Confab: Lawyer Sues Jonathan

Kunle Olasanmi

A Constitutional lawyer, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, has asked a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to stop the federal government from going ahead with the proposed national conference.
The plaintiff, in the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/ 167/204 and dated March 3, 2014 argued that the President does not have the power to convoke or convene a national conference without a law backing it from the National Assembly.
Joined as defendants in the suit are the Attorney-General of the Federation, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
In the suit, the plaintiff asked the court to determine whether a national conference can be convened by the President and/or government of Nigeria without a law made by the National Assembly enabling them to do so.
In the affidavit in support of the suit deposed to by Mr. Patrick Bisong, a litigation clerk in the office of the plaintiff, the plaintiff said that the federal government had planned to spend billions of public money to fund the conference despite the absence of any law enabling the President to convoke the conference and notwithstanding the limited power vested in the President to use money to execute law or authorise national idea.
He prayed the court to restrain the federal government from going ahead with the conference adding that if they are not restrained, billions of tax payers money will be spent unconstitutionally.
He further argued that the President is working with deliberate speed to convene the conference.
He said that to settle the rights of the parties to the action, urgent attention to the cause of action was necessary.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the matter.
Leadership

Appointing Namadi Sambo As Vice President Is A Nigerian Tragedy, By Reuben Abati

“We now have a Vice President”, the television networks announced enthusiastically, the moment Namadi Sambo ‘s name was released as President Goodluck Jonathan’s nominee for the post of Vice President after a whole week of needless pussyfooting and nearly endless politicking. You would think it was the election of a new Pope that was being announced, but this was no Papal birth, rather the politics of Namadi Sambo’s nomination and his eventual emergence draw further attention to the lack of sense in the Nigerian political process, the triumph of politics over service and how the electorate continues to be discounted in virtually everything that is important.
I shall explain how, and to do that, we only need to travel quickly to the United States where a useful lesson can be learnt about the process of nominations to high office in accordance with the fine traditions of democracy. The same week that Jonathan announced his nominee for the position of Vice President, US President Barack Obama needed to fill a vacancy on the US Supreme Court Bench and announce a nominee, and he did – Elena Kagan who is due to go through the rigour of Senate nomination hearings. A Supreme Court Bench seat in the United States is just as important as the Vice Presidency of Nigeria, and I invite you to compare and contrast how the two processes are being handled. Kagan’s name has been sent to the US Senate; Namadi Sambo’s name to the Nigerian National Assembly.
In the former case, both President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are out there lobbying for both legislative and popular support for their nominee. In an internet posting, Joe Biden has taken the special trouble to explain again, only last Friday, why the Obama administration considers Kagan the best (wo)man for the job. He points out that the woman was interviewed for the job along with other possible nominees and she came out the best. She is also being put forward because of her character, her commitment to service, and her track record as a trailblazer. Joe Biden writes:
“This week when the President first told me he’d chosen Elena Kagan to serve on the Supreme Court, I couldn’t help but smile. I had a chance to interview many great candidates but Elena stood out. I met her nearly 20 years ago, when she took a break from teaching to join my staff in the Senate. She helped to confirm Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and even then, it wasn’t hard to picture a day when we’d be helping Elena to prepare for confirmation hearings of her own. Since that time, I’ve followed her career, and today, I believe Elena Kagan is an inspired choice for the Supreme Court.
Throughout her career, she’s been a trailblazer, breaking glass ceilings in both academia and government. She’s been a consensus-builder, earning praise for her work with Republicans in the Clinton White House and her support for the free exchange of ideas as the dean of Harvard Law. She’s flat-out brilliant, easily one of the best legal minds I’ve ever met. But most importantly, she’s also someone who understands that the application of the law holds real consequences for Americans in all walks of life. Now her nomination goes to the Senate, I’ve been through this process more than once, and I’ve learned that the success of any nomination is influenced by the public response in the first few days.”
Impressive? Persuasive? I think so, yes. In subsequent paragraphs, Vice President Joe Biden talks about Ms. Kagan’s character and public spiritedness; the whole purpose of his internet and e-mail lobby is to secure popular support for the Presidential nominee. It is a simple and cultured way of admitting that the people matter. The Obama Presidency could have ignored the people, offer no explanations and simply do a deal with the Senators, and get Kagan onto the Supreme Court seat. But what we are being told is that in a serious democracy things don’t work and should not work that way. Every process must be value-driven. Nomination to a Supreme Court Bench in the United States is a serious matter, as was clearly demonstrated by the Anita Hill sex and justice scandal which saw a brilliant man, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas almost losing a life-time opportunity because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut in the presence of a tempting, beautiful woman. It is through such rigorous screening in spite of attendant excesses, that society reminds everyone else of a national ethic of accountability.
The humility that shines through Joe Biden’s market place lobby for Elena Kazan is further confirmed when he says: “Will you stand with the President and me to support Elena Kagan? Sign on to help us show that the American people back her nomination.” A website is then provided: http//my.barackobama.com/supportkagan where anyone who is so persuaded can drop a word of support. Joe Biden’s lobby may or may not influence the process, as Elena Kagan seems certain to be taken through rigorous screening in and outside the Senate (her sexual orientation; her short hair, love of plaids and softball); her perceived support for expanded executive powers, her position on military recruitment, and her record so far as Solicitor-General.
But ordinary American people must feel good that their opinion is being considered. And I have not read any reports that Elena Kagan is being imposed on the Obama Presidency by any Godfather, former boyfriend or girlfriend, boss or colleague, or the Governors Forum, the Justices’ Forum or any such mongrel. She is the incumbent Solicitor-General of the United States, even that does not translate into automatic confirmation, nor is she likely to be asked to take a bow and leave (as is done in Nigeria); last year, she had appeared before the same Senate as nominee for the position of US Solicitor-General. Whether or not Elena Kagan gets onto the Bench eventually, everyone would have been convinced nonetheless that her screening process was thorough and that the American people had a chance to have their say in the matter.
Now quickly, let us compare this with the process of nominating and screening Namadi Sambo whose name has been sent to the Nigerian National Assembly for confirmation as Vice President of the Federal Republic. I have not heard anybody high up in government or politics trying to communicate the process of choice and nomination to the Nigerian people whose siren-bearing cars Sambo would soon start driving all over Abuja, whose Aguda House he will be occupying, and over whom he will preside as His Excellency the Vice President. Sambo is the Governor of Kaduna State but to the majority of Nigerians, he is a great unknown. Did anybody interview him for the job? Nobody has told us, and you can bet he didn’t need to be interviewed. He will be Vice President simply because it serves some people’s purpose to put him in that chair and they really don’t care what the Nigerian people think. From what we know so far about Namadi Sambo, he will emerge as Vice President (the National Assembly nomination screening is a rubber stamp process- it has always been!), not because he is “flat-out brilliant,” (in Nigeria, that will be a minus), not because he has been a “trail-blazer” in anything, (in Nigeria, you don’t need any special trails), not because he places service above opportunities, not because he understands anything or believes in Nigeria (who cares?) but because he fits into some other people’s calculations at this time. It is a measure of the integrity of our democratic process that this is what determines such high profile appointments.

I have tried to read all the media explanations as to the reason why Namadi Sambo has suddenly become the anointed one for Vice President and they are all reasons that should compel every Nigerian to shed a tear or two for this country. He is said to have worked as a professional architect and entrepreneur, leading three companies: Coplan Associates – a firm of architects and engineering consultancy, Nalado Nigeria Ltd, specialising in energy, water supply, and waste disposal; and Manyatta Engineering Services Ltd “which supplies hospital equipment and airport maintenance.”

Anyone who is familiar with the Nigerian system will know immediately that all of this means the man who would be Vice President has been a government contractor, enjoying contract opportunities that the Nigerian system can throw up – from supplies (a very famous Nigerian engagement!) to design and waste disposal – a complete package that is designed to trap anything that is possible, including wastes! So what is the man’s track record? What and what has he done? What spectacular things has he done as an architect, as a public officer, as a supplier of hospital equipment and as a waste collector? Are his companies still operational and have they benefitted from contract awards in Kaduna state under his watch?
From being an entrepreneur, Sambo became a Commissioner for this and that and then in 2007, he was anointed by Ahmed Makarfi (then Governor of Kaduna State and now Senator), as the candidate for the Governorship position in Kaduna state and he won the seat. This doesn’t sound impressive to me. But what has he done as Governor since 2007? Sambo according to some newspaper reports introduced in Kaduna state, “Operation Yaki,” an anti-robbery squad which in the language of his image promoters “has stamped out armed robbery in Kaduna state” (I’ll rather ask the residents); he has also built an urban rail transit (which company got the contract?); and a 1, 000 bed hospital (I want to assume that the hospital equipment was not supplied by the aforementioned Manyatta or any of its subsidiaries or associates), the Sambo administration has also built we are told, a water works (hopefully his Nalado Nigeria Ltd has nothing to do with that!).
What we are left is the fact that Sambo has been nominated for selfish political reasons. First, he is from the North West. So that takes care of the rebellion of those who insisted that since the late President Yar’adua came from the north west, the vice president nominee must also come from that geo-political zone otherwise they will pull down the country. Thus, Sambo’s emergence is a triumph for the tribalists. In 1999, Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae emerged as presidential candidates because Abiola who is from the same south West as the duo, died and the region needed to be pacified. How can Nigeria make progress in this manner? Second, the Northern Senators Forum had approached President Goodluck Jonathan with the name of Senator Ahmed Makarfi as their candidate from the North West.
This was meant to checkmate the Governors Forum, an increasingly powerful lobby group which had put out a statement that the next Vice President must come from among its ranks. In the selection of the Vice President, the key issue was not ability but politics and this was what happened in the end. Third, and so it happened, that the Governors had a meeting with Goodluck Jonathan and nominated Namadi Sambo, their colleague from Kaduna state, with the trade-off that Vincent Ogbulafor the PDP Chairman who has been indicted by the anti-corruption agency, ICPC, will lose his chair. The same Ogbulafor has now, following the script, resigned his position but he says he has acted “in the national interest.” He should tell that to the Marines, and thereafter, he must have his day in court.
Before us is a game of poker being played by mischievous children, trying to upstage each other and placing the cards badly. Although Sambo had been helped to office by Ahmed Makarfi, his predecessor, the two men soon quarreled and became rival contenders for the soul of politics in Kaduna state. By pushing Sambo forward, the Governors Forum have by that stroke neutralised the rival Northern Senators Forum and with Sambo as Vice President, Makarfi who is known to be interested in the 2011 Presidency has been smartly checkmated. Between now and 2011, Makarfi will be busy trying to hold on to his political base in Kaduna state, if Sambo allows him, and certainly the fight between the two will further divide the North West. It couldn’t have been difficult for Jonathan to agree to the Sambo recommendation! It serves his purpose, moreso as he must have been assured that Sambo will not try to upstage him in 2011.
Last Tuesday, Sambo reportedly went to the Presidential Villa with a “powerful delegation” from Kaduna state to pay homage to the new president. The vocabulary of common political discourse in Nigeria is cheap and stupid. Every delegation is “powerful,” every politician is either “honourable or distinguished,” and every idiot in the corridors of power is “a statesman.” By next week, we are likely to have a Vice President about whom the President may not be able to write up to two paragraphs, but who he is ready to accept because the Governors Forum that recommended him is such a powerful lobby group that will determine who gets the PDP Presidential flag for 2011. And Jonathan wants that. And the people don’t matter at all.
In the light of all this, it is clear that the so-called screening by the National Assembly of Namadi Sambo’s nomination is an organized charade. That is why nobody is explaining anything to the people or seeking their opinion. Close to a week ago, the House of Representatives had in fact told us that it was prepared to support anybody nominated by the President. Next Tuesday, the lawmakers will endorse Sambo and probably praise the President for his “wisdom.” But all the moves that Jonathan has made so far which give the impression that he is working towards his own full-term presidency in 2011 can only further heat up the polity, distract his administration, create enemies, and cause disaffection within the PDP. I saw an advert in the papers on Friday about a book titled “101 reasons why Goodluck Jonathan must run for president in 2011.” It looked like a voluminous book: Was that written in one week of the Jonathan Presidency? And the authors are planning to do a public launch (to collect people’s money certainly!) Why is Nigeria so unlucky?
This article was written by the now infamous Dr. Reuben Abati of The Guardian Newspapers in May 2010.

TheParadigm

2015: Sambo Heads Jonathan’s Declaration Committee

Osa Okhomina

Ahead of President Goodluck Jonathan’s bid to declare his second term ambition in May this year, he has appointed Vice President Namadi Sambo as head of the committee to work out the modalities for the exercise.
A presidency source confirmed to LEADERSHIP Weekend in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital yesterday that President Jonathan has appointed Sambo as head of the committee to work out the modalities for his declaration for re-election in 2015.
It was also gathered that the development led to the summoning of all stakeholders of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from the North-West to a meeting aimed at stemming moves against Sambo.
The presidential aide disclosed that after the meeting with stakeholders, President Jonathan directed Vice President Sambo to put together a “compact team to work out measures that will herald a hitch-free declaration tentatively fixed for May this year.”
“President Goodluck Jonathan cannot wait for too long in the face of all that is happening in the polity because doing so will be inimical to several interests, particularly the interest of the PDP. Against this backdrop, we insisted that he gives a semblance of readiness which he did last week asking the Vice President Namadi Sambo to set up a closely-guarded team to work between now and May tentatively fixed for the declaration of Mr President for a second term in office,” he said.
The source further hinted that Sambo had co-opted former Works Minister and chairman of the PDP’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, former chairman of the board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Bode George, and six governors, one each from the geo-political zones to work out modalities for the May declaration.
Leadership

N13bn Budget Cut: We Will Not Be Able To Pay Salaries – IGP

Adesuwa Tsan And Edegbe Odemwingie

As the nation grapples with insecurity, the inspector general of Police, Mohammed Abubakar has lamented the cut of  N13 billion personnel cost in the 2014 budget of the Nigeria Police Force, saying if passed that way, salaries and allowances of men of the Force will not get paid.
Abubakar, made this disclosure when he appeared before the House Committee on Police Affairs to defend the budget of the police yesterday.
The IG urged the lawmakers to ensure that the issue is addressed before the budget is passed by the National Assembly to avert a likely crisis that could ensue as a fallout of the action.
“Mr. Chairman, this is a serious shortfall. Very soon, it means that we will not be able to pay salaries.
“I urge the committee to address this in order to avoid a likely crisis; this has to do with the welfare of our personnel”, he stated.
Going further, the IG lamented that the overhead cost for police operations has been on the decline since 2009 and all at a time when the police is over-stretched by insecurity across the country.
Explaining the decline in funding of police operations, he said in 2009,  the overhead cost was N10.8bn; in 2010, it was N15.6bn; in 2011, it was N5.5bn; N8.1bn in 2012; N7.6bn in 2013 and N6bn in 2014.
For example, he said the N6bn voted for personnel cost could not cover the cost of fueling the 10,232 police vehicles scattered all over the country.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the committee, Hon. Usman Kurmo, aligned himself with the submission of the Police boss, saying the committee had noticed the reduction and have started taking action on it by asking the budget office to sort it out.
Kurmo said, “As a committee, we have done a calculation on what the IG is saying; the money is about N13bn.  “That is the much that was reduced in the personnel cost of the police force in the budget”, he stated while noting that in 2013, the personnel cost of the police was N293.5bn and reduced to N279bn in the 2014 budget.
The lawmaker said the cut comes as a surprise considering that there was no retrenchment nor heavy retirement carried out by the police in the last one year that could lead to a reduction of N13bn from their salary budget.
Kurmo also explained that the director general of Budget Office, Dr Bright Okogu gave assurances that the office started an integrated salary payment system across all agencies since 2013, resulting in cuts for many of them and that “what is provided for the police will be enough for the personnel cost” even as a provision for a  shortfall has been made with money drawn from Service Wide vote.
The lawmakers however urged the committee to prioritise it’s expenditure so that important areas will be given more funds while lamenting that, “if we want to transform the country, then we must first transform the security agencies”.
 Leadership

UN To Jonathan: End Continuous Killings In Nigeria

Abiodun Oluwarotimi

The United Nations on Wednesday urged President Goodluck Jonathan and the Nigerian security agencies to find all the means to end the killings and violence in the country.
Speaking in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP’s correspondent in New York, the head of the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA), Mr. Said Djinnit, stated that the world body was seriously concerned about the escalation of acts of terrorism in north-eastern Nigeria, including along the border with Cameroon.
The United Nations official also condemned the latest wave of “unspeakable” violence in the region and demanded an end to attacks targeting innocent civilians.
Djinnit pressed further that the unprecedented cycle of violence in Nigeria must stop, stressing that the people of Nigeria deserved to live in peace and security. He also deplored the recent killings of some 80 people by unidentified armed groups in Maiduguri, Mainok and Mafa villages in Borno State.
In his statement on the more renewed violence, Mr. Djinnit, who is also Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa, said the recent attacks, a series of deadly car bombings, according to media reports, which resulted in the death of more than 80 people, were further unspeakable violence against innocent civilians who he claimed had been regularly targeted by indiscriminate terrorist attacks.
Expressing condolences to the bereaved families and to the people and the government of Nigeria, he reiterated the need to protect civilians and expressed the hope that the perpetrators of the attacks would be brought to justice.
It would be recalled that Borno, along with Nigeria’s northern states of Adamawa and Yobe, have been under states of emergency since May 2013 as the army fights  Boko Haram insurgents.

Leadership

3 Years After, US Faults 2011 Elections, blasts Nigeria for Human Rights Abuses

The United States Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013 has slammed the government of Goodluck Jonathan for its human rights record saying the Authorities failed at times to maintain effective control over the security forces and therefore the Security forces committed  human rights abuses. The report from Bureau of Democracy,Human Rights and Labor just received by elombah.com however said that the most serious human rights abuses during the year were those committed by Boko Haram, which conducted killings, bombings, abduction and rape of women, and other attacks throughout the country, resulting in numerous deaths, injuries, and widespread destruction of property; those committed by security services, which perpetrated extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, beatings, arbitrary detention, mistreatment of detainees, and destruction of property; and widespread societal violence, including ethnic, regional, and religious violence.

According to the report, the 2011 presidential, gubernatorial, and legislative elections which saw President Jonathan elected as president to a four-year term, along with Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, also of the PDP was considered to be generally credible and orderly by International and domestic election observers although marred by violence, fraud, and irregularities.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria ultimately upheld the results of the presidential election, while the Court of Appeals upheld the results of most other contests.

The report stated that the insurgency in the Northeast of militant terrorist sect Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, better known as Boko Haram (which translates to “Western education is forbidden”), continued. Casualties and human rights abuses associated with Boko Haram attacks and the government’s response escalated.

On April 24, President Jonathan inaugurated a Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North. Self-appointed Boko Haram spokespersons rejected dialogue or amnesty.

On May 14, President Jonathan declared a six-month state of emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states, which was extended for another six months on November 20.

Further highlights of the report includes other serious human rights problems like vigilante killings; prolonged pretrial detention; denial of fair public trial; executive influence on the judiciary; infringements on citizens’ privacy rights; restrictions on the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion, and movement; official corruption; violence against women; child abuse; female genital mutilation/cutting (FMG/C); infanticide; sexual exploitation of children; trafficking in persons; discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, regional origin, religion, and disability; forced and bonded labor; and child labor.

Impunity remained widespread at all levels of government. The government brought few persons to justice for abuses and corruption, and the president pardoned a former governor convicted on six counts of corruption. Police and security forces generally operated with impunity. Authorities did not investigate the majority of cases of police abuse or punish perpetrators.

Throughout much of the country, Boko Haram perpetrated numerous killings and attacks, often directly targeting civilians. During the year the sect, which recruited child soldiers, claimed responsibility for coordinated assaults on social and transportation hubs in Kano; an attack on the town of Baga; multiple attacks on schools and mosques; an attack on the town of Benesheik; and the killing of government, religious, and traditional figures. On February 17, the terrorist group Ansaru, believed to be a Boko Haram faction, kidnapped seven foreigners in Bauchi State.

During the year, with government and military support, a youth vigilante group known as the Civilian Joint Task Force (C-JTF) emerged in the Northeast, centered around Maiduguri. According to nongovernmental organization (NGO) and press reports, C-JTF members included children and committed extrajudicial killings.

Other organized criminal forces in the southern and middle parts of the country also committed abuses, such as kidnappings. The overall level of violence in the Niger Delta, which had declined briefly after a 2009 general amnesty, continued to rise again during the year.

Elombah.com

US Report Classifies 'Nigeria as Corrupt’

John Kerry

•   Due process saves FG N95.7bn in fourth quarter

Nduka Nwosu in Washington and James Emejo 

Nigeria has been classified as a corrupt country with a poor governance record, while discrimination against women, the less privileged, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people is common place.

This is coming on the heels of the disclosure by the Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mr. Emeka Ezeh that N95.79 billion was saved through the implementation of due diligence in public contracting and procurement in the fourth quarter of last year.

United States Secretary of State, John Kerry made the corruption allegations on Thursday in his well- advertised “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” which he presented at the Press Briefing Room of the State Department in Washington.
Kerry warned that the US was not acting out of arrogance but to plug the pitfalls arising from its experiment at home and help the human race against making avoidable mistakes.

“Even as we come together today to issue a report on other nations, we hold ourselves to a high standard and we expect accountability here at home too.  And we know that we’re not perfect. We don’t speak with any arrogance whatsoever, but with a concern for the human condition,” the Secretary of State said.

This year’s report, he stressed, “is especially timely coming on the heels of one of the most momentous years in the struggle for greater rights and freedoms in modern history.”

Confirming an earlier report by THISDAY that the US would give Nigeria a minus in its country report on gay rights and extra-judicial killings, Kerry said: “From Nigeria to Russia to Iran, indeed in some 80 countries the world over, LGBT communities face discriminatory laws and practices that attack their basic human dignity and undermine their safety.

“We are seeing new laws like the Anti-Homosexuality Bill enacted by Uganda and signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni earlier this week, which not only makes criminals of people for who they are, but punishes those who defend the human rights that are our universal birthright,” Kerry said

The more than 20,000 words document  touched on virtually every aspect of Nigeria’s constitution while most of the time scoring the country poorly for its performance, taking a huge swipe on the anti-corruption agencies-the EFCC, ICPC and the Police.
The report which ranked the EFCC’s commitment to the anti-corruption war higher than that of the ICPC said Ibrahim Lamorde’s efforts at prosecuting offenders were frustrated along the way.

“The anticorruption efforts of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and EFCC remained largely ineffectual. The ICPC holds broad authorities to prosecute all forms of corruption, whereas the EFCC is tasked with handling only financial crimes. Despite this wider mandate, the ICPC had achieved only 68 convictions since its inauguration in 2000.”

Repeating its earlier disapproval of President Goodluck Jonathan’s pardon of former Bayelsa State governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, it noted that Police corruption remained rampant. “In January, the police released a new code of conduct, which includes provisions on officer integrity. The police did not report any enforcement actions related to the code of conduct.”

It condemned the impunity with which officials of the Nigerian government allegedly frequently engaged in corrupt practices at all levels with the police and security forces factored in, wondering why the constitution provides immunity from civil and criminal prosecution for the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.

On the issue of declaration of assets, the country report did not spare President Goodluck Jonathan for not disclosing his assets.

Financial disclosure law, it said, requires public officials, including the president, vice president, governors, deputy governors, cabinet ministers, and legislators (at both federal and state levels), to declare their assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau before assuming and after leaving office with violators risking prosecution. However, it lamented, cases rarely came to conclusion.

“The president had not published information on his assets as of year’s end,” insisting the law required declaration of assets but not publication of the report.

The report listed an array of cases left hanging including that of former Bayelsa State governor Timipre Sylva for allegedly laundering over N5 billion; the yet to be tried John Yakubu Yusuf who is alleged to have embezzled N2 billion from the Police Pension Fund; Farouk Lawan who was also alleged to have solicited bribe from Zenon boss Femi Otedola.

Lamorde, according to the report, seemed to have been constrained “by the fact he is being tele-guided by those that put him in office, on who to arrest and prosecute while his efforts at trying 12 prominent public officials met a brick wall with several frustrating setbacks during the year.”

The report continued: “Despite the arrest of several high-ranking officials by the EFCC, including Dimeji Bankole and Hassan Lawal, who have been left off the hook, allegations continued that agency investigations targeted individuals who had fallen out of favour with the government, while those who were in favour continued their activities with impunity.”

In conclusion, Kerry summarised once more the reason for his country report exercise: “This is about accountability.  It’s about ending impunity.  And it’s about a fight that has gone on for centuries, as long as human beings have been able to think and write and speak and act on their own.

“And so, the United States of America will continue to speak out, without a hint of arrogance or apology, on behalf of people who stand up for their universal rights.  And we will stand up in many cases for those who are deprived of the opportunity to be able to stand up for themselves.”

The Director-General of BPP was speaking in Abuja yesterday while receiving a delegation from the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), said the amount saved could boost the provision of critical infrastructure in sectors including education, energy and health amid high expectations for quality service delivery in the country.

Eze further explained that the money was generated through the discharge of the agency's responsibility of regulating the process of public procurement to ensure contract awards were transparent and competitive.

In a statement signed by its spokesman, Mr. Tommy Odemwing, President of NIESV, Mr. Emeka Eleh, however, commended Eze for transforming the public procurement process in the country.

He also urged the BPP to ensure that non-registered estate surveyors and valuers were excluded from functioning as facility managers and estate agents.

He further urged the procurement agency to demand personal income tax certificates from surveyors and valuers in place of company tax clearance certificates for procurement of contracts.

Meanwhile, Ezeh had in May last  revealed that a total of N572 billion was saved through due diligence in public contracting system since it was established in 2007.
He had told journalists that about N122 billion was realised in 2012 while about N450 billion was saved between 2007 and 2011.

He said: “We are gratified as a nation that we have embraced the path of procurement for our socio-economic and political development. More than 10 years after the commencement of the reform, and barely five years after the public procurement Act, 2007, we have continued to consolidate on our gains, while charting new paths to the institutionalisation of methods in the public contracting process.

According to him: "As stakeholders in the implementation of the Act, we have to establish a synergy so that we can properly ensure that all hands are on deck in our bid to stamp out corruption through best procurement practices."

“This responsibility enshrined in section 5(h) of the Public Procurement Act 2007, expects the bureau to maintain a national database of the particulars of federal contractors and service providers for ease of information sourcing and analysis and in conformity with the needs of the new Information Age," he added.

ThisDay