Jonathan queries Sanusi over CBN 2012 account by Ifeanyi Onuba and Olalekan Adetayo

 

 

President Goodluck Jonathan
 

President Goodluck Jonathan has queried the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, over some items in the apex’s bank’s 2012 audit report.

A confirmation of the query was made by  the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, when he was contacted by one of our correspondents for a reaction to a publication (not by The PUNCH) on Tuesday over the report.

Although Abati was not specific in his response, he  said he  was aware that “some issues” came up and the CBN governor was asked to offer further explanations on them.

Abati, who  added that the CBN governor had since made clarifications, did  not say whether the President was satisfied with them or not.

“What I know is that some issues came up and he (the CBN governor) was asked to explain and he has since done so,” he said  on the telephone.

An online news medium, PointblankNews.com,  had  in the said  publication claimed that  Sanusi was queried by  Jonathan over some alleged infractions discovered in the  bank’s 2012 audited account.

According to the publication,  the query covered 22 issues bordering on infractions  in  the bank.

 It also alleged that the CBN governor  made some financial donations under the special access item in the CBN account.

The report by the news portal said that the query was sent to the CBN governor on May 6, while a response was expected back on May 8.

The CBN governor was, however,  reported by the portal to have submitted his reply to the President on May 21.

 Other issues raised in the query,  according to the online publication,  include the write-off of about N3.5bn CBN staff housing loan.

It also touched other issues such as refusal of the apex bank to consolidate its accounts, the trillion naira debt owed by the Asset Management Company, and  the non-disclosure of the total liabilities through the bond floated by the company.

Sanusi was also asked to explain the discrepancies noted in the 2012 account regarding the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, a subsidiary of the CBN.

The CBN reacted swiftly, saying the publication was the handiwork of mischief makers as it did not reflect the reality on the ground.

In a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, the   Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Mr Ugochukwu Okoroafor,  said that contrary to the  report, the bank’s account was not queried by the President.

He added that  the CBN was the only institution among the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government that was recently given an award by the National Assembly Committee on Finance for presenting its account in a transparent manner.

For instance, he said  the committee specifically singled out the  bank for contributing over 75 per cent of MDA’s remittances to government coffers.

He said, “I have read that report and those things written there are not true. I am not aware that the President queried the CBN governor over that report. I am not aware of that.

“The 2012 report has been out for some time now and I can say that   the CBN is the only institution that in its   accounts has always come out without any problem.

“In fact,  even the finance committee commended us. We are the only institution that has shown consistency in terms of bringing   out our reports on time and in terms of remittances.

“We have never failed in the history of the CBN. The finance committee gave us an award and this was celebrated.

“They gave us with the Nigerian Television Authority and they said we made over 75 per cent of the contributions by MDAs  to their surplus and this happened just a few months ago.

“So the people are just being mischievious and we won’t succumb to any blackmail.”

Sanusi had last week while responding to questions on the controversy surrounding the approval of the CBN’s financial statement by the Financial Reporting Council, said the board of the  bank, and not the FRC, approved  the  report .

He had said, “On our accounts, the FRC does not approve our accounts. The board of the Central Bank had approved our accounts.

“The FRC is there to set accounting standards and to make sure they are improved on to meet international best practices.

“We published accounts and the FRC has comments on those accounts; they will take those comments and we will take on board whatever because they are the regulator as far as preparing financial statements is concerned and just like banks respect our own regulatory arena, we respect the FRC in its own regulatory arena.

“So there is no question at all about the non-approval, and I am not even aware of any issues that have been raised and I will like to put an end to all of that speculation.

“There is nothing like the FRC not approving our account. There is nothing like a query on our account.”

Punch

Theatre Medicine: Abati and Okupe Issue Different Statements For Same Presidency On Same Issue

 

Doyin Okupe

 

In an apparent move to impress President Goodluck Jonathan and also outsmart one another for Jonathan’s favour, presidential spokesmen Reuben Abati and Doyin Okupe were today falling over each other to unleash press statements on the same bait dangled before the presidency yesterday by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The mega-party yesterday offered Jonathan an “invitation” to its ranks if he wanted to avoid the chaos in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and none of the two desperate aides, reflecting a state of panic in managing President Jonathan’s poor image, checked with the other about the definition of team.
Okupe wrote that in extending its invitation to the President, the National Chairman of the APC made reference to what it called crisis rocking the PDP, “forgetting that the real test of leadership is not in running away from crisis but in resolving them firmly and fairly.
“The very nature of democratic politics envisages conflict of ideas, interests and aspirations which must be aggregated for the overall good of the public and which all true leaders must be mentally and emotionally prepared to tackle,” the former medical doctor declared.
To that end, he said Mr. Jonathan has “continued to pursue the Transformation Agenda with zeal, focus and unequalled determination despite the enormous security challenges” which he blamed on “elements in the opposition political party who had hoped that the ship of the Nigerian Nation would not stay afloat under the first President ever produced from a minority ethnic group.”
Ignoring—or perhaps completely unaware of Okupe’s statement—Abati sent out his own, describing the APC invitation as “an acknowledgment of Jonathan’s sterling leadership qualities”.
He accused the merging parties of “forming a party only to realise they don’t have a candidate,” and that Jonathan is comfortable where he is.
Commenting on the matter this evening, a political observer said he was sure the APC could not believe it had lured the presidency out so early and easily.
“It is difficult to believe that these people do not realize they were being baited, and fell for the simplest trick in politics.  Not only does Mr. Jonathan have two of his aides demonstrating a divided house, he has them dancing Azonto when Apala music is being played.  But remember, one of these men studied theatre arts, the other one, Medicine.  So perhaps we are seeing the emergence of a new field of entertainment we can call “Theatre Medicine.”
A newspaper columnist who reflected on the same issue, defended Abati for coming out with a second statement: “Remember that Jonathan recently gave Okupe a glittering new car.  Abati does not want the next bag of goodies to go to someone else.”
Saharareporters

Obama 'disappointed' with Russia, calls embassy threat significant

 

U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed on Tuesday that he would go to Russia this fall for a G20 summit but said he was "disappointed" that Russia granted temporary asylum to former U.S. spy agency

contractor Edward Snowden.

Speaking on NBC's "The Tonight Show" with host Jay Leno, Obama said Moscow sometimes slipped into a Cold War mentality, despite being cooperative with the United States on some issues, including counterterrorism efforts in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Obama was not asked and did not mention whether he would attend a separate meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his Russian trip. That meeting was put in question after Moscow rejected U.S. pleas and granted Snowden a year's asylum. The White House has said it is evaluating whether a one-on-one with Putin makes sense.
Washington wants Snowden, who was in hiding in Hong Kong before flying to Moscow in June, to be sent home to face criminal charges including espionage for disclosing secret American internet and telephone surveillance programs.
"There have been times where they slip back into Cold War thinking and a Cold War mentality," Obama said of Russia.
"What I say to President Putin is, that's the past and ... we've got to think about the future. And there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to cooperate more effectively than we do."
During the interview, Obama also said the recent threat that caused the United States to close its embassies throughout the Middle East was significant.
"It's significant enough that we're taking every precaution," Obama said.
"It's a reminder that for all the progress we've made ... this radical, violent extremism is still out there," Obama said. "We've got to stay on top of it."
The U.S. State Department issued a worldwide travel alert on Friday warning Americans that al Qaeda may be planning attacks in August, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. It initially announced the embassy closures would be only for Sunday, then extended the closures of some by a week.
Asked whether the controversial surveillance programs helped lead to the intelligence that sparked the warnings, Obama said the programs were critical to counterterrorism work. But he said more needed to be done to assure Americans they were not being spied on themselves.
"We don't have a domestic spying program," he said. "What we do have are some mechanisms where we can track a phone number or an email address that we know is connected to some sort of terrorist threat."
The odds of dying in a terrorist attack were less than dying in a car accident, Obama said, and Americans should be careful but did not need to cancel planned vacations to places such as Europe as a result of the recent travel warnings.
LIGHTER SIDE
In lighter notes, Obama said he had invited his former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, to her recent lunch at the White House and described her as having a post-administration "glow."
"We have become genuinely close, and I could not have more respect for her," Obama said.
Asked by Leno whether the former first lady and potential 2016 presidential candidate had "measured the drapes" while she was there, Obama said no.
"Keep in mind she's been there before," he joked. "She doesn't have to measure them."
Obama also confirmed - more or less - a budding "bromance" with his former 2008 presidential rival, Republican Senator John McCain, who has been supportive of Obama's push to reform U.S. immigration laws.
"That's how a classic romantic comedy goes, right? Initially you're not getting along and then you keep on bumping into each other," Obama joked.
"John McCain and I have, you know, a number of philosophical differences, but he is a person of integrity. He is willing to say things regardless of the politics."
Leno also poked fun at Obama for having told a group of young people that broccoli was his favorite food.
"Me and broccoli, I don't know, we've got a thing going," Obama offered.
iPaidABribe

SNOWDEN ASYLUM: Obama Cancels Meeting With Putin

 

US President Barack Obama has cancelled a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia’s decision to grant asylum to intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, the White House said.

But Mr Obama will still attend the G20 economic talks in St Petersburg.
A White House aide said Mr Snowden’s asylum had deepened the pre-existing tension between the two counties.
The former intelligence contractor has admitted leaking information about US surveillance programmes to the media.
Source: BBC News

APC to Jonathan: Come, Join Us

 

Chief Bisi Akande,

•Masari heads committee on party  structures
•Congresses, convention may hold December 
•Buhari: We’ll displace PDP in 2015

By Onyebuchi Ezigbo and John Shiklam 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Tuesday invited President Goodluck Jonathan to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and join the progressive fold.
APC National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, extended the invitation to the president on Tuesday  in Abuja at the inaugural meeting of the Interim National Executive Committee of the party.

He said the APC was ready to confer its membership on any Nigerian that is ready to identify with the party.
As part of efforts towards strengthening the party, a former House of Representatives Speaker, Alhaji Aminu Masari, has been appointed to chair a nine-member committee to advise the interim national leadership on how to set up structures in all parts of the country.

The APC is also considering holding its congresses and convention by December to elect those who will run various strata of the party.
Also, a chieftain of the party and former Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has assured the people that the APC will defeat the ruling PDP in 2015 to give Nigerians a new lease of life.

On who will fly the party’s presidential flag in the 2015 general election, Akande said APC could not be stampeded on the issue until the party's national convention likely to hold in December.

He said the task of the Masari committee would be to advise on how to organise congresses at the ward and state levels of the party.
“Our duty is to organise party congresses from ward level to local and state levels and at the national level to hold the convention to establish a proper structure for the APC. Until the congresses and convention are done, we are having party leadership in the interim.
"We are trying to build our foundation from bottom to the top and not from the top to down and we have had some talks about possible names of APC presidential candidates, but that is not true, we have not reached that stage.

"Our major preoccupation is to set up the structure of our party. Until after November or December when we hold our national convention, where our national executive will be elected, there is no idea about who becomes our presidential candidate, flag bearer, governor or anything," he said.

However, he added that the only exception would be Anambra State where a committee was already working out modalities for nominating candidate of the party for the November 16 governorship election.
He confirmed that there is going to be congresses for members in Anambra State soon to enable them decide who would be the party’s candidate in the November poll.

"At today's (yesterday) meeting, we have set up several committees to advise us on how to go about our affairs and most especially the elections in some states like Anambra and Delta States and local government elections in states such as Kwara, Anambra and Cross River. 

"The committee is to proffer strategies on how APC can contest and win elections in these places. You know political parties are in politics to win elections.
"We are also expected to hold our national convention in November and December and it is only after that that we can talk about the issue of the flag bearer or the presidential candidate," Akande added.

According to him, the outcome of the committee’s report would determine how and when to inaugurate these structures.
On the pending court case by a rival political group, he said nothing would alter the fact that APC had been registered, adding that the party has come to stay.

"In Nigeria today, we do not know any other APC apart from the All Progressives Congress and we do not contemplate anything and nothing will happen to move this APC out of place. We remain a party and we shall remain a party forever to rule this country," he said.
He said APC was no longer new being an amalgam of old parties and so it would not face any challenge in contesting the 2015 elections.

"In doing so, the only thing we feel is creating some misunderstanding is that people are anxious to be part of APC but because the party has never given a directive, some people were just talking on behalf of the party without authority.  We are putting a stop to that.
"Any statement about APC should emanate from the office of the party's publicity secretary and what he says reflects the true position and mind of the party.  We are warning all people who are arrogating to themselves chairmanship of APC in the states and local government areas to desist from doing so because they are unauthorised. 

"All those who are printing forms and calling rallies in the name of APC are also not authorised to do so,” he said.
He said the supporters should exercise patience until the constitution of party structures so that authority could flow down to every level.
On what the emergence of APC portends for the polity, Akande said Nigeria has by that singular act made progress in the democratic process.

"I think that the country is making progress. No matter what anybody thinks, even our enemies believe that a two-party system deepens democracy better and if we do not contribute anything to the deepening of democracy in this country, we have championed the possibility of giving Nigerians a two-party system in a democracy,” he added.

At another forum yesterday, APC chieftain, Buhari, said the party was determined to push the PDP out of power in 2015.
According to him, the APC would give Nigerians a new life and hope.

Buhari, who spoke at his Kaduna office when he received members of Democratic Emancipation Movement (DEM) who visited him, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for registering the APC.
He however declined to make any categorical statement on his presidential ambition in 2015, saying his decision would be tied to the constitution of the APC.

"If the party chooses me as its candidate, I will contest; if they do not consider me, I will not contest, but I will still support the party. My decision to run for 2015 will solely be the party’s decision," he said.

Speaking on the merger of political parties that formed the APC, Buhari said the talks about merger began since 2007.
"This is because we found out that none of the opposition parties can challenge PDP successfully. But if we come together with those that have representation at the National Assembly and the Houses of the Assemblies and go back to sensitise our constituencies, even if the PDP wants to rig, they would find it impossible to rig.

“I discovered that by being so divisive, we made ourselves very vulnerable. So, the best way to survive and for this country to stabilise, we just have to come together and I believe along the line we made the necessary sacrifices,” he said.

ThisDay

“I thought about this merger in 2007″: Buhari states the one thing that will make him run in 2015

Veteran presidential candidate and a major stakeholder in the new All Progressives Congress, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) on Tuesday restated the new party’s determination to push out the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in 2015.
In his words, “The APC is focus-driven to push the PDP out of power by 2015,” Buhari told members of the Democratic Emancipation Movement who paid him a courtesy visit in Kaduna.
Buhari has vied for the Presidency on the platforms of two political parties in 2003, 2007 and 2011 and lost in all of them to PDP candidates. He hinged his 2015 ambition on only one condition – if the APC wants him to.
“My decision will be tied to the constitution of the APC. If the party chooses me as its candidate, I will contest. If the members do not consider me, I will not contest but I will still support the party. My decision to run for 2015 will solely be that of the party,” Buhari said.
He also joined the bandwagon to praise the nation’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission for having the nerve to register the APC.
The former Head of State went down memory lane a bit, saying that he had thought of a merger of political forces to wrest power from the PDP in 2007. He also admitted to the opposition parties in the country making mistakes in the past because “we made ourselves vulnerable.”
Buhari said, “I thought about this merger in 2007. This is because I found out that none of the opposition parties can challenge the PDP successfully. But if we come together with those that have representation at the National Assembly and the Houses of Assembly and go back to sensitise our constituencies, even if the PDP want to rig, they would find it impossible to rig.
“I discovered that by being so divisive, we made ourselves very vulnerable. So, the best way to survive and for this country to stabilise, we just have to come together and I believe, along the line, we made necessary sacrifices.
He also highlighted the optimism generated in some sections of the citizenry about the prospects of the new party.
“The tension in the country has already come down; people now think that they have a viable alternative. These feelings and belief is across the country, not only in the North or in the South-West. There is a good feeling about the party in all the political zones of the country.
The PDP on Tuesday, singing a different tune in response, said that Buhari, who ruled Nigeria as a military Head of State between 1983 and 1985, was daydreaming.
“There is no way the APC can win the election in 2015. He (Buhari) is day-dreaming,” said Acting National Publicity Secretary, Tony Okeke.
YNaija

Deeper Life Pastor Convicted For Fraud In America; Faces 30 Years In Prison

Consequently, Pastor Eric Abakporo could spend a maximum term of about 30 years in prison when he is finally sentenced on November 12, 2013.

According to Sahara Reporters, Abakporo was found guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and bank fraud. The first and third charges each carry a maximum of 30 years in jail, while wire fraud carries a maximum of 20 years.

Abakporo’s co-conspirator, Latanya Pierce, who was also found guilty on all three counts, faces the same predicament. She will be sentenced separately on December 9, 2013.

Last February, a grand jury of the United States District Court Southern District of New York indicted Abakporo and Pierce on the charges, and recommended that they forfeit to the government a wide variety of properties related to their offences, as well as a sum of money representing the approximate amount of proceeds obtained as a result of the offences.

The jury trial of the suspects took place on July 26 before Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, and the guilty verdict was rendered as early as 1:00pm. Ms. Pierce is currently out on bail, but Abakporo was remanded in custody.

It would be recalled that the superseding indictment [Case 1:12-cr-00340-SAS filed on January 24, 2013] charged that between 2003 and 2012, Abakporo and Pierce, who owned or controlled several real estate-related businesses, worked together to defraud financial institutions and mortgage lenders, property owners, property buyers and others of real property, mortgage loan proceeds, and monies related to real property transactions.

As part of their fraudulent scheme, the indictment said, Abakporo and Pierce used straw purchasers and borrowers to buy properties using mortgage loans from financial institutions and mortgage lenders, and caused false and fraudulent documents and information to be submitted to those financial institutions and mortgage lenders.

The properties involved were said to include:
1. 99 – 21 215th Street, Queens, New York
2. 50 Carnegie Avenue, Elmont, New York
3. 143 Quincy Street, Brooklyn, New York
4. 1308 Caton Avenue, Brooklyn, New York
5. 1070 Saint Nicholas Avenue, Manhattan, New York
6. 215 – 11, 111th Road, Cambria Heights, New York, and
7. 101 – 24 197th Street, Hollis, New York 11423

In a previous indictment, the story was also told of how Abakporo defrauded a 78-year old American lady, swindling her out of her property.

“Through lies and deception, these individuals abused the trust of an elderly woman in order to perpetrate a multimillion dollar fraud,” New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said, vowing they would face justice.

In May 2012, the federal prosecutor’s office announced the arrest of Abakporo and Pierce for swindling the elderly lady out of her apartment building and stiffing a bank from whom they fraudulently obtained a $1.8 million mortgage loan.

In addition:
Abakporo’s case calls to mind the judgement on another fraudulent Nigeria-born lawyer, Emeka Ugwuonye, who converted to personal use the sum of $1.55 million he received from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on behalf of the Embassy of Nigeria.

Giving judgement in that case on July 24, Judge Barbara J. Rothstein of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the rogue lawyer to pay to the Embassy about $2.2 million.

Naijaurban