PRODUCTIVITY, ANTIDOTE TO CORRUPTION – AREGBESOLA

GOVERNOR RAUF ADESOJI AREGBESOLA OF THE STATE OF OSUN

Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has stated that the creation of opportunities by government for Nigerians to be productive will be more effective in the fight against corruption.

Ogbeni Aregbesola made the statement yesterday while playing host to officers of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC )led by the State of Osun Head, Barrister Celcus Ukpong ,who paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

He noted that government at all levels must take it as a point of duty to provide opportunities for decent living through decent means of earning a living saying that if there is a national commitment to productivity ,the issue of corruption will be forgotten.

While describing corruption as a cankerworm which has been destroying the nation, Ogbeni Aregbesola called for the development of what he described as a guaranteed minimum income for producers of agricultural products which are food items saying that this will encourage more people into the agric sector and be gainfully engaged.

Ogbeni Aregbesola ,who described productivity as the greatest cure to corruption ,urged the I.C.P.C to ,as part of their campaign against corruption develop programmes which will drive people towards production stressing that as much as the nation needs to fight corruption, it is also necessary to address the issue of productivity noting that Nigerians now see work as a custom which is not related to income.

While pledging the partnership of the administration to the I.C.P.C in the fight against corruption, Ogbeni Aregbesola said that until Nigerians revive the culture of decent income, the fight against corruption will be like chasing the shadows.

Earlier in an address, the state head of the I.C.P.C, Barrister Celcus Ukpong ,appreciated the Governor for the various steps taken so far aimed at moving the state and the people forward noting that the steps of the Governor is worth emulating by other Governors.

He then called on the creation of anti corruption clubs in schools to help in the fight against corruption and other related issues.

Present were the state Deputy Governor, Otunba Titi Laoye Tomori, the Chief of Staff. Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, the Head of Service, Mr Sunday Owoeye and other members of the state executive council.

OsunDefender

Libel: Court awards N25m to Oshiomhole

A High Court sitting in Benin City, yesterday, awarded N25m damages for a libelous publication in favour of Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State against Dockland Communications Limited, publishers of News of the People magazine.

In suit no B/556/2011 Justice Efe Ikponmwonba ruled that Dockland Communications failed to prove the veracity of the libelous publication of the magazine in 2011, which was carried on the front page and at page 19, with the headline, “Oshiomhole’s sex power exposed: Impregnates young girl six months after death of wife”.

The Governor had taken Dockland Communications Limited, publishers of News of the People to court after failing to retract the said story and meet the conditions of apologizing to him as contained in a letter to them by his lawyers, Ken Mozia and Associates.

Oshiomhole who asked the court to award him N250 million in damages maintained that the defendant, among other things, falsely wrote that he bought a jeep for the said girl whom he was alleged to have impregnated and that he was interfering in the academic activities of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, on behalf of the girl; that he used sexual performance enhancement drugs and that he had performed traditional marriage rites precedent to a marriage between him and the said girl.

During trial, the Governor had under cross-examination said “I am a public officer, and as you have rightly pointed out as a Governor, what I do or fail to do is important. My character is important and people’s opinion of my personal life is important. My children are still in agony. The magazine published this just a few months after my wife passed away and this publication coincided with my daughter’s wedding. A Governor whom I invited for the wedding asked me if I was the one going to wed or my daughter. Your image as a public officer is very important.

He said: “after this publication, I had very serious family crisis because my children were still in grief over the death of their mother.”

He told the Court after the defendant’s counsel asked him to show how his character was damaged that his conclusion and that of many people who called him after reading the story was that he uses drugs.

Reacting to the judgment, Counsel to Governor Oshiomhole, Barrister Femi Owootori of Ken Mozia and Associates Chambers said “we as solicitors to the governor wrote a letter to the company asking for a retraction of the publication. But the newspaper stuck to its gun and refused to retract the publication. So we gave the necessary notice and took legal action to sue for libel and the case has been on. We closed our case rather than come in for defence, the defendants said they were resting their case on the claimants case which is a strategy suggesting that the claimant had made no case. But unfortunately for them when the judgment was being delivered it was exhaustively analysed.

“Even though our claim was for N250 million, considering the status of the person against whom the publication was made, the court awarded N25million and N10,000 cost because the court found as a fact the publication was a tissue of lies”

He urged journalists to cross-check their facts before publication.

OsunDefender

Conversations on Palestine: The Role and Failure of Journalism

 By Frank Barat, Truthout

The wall built by Israel in Abu Dis, an Arab a neighborhood in East Jerusalem. It divides Abu Dis into two. The wall is a means of occupying land from Palestinians. (Photo: Tal Bright / Flickr)
Mainstream media propagates the Western point of view of an Israeli-Palestinian conflict, when, in fact, there is an occupation, and until there is justice in Palestine, there will be no peace in the region or in the world beyond, says reporter John Pilger, in a radio interview.
As part of an ongoing series of interviews for the radio show "Le Mur a Des Oreilles; conversations for Palestine," Frank Barat talks to John Pilger, one of the most influential journalists of the last few decades, about the war in Syria, the colonization of Palestine, the relationship between the corporate media and government propaganda; and the actions of a few very brave people, Snowden, Assange and Manning.
Frank Barat: Quick question before we start, have you finished working on a new film?
John Pilger: Yes, I've almost just finished a new film, which will be premiered at the National Film Theatre here on October 3 and shown on the ITV network in Britain on December 17. It’s called Utopia and is about Indigenous Australia and a struggle that is the secret of Australia, which long ago embraced an apartheid that often has dared not speak its name.
FB: Let's start. So Syria is regularly headline news at the moment. What do you make of the corporate media reporting on the issue, and as a reporter, do you recognize yourself in this type of journalism?
JP:  No, I don’t recognize myself in the kind of journalism that misrepresents the Middle East as a matter of routine. This isn’t to say that there are not able and some fine journalists at work in the Middle East, but we rarely glimpse them in what we call the mainstream, or the corporate media.There is a kind of Kissinger style to a lot of the western reporting, reflecting the way that Henry Kissinger made an art form of hypocrisy and looking the other way while the United States went about its rapacious business, giving an impunity to Israel. If we are to understand the difficulties of the Middle East, their historical roots and how they might be resolved, then we must overcome the notion of Israel’s impunity, which the media reinforces. Israel, of course, is at the core of the problem: a colonial state reminiscent of those that were decolonized when it was beginning; it’s an anachronism and largely an extension of the United States.
FB: Would it be a fair portrayal if I say to you that I can't really see a difference between corporate media reporting on Syria and government propaganda? It seems like they are the same sort of arms of the same institutions in a way.
JP: Most of the mainstream reporting is an extension of what I would call an establishment prevailing view. It’s usually the government speaking with a different voice. Mainstream broadcasters make no secret of the fact that they frame their political and international coverage on the agenda of the political elite: the Westminster class in Britain, the Beltway class in Washington, the Press Gallery in Canberra, and so on.
FB: Talking about journalists such as yourself that we normally call investigative journalists, it seems like it is a dying breed. Would you say that people like Snowden and Assange are the new journalists nowadays?
JP: I don't believe investigative journalists are a dying breed, There is great enthusiasm among young journalists to be real journalists: that is, to investigate as agents of people, not power. There are those in the United States like Jeremy Scahill and Gareth Porter; Gareth Porter  who writes only on the internet, is an outstanding investigative journalist. So we are not dying off; we are always under threat, and I suspect we always were: That’s an occupational hazard.
Of course, our most reliable source is the whistle-blower. This is where our scoops come from: the truth, in other words. The whistle-blower is the equivalent of the conscientious objector in wartime; [Chelsea] Manning played that part with great distinction and courage. Edward Snowden is an exemplar of this and represents many others within the so-called national security establishment. The biggest threat is WikiLeaks because it has provided a secure means by which whistle-blowers can make contact and leakers can leak. It is an organization based on the principle of transparency - as Julian Assange has articulated. One of the most revealing documents leaked by WikiLeaks a few years ago came from the Ministry of Defense in London. It was entitled "How to Stop Leaks"; something like that. And of course it was leaked. It described the three major "threats" to the West. The third most worrying threat were Russian spies;, the second most important threat were terrorists; the paramount threat came from investigative journalists. The subtext of this is an awareness the public is the greatest threat.
FB: Coming back to the Middle East, you've reported on Palestine for many years. How difficult is it to report on Palestine, and what do you make of channels such as the BBC calling for impartiality on the issue? Can a journalist be impartial when the situation is so unbalanced on the ground?
JP:  Well, they don't mean impartial. This word has become Orwellian as in "war is peace." Impartial is partial; it means propagating a Western point of view; in the coverage of the Middle East, it means understanding that the Israeli point of view is the truth. If you contravene this rule as a BBC reporter, you’re in trouble. I made a film about this in which reporters talked about the intimidation they had experienced: of being terrified of a call from the Israeli Embassy. This is fairly routine at the BBC, and BBC reporters have learned to sanitize; they call this "being impartial" or "being objective." The BBC refers to an Israel-Palestine "conflict." In fact, there is a military occupation, which is almost never reported as such, neither are Israel’s consistently illegal actions reported as lawless. If the law was the criteria for reporting on Palestine, the coverage would be entirely different. If morality was the criteria . . .  well that’s off the scale: beyond consideration.
FB: You made a film called Palestine is still the issue in 2003, if you had to make one again today, what title would you give it and why?
JP: The first film I made about Palestine was in 1974 and called Palestine is still the issue. The next film I made was in 2002 and called Palestine is still the issue. If I make another it will be called Palestine is still the issue.
FB: You mentioned words before, for journalists and for propaganda purposes from governments or mainstream media; how important are words? You talked about Orwellian words; it seems they can actually change the meaning of wars. They would call a "massacre" a "pacification," and "ethnic cleansing" becomes “moving borders” etc. Can you tell us something about that?
JP: A simple word like ‘war' is a deception. A war implies there are two sides of more or less equal power facing each other. The word ‘war' is applied whenever the West threatens to attack Syria or Iran. There is no war. There is the threat of aggression, and if the threat is carried through, there is invasion. There was no war when the West attacked Iraq. It was a mostly unopposed invasion. The same thing happened in 1991. I saw the state of the Iraqi army shortly before Iraq was attacked in "Desert Storm"; it was incapable of defending the country. Iraq was defenseless. The US mostly attacks defenseless countries, because it learned a lesson in Vietnam which, in spite of terrible losses, was able to defend itself. In Vietnam, western reporters used the word "involvement." The US, they said, was ‘involved' in Vietnam. Involved is a useless word that doesn't really mean anything. In fact, the US had invaded South Vietnam, a country it was meant to be defending, at least according to its propagandists. "Invasion" was almost never used.
FB: One of your last films that is called, The war you don't see; the people we often don't see are the people on the ground, the people that are fighting imperialism, fighting for an intervention. Following our interview tonight, we are going to talk to a woman activist from Nablus, a Lady called Beesan Ramadan. What would be your message to people on the ground that are suffering from Western interventions?
JP: I think we all depend on people like that; we draw inspiration from them because they are remarkable. The Palestinians inspire us because they keep going; they don’t give in. The attacks on Palestine have not divided them. Yes, Gaza has been physically divided from the West Bank, the Occupied Territories, but even that has not really succeeded. I remember the spectacle of Palestinian children going to school dressed up in their school uniforms, spick and span, making their way through rubble, often having had disturbed nights . . . from the relentless attacks from the air; and yet there is a sense of purpose about them that is so moving. They’re an inspiration.
So Palestine is still the issue. Until there is justice in Palestine there will be no peace in the region, and in the world beyond.

TruthOut

Without Privacy There Can Be No Democracy

(Image: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t, Adapted From: freestyle_ttorry, bkbral, danstrange / Flickr)The president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, spoke this morning at the United Nations and delivered a powerful indictment of spying by the NSA on behalf of the United States. She said, "Without respect for a nation's sovereignty, there is no basis for proper relations among nations," adding that "Brazil knows how to protect itself. Brazil ... does not provide shelter to terrorist groups. We are a democratic country."
The Brazilian president is so outraged at American spying, both on her country and on her personal emails and her personal life, that she canceled a state dinner with President Obama.
While most Americans see this as a rift between Brazil in the United States over the issue of our spying on them, President Rousseff highlighted the most important point of all elsewhere in her speech this morning.
She said, "Without the right of privacy, there is no real freedom of speech or freedom of opinion, and so there is no actual democracy."
This is not just true of international relations. It's also true here within the United States.
Back before the Kennedy administration largely put an end to it, J Edgar Hoover was infamous in political circles in Washington DC for his spying on and blackmailing of both American politicians and activists like Martin Luther King. He even sent King tapes of an extramarital affair and suggested that King should consider committing suicide.
That was a shameful period in American history, and most Americans think it is behind us. But the NSA, other intelligence agencies, and even local police departments have put the practice of spying on average citizens in America on steroids.
As Brazil's President points out, without privacy there can be no democracy.
Democracy requires opposing voices; it requires a certain level of reasonable political conflict. And it requires that government misdeeds be exposed. That can only be done when whistleblowers and people committing acts of journalism can do so without being spied upon.
Perhaps a larger problem is that well over half – some estimates run as high as 70% – of the NSA's budget has been outsourced to private corporations. These private corporations maintain an army of lobbyists in Washington DC who constantly push for more spying and, thus, more money for their clients.
With the privatization of intelligence operations, the normal system of checks and balances that would keep government snooping under control has broken down.
We need a new Church Commission to investigate the nature and scope of our government spying both on our citizens and on our allies.
But even more than that we need to go back to the advice that President Dwight Eisenhower gave us as he left the presidency in 1961. Eisenhower warned about the rise of a military-industrial complex, suggesting that private forces might, in their search for profits, override the protective mechanisms that keep government answerable to its people.
That military-industrial complex has become the military-industrial-spying-private-prison complex, and it is far greater a threat to democracy then probably was envisioned by Eisenhower.
Government is the protector of the commons. Government is of by and for we the people. Government must be answerable to the people.
When the functions of government are privatized, all of that breaks down and Government becomes answerable to profit.
It's time to reestablish the clear dividing lines between government functions and corporate functions, between the public space and the private space.
A critically important place to start that is by ending the privatization within our national investigative and spying agencies.

This article was first published on Truthout and any reprint or reproduction on any other website must acknowledge Truthout as the original site of publication. 

TruthOut

How They Looted Nigeria Dry And A Litany Of Abandoned EFCC Corruption Cases

By Segun Dada

This expose is a product of many sleepless nights of research which was later abandoned but was rejuvenated as a result of a twitter conversation I had with my good twitter friend Toyin. As much as possible, it is my utmost prayer that this expose touches a nerve or two, engulfs the reader(s) in righteous anger to demand a change in the status quo from a system that not only celebrates corrupt elements but also vigorously protects them.

My first set of concerns arose when I decided to study the law that established the EFCC.
And even though I am not a lawyer or anything, I was shocked to see that it was so badly drafted and it seemed dangerously tilted in the direction where it could be abused. I suggest every well meaning Nigerian takes a closer look at the EFCC Act. It contains provisions that clearly conflict with the Constitution, particularly those provisions that relate to due process.



Also, the Act vested rather sweeping powers on the Commission in the area of law enforcement in general. Also, it was not quite clear how this Commission was going to interact with the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice. There seemed clearly to be a very poorly designed agency with no clear mandate or institutional structures in place. But at this initial stage, I was not worried too much. I saw some of these problems as the product of the rush and desperation of Government in search of solutions. Also, I paid a rather close attention to the provisions of Section 39 of the EFCC Act, which empowered the Attorney General of the Federation to make rules and regulations for any aspects of the operations of the EFCC. I was of the belief that with such rule-making powers vested in the Attorney General of the Federation, there would be ample opportunity for the Commission to be steered in the right direction and to keep it well situated within the institutional arrangements for law enforcement in the country, of which the office of the Attorney General is the key.

Since its establishment in 2002 and subsequent take off in 2004, the EFCC has taken corruption head-on in its fight against the social menace and has recorded some degree of successes in this respect.  For example, Chief Bode George was arraigned by EFCC alongside five other suspects (Aminu Dabo, Olusegun Abidoye, Adullahi Tafida, Zanna Maidaribe, and Sule Aliyu) on a 163-count charge (truncated to 68-count charge) that bordered on an alleged misappropriation of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) funds to the tune of N85 billion, and inflation of contract costs contrary to Section 22(3) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.  Thief (sorry, Chief) Bode George was however convicted and sentenced to concurrent term of two years imprisonment.  For this singular conviction, EFCC has recorded yet another impressive success in its fight against corruption.

The pioneer chairman of the agency (though accused at some point of helping OBJ witch hunt his political enemies) actually took the war against corruption to the doorsteps of perpetrators. He (Ribadu) instituted cases against former governors and public officials. Ribadu prosecuted and secured the conviction of the former Inspector General of Police, Mr Tafa Balogun, who pleaded guilty to eight counts of money laundering charges to the tune of N16 billion in 2005. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment. Same went for Alamieyeseigha for money laundering. He was convicted and released on plea bargain.

After Ribadu’s exit from the EFCC, the zeal to fight corruption went from 100 to zero amid the negatives.

Ever since, the corruption trials have not gone beyond the plea stage, some for as long as six years after first arraignment in court. Many ex-government office holders, who had been accused of corruption, are still walking the land free. Some of them are in the National Assembly making laws for the country.
What do I intend to show with this report? I intend to bring public consciousness to the number of the abandoned cases by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Let’s take a look at some of the top cases that have either been thrown out, a plea bargain reached or literally abandoned by the EFCC:

 Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello:
In April 2008, the EFCC began the investigation of Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello for receiving N10 million stolen from the Ministry of Health.  The former Minister of Health and the deputy were also on trial for stealing over N30, 000,000 from the Ministry’s unspent funds from the 2007 budget.  Although the Minister and his deputy lost their jobs, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello dramatized her case out of the court and eventually went scot-free. The court has maintained silence on the case. No acquittal, no adjournments.

Chimaroke Nnamani;
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on 10 August, 2009, sealed off the premises of Cosmo FM Radio Station, Rainbownet Nigeria Limited and other companies believed to be owned by the ex-governor of Enugu State, who later became a Senator of the federal republic.The properties were seized by the EFCC through a Lagos Federal High Court order in May 2007 following the indictment of Nnamani over alleged corruption and embezzlement of state funds to the tune of N5.3 billion.

After arraigning the ex-governor in court for prosecution, it appears the case had been stepped down because as at 25th September, 2010 there was neither conviction nor an acquittal.  Rather, the case is suffering prolonged adjournments and is still pending. He was a member of the Senate between 2007 and 2011.

Chief Onyema Ugochukwu;
The EFCC charged the former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Abia State in the April 2007 general elections, and former Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Onyema Ugochukwu before a Federal High Court, Abuja for corrupt practices. Chief Ugochukwu was accused of corrupt handling of about N10.2 billion while serving as the Chairman of the NDDC.  The report reveals that the charges were prepared by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.  The charges accused Chief Ugochukwu of inflating contract value and making false statement in respect of N9.3 billion allegedly trapped in the distressed Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria; inflating of a contract value for the construction of a 15 kilometre road in Obehi-Mkpologwu from N250,260 million to N880,000 million; while the second count accused him of inflating contracts value for the construction of a road in Umuahia from N180 million to N462 million. 

In the third count, Chief Ugochukwu was accused of furnishing of false statement in respect of N9.3 billion claimed to have been trapped in Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria, but which sum was said to have been disbursed by the former Chairman of NDDC while in office.  The EFCC seems to be handicapped in prosecuting these criminal cases that have been investigated.  There is seemingly an expression of reluctance in prosecuting the cases cited above.  This strengthens the speculation that the anti-graft agency is selective in its operations.

Saminu Turaki;
 Saminu Turaki, former governor of Jigawa State was alleged to have misappropriated the sum of N36 billion from the State funds.  Turaki was also alleged to have laundered public funds of various values, an offence the Legal and Prosecution Unit of the EFCC states is punishable under section 14(1) (b) of the money laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004. Aminu Turaki argued that a substantial sum out of the N36 billion allegedly siphoned, was invested into the People’s Democratic Party third term project (Ploughing the seed of corruption back into party project depicts that government encouraged politicians to misappropriate public funds for personal interests).
His case with the EFCC is undecided till date. His bail was contested by the EFCC on the grounds that the former governor possessed multiple nationalities and could jump bail, if granted. Turaki had meanwhile secured the transfer of his trial to his home state. While the argument over his bail was on, Turaki won a seat in the Senate. He was in the National Assembly between 2007 and 2011.

Alao Akala
EFCC had arraigned Alao-Akala; a former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters and incumbent senator, Hosea Agboola; and a businessman, Femi Babalola, over alleged misappropriation of N11.5 billion. The EFCC had accused the trio of conspiracy, illegal award of contracts, obtaining money by false pretence and acquiring property with money derived from illegal act as well as  concealing the ownership of such property. One of Alao Akala’s co-conspirators is a serving senator of the federal republic of Nigeria.

Orji Uzor Kalu:
Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu was arraigned on July 27, 2007 before an Abuja High Court on a 107 count charge of money laundering, official corruption and criminal diversion of public funds in excess of N5 billion. He approached the Court of Appeal to set aside the ruling of the Federal High Court that he had a case to answer. The appellate court dismissed the appeal for lack of merit and gave the anti-graft agency the nod to prosecute him. With the charges still hanging on his neck, the former governor is touting himself as a possible presidential candidate in 2015. He still strolls around till date not only as a free man, but as a self-acclaimed spokesperson for the igbo people.

Joshua Dariye:
Another pending case is that of former Governor Dariye of Plateau State, who was arraigned by the EFCC before an Abuja High Court on a 23-count charge involving the sum of N700million. He was granted bail, but he later challenged the jurisdiction of the court to try him. He argued that the alleged offence committed by him took place in Plateau State and the funds involved belonged to the state, and argued that his trial ought to take place in the state, not in Abuja. The judge dismissed Dariye’s objection, which prompted him to approach the Court of Appeal, which also threw out the application and ordered him to go and face his trial. While the case is still pending before the court, Dariye won a senatorial seat in the 2011 polls.

Jolly Nyame:
Former Governor Jolly Nyame of Taraba State was docked on 41-count charge in July 2007. He was alleged to have embezzled N1.3billion and collected N180million from a contractor as a kick-back from a N250 million contract awarded to the company for the supply of stationery to the state government. His case is still undecided six years later.

Dimeji Bankole and Usman Nafada
The alleged contract inflation by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole. He was arraigned on June 8, 2011 over a 16- count charge. Bankole and his deputy, Usman Nafada, were dragged to court over a 17-count charge alleged misappropriation of a N10 billion loan. However, the case was thrown out on January 31, 2012.
 
Ndudi Elemelu:
Former Chairman of House Committee on Power, Ndudi Elemelu, was docked over a N5.2billion fraud charge brought against him by the EFCC . Justice Garba Umar ruled that he had no case to answer, but the case is still pending at the Abuja High Court before Justice Adebukola Bolajoko.

Peter Odili:
EFCC began moves to swoop on Rivers state officials in late 2006 when it issued a report of investigation into the state’s finances in which it said over N100 billion was diverted during Odili’s two terms.

The report contained allegations of large-scale fraud, conspiracy, conversion of public funds, foreign exchange malpractice, money laundering, stealing and abuse of oath of office against the former governor.

To stave off impeding prosecution of officials, the then Rivers state attorney general went to court and got a perpetual injunction in March 2007 restraining EFCC from investigating the state government.
A year later, months after he had left office in May 2007, Odili himself went to court and asked to be made to benefit from the injunction and the court granted his prayers, making him perpetually immune from arrest, investigation or prosecution.

In October 2008, EFCC challenged the perpetual injunction at the Court of Appeal, but no judgement has yet been given nearly four years after, because of what a source close to the matter said was lack of diligent prosecution and official interference.
In the meantime, the commission had built a case against Odili and other officials, hoping to move in to file charges as soon as the injunction was lifted, sources familiar with the matter said.
But about two years ago, the commission dropped further action against Odili, and retrieved the case file from the lawyer handling the matter, because of what a source said were “orders from above.”

James Ibori:
On December 12, 2007, Ibori was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Kwara State Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja. The charges he faced included theft of public funds, abuse of office, and money laundering. These corruption charges brought against Ibori by the government of former President Obasanjo are among many begun by anticorruption czar Nuhu Ribadu against former officials of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party PDP.
Ribadu additionally alleged that Ibori attempted to bribe him to drop the charges with a cash gift of $15 million, which Ribadu immediately lodged in the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN. The cash remains in the CBN as an exhibit.

On December 17, 2009, A Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State, discharged and acquitted Ibori of all 170 charges of corruption brought against him by EFCC. The EFCC filed a notice of appeal against the December 17, 2009 judgment, and had begun a new round of investigations on the former governor following a petition by members of the Delta State Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders Forum, which was made available to the public in March 2010.

In April 2010, about three months after the takeover of government by Goodluck Jonathan, Ibori’s case file was reopened. A new allegation that he embezzled N40 billion ($266 million) was pressed against him. Attempts to arrest him were unsuccessful. It was reported that he fled from Abuja to Lagos and then to the creeks of Oghara, his homeland in the Niger Delta. It was reported that he has been guarded by armed militias and they once had a shootout with government security forces. He claimed that the charges were frivolous and that he was a victim of political persecution.

In April 2010, Ibori fled Nigeria, prompting the EFCC to request the assistance of Interpol.[15][16] On 12 July 2010 the Governor of the CBN, Malam Sanusi Lamido revealed that Ibori had used Delta State as collateral for N40 billion loan when he was governor. He was later arrested in Dubai and extradited to the UK where he is currently serving jail terms for money laundering.
  
Lucky Igbinedion
In January 2008, Lucky Igbinedion, a former Governor of Edo State, was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on 142 counts of financial fraud. This concerns allegations that he embezzled $24 million (£12m) using front companies.

The former governor’s overseas properties are valued conservatively at about N6 billion. Some of the identified overseas properties include: Mansion in Cape Town, South Africa, numerous houses in Johannesburg, South Africa. The famous Kenwood mansion in United Kingdom (UK), valued at £3.3m and paid for in one day. Igbinedion did not only embark on a shopping spree, he also set up a vast business empire. His younger brother, Bright, is allegedly the overseer of his estimated N7 billion business in South Africa.  It includes the five-star Hotel Constantia along Airport Road in Benin Benin-City, managed by his wife, Eki Igbinedion. The hotel is valued at about N4 billion.


Chief Lucky Nosakhare Igbinedion was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before the Federal High Court, Enugu in charge No FHC/EN/6C/2008 on a 191- count charge of corruption, money laundering and embezzlement of N2.9b. In a plea bargain arrangement, the EFCC through its counsel Mr. Rotimi Jacob reduced the 191- count charge to one – count charge. The single charge read:
“That you, Lucky Igbinedion (former Governor of Edo State) on or about January 21, 2008 within the Jurisdiction of this honourable court neglected to make a declaration of your interest in account No. 41240113983110 with GTB in the declaration of assets form of the EFCC and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 27 (3) of the EFCC Act 2004”.
The terms of the plea bargain were that the prosecutor would reduce the 191 – count charge to one – count charge and in return, Lucky Igbinedion will refund N500m, 3 properties and plead guilty to the one – count charge.

Paradigm

Governor Kwankwaso set to dump PDP for APC

By Ahmad Ahmad Yusuf 

Indication has emerged that Kano state Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and one of the G7 Governor is set to dump the People’s Democratic Party, PDP for the newly formed opposition party, APC.
A reliable source from the party said that at the end of the ongoing consultation with some people the governor considers important to his political career, he will join the Buhari train of the APC. The source says final decision will be taken any moment from next month.
Meanwhile, the Kano state PDP elders committee met yesterday, condemning the national leadership of the PDP, and accusing Alhaji Bamanga Tukur for hijacking the party, thereby leading to its present sorry state.

The chairman of the Kano PDP elders, Alhaji Datti Wudilawa said, “we, the elders of the party and the entire PDP family in the state, with one voice, are saying ‘No’ to the breach of PDP constitution wherein mercenaries have been put in place to discipline our members. We believe in the rule of law and the political structure of Nigeria and that of PDP, which are based on the rule of law. But we are saying ‘No’ to politics of divide and rule. Our loyalty and that of our governor is to the New PDP.”
Passing a vote-of-no-confidence on Tukur’s leadership, they added, “We have noted with grave concern the way and manner the party is being run by the National Working Committee (NWC) under the leadership of Tukur. Their actions in recent past are undemocratic, autocratic, selfish and military-like. The constitution of the party, sacred as it is supposed to be, was thrown to the dogs and actions were/are taken on the whims and caprices of the leadership and his principal.”
But another reliable source informed us that some big wig within the APC in Kano, led by the former Governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau are frustrating the move by Kwankwaso to join the party because of fear of domination by his group.

DailyPost

PDP reconciliation ’ll fail –Sagay

Lawyer and teacher, Prof. Itseruwa Sagay (SAN), does not mince words when it comes to issues of national importance. In this interview, he said the splinter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came to him as a surprise. He does not see the new PDP returning to the fold, adding that it would be a major setback for President Goodluck Jonathan’s ambition for 2015. While speaking with PATIENCE EGWUWA  he gave his candid opinion on how the All Progressives Congress (APC) can make the best of the presidential election in 2015. Excerpts:
Did you foresee the splinter in the PDP? 
No, I did not foresee a split as major as this; I certainly did not. What I saw was that there was going to be several disagreements and individuals would leave and join other parties, most likely the All Progressives Congress (APC). For one, I saw Rotimi Amaechi, ending up in APC because of the unrelenting hostility, which he was experiencing, both from Aso Rock (the president and his wife) and then the locally imposed PDP executive in Rivers State. So, I didn’t see him remaining in the PDP because they just didn’t give him any room to maneuver, to make a dignified return to the party. They wanted to humiliate him at all costs. So, I knew he was out.
The other person I thought was definitely going to leave was Nyako, the governor of Adamawa. He has been angry for a long time. You could see it in his countenance and in his words. He didn’t have anything to lose. He was doing his second term. I could see that in his eyes. So, I knew that he was going to leave.
But the others have been a bit of a surprise: Lamido, Wamakko, the Kwara governor and Aliyu; though Aliyu has been very vulnerable. He has spoken a lot, but I thought that at the end of the day he would retract back into the PDP. So, what has happened now is very major; it is an earth-shaking development. The PDP can pretend that it is an in-house affair, but it is actually an earth-shaking event.
I don’t see those people ever coming back. You can see that the man who schemed it all is Atiku. He is the schemer, coordinator and organizer of everything. He is a good chess player. What he did was first to create a platform in the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM). He got PDM secretly registered. Nobody knew so he took everybody by surprise. Then, he kicked up such a force within the PDP that the party either has to swallow whatever is ingested into it and be humiliated and then allow him take over or he would have an excuse for leaving and then joining PDM with his group.
For example, demanding that President Goodluck Jonathan should undertake that he would not contest the 2015 election, that is mission impossible. Between Goodluck and his wife, Patience, that is the beginning and end of life. There is nothing that is ever going to make him renounce his ambition for 2015. Never!

Even though he has not said he is running.
He has not come out to declare his ambition, but everybody knows that his two legs are in 2015. Nothing will ever stop him from contesting. A nuclear bomb will not stop Jonathan from 2015 election.
Now, Atiku is a very smart and intelligent man. So, he knows this, but he doesn’t want to create a situation where people will say that he split the PDP frivolously and went away. So, he brought in this condition, knowing that the answer will be no. Then he would have something to hang on to and say ‘if only he had agreed to renounce his ambition, we would have remained and cooperated to make the PDP a stronger party. Since he has refused, on principle, we are leaving.’ And then they will declare for PDM. So, it is all stage-managed. It is a clever chess move for Atiku to actualize his determined intention to contest the presidential election in 2015.

So, you don’t see their efforts at reconciliation bearing fruits?
No, the reconciliation will fail. If you look at what Baraje is doing, you will know that they are not joking. One, he is opening a secretariat and then instituting more legal actions against the PDP saying that Tukur’s PDP and the executive should no longer be recognized; that his own should be the one recognized. But of course, we know that that is not possible. No court is going to say that. All those hostile actions are just laying the ground for this splinter PDP people moving en masse to PDM. Nothing is going to stop them. They are going to do that.

If that happens, what are Jonathan’s chances in 2015; bearing in mind also the recent emergence of the APC? 
His chances of nomination will be much greater because virtually all the opposition to that would have been out. In fact, he will then be nominated without any primaries. That is step one. But the second step which is becoming president again in 2015 will be much difficult. Now, he has a narrower field of absolute and certain support in the country.
If you go to the South-South, he can only be confident of four states out of the six. Edo is already out and Rivers will be out. He will be left with Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Delta. If you go to the North, virtually all the North is going to pass him by. Already Kano, Borno, Yobe, Zamfara and Nasarawa are for the APC. There is no question about that. With this people going away, Sokoto, Niger, Kwara, and Adamawa are all gone. More than half of the North is already gone.
In those circumstances, he cannot rely on northern votes as he did the other time. And don’t forget that we have the CPC factor in the APC which is also very strong in the North. So, the North for Jonathan is almost a write off.
Really, he would be depending almost exclusively on the four states in the south-south and some states in the south-east. Imo is virtually out. But since APGA usually don’t have a presidential candidate, may be the remaining four states will vote for him. So, his chances will be much narrower. There is no question about that. And of course, forget west because they will vote en masse for the APC.

What role will his incumbency play in all of these?
It will not make any difference in this case. The opposition is just too much. Not just too much, it is an angry opposition; determined opposition. Then another factor which also is going to work against him is this northern obsession with power. The North is obsessed with power; especially the Hausa-Fulani and they will do anything (there is no limit to what they can do) for the so-called power to return to the North. That is the problem. It is a problem with me as a person because when you don’t look at the quality of a candidate and you are simply saying that power must return to the North, that is a problem.
They don’t care whether a donkey is fielded; it does not matter to them. They don’t just care about the consequences of having someone who is grossly inadequate holding such office. It is a sort of blind attitude to governance. So, we have a lot of problems ahead of us.
My hope is that plans like that should fail and that somebody should emerge because of his competence, record, character and the programmes he has for the country, for a change. In this mix in which there is no absolute certainty of anybody getting it, it is possible a good candidate will emerge.

How do you see the emergence of the APC and their strategy for 2015? It seems Gen Buhari is still interested in the race for the presidency. 
The APC too has its problems. There are in fact two major problems, one of which is permanent leadership. What they have now is temporary leadership. But more worrying, more sensitive is who becomes its presidential candidate. Buhari is a very powerful figure in the APC, but in my view, it will be a mistake to field him. The man has contested three times already and has lost whether fairly or unfairly. Second, he is strongly associated with this extreme northern mentality. Let’s leave out the Muslim aspect. He also has the Huasa-Fulani mentality of power at all costs and also he does not have respect for other parts of the country.
The recent statement he made of equating Boko Haram with Niger Delta militants to me is an illustration of extreme insensitivity and so much commitment to the North. It shows that he can see no wrong by anybody in the north. We are talking of mass murderers who have killed thousands of innocent Nigerians. They have butchered Nigerians, butchered United Nations personnel, destroyed newspaper houses and killed their workers, destroyed so many churches and killed Christians as well as Muslims, and even killed school children in a boarding house.
How can any human being talk of accommodating people like that in any civilized democratic setup. These are people who deserve to be at The Hague being tried for crimes against humanity. So, for me, Buhari should not show his face. And if the APC puts Buhari forward, they have cut their chances of success by half.

Who would you rather tip for the post? 
I have been thinking along that line because I am an APC man myself.  My view is that the best combination would be Audu Ogbeh. He is one of the senior members.

Is he not too old for the job?
He is under 70. Buhari is older than Audu Ogbeh. Audu Ogbeh as president and Raji Fashola as vice president; that is the winning combination as far as I am concerned.
Some are even saying Tambuwal and Fashola.
No, no, no. Tambuwal has not established himself as anything. He doesn’t have exposure. I have seen him; he is doing well, but I think his time is yet to come. This man, Audu Ogbeh is a Second Republic politician and he was voted the cleanest politician in Shagari’s government; the most honest politician; the man who shunned corruption totally.
He tried to do it in PDP as chairman and he didn’t survive it. He was kicked out; he was almost killed. So, he is one of the cleanest and finest politicians we have ever had. If you put him there and you have a strong man like Fashola who has the energy and dynamism behind him, then you have a winning team.

TheSun