Refund $262m to Federation Account, Senate panel orders NNPC

 
   

29 May 2014, Abuja – The Senate Committee on Finance yesterday recommended that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should refund  $262 million to the Federation Account. The committee said  $665.896m was yet to be remitted by the NNPC.  It  also asked the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) to remit to the Federation Account $447.817,884, being balance of royalty and Petroleum Profit tax (PPT).
The committee urged the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidy. The committee, headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, since was never any unremitted $49.8billion as alleged by the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. It stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria, NNPC, Ministries of Finance and Petroleum agreed that the NNPC should account for $20billion. These assertions were contained in the report of the committee, which was laid before the Senate yesterday. The committee noted that the sum of $218.069 million remains unremitted, being Federation Account share from the Third Party Financing arrangement.
It said that royalties and taxes amounting to $447.827million, being Federation Account share from the $6.815billion liftings by NNPC on behalf of NPDC, remain unremitted. The report urged the Senate to note, among others, that the “total crude oil liftings January to July 2013 was $67 billion and not $65billion as the CBN Governor had presented. There was never any unremitted $49.8billion. All the agencies: CBN, NNPC, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Petroleum Resources had agreed after reconciliation meeting that $47billion out of the $67billion had been credited to the Federation Account. Amount to be accounted for therefore was $20billion. The sum of $5.254billion PMS subsidy certified by PPPRA, part of the $20billion to be accounted for, was adequately covered by the Appropriation Acts 2012 and 2013.
“The sum of $3,512billion DPK subsidy certified by PPPRA for the period January 2012 – July 2013, being part of the $20billion to be accounted for, was not appropriated for by the National Assembly. The total sum certified by PPPRA for Kerosene DPK) subsidy not appropriated for by the National Assembly was N353.370billion ($2.148billion) for 2013 respectively, making total for the two years N685.91billion ($4.430billion).”
The committee report only covers accounting for $67billion crude oil revenue between January 2012- July 2013. “The Committee together with Appropriations Committee will continue its investigation on causes of shortfall in revenues, which covers issues such as SWAP, Strategic Alliance etc, as relates to the petroleum industry as par Senate Resolution S/RES/007/03/13.”  The committee recommended among others that the Senate should accept the subsidy deducted by NNPC from January 2012 – July 2013 of $5.254billion (N823,803billion) since it was certified by PPPRA and appropriated by National Assembly.
“This is without prejudice to the outcome of the Forensic Audit conducted by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation and Pricewaterkhouse Coopers Limited (PWC),” the report added. It said further that: “whereas it may be good policy to encourage indigenous players by giving them greater participation, however continuing transfer of Federation OMLs to NPDC who in turn transfer same to Third Parties with lots of tax and other revenue concessions will deprive the federation of vital income. Therefore, all such transactions should be conducted in a transparent and competitive manner and devoid of revenue concessions. NNPC to refund and remit to the Federation Account the sum of $262million being expenses it could not satisfactorily defend in respect of Holding Strategic Stock Reserve; Pipeline Maintenance and Management Cost; and Capital Expenditure. There is the need for the subsidy regime to be totally discontinued with. All stakeholders should be consulted and carried along as much as possible before abolishing the subsidy.
“Further legislative action by the Senate should be taken after receipt of the forensic check/audit currently being undertaken at NNPC by the Auditor-General of the Federation and PWC. The NNPC should strictly adhere to international best practices in keeping records. NNPC should not control the revenue account of NPDC in order not to undermine its separate legal status and make accountability more difficult. That PPPRA should henceforth not certify subsidy payments/deductions when there is no appropriation for such.
“NNPC should always ensure due process and diligence in their operations. The Senate also mandates the Committed to follow up and receive the forensic audit/checks reports from the Auditor-General for the Federation and PWC, study same and report back to Senate.”
The committee noted that after a careful study of all submissions, it found: “That all parties, i.e. CBN, NNPC, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Petroleum Resources  had resolved through reconciliation undertaken by them that $47billion had been received into the Federation Account out of the total oil lifting valued at $67billion between January 2012 and July 2013. That on the remaining $20billion to be reconciled, the committee’s findings are as follows:
“The amount deducted /withheld/expended by NNPC on fuel subsidy between January 2012 to July 2013 was $5.254billion (N823.802billion). This was certified by PPPRA and the National Assembly has appropriated funds in 2012 and 2013 fuel subsidy in the sums of N888.101 billion ($5.737billion) and $971.274 billion ($6.274billion respectively. The amount expended on subsidy on kerosene (DPK) between January to July 2013 was $3.512billion (N543.890billion). This was certified by PPPRA. This was not appropriated for by the National Assembly in both 2012 and 2013 Appropriation Acts.
“The subsidy deduction in the sum of N180billion ($1.2billion) by NNPC in 2012 bug relating to fourth quarter 2011 was certified by PPPRA. The CBN position was that this deduction needed PPPRA certification. PPPRA verification alluded to on the NNPC subsidy claims are in practice book keeping verification rather than physical verification of products and claims.” The committee said it also found that on Third Part Financing liftings by NNPC which CBN put at $2billion and called for more explanations, as follows: “That the actual value of Third Party Financing lifting was $2,430,750,973. That the amount confirmed by the Accountant-General as having been remitted into the Federation Account  between January, 2012 and July, 2013 was $1,370,172,650.36. That the share belonging to Mobile Producing Nigeria Limited in Third Party Financing arrangement with NNPC confirmed by them orally and in writing was $848,687,581.
“That the amount confirmed by the Accountant-General of the Federation as having been remitted into the Federation Account in December, 2013 which is outside the period January 2012 – July 2013 was $300,000,000. Therefore, the sum of $218,069,354 remains outstanding or unremitted by NNPC which it explained was in escrow account and will be remitted when it matures.” On the $6billion liftings by NNPC on behalf of NPDC, which CBN observed that part of the revenue belongs to the Federation Account, the committee said it found as follows:
“NPDC strategic alliance are within the laws of the Federation as submitted by the Attorney-General for the Federation and Minister of Justice. Total liftings during the period in question was $6,815,188,626. Share of revenue to go to the Federation A. Lung was $2,175,635,436. Amount of Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) confirmed received by Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) from the NPDC and remitted to the Federation Account was $863,000,000. Amount of Royalty confirmed received by Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) from NPDC and remitted to the  Federation Account was $864,817,552. Royalties and Taxes not remitted to the Federation Account by NPDC within the period under consideration was $447,817,884.”
On other expenses and crude losses, which the Committee appointed Independent Professional Accountants to audit, the committee said it found as follows: “Crude and refined oil losses were certified by Committee Consultants as $0.809billion against the $0.760 reported by NNPC. Pipeline surveillance cost increased from $2.23million in 2012 to $11.15million in 2013 without corresponding decrease in pipeline oil losses. Actual PPMC’s Staff Salaries and upfront benefit claimed in NNPC submission were overstated by $7.58million and $29.35million for the 2012 and 2013 respectively.”
The committee gave the amount expended above budgeted or not budgeted for at all in respect of PMS and DPK in 2012 and 2013 as follows: “2012 PMS = N90.693billion ($585million)
2013 PMS = “Over expenditure expected  since certification of Aug-Dec 2013 was only an interim one. 2012 Kerosene (Expended but not budgeted) N353,370,145,245.07 ($2.282billion),
2013 kerosene (amount expended but not budgeted) N332,539,367,830.95 ($2.148billion).” In respect of a motion moved by Senator Babajide Omoworare (Osun East) that N700million was expended illegally on Kerosene subsidy daily, the committee said it found  based on PPPRA certification that: “In year 2012 amount expended was N353.370billion which gives N965.49million daily; and
“In year 2013 (interim) amount expended was N332.539 billion which gives N908.578 million daily.”


- The Punch

EXPOSED: How Dame Patience blocks Jonathan, Military from rescuing the girls – Source

Since the abduction of over 200 girls from Government Secondary School Chibok in Borno State and the eventual acceptance by the presidency that the girls were actually kidnapped, after initially keeping sealed lips indicating that such event never occurred, there have been several reports that the government is almost reaching a deal with the Boko Haram sect to free the girls.

patience and the girls

In spite of all the reports and high hopes raised by them, the girls have remained in captivity nearly three months since they were abducted. Nothing concrete has come out of the several reported negotiations going on between the government and the Boko Haram leadership.

In what could however be responsible for the delay in the rescue of the girls, the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan has been alleged to be standing in the way of the effort to bring the girls back home.

According to NewsRescue, a trusted inner-circle confidant of the Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that the First-Lady/president’s wife, Patience Jonathan is behind the refusal of the State security services and defense forces to rescue and free over 200 girls abducted from a school in Chibok, mid April.

According to the source who demanded absolute confidentiality, the President told him that his wife said, “the girls and their families must suffer as she suffered humiliation in the eyes of the world,” further threatening the president that “he should get rid of her (President’s wife) first, before he dares to order the rescue of the abducted girls.”

The source said that this is why several successful efforts to free the girls were aborted by executive order of the president at the last minute. Source said the American experts involved in rescuing the girls were exasperated — that despite accurate intelligence shared which made safe rescue missions possible since several weeks ago, Nigeria simply refused to give the order.

It would be recollected that a Boko Haram sympathizer and chief negotiator, Ahmad Saldika was flown in from the UAE to negotiate the release of the girls in early June. He had successfully struck a deal and took a video showing the girls with Boko Haram to the presidential Villa, however at the last minute when the swap of the girls for non-combatant Boko Haram ‘sympathizer’ prisoners was to be conducted, the president suddenly called in from France where he was attending an anti-terror summit, and aborted the mission. He said that this was due to pressure from his wife.

The source also reminded us that when the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh had revealed to Nigeria that they knew exactly where the abducted girls were, the presidency displayed its anger towards him for making this known to the public.

National conference member Fati Ibrahim, Chief of defence Alex Badeh and Rep. Beni Lar

He explained that president Goodluck Jonathan’s hands were tied by his wife who felt so humiliated when videos, songs and even T-shirts of her crying and making incoherent utterances [#DiaRISGODo] went viral. Source said, she took it very personal with the victims, the teachers and families for turning her down when she invited them over for a coffee meeting to crush the globally spreading scandal of the abduction.

Source further said, the First-lady has never felt so humiliated in her life, and recognized that the scandal of the abduction and failed efforts including her and government denials, and publication of a fake rescue after the event, made this (abduction) incident the major challenge to a second term ambition. As such, she said for as long as she lives, the girls must remain in the forest and die with the terrorists.

According to our reliable informant, it is open knowledge in executive and top military circles that the 200+ girls could be rescued within 24 hours of an order by the president however such order was not forthcoming due to ‘domestic matters.’

“If you want the girls out tomorrow, talk to Patience,” he concluded.
Osundefender

Jonathan’s Aide, Delta PDP Chair In Free-for-all

 

Sola Adebayo and Kola Eke Ogiugo

       

Hell was let loose yesterday in Asaba, the capital of Delta State, when the Special Adviser on Intergovernmental Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan, Mrs Mariam Ali, and the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, engaged in a free-for-all.
The show of shame took place at the secretariat of the party in Asaba.
The secretariat was practically turned into a boxing ring as the combatants threw decorum into the winds. Their clothes were torn into shreds while the commotion lasted in the presence of their aides, members of the party and top officials of the state government as well as security agents.
Yesterday’s show of shame was not the first for Ali a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP. In 2011, she had in a similar fashion, in the company of her daughters, assaulted officials of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council at their Wuse Zone 6 office, for marking her property in Asokoro for demolition.
LEADERSHIP Weekend learnt that the members of the party and top government officials had gathered at the secretariat to witness the formal presentation of official vehicles to the chairmen of the party in the 25 local councils of the state.
Although the sitting arrangement on the high table triggered the crisis, LEADERSHIP Weekend learnt that the ambition of two of them to seek the nomination of the party to represent Delta North in the Senate in the 2015 election might have fuelled the animosity between them.
Ali and Nwaoboshi hail from Delta North. Two of them had declared interest in the seat currently occupied by Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, who is seeking the gubernatorial ticket of the party.
The BoT member, who is also the wife of a former national chairman of the party, Dr Ahmadu Ali, had earlier protested that no seat was reserved for her on the high table despite her status as a national leader of the party.
Ali, who had earlier sat comfortably on a chair on the high table, was ordered to vacate the seat by security agents, who claimed that it was meant for the state’s deputy governor, Prof. Amos Utuama.
It was gathered that Nwaoboshi joined forces with the security agents to force the party’s BoT member to surrender the seat.
The development was said to have angered Mariam Ali, who reportedly confronted Nwaoboshi to demand the reason for the shabby treatment.
LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that the claim by Nwaoboshi that he was not aware of the status of Mariam Ali as a BoT member of PDP infuriated her. The heated argument by the two PDP leaders degenerated and members of the party watched helplessly as two of them engaged in fisticuffs.
Sanity did not prevail until their clothes were turned to shreds. They were later helped into their cars by some party leaders.
Nwaoboshi, who later spoke to journalists, said Mariam Ali was the aggressor.
“Despite the provocation, I did not retaliate, even when she slapped me twice and tore my dress to shreds. She could have been lynched if not for my intervention and that of security men and the elders of the party,” he said.
Nwaoboshi said Ali would be punished for her conduct. “The party leaders have decided to report her to the party executives of her local government and wards but the state executives would write a report to the National Executive of the party over the misdeeds of Ali,” he added.
Ali could not be reached for her reaction before press time last night. She ignored the persistent calls our correspondent put to her cell phone.
Meanwhile, the Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan yesterday also commissioned 25 vehicles bought by the state branch of the PDP for its chairmen at the local government level.
Governor Uduaghan, during the commissioning, held in Asaba, observed that the national Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Muazu had brought a new lease of life to the party that has positioned it to win all forthcoming elections in the country.
“Today, we have a game changer as chairman of the party at the national level. The fortunes of the party are turning around,” the governor said, explaining that the vehicles which were provided by the state PDP were to facilitate the movement of the local government party chairmen.
According to him, “our state chairman is developing and uniting our party and at the local government level, the chairmen must have structures and continue to reconcile members of the party because, we believe in grassroots politics.
“We have developed enough persons to win every ward election, especially in Delta state because there is no party in Nigeria that has its presence in every ward apart from the PDP.”
Governor Uduaghan used the occasion to appeal to members of the PDP to always be slow to anger, saying, “I want to appeal to all of us, let us not react in anger. There are people who are always there to annoy you but we need to be slow to anger. We need everybody to move forward and with all that happened before 2011, I did promise God that what I want to do is to unite the party.”
He also urged leaders of the party at the local government levels to ensure that the forthcoming local government elections are devoid of rancour, stressing that all disagreements and challenges should be resolved before the elections so that nobody would be given any room to move to other political parties.
State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi had said that the 25 vehicles were to facilitate movements of the chairmen of the PDP at the local government areas to enable them function effectively for the good of the party.
He thanked Dr Uduaghan for his support for the PDP, noting that the state secretariat of the party, which he described as the best state secretariat of any political party in the country, was ready for commissioning.
Also speaking at the occasion, leaders of the party in Delta North, Delta Central and Delta South Senatorial Districts, Chief Godwin Iwegbue, Chief George Sefia and Hon. Solomon Areyenka respectively, assured Governor Uduaghan that the fortune of the party was increasing in the state.
The party passed a vote of confidence on Governor Uduaghan, his deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama (SAN); Chairman of the PDP in the state, Barr. Peter Nwaoboshi and other leaders of the party at the ceremony.
This was sequel to a motion moved by Chairmen of the PDP in Bomadi Local Government Area, Chief Pius Labo which was seconded by his counterpart from Ughelli North local government area, Chief Shedrach Imonieroh.
 Leadership

Nigerian journalist, Ustaz Yunus, assassinated in Kaduna

             

Abdullahi Garba

The Kaduna Police spokesperson, Aminu Lawal, confirmed the murder.
The General Manager of New Democrat, a Kaduna-based weekly newspaper, has been killed by gunmen in Kaduna, North-West Nigeria.
The gunmen stormed the residence of Ustaz Yunus, at Ungwan Dosa around 7:45 p.m. on Friday night, colleagues said.
“We suspect a political undertone to his killing because the killers did not take anything from the house. They just stormed the house, killed him and disappear,” a member of staff of New Democrat said.
The Kaduna Police spokesperson, Aminu Lawal, confirmed the murder. He said the police have begun investigation into the killing.
PremiumTimes

INTERVIEW: Jonathan is worst Nigerian leader ever – Sowore, Publisher, Sahara Reporters

             

Ogala Emmanuel and Chinenye Ugonna

Omoyele Sowore is the publisher of New York-based Sahara Reporters, known for its hard-hitting reporting that is keeping Nigeria’s government officias, individuals and corporations on their toes.
Recently, Mr. Sowore suddenly walked into our newsroom in Abuja. Our reporters sat down with him for an interview during which he spoke about his work and the political cum economic situation in his country.

=============

PT: We are glad to have you here, we will just be asking you a few questions. Now just tell us briefly how Sahara Reporters operate?
Sowore: Well, I started off first as a news website about 7 years ago basically collecting information from citizens, processing them and publishing them and distributing them through our media platforms across the globe. In the last three years, it has escalated and upgraded to become a complete multimedia outlet that has an online TV and now an online radio platform and of course the important thing to mention is that it is surrounded by Internet users.
PT: Now, 7 years down the line, will you say you have achieved the original vision. How far have you come?
Sowore: To be fair to myself and everybody who has worked with me on this platform, in my estimation I have far exceeded my expectations of these platforms. I just wanted to set up a website that I could use in communicating with Nigerians, Africans and the rest of the world about happenings in sub-saharan Africa and doing so from the safety of the United States of America. I was expecting on an average, on a daily basis, of 200 or 300 people reading us and feeding back to us in giving informations but after 7 years, it’s gone way beyond that expectation. But in terms of the fulfilment of the mission, yes the site has covered a good distance but I think there’s still a few more to be done.

PT:  You publish very damning reports, how are you able to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues?
Sowore: Our first mission is to make information available to people in a way they can use as they want. That mission has been fulfilled. The second aspect of our mission is to speak truth to power. And the third aspect of it, in some cases and in most cases, is to damn the consequences for as long as the people who need to benefit from it get it, they can use it. They can take it to run and that can help them redefine their power because in a lot of ways I think for a lot of people, I think the kind of information we provide and the way we provide them is their only way of fighting back the myriad of problems they are confronted with by government.
The last part of your question is about safety. Our mission is also to help ensure that citizens can turn the trajectory of fear against oppression, that people should no longer be afraid of people who are doing evil or who are stealing their commonwealth, people who are robbing them, people who are denying them their fundamental future, they should be the ones that should be afraid and that would mean by saying we are turning around the trajectory of fear.
As for how we feel safe or unsafe, I think somebody has to do what we do and when you do it, it’s not hard to understand that they come with consequences. It’s a very dangerous job as you know. All over the world, the business of telling the truth always come with consequences and a lot of safety issues but what we’ve also not done is to put the safety pin on ourselves so we do whatever we can to stay safe. But our primary or major concern is not safety, it is the delivery of our mission.
PT: How did you just walk into Premium Times?  We were in shock! How did you just get here without being arrested?
Sowore: First and foremost, I’m not a criminal and I’ve said that many times. I navigate my way through the country as much as I can so I travel as much as its permissible to help me get to where I need to get to. I won’t disclose the rest of how I got here but I’m here and that’s the most importan thing and I can pretty much go anywhere I want. I take my freedom very seriously, especially the freedom of movement.
PT: That leads us to the next question. Do you consider yourself a free Nigerian in Nigeria?
Sowore: No! And I don’t think that there are Nigerians in the majority who live in Nigeria who feel free. Part of the reasons why I take the risk that I take, if you want to call it a risk, is to share in the pain, in the difficulty, in the bondage that you can be in a country where you want and love to be but not free to. I’m not the only one who is not free in Nigeria, a lot of Nigerians are not free. As I’m speaking to you today, more than 2oo  females who undertook secondary education in Borno state have been held hostage by a non-state actor like Boko Haram — just a ragtag group of militants. Those ones are not free, their parents are not free. There is a sense of siege even where you are today so freedom is relative and I’m saying that nobody can claim to be free in this country for as long as this country is in bondage and is being run as an open prison.
PT: What do you think should be done?  What does Nigeria and its people need to do to make the majority of its citizens to be free?
Sowore: They have to decide to be free and that has to be psychological. I am psychologically free but I’m not physically free because I cannot move as freely as I should. And then they have to decide collectively to be physically free but that’s where there’s a lot of work because people have to take away the shackles of fear. They have to stop being afraid of those in power, they have to confront them and demand that they leave so they can be free especially those who have been holding back their freedom. And talking about freedom, you are talking about a wide range of freedom. It’s not just the freedom to move but the freedom to worship, the freedom to go to school, the freedom to give and have opportunity, the freedom to hope in a country of one’s birth.
PT: You have been very critical of successive administrations. What’s your impression of the Goodluck Jonathan administration?
Sowore: In an order of successive administrations in my lifetime I think this would be the worst in terms of delivery of services, in terms of organisation, in terms of even the style of governance, in terms of transparency, in terms of economic management and of course in terms of security. So this is the worst government in my lifetime that I have seen. You would say maybe Abacha was worse but you can understand Abacha was a military dictator. Nobody voted for him. He just hijacked power and he did whatever he wanted with it. But even within that framework as you can see, the Abacha regime is actually better than the Jonathan regime and I’m sorry to say this because you could almost feel that this country was more secure during those days. The value of the naira under Abacha’s regime was higher than the value of the naira under Jonathan regime, in fact it’s double that rate now. There were perhaps even better roads, in some cases better schools, in some cases better opportunities.
PT: So you are saying even within the framework of the Abacha regime…
Sowore:(Cuts in) By the time you look at the entire corruption that Abacha perpetrated in his five years in power I guess, we are looking at 10billion dollars. Jonathan’s people stole at least 20 billion in less than 3 years from just sales of crude oil alone. If you add that to what the oil marketers or importers stole, which was 6.8 billion dollars, so you are looking already at 28 billion dollars stolen under Jonathan’s regime which is three times more than what Abacha stole during his regime. I’m not making this comparison saying that Nigerians deserve any of these leaders from Babangida to Abacha and the rest of them. I condemned successive administrations but it’s important to state that in clarifying my position as to which government is worse. This is my own statistical definition of how bad things have gone.
PT: But this government is building the airport road in Abuja. Did you not pass through the airport road? They also say they are creating jobs. Will you ever say anything good about the Jonathan registration?
Sowore: There is a difference between what the government says its doing and what we know the government is doing. For example, they claim to have created 1.5 million jobs and we have been asking for the last two months for them to provide us the sector of the economy or society where those jobs were created and nobody can give us answers. If the U.S says they have 240,000 jobs, they can tell you how many of them were from the hospitality business, academics, road construction. All of the sectors that we count, nobody can provide those sectors for you. The airport road you are talking about was awarded under Yar’adua so it’s not Jonathan that awarded the airport road that you are talking about. It’s possible that he attempted to construct such roads but none of those roads I see today exist to my understanding. They said a few months ago that they had turned around the power sector by privatising the power sector. As we speak today, you and I know that they have only invested more money  in buying more darkness for the Nigerian people.
PT: The government also says it’s rebuilding the airports….
Sowore: Which airport did he build? Is it the leaking airport in Lagos where the materials that were bought were fake? And they are falling apart already. That one you can verify. You are a journalist and I don’t need to tell you these things. Theirs is a tokenistic government and governance of mediocrity that is wrapped up in propaganda. That’s not the way countries are governed. You can’t govern a country with propaganda of how many airports are under construction. You actally judge a government by how many airports they are able to construct within a reasonable period of time, within a reasonable cost in terms of resources.
PT: What do you think of Boko Haram and the way the government is handling the insurgency?
Sowore: First and foremost, I think Boko Haram is a security problem. It’s just like how the Niger Delta militancy was a security problem but this security problem doesn’t mean that they can be tackled the same way. If government does its job, it decreases the amount of people that get attracted to any kind of crime. So for as long as the Nigeria police is not doing its job and is bogged down by corruption, for as long as the Nigerian army is ill-equipped and incapable of fighting any kind of war inside and outside of Nigeria, it will be difficult to make Nigeria safe. All these problems, as small as they look, can become really really big and it’s compounded by the incompetence of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, who doesn’t have a clue how to resolve any of these problems. That’s why every small problem in this country under his regime has escalated to become a major problem. When they were extra-judicially executing Boko Haram people, we were the ones warning them that this would become a major problem. But they were calling us names because we were asking them not to kill people. They said we were sympathetic to terrorists, NO! We were just saying that if you do things the wrong way, they will haunt you in a bad way especially where you have a government that doesn’t even know how to tackle any of these problems.
PT: What do you think of the future journalism, especially in Nigeria?
Sowore: As you know, we have what you call legacy media, the old big-time guys who produce big newspapers and now there’s new media where everybody has moved to. My own genre is citizen journalism which is something that is completely different because I’m not trained for journalism. I’m just collecting and passing information based on the guarantee of the United Nations Human Rights Article 19 that allows anybody no matter who he is to exchange information. That is where I derive my own expertise and it is my fundamental rights to do what I’m doing. My own suspicion is that the old legacy journalism will have to die a natural death to feed into the new media. What I mean by natural death is that the way they do journalism in the olden days is not going to work anymore. The truth today is that, you can ask any of the big media how many newspapers they are distributing on daily basis. Probably not up to 50,000. Let’s give them 200,000 combined together. That’s the same kind of readership we can get in a breaking news within two hours when we have really big news. You should also look at the channels of distribution of news, it has changed. The idea of holding newspapers on the street with a vendor with an apron is no longer the way journalism is done anymore. So the future of citizens journalism is actually the future because the citizens themselves see news first and report them first. What we do and how we are going to become the future is that the citizens are going to be driving journalism through the use of small technological devices and finally through the entrenchment of community. The devices feed the news, the community discusses and debates and distributes the news. That’s new media, that’s the future of media.
PT: Do you consider yourself a journalist?
Sowore: No. I actually studied Geography and Planning at the University of Lagos, went to do my Masters in Public Administration at Columbia University in New York. So, I do not consider myself a journalist but you do not have to go to journalism school to be a journalist. I think anybody who is smart enough to report can be referred to as a reporter, not necessarily a journalist. Journalism is actually an old word of people who keep journals and nobody does that anymore.
PT: What’s your motivation for the things you do? You seem to be a troublemaker, giving people sleepless nights. What’s your motivation? Do you want to be appointed to government?
Sowore: I don’t think I can survive in government for one night because I have no motivation to subscribe to the kind of deceit that goes on in government. I cannot be a minister who goes to a meeting and start praising the president and claiming that things are alright when things are not. I’m the kind of person who would show up and tell Mr President you are running a bad country, this place is terrible. And they are going to hate me for it. I’m however not ruling out the possibility that I am capable of governing this country better than all these characters that are governing the country and I am serious about it but that is not to say I’m trying to position myself for political office.
PT: You now live abroad. Is there a possibility that one day you will return home to play a role in the affairs of your country?



Sowore: I’m here now and I’ve returned. You see if I don’t show up in your office, you won’t  know I’m in this country. That’s one of the things that is very interesting in my lifestyle and what I do. I go in and out of Nigeria as it’s convenient for me and whenever possible. It’s not that I don’t want to confront them at the airport by travelling through the airport but I also don’t want this work to be disrupted so if it takes a few more hours to travel here, it’s ok. And that takes me back to the issue of motivation for the work I do. I just dread the fact that at my age I have to live in another country just because I want to practice my trade or to live any kind of life I consider to be an acceptable standard of life. I want to live my life here. I want to drink Nigerian water. I want to live in a house that doesn’t have walls. I want to be able to drive from Lagos to Abuja in the middle of the night without fear of being attacked or being kidnapped or being blown up by anyone. I want to have a country in which I can live and be proud of. Right now, we just have a country no one can claim to be proud of, including the people governing the country.
PT: So if your people in Ondo state ask you to run for office, what will you say to them?
Sowore: The concept of my people has been bastardised that if any group of people approached me to come and run for office, I would be shocked. I would wonder if I won a lottery. You know that concept is a scam. It’s only the corrupt elements who have stolen so much that get those kinds of invitation. The people prefer them to people like us. You know, the idea of inviting anyone who even claims to be honest, who wants to run an honest administration does not appeal to this concept of my people you just referred to. It’s like an anathema . If I want to run, I will go to my people and say ‘look! We have to fight to free this place from this buccaneers and you can imagine what will happen. They don’t invite you to that kind of war.
PT: Now just tell us, how have you been able to make Sahara Reporters sustainable?
Sowore: I have said it openly and would continue to say it because of all the new media in town, we have been the most transparent to the extent that you can google and find out how we get our funding. I started this with my own money. It was so cheap. I started Saharareporters with 20 dollars hosting the website with an individual whose server got knocked out when I had the first DDOS attack and I went to yahoo and from there it grew bigger. So I started with my own funds. I raised some little funds at the beginning from some people. And then I got foundation funding, Ford Foundation and then the foundation with link to ebay known as Omidyar Foundation. To limit the damage that can be done to our conscience and brand, we do not take government ads, we do not take from people praising people or people who want to greet others for birthdays and things like that. We focus mainly on product advertisements and ensure that whatever we are taking, we make it very clear that those cannot affect our editorial decisions.
PremiumTimes

Felix Okafor, Nigerian, Jailed 263 Years In The US For Drugs

 

 

The United States Penitentiary in Hazelton, West Virginia is a “high security Penitentiary with a secure female facility and an adjacent minimum security satellite camp, a division of the United States Department of Justice.”

This sprawling prison yard was built in 2004. It is located in Bruceton Mills. It has notorious and famous inmates such as Ali Abdi Mohammed, the Somalian pirate that hijacked civilian yacht Quest and hostages in 2010. He is serving a life sentence.
Inside this prison with a population of 2,283 inmates, is inmate number 56118056. He is Nigerian, Felix Okafor. He was sentenced on April 10, to 263 years in federal prison for drugs and weapons distribution, sales and money laundering.
Felix, 53, migrated to the United States in 1981. He was part of the mass exodus of young Nigerians to foreign nations in the early 80s. Those were the days of uneasy living which drove young Nigerians to seek survival in faraway lands such as United States, Europe, the then USSR, the Scandinavian and Asia, specifically, India. Okafor was one of the young Nigerians privileged to go West in search of exciting challenges. In 1981, he relocated to Raleigh North Carolina and settled into a slow paced southern life style. Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina; a midsised metropolitan city that struggles with diversity. It is home to the Research Triangle Park, a sub research layout that was developed in the mid sixties for world’s biggest research companies in computer science, technology and medicine: RTP, as it is fondly called, is home to the headquarters of Glaxo SmithKline, IBM, CISCO Systems, Ericson, BASF, etc.
This metropolis is also surrounded by America’s best colleges and institutions. One of the colleges it is privileged to host is Shaw University, the first Black College in Southern United States, founded in 1865. Okafor got admitted into this university in the early eighties, majoring in business administration.
After his college education, Okafor created small businesses through his single life passages: the small businesses included Laundromat, vending machines for snacks and sodas. By mid 90s, Okafor married and moved from the city of Raleigh to country town of Zebulon. He also opened a used car sales shop, shuttling between his businesses and family.
Mid millennium, Okafor diversified his business: he purchased a convenience store in another small town, Benson, located along one of the busiest major network road links of United States: route I-95 South. From his new location, Okafor provided neighbours with convenience of daily groceries shopping in his grocery store, Flying Eagles Groceries.
An anonymous resident of the neighbourhood described the store and its owner as ‘always selling us expired groceries and food stuff. He had expired candy bars on the candy racks and that place seemed unorganised and dirty. The aisles were always empty, just few items to pick from. There were candy bars that had expired since 2007. That man was fronting with his store. We suspected he was cooking something else and selling it. He got caught at last.”
The daily human traffic activities of the store attracted neighbourhood curiosity. Strange people came with expensive cars parked outside. These activities inside a store filled with expired candy bars and lousy inventories, attracted strangers to the community at odd hours. Residents became concerned about the safety of their properties, lives and families with the influx of strange people to a small store. Soon, the spectacle attracted federal, state and local authorities who began undercover operations and purchases of drugs from Okafor’s store. He was under surveillance for 10 months and federal undercover operations did drug and weapons transactions directly with Okafor. On Wednesday, January 11, 2011, drug enforcement agents raided his store and arrested him. Narcotic officers conducted 10 ‘undercover drug buys’ of heroin and prescription pills 10 months before the raid. He faced a maximum of 560 years.
He was tried for four days before a jury convicted him on July 12, 2013 of all 53 count charges.
The department of justice wrote thus on the conviction, “United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that on July 12, 2013, FELIX A. OKAFOR, 52, of Wendell, North Carolina, was convicted by a federal jury of 25 drug and firearms offences including conspiracy to distribute 100 grams of heroin and 100 kilograms of marijuana, four counts of distribution of marijuana, six counts of distribution of heroin, distribution of drugs within 1000 feet of a school, and 11 counts of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
“During the four-day trial, the government presented evidence that between on or about November 8, 2011, through on or about January 11, 2012, Okafor sold various quantities of marijuana and heroin multiple times to a confidential informant at the defendant’s convenience store, the Flying Eagle, in Benson, North Carolina. Okafor possessed a gun in his pocket during each of these transactions. Additionally, the defendant used the Flying Eagle to cut and package the drugs to sell. The store was within 1000 feet of Benson Middle School. Okafor faces a minimum of 265 years and a maximum of 560 years imprisonment at sentencing.
“This case was part of the Project Safe Neighbourhoods (PSN) initiative which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate in a unified “team effort” against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.
“Investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Ethan A. Ontjes prosecuted the case.”
Nine months after he was convicted, Okafor was sentenced to 263 years of prison on April 10.
“U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard handed down 53-year-old Felix A. Okafor’s 3,157-month sentence in a Greenville federal courtroom. A jury convicted Okafor of selling drugs during a four-day trial last July.
Jurors found Okafor guilty of selling heroin and marijuana to a confidential informant at his Benson convenience store, the Flying Eagle, which is within 1,000 feet of Benson Middle School. Prosecutors said Okafor used his store to cut and package the drugs.
Okafor was convicted of 25 drug and gun charges, including 11 counts of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, six counts of distribution of heroin and four counts of distribution of marijuana.
Prosecutors said Okafor had a gun in his pocket each time he sold drugs to the informant.”
He was immediately moved to the United States Penitentiary in West Virginia. He came to the United States as a 20-year-old determined young man in search of best life’s fulfilment for his family. Thirty three years later, at 53 years, he was sentenced to 263 years in prison.

  PUNCH.

Nigerian Army Generals Pocketed $43m Meant For Peacekeepers, Petition Says

.

 

“It is on record and verifiable that over 3,950 troops who participated in Peace Support Operations in Liberia and Sudan between 2013 to 2014 are still been [owed] various months of allowances amounting to over $43.23m US Dollars which is equivalent to N6,919,168,000:00 Billion Nigerian Naira to date,” the petition said.
by Sahara Reporters Jul 11, 2014
1.3K 117 132

Former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General OA Ihejirika named as aone of the culprits SaharaReporters has obtained a powerful but anonymous petition written by concerned Nigerian soldiers who claim that the Nigerian Army owes its men and women who have served in various United Nations peacekeeping operations over $43 million.
The document also carpets the United Nations, which it alleges may have collaborated with cheating Nigerian army chiefs to divert the allowances of the peacekeepers into their own pockets.
“It is on record and verifiable that over 3,950 troops who participated in Peace Support Operations in Liberia and Sudan between 2013 to 2014 are still been [owed] various months of allowances amounting to over $43.23m US Dollars which is equivalent to N6,919,168,000:00 Billion Nigerian Naira to date,” the petition said.
The petition warned that in view of the present security situation in the country, 3,950 soldiers being owed such a staggering amount could revolt “and this will not be good for our country.”
It also names the “principal actors” involved in the matter to be:
Former Chief of Army Staff (Retired), Lieutenant General OA Ihejirika;
Present Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General KTJ Minimah;
Director of Army Finance and Administration (DAFA), Major General AI Muraina;
Former Director of Army Training and Operations (AHQ DATOPS), Major General JO Nwaogbo; and
Present Director of Army Training and Operations (AHQ DATOPS), Major General JAH Ewansiha.
“It is obvious that lies and deceits have become a tradition among Nigeria Army generals,” the petition says. “They always devise ways to sweep matters that [touch] them under the carpets with cover ups.”
On the world body, the document says, “If the only hope of mankind today the United Nations can collaborate with Nigeria to divert the money meant for payment of Nigerian soldiers who participated in Peace Keeping Operations in Liberia and Sudan, it will be right for one to say that the entire universe is doomed and heading towards destruction.”
Full text of the petition:
NIGERIA ARMY AUTHORITIES EMBEZZLE $43.23M US DOLLARS ALLOWANCES OF NIGERIAN SOLDIERS IN PEACE KEEPING OPERATIONS
If the only hope of mankind today the United Nations can collaborate with Nigeria to divert the money meant for payment of Nigerian soldiers who participated in Peace Keeping Operations in Liberia and Sudan, it will be right for one to say that the entire universe is doomed and heading towards destruction.
The United Nations is known for standard, transparency, justice, fair play and equality but, it is worrisome how this honorable body or few members in this body have targeted Nigeria and descended too low to collaborate with some born-cheat generals in the Nigerian Army to divert soldiers Operation Allowances into their private pockets.
It is on record and verifiable that over 3,950 troops who participated in Peace Support Operations in Liberia and Sudan between 2013 to 2014 are still been owned various months of allowances amounting to over $43.23m US Dollar which is equivalent to N6,919,168,000:00 Billion Nigerian Naira to date. The 800 soldiers from 223 Armour Battalion Zuru, Kebbi State, that served as Nigerian contingent NIBATT 40 at Nyala Super Camp in Sudan Darfur region between June to December 2013 are still being owned 2 months allowance while the 800 soldiers of 15 Field Engineering Regiment Ijebu Ode that served as NIBATT 33 at the Central Monrovia in Liberia between September 2013 to March 2014 are being owned their operation allowance for over 7 months of their return. The 800 soldiers from 322 Artillery Regiment in Benin City that served 10 months in Labado Sudan as NIBATT 41 returned to Nigeria in June 2014 only to meet 1 month operation allowance in their domiciliary account while the balance of 9 months disappear as their counterpart with no one to give account of it till date.
It was also gathered through an authentic sources that the domiciliary account of the 800 soldiers of 342 Artillery Regiment Obinze Imo State currently serving in Nyala Super Camp South Sudan as NIBATT 43 for 8 months now are red as no dime have been deposited into their account. This also applies to the 750 soldiers of 311 Artillery Regiment Kontangora, Niger State currently serving as NIBATT 34 in Liberia.
When on 11 February 2014, the Nigerian National dailies Punch newspaper published this issue, with a view to finding a solution to this ugly trend, the dubious Nigeria Army through its Public Relations Officer. Brig Gen Olajide Olaleye came up with their lies and deceitful propaganda that “it was not true that the Nigerian Army was owning soldiers arrears of operations allowances”, and to cover up their secret deals within 48 hours they paid in 4 months operation allowance into NIBATT 40 troops domiciliary account remaining 2 months which are yet to be paid till date after 8 months of their return from the operation area.
The questions that remain unanswered are:
1. Why is United Nations owing only Nigerian Peace Keepers after sacrificing their lives to bring peace to the troubled regions?

2. If the United Nations have paid the Nigerian military authorities or the Federal Government, where are the monies, who is with it?

3. Are the authorities concerned waiting for similar Akure incident to occur before they address the issue?
4. Is the Army Chief Lt Gen KTJ Minimah not aware that such monies are been owned to his troops by UN or is released by UN and hijacked by his generals leaving these soldiers who have painstakingly and diligently served this nation in foreign land to suffer endless hopes for their overdue allowances?
5. Why should the Army Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade in his response to the Punch publication of 11 February, 2014 deceive the soldiers and lie to the nation that “the money is not missing and that the authority is working round the clock to secure the funds from the appropriate quarters and relevant agencies sponsors of the mission”.
6. For over 8 months Army authorities have been working round the clock to secure money that we well know that United Nations MOU with troops contributing countries states that UN pays at the inception of each tenure.
7. If this is not one of the Nigerian Army general’s lies and deceits, let the Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade tell us and Nigerians who are the appropriate quarters and relevant agencies sponsors of the mission that are hijacking these soldiers allowances as he claims?. Is it UN, the Presidency or COAS?.
8. If the UN is owing Nigeria for over 8 months now as claimed by our generals, where are they getting the $100 and $200 US Dollars respectively that they pay to each troops in Sudan and Liberia in operation area monthly as maintenance allowances?
Considering the present security situation in the country, this is a bad omen. 3,950 soldiers being owned such a staggering amount could revolt and this will not be good for our country. Let us use Akure incident as a lesson and do something before this issue gets out of hand.
It is obvious that lies and deceits have become a tradition among Nigeria Army generals. They always devise ways to sweep matters that touches them under the carpets with cover ups. Here under are the names of the various units that have served either in Sudan or Liberia with the Nigeria banks where they opened their domiciliary account for anybody who wish to verify the authenticity of this report.
NAMES OF UNITS, THEIR NIBATT AND BANK USED FOR DOMICILIARY ACCOUNT IN NIGERIA FOR COMFIRMATION
1. 15 FER IJEBU ODE - NIBATT 33 - ECO BANK
2. 311 Arty Regt Kontongora - NIBATT 34 - DIAMOND BANK
3. 223 Armour Battalion Zuru - NIBATT 40 - ECO BANK
4. 322 Arty Regt Benin - NIBATT 41 - ECO BANK
5. 41 Engr Div Kaduna - NIBATT 42 - DIAMOND BANK
6. 342 Arty Regt Owerri - NIBATT 43 - KEYSTONE BANK

THE PRINCIPAL ACTORS IN THIS MATTER ARE:
1. Former Chief of Army Staff (Retired) Lieutenant General OA Ihejirika.
2. Present Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General KTJ Minimah.
3. Director of Army Finance and Administration (DAFA) Major General AI Muraina.
3. Former Director of Army Training and Operations (AHQ DATOPS) Major General JO Nwaogbo.
4. Present Director of Army Training and Operations (AHQ DATOPS) Major General JAH Ewansiha.
By SaharaReporters.