Speaker Adamawa State House of Assembly Kabiru Mijinyawa has abundantly made it clear that Adams Oshiomhole is facing an internal uprising. “We are not afraid of anybody. We are telling you(SGF Mustapha Boss )with a strong voice to tell him(Oshiomhole) to keep off from Adamawa State,if not we will deal with him,we are ready to fight” the speaker had openly declared before an expanded meeting of APC stakeholders. The issues that led to the outburst by the speaker are very indeed weighty and deserve attention. The issues go beyond direct or indirect primaries,it’s fundamentally about scheming for post 2019.
The indirect or direct primaries problems facing the APC have been portrayed in some quarters as a war between the good guys,that Adams Oshiomhole and Bola Tinubu represent and the bad guys represented by all those who oppose direct primaries. The reality is that while it makes sense to widen political participation by throwing open the process to the entire members of the party,the reality is that direct primaries is going to be a logistical nightmare not just for the APC, but the security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC). Of the lot the security agencies that are already overstretched due to several crisis points around the country,would be further stretched. Same with INEC which by law is expected to send its personnel to the entire 774 Local Government to monitor the primaries. This will further ballon budget of the electoral umpire.
The other big problem is the lack of authentic membership registers and the open allegations against the national body that has “doctored” the registers of some State to facilitate rigging at source. The Adamawa State Speaker for instance has alleged that about 2 million fake members have been added to sway advantage in favour of an unnamed opponent of Governor Jibirilla Bindow, whom some forces are determined to defeat and only direct primary will provide that kind of leeway for such acts.
The impression that Adams Oshiomhole is acting in the greater interest of the APC and is keen to widen participation has obviously not convinced vast majority of his party members and this obviously explains the “cobra” vehemence with which the party members fighting have fought back. The problem is that Adams Oshiomhole has tragically lost the trust and confidence of his party members,who see him as acting the script of Bola Tinubu,who has jeopardized his presidential ambitions by some actions being attributed to him. What Bola Tinubu has refused to come to terms with ,is the fact that the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has better chances than him,if the presidency is zoned to the South West.
Adams has woefully failed to convince his party members that direct primaries is not an agenda targeted at anyone. But the biggest challenge facing Adams Oshiomhole is that of morality, having profited from a consensus arrangement that saw him emerge in June as the National Chairman,can he now kick against indirect primaries? Were Adams Oshiomhole principled he shouldn’t have sought for the endorsement of critical stakeholders to defeat the incumbent chairman John Oyegun,he should have opted for the direct primaries,which he suddenly wants to foist on the party. That would have made him principled and sincere.
Franklin D.Roosevelt the thirty second (32) Presidential of the United States of America,must have had Adams Oshiomhole in mind when he said “a radical is a man with both feet firmly planted in the air”. Adams has had both feet in the air,since he got this job. His first spat was with Dr. Chris Ngige,whom he accused without facts of refusing to inaugurate the boards of agencies under his ministry especially the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) which his comrade at arms Frank Kokori ,the one time General Secretary of the powerful petroleum union has been penciled down to head.He savagely accused his twin brother in “height” Chris Ngige of appropriating the powers of the Board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, in the award of contracts, hence his deliberate refusal to inaugurate the board of the agency,which happened to be untrue in every material fact. If only Comrade Adams Oshiomhole had bothered to inquire,to seek the truth from Ngige he would have found out that an administrative panel is investigating the money spinning agency over the “disappearance” of over N50 billion,of which N5billion was reportedly stolen in one day,without vouchers.
If Adams Oshiomhole who since his assumption of office (coming in from the cold), has displayed reckless disrespect for facts and has shown himself to be a “dictator” – not a team player survives the brewing tsunami, then he needs to come down from his high horse and to rebuild trust which is essential to lead not just APC,but any party. Adams Oshiomhole portraying himself as an action man as president of the NLC was okay,because he needed to convince the workers that he can get better wages for them. But now the times are different,he must learn to build consensus amongst the various tendencies and idiosyncrasies. Luckily the excitement of his new job has started to wear off, and hopefully Nigerians won’t hear him compare himself to the president
Because Adams Oshiomhole has unwittingly created the impression that he is an undertaker,with a mandate to murder the APC like Bamanga Tukur,who contributed largely to the problems of the Peoples Democratic Party, before he was eventually eased off, he should expect fights on almost every issue,as those opposed to him attempt to check his excesses. The indications are that the issue of direct or indirect primaries are warning signs- “rattle snake” strategy for him to keep away from other issues like automatic ticket that he been toying with.
The APC,the PDP and all the other parties should between now and 2021 leverage on technology to have an authentic membership register,that will make it easy for its members to vote from the comfort of their rooms. I totally agree that every member must count, but again only when such members are financially up to date. The party should ultimately be self funding. Adams Oshiomhole hasn’t explained how he intends to fund the logistics for the direct primaries and this makes it suspect. If he insists that the states must fund the direct primaries,then he should provide the resources.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) has warned its members not to pitch tent with any aspirants to elective position in the 2019 elections.
Chairman of the Board, Sen. Walid Jibrin, gave the warning at the board meeting on Thursday in Abuja.
Jibrin said that as members of the BoT and conscience of the party, they should not move about with any aspirant.
“If we are really conscience of the party, we should not move about with aspirants. That was what happened during the last national convention when we elected the National Chairman.
“Some of us went and pitched camp with aspirants, taking them all over the place. This time, we will not allow that to happen.
“Anyone of us who moves about with any aspirant should resign from the BoT.
“We are the ones that will settle complaints, but if we are involved, it will not be fair. So, we have told the members not to campaign with the aspirants; we are also part of delegates.”
Jibrin also said that the board had also deliberated on reducing the number of presidential aspirants in the party from 13.
“More consultations are going on among the elders. We are going to bring out a committee that will be best for Nigerians.
“We are forming a committee to meet with the aspirants. After that, we will decide on what to do. We have decided to form a special committee to advice the party’s National Working Committee.”
Meanwhile, a presidential aspirant, Alhaji Sule Lamido, told newsmen shortly after submitting his nomination form in Abuja on Thursday that picking PDP presidential candidate was beyond party.
According to him, it is also a choice of Nigerians.
“Nigerians in the last three years has realized what the All Progressives Congress (APC) is and what we have gone through.”
Lamido, therefore, said that PDP needed a candidate, who could defect the APC.
Abia Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, who also submitted his governorship nomination forms, said made-in-Nigeria products, which his government was promoting, had gone beyond the shore of the state.
“Our promotion of Made-in-Aba has gone beyond the shores of Nigeria and Africa. Indeed, I am happy and pleased to say that our innovations in agriculture have also seen new vistas.
“The massive infrastructural development has opened up our markets, opened up our major cities and ensured that trade and commerce begin to flourish once again.’’
Ikpeazu said that his administration had placed the state on a path of irreversible sustainable development, adding that the made-in-Aba initiative had gone beyond the shores of Nigeria.
Director of Programmes, WaterAid Nigeria, Anddy Omoluabi says 61 per cent of Plateau residents are in need of potable water.
Omoluabi made the disclosure in Jos, North Central Nigeria at the inauguration of the project tagged “European Union (EU) Technical Assistance to Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to Implement Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme Phase III.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project being implemented by WaterAid Nigeria is aimed at building the capacity of CSOs to advocate for better governance in the water and sanitation sector in Plateau.
The director also disclosed that 29 per cent of the population in the state also lacked access to decent toilet facilities and 54 per cent defecated in the open.
This development, the organisation said had exposed the to all kinds of diseases, such as cholera, dysentery Lassa fever and host of others.
“About 61 per cent of the household in the state currently lives without clean water, 29 per cent without access to a decent toilet and 54 per cent defecate in the open,” he said.
Omoluabi said poor access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene had devastating effects on the state developmental strides, adding that meeting its goals might be difficult.
“Without sufficient access to clean water and sanitation, it will be difficult for the state to meet the development goals it set for itself.
This is because maternal and infant mortality and rate of school dropouts, particularly among girls, will also increase,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Jaafaru Wuyep, the Commissioner for Water Resources and Energy, said that the state government was committed to providing potable water for its populace.
The commissioner said one cardinal objective of the administration was provision of infrastructure development; hence, making potable water available in all parts of the state was imperative.
“Immediately we assumed office, we promised to among others things to embark on massive infrastructure development and the most important aspect of that is the provision of potable water.
This because water as we all knows is life.
“Though, we have been faced with paucity of funds since we assumed office, but as a government, we will do everything we can to see that potable water is provided to our people.
“We have been thinking outside the box, which is why we are partnering with various donor agencies to ensure that our people at both rural and urban areas have clean water,” he said.
Wuyep added that as part of its commitment, the state government had recently released N550 million as counterpart funds for the EU-UNICEF water project to address shortage of water supply at rural and urban areas.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has called on its supporters to hand over vote buyers to the police during the Sept. 22 governorship election in Osun, South West of the country.
Chief Olu Falae, the National Chairman of SDP, made the call at the party’s mega rally in Osogbo on Thursday.
The rally was to drum support for the party’s governorship candidate, Sen. Iyiola Omisore.
Falae urged party supporters to go out en mass to vote for SDP and not allow anybody to use money to induce them during the election.
Omisore, in his address, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be careful in the selection of ad-hoc staff for the election.
The SDP flag bearer said that he had information that some youths linked to political parties intended to infiltrate INEC ad-hoc staff selection process.
Omisore called on his supporters not to be weary, assuring them of victory during the poll.
He listed the timely payment of salaries and pensions as well as improved education and health sectors as areas of focus if elected.
The SDP Chairman in the state, Dr Bayo Faforiji, asked supporters to cast their votes on time and wait till the official announcement of the results at their polling units.
Faforiji told the supporters not to be intimidated on election day but to remain resolute and defend their votes.
National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiohmole
National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiohmole
The Not-Too-Young-To-Run Movement has appealed to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to reduce the cost of its nomination forms to enable youths participate in 2019 elections.
One of the Conveners of the Movement, Mr Samson Itodo, made the call at the Public Dialogue with Political Parties on Youth Candidacy and Party Primaries, it organised in Abuja on Thursday.
Itodo said that though the Not-Too-Young-To-Run law had been made, young people were still contending with challenges in political parties.
“One major challenge is the cost of nomination forms; many young people have fallen victims of the autocratic and undemocratic nature of political parties across the country.
“Today, we have got young people who, inspired by the Not-Too-Young-To-Run agitation, are unable to purchase forms because they are not products or stakeholders of the contentious primaries being held.
“Today, most of the young people want to run for offices but the cost of nomination forms is too high; so, we will keep engaging political parties to reduce cost of nomination forms for youths, especially the APC.
“We want to believe the party is truly a people’s party because if it is, then the onus is actually on them to reduce the cost of forms.”
Itodo said that the APC had already accepted and adopted one of the movement’s recommendations, which was direct primary.
He said that there was need to take a further step to reduce the cost of its nomination form so that youths, women and persons with disabilities could afford it.
He lauded the party for signing the bill.
Itodo, however, said that APC needed to act “so it won’t be a double-standard party because they won’t celebrate passage of the bill and take the opportunity away from youths through high cost of forms.
“It is important the party reduces its nomination form cost because this has the potential of breeding corruption.
“When people pay high for forms, when they get into office, their first preoccupation is how they will recoup this money.” he said. Itodo said that the movement believed that reducing the cost of its nomination forms was one of the steps that APC needed to take to tell Nigerians that it was a youth-friendly party.
He reiterated that the movement remained a non-partisan group and would not endorse any candidate.
He, however, said that the movement, with its Ready-to-Run project, would locate competent youths who were interested in running for elective office.
He said the movement would inspire them, support them and link competent youths who were running for elective offices.
Ms Cynthia Mbamalu, one of the conveners, said that the group would not relent in supporting youth candidacy.
Mbamalu said that the aim of the dialogue was to advocate for political parties to deliberately enhance and support youth candidacy.
She said the movement was tracking the commitment of political parties to the dialogue and would follow it up.
She added that aspiring youths seeking to contest in 2019 and advised them to link up with the movement.
Mbamalu said that the group would meet with all the political parties to push for the promotion of youth inclusiveness.
Worried by the incessant cases of building collapse in the Federal Capital Territory, Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, on Thursday Inaugurated a panel of inquiry to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the unfortunate building collapse at Plot 711, Cadastral Zone B04, Jabi District, Abuja.
Bello, who was represented at the occasion by the Permanent Secretary, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, said the FCT Administration, as a responsible and responsive administration, was committed to unraveling the causes of the incident with a view to stemming future occurrence.
He said some officers directly in charge of monitoring the project site have been suspended pending the completion of investigations.
The Minister disclosed that the committee, which has three weeks to complete its assignment, has been charged with the responsibility of assessing the quality of the subsoil, foundations and designs that were available for the structure, establish the quality of supervision and nature of construction materials used as well as the experience of the technical personnel at the site.
The Committee is also expected to assess the level of regulation at the site and recommend appropriate sanction against any person found wanting.
The Panel which is chaired by the Director General and Chief Executive officer of the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute, Prof. Danladi Matawal, has retired Director of Engineering Services, FCDA, Engr. S. O Ugonabo; the MD, Fola Consult – a Planning Firm; Tpl S.A. Olajide, MD, 2-Habit Concept – Architectural Firm and Arch Philip Iortyer as members.
Also in the panel are representatives of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, Architects Registration Council of Nigeria, ARCON, Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria, TOPREC and Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, CORBON, as well as the FCTA General Counsel, Barr. Mohammed Babangida Umar, among others.
Speaking after the inauguration ceremony, Chairman of the panel, Prof. Matawal, stressed that the frequency of building collapse in Nigeria was unacceptable given the level of professionalism in the industry in the country.
Prof. Matawai commended the present FCT Administration for the reduction of the incidence of building collapse in the Territory, noting that the last time such happened was in August 2016.
He recalled that in 2012 alone, there were over 20 recorded cases, adding that the fact that this has reduced was as a result of the efforts of the present Administration to tame the tide.
Prof. Matawal appreciated the confidence reposed in the Committee members and assured that the Panel would give the assignment the seriousness it deserves and perform its work with decorum, sincerity and attention to details.
He said the committee will also work with a vision for the future to ensure that occurrences of this nature which were very much avoidable would be addressed by its report.
It would be recalled that a three floor structure under construction in Jabi District collapsed on Friday, August 17, 2018 leaving three persons dead while six others sustained various degrees of injuries.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa co-chairs meeting of the 2018 Focac Beijing Summit
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says African countries value the support China provides to them and welcomed the win-win relationship.
He was speaking on Thursday after a China trip, where he paid a state visit and attended the 2018 Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Mr. Ramaphosa who described the forum as a huge success said South Africa was honored to have co-chaired the Beijing FOCAC with China.
Many African countries have a sense that they have China as a meaningful partner which wants to assist fellow partners to reach higher levels of industrialisation.
He said African countries wish to exercise their right to development through industrialisation.
Ramaphosa also said that African countries and China also realise the need to address the issue of trade imbalance between them.
He said South Africa and China also entered into several agreements and signed a number of Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) during his state visit.
The president said these agreements pave the way for economic growth, educational opportunities and job creation in South Africa.
The president called on South African companies to work in partnership, consolidate South African interests on the African continent and to collaborate with China on projects in line with South Africa’s development and integration objectives.
Ramaphosa said South Africa is also seeking help from Chinese technology giant Huawei to explore innovative ways to strengthen the fight against crime through the use of modern technology.
For this purpose, Ramaphosa said he paid a courtesy call at Huawei’s Beijing Executive Briefing Center, where he met Huawei group founder, Ren Zhengfei.
Ramaphosa also travelled to Hangzhou where he visited the headquarters of the leading e-commerce group, Alibaba, and met the group’s founder, Jack Ma.
He said the visit was aimed at assisting the South African small business sector, especially in rural communities.
Alibaba is at its final stage of planning opportunities for South Africans, especially youth, to help South Africa leverage the fourth industrial revolution, according to Ramaphosa.
