Buhari Orders Speedy action On Re-establishment Nigeria Airways

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday ordered the Ministry of Aviation to immediately come up with modalities on the establishment of a new national airline.
Nigeria has been operating a public-private partnership (PPP) national airline since the defunct Nigerian Airways folded.
Briefing State House correspondents at the presidential villa, Permanent Secretary, Aviation Ministry, Binta Bello, said the President was worried about Nigeria not having a national air carrier.
She also said the President was briefed on the challenges domestic airlines were facing despite federal government’s N300 billion intervention fund designed to boost their operations.
According to her, the airlines were hugely indebted to regulatory agencies under the Aviation Ministry, including other factors that have left some of the airlines still struggling to maintain optimum operational capabilities.
Bello added that the four state-of-the-art terminals being constructed with Chinese Bank loan will be ready by first quarter of 2016.

Buhari’s US Visit: A Master Stroke In Image Laundering, By Charles Anyiam

I believe that with the beating that the Nigerian image has taken over the years, the presidency must capitalise on the credits generated by Buhari’s US visit. I suggest that a marshall plan be drawn up to engage world opinion on behalf of Nigeria. The momentum generated from this trip has to be seized to project the new face of the country. The goodwill of the enormously powerful Nigerian Diaspora should come handy in this regard.

For the first time in a long time, I was proud to be a Nigerian living and practicing journalism in America. And as I flew into the triple-digit heat of Washington DC from the excellent Los Angeles’ weather, I was unsure what to expect from the Nigerian government delegation led by the new helmsman in Abuja, Muhammadu Buhari that was in town for crucial meetings with the Barack Obama administration, given the theatre of shame and serial disappointments to which we had been subjected by Nigerian government officials whenever they show up in America. On this occasion, I was in DC as a guest of the US Chamber of Commerce and the Corporate Council For Africa, and by extension the Nigerian mission in the United States.
In 1999, I had a similar privilege to have been ’embedded’ in the high-powered government delegation under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration to the Bill Clinton White House for bilateral talks shortly after Obasanjo’s return to power as president. For political expediency, the delegation had included faces from the past – T. Y Danjuma, David Jemibewon, Bola Ige, Chuba Okadigbo, Sule Lamido, Patrick Dele Cole, and such then new ones as Dapo Sarumi and Dubem Onyia, Andy Uba among many others – who were to form the bulwark of the first Obasanjo administration.
In comparison, the Buhari delegation to the US on the week of July 20th was lean. And without the usual fanfare and with all the wives and mistresses in tow. Not discounting the annoying presence of all the political jobbers, hustlers and court jesters who always invade the destination. In contrast, this delegation was made up of top civil servants and a handful of serving state governors. Only Governor Oshiomhole showed up with his trophy wife who by the way conducted herself with decorum. There was on hand in the delegation former Governor Rotimi Amaechi, the stormy petrel of Niger Delta politics whose role leading up to the national elections is said to have been catalytic to the success of President Buhari at the polls. The team I saw in DC was well coordinated, disciplined and very business-like. The President himself set the tone with his dress code – a simple kaftan and cap to match. Buhari was poised, focused, dignified and stayed on message all of the time. I watched with delight the air of aristocracy and charisma he unassumingly projected in all of the meetings I was privileged to attend. His responses to questions and remarks at the different fora were deliberate, intelligent and not rushed.
His speeches were well delivered with poise and self-assured confidence, and at times laced with appropriate humour. Overall, he came across as a man who is comfortable in his own skin and new role. And there was a Mandela-like aura about him and for several moments I was reminded of Madiba as I watched Buhari in DC – a visionary on a mission. In the presence of President Obama, Buhari looked every bit presidential and I dare say that only very few African presidents could match the comportment and honour that he brought with him to the White House, and invariably to all the other meetings he had with high US government officials, the media, and US business leaders.
That is why I am miffed by some of the puerile commentaries in local Nigerian press about the Buhari visit to the United States. What is at times lost on most Nigerians at home is the abyss to which Nigeria’s image abroad as a nation had sunk, and the incalculable damage that has been done to the corporate profile of the nation. Some are wont to dismiss it as mere Western propaganda and a vestige of Afro-pessimism. Right and wrong. Right in the sense that Nigerians as a people are intimidating by their very nature, flamboyant, aggressive and loud for no fault of theirs. Wrong because Nigerians and Nigeria have not managed their image well. They have over time allowed others to define them in the marketplace of ideas. Hence, their best traits as a people have been subverted by the tyranny of the minority of few bad apples in the bunch. And in today’s world, perception is everything!
Many years of totalitarian regimes have equally not helped the Nigerian image. Eventually, totalitarianism gave birth to unmitigated corruption, highhandedness in high and low places leading to the attendant impoverishment of the citizenry. That is the face of Nigeria in today’s marketplace – and from the White House to Whitehall and from Wall Street to Main Street around the world.
Given the foregoing, my verdict is that Buhari’s US visit was a master stroke in image-making especially at a time when Nigeria is still reeling from the after shock of a long list of diplomatic snafus by the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan. Without fixing the image problem of Nigeria as a serious player on the world stage, the successful execution of the war on terrorism (Boko Haram), providing adequate power supply and solutions to the overarching issue of mass unemployment will remain unattainable. In my considered opinion, this trip was well worth every kobo of it!
I believe that with the beating that the Nigerian image has taken over the years, the presidency must capitalise on the credits generated by Buhari’s US visit. I suggest that a marshall plan be drawn up to engage world opinion on behalf of Nigeria. The momentum generated from this trip has to be seized to project the new face of the country. The goodwill of the enormously powerful Nigerian Diaspora should come handy in this regard. That is how Israel has done it by tapping into the vast resources of the Diaspora Jewry. India is on that roll too. Former President Obasanjo recognised that dynamic and it led to the formation of the quasi-government Nigerians In The Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) under the superintendence of Ambassadors Dele Cole and Joe Keshi who was the then Nigerian Consul General in Atlanta. I also had a front-row seat to the birthing of that entity. As it is presently constituted however, NIDO will need some re-engineering as I am of the subjective opinion that the Jonathan administration tampered with NIDO to no good effect.
At the Town Hall meeting with the Diaspora Nigerians during this visit, I could sense the groundswell of support for Buhari from an audience that was at first apathetic, some of who had been apologists of the Jonathan administration with its well documented strategy of bribing every pressure group around the world, of which NIDO and the various Nigerian associations in the US can be categorised. I counted at least three or four times when they rose to their feet to cheer Buhari. Most of the guests later confessed their confidence in and support for the new president. Some of them told me that their unfavorable opinion of the man had dramatically changed after listening to him, and that their hope for the future of the country had been restored. There was gone the hollow and hopeless look on the faces of Nigerians in America after an event such as was held July 21 at the Nigerian embassy premises in Washington DC.
However, as much as the embassy staff struggled to put on a hitch-free event perhaps because the “fear” of Buhari which I am told is the beginning of wisdom for Nigerians was evident, the Town Hall meeting was yet marred by poor logistical planning. Seating arrangement was atrocious with the hall overflowing beyond legal capacity. Many guests with valid invitation from the embassy were subsequently turned away at the gates. Some of them, I was told had flown into DC from other states but were barred for lack of space.
And if it is not already in the new administration’s plan, I recommend that all of Nigeria’s mission abroad must be restructured in line with the Buhari posture which I saw in DC. It cannot be business as usual at our embassies if Nigeria has to win the war on the burnishing of her badly battered image which I believe is central to the revival of the economy. At the US Chamber of Commerce dinner, President Buhari asked for American investors to take interest in the agriculture and solid mineral mining sectors of Nigeria’s economy. And I can assure you that these investors will not lift a finger for Nigeria until she takes concrete steps to re-do her image as a corrupt, inept, violence-prone and unstable investment and tourism destination. Truth be told, Nigerians, especially the Diaspora, must be empowered to tell our own story, or others will continue to define who we are.
Perception. That should be the name of the game as Nigeria undoubtedly steps into a new era under Muhammadu Buhari.
Charles Anyiam is Editor-In-Chief of The African Times-USA.

EXCLUSIVE: NNPC Gets New GEDs, Restructured

 

 By: THEWILL_     

SAN FRANCISCO, August 05, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been restructured.
THEWILL can report that as part of the restructuring of the corporation, the number of directorates have been reduced from eight to four with four new Group Executive Directors appointed to head them.
The new Directorates and their Group Executive Directors, according to THEWILL checks are Refining and Engineering with Dr. M.K Baru as Group Executive Director; Exploration and Production, Denis Nnamdi; Commercial and Investment, Bankole Komolafe and Finance which now has Isiaka AbdulRazak as Group Executive Director.
All the appointees were previously Group General Managers

Alleged forgery: Court can’t stop probe of Saraki, Ekweremadu –IGP

IGP Solomon Arase

  

…says duo have no immunity against investigation
Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mr. Solomon Arase, yesterday dismissed as ridiculous, laughable and mere waste of time of the court, a suit filed by Senator Gilbert Nnaji, seeking to stop the police from probing the purported forgery of the 2015 Senate Standing Order which produced Senators Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu as leaders of the Senate in the 8th National Assembly.
Arase, while responding to the suit, yesterday, through a counter-affidavit, said no court of law in Nigeria has powers to stop the police from performing its statutory functions of investigating crimes, including the instant purported forgery of the Senate Standing Rules.
The IGP had wondered whether anybody in the country, including the 74 political office holders covered by provision of section 308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), is immune from investigation.
He specifically argued that the principal officers of the Senate, including Senators Saraki and Ekweremadu, among others, which the suit sought to protect have no constitutional or statutory immunity from investigation.
He consequently urged an Abuja Federal High Court to throw out the suit for want of jurisdiction, adding that investigating the allegation of forgery in the Senate could only strengthen the integrity of the upper legislative house and its leadership.
Confirming that the Senate Standing Order 2015 (as amended) was forged, the police stated in its counter affidavit thus: “The present Senate has not enacted any standing orders yet.
“As at the time of inauguration of this present Senate, no standing orders had been made.
“Till date, no such standing orders have so far been made.
“The practice is that at inauguration, the incoming Senate uses the standing orders of the preceding Senate. The immediate past Senate did not amend the 2011 standing orders and the 2011 standing orders have not yet been amended.”
The document, which was deposed to by Joshua Yohanna, of the Legal/ Prosecution department, Force CIID, further averred as follows:
“I know that the plaintiff cannot prove that the so called 2015 standing orders were passed by the preceding Senate. “That the so called 2015 standing orders were never made nor passed by the immediate past Senate.
The plaintiff knows that the present Senate President was not in a position to have passed the 2015 Senate Standing orders before its inauguration.
“The plaintiff knows that it is only after inauguration that the current Senate could pass the Senate standing orders.
“That what he is bandying about is not an authorised Senate standing order.”
Accordingly, the police urged the court presided by Justice Gabriel Kolawole to throw out the suit as it simply constituted a nuisance.
The IGP, in his memorandum of conditional appearance filed by Elder David Abuo attacked the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit as well as the locus standi of the plaintiff to file the action.
Relying on the case of Hassan V EFCC (2014) 1 NWLR (pt. 1389), the lawyer submitted “no court has the power to stop the investigation powers of the Police or EFCC or any agency established, under our laws to investigate crimes whether there is reasonable suspicion of commission of crime or ample evidence of commission of an offence by a suspect.”
Besides, the police argued that the matter at hand raise issues of criminality and the police owe Nigerians the duty to unearth the truth behind the allegations of forgery
In addition, Abuo contended that the plaintiff had not shown what he had suffered or lost in this action as he is neither the Senate President nor Deputy Senate President.
He said apart from that, he is not an officer of the Senate. It further argued that every Nigerian citizen could be investigated for crime as there is no immunity against investigation in all civilized countries, Nigeria inclusive.
Earlier, counsel to the plaintiff, Peter Nwakolo, told the court that he needed time to respond to the notice of preliminary objections filed by the Arase as well as the application for joinder.
Secretary of the “Unity Forum” who signed the petition to the police, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi had earlier applied to be joined in the suit as an interested party.
His motion dated August 3, 2015 was filed by his counsel, Mamman Osuman, SAN, pursuant to orders 9 rule 15 (1); order 26 rule 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Federal High Court, Civil Procedure, Rules 2009.
In the application, Hunkuyi submitted that as a member of the current 8th Senate and the initiator of the petition, he has sufficient interest in the suit to entitle him to be joined as a defendant.
Osuman submitted: “Where an applicant seeking to be joined as a party in a proceedings establishes that he/it has an interest in the subject matter of an action and/or in the eventual result or outcome of such an action, the application for joinder ought to be granted as per the Supreme Court decision in Ige vs Farinde (1994) 7 1NWLR (pt. 354) 42 at page 65.”
In his ruling, Justice Kolawole who said he could not make an order for status quo to be maintained, because it could be misinterpreted adjourned proceedings to September 8, 2015 when it would be heard by another judge of the court, Justice Adeniyi Ademola

Recover stolen oil money, Buhari tells NNPC boss

President gives new helmsman Kachikwu six tasks
A NEW helmsman took the reins yesterday at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
President Muhammadu Buhari appointed  Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, the Executive Vice Chairman/General Counsel of ExxonMobil (Africa), as Group Managing Director (GMD), asking him to give recovery of stolen oil money a priority, among other targets.
Buhari may also appoint Kachikwu, who beat three other candidates in the race for the job, as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources to ensure synergy, a source said last night.
Those also considered and discreetly screened for the job, source told The Nation learnt, are former Petroleum Products Prices Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) Executive Secretary  Stanley Reginald;  Shell Petroleum Development Company Managing Director Mr. Osagie Okunbor  and a NNPC Deputy General Manager, whose name was not disclosed.
At the final negotiation with Kachikwu, the President gave him six terms of reference to reshape the corporation. They are to:
•clean up the NNPC system of corrupt elements;
•recover all stolen crude oil funds;
•work with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Directorate of State Service (DSS) to trace and recover  stolen oil cash;
•review the structure of the NNPC to compete globally;
•giving targets to all subsidiaries and put in place performance benchmarks; and
•fixe all refineries, which must work at optimal level, “even if it means using expatriates in the interim”.
A source said: “The new GMD of NNPC was picked after a thorough search by the President. Actually, at the end of the search, the choice was narrowed down to four candidates.
“The President opted for Kachikwu who is the Vice President of Exxon Mobil, not only in Nigeria but in Africa. Buhari was impressed by his impeccable credentials as the most senior black African in any multi-national oil firm in the world with 30 years experience.
“Apart from being a First Class graduate, Kachikwu also obtained PhD in Law which enabled him to rise to company secretary in Exxon Mobil.”
But it was not easy for the President to convince Kachikwu to accept the job because he was afraid that he might be messed up like other Nigerians, a source said.
“In their negotiation, President Buhari repeatedly said: ‘I won’t interfere with your work; I will give you a free hand because I want to reform this oil sector once and for all.’ The GMD accepted the job following what he realized as “the infectious patriotism and genuine intention of the President,: the source said.
Kachikwu yesterday took the reins at a brief ceremony held at the NNPC Towers, Abuja .
The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, in a statement, said the new helmsman expressed gratitude to his predecessor, Dr. Joseph T. Dawha, for holding the Corporation. He pledged to work assiduously in achieving the President’s growth aspiration for the oil and gas industry.
“ExxonMobil Upstream affiliates in Nigeria congratulate our Vice-Chairman and General Counsel, Dr. Emmanuel Kachikwu, on this opportunity to serve Nigeria as Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). We thank Dr. Kachikwu for his many contributions to ExxonMobil Nigeria, and wish him well in his new role.”
Inside the NNPC
The NNPC is the national oil company, through which the Federal Government regulates and participates in the country’s petroleum industry.
An Act to dissolve the former Nigerian National Oil Corporation and to establish the NNPC was created in 1977.  The NNPC was established on April 1, 1977, as a merger of the Nigerian National Oil Corporation and the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel.
By law, the NNPC manages the joint venture between the Federal Government and some foreign multinational corporations including Shell, Agip, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Total. Through collaboration with these companies, the Federal Government conducts petroleum exploration and production.
For lack of supervision, the NNPC degenerated to a rent-collector for the government with less attention to transparency and accountability.
Between 2007 and 2009, auditors found that the corporation over-deducted funds in subsidy claims to the tune of N28.5 billion and has not been able to account for the money.
In 2008, Willbros Group Inc of United States (U.S.) admitted making ‘suspicious’ payments of over $6.3 million to officials of the corporation and its subsidiary – the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) for assistance in obtaining and retaining contracts at the Eastern Gas Gathering System (EGGS).
In 2004, ABB Vetco Gray, a U.S. company and its UK subsidiary –  ABB Vetco Gray UK Limited – admitted paying over $1 million in bribes to  NAPIMS’ officials,  in exchange for obtaining confidential bid information and favourable recommendations from government agencies.
After the publication of a report In November 2013 by Swiss, a non-governmental advocacy organisation – Erklärung von Bern – allegations of fraud surfaced, placing the NNPC under suspicion of siphoning $6.8 billion of crude oil revenues.
From 2013, the NNPC has been battling with the allegation of non-remittance of $20 billion into the Federation Account.
These allegations, among others are responsible for the continued calls for the sanitisation and repositioning of the corporation.

INEC to initiate bill on electronic, diaspora voting

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has revealed that it was finalizing arrangements to send a bill to the National Assembly for adoption of electronic voting system  and to enable Nigerians in diaspora cast votes during elections.
A deputy director of the commission and head of media, Nick Dazang, who made the disclosure after receiving award from the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), yesterday, pointed out that as part of the commission’s determination not to disenfranchise Nigerians in any part of the world, the commission was working assiduously to send several other reforms to the National Assembly before the next general elections.
He said: “The introduction of reforms, such as permanent voter card and the smart card reader, proved to be the game changers in the 2015 general elections; in the sense that they added value and transparency to the process.
“The commission is determined to further improve its processes in terms of adding transparency. So, we are looking towards a commission that will for example, ensure other reforms such as the introduction of the use of electronic voting.
“For now, it is prohibited by law; but what the commission is likely to look at, is to canvass at the National Assembly to remove that prohibition; so, that the commission can introduce it in the subsequent elections.
“Another area, which President Muhammadu Buhari equally indicated interest recently, is the area of diaspora voting. We could not do it in the last election despite the clamour and clarion call for it, because it was equally prohibited by law.
“I also foresee a situation again, where the commission will canvass for diaspora voting to be allowed, especially when you take into consideration that there are millions of Nigerians in diaspora eager to exercise their franchise.
“In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that we have as much as seven million in Sudan alone and over three million in the United Kingdom. There are very huge Nigerian population in most of these African countries; yet,they don’t get to vote. I foresee a situation where the commission will also canvass for diaspora voting.
“There are other sections in the Electoral Act that are in conflict, like sections 31, 87,  whereas one of the sections says INEC in concert with other functions, should oversee the activities of the political parties and ensure that they conform with the international democracy.”
Another section says the commission has no option than to accept any candidate forwarded to it by the political parties.
“What it means, is that a political party can even forward the name of a non-Nigerian to contest an election and the commission will have no option than to accept such candidate. I foresee reforms taking place in these areas.”

We’re identifying banks, countries where stolen funds were lodged — Buhari

Talatu Usman



President Muhammadu Buhari said on Monday that his administration has taken further steps to recover looted Nigerian funds by identifying the banks and countries where the monies were lodged.
Speaking at an audience with visiting United States Congressmen at the presidential villa, Abuja, Mr. Buhari acknowledged the support and cooperation given his administration by the international community in gathering all required intelligence for tracing and recovering stolen national resources.
“We are getting cooperation from the international community, including information on ships that take crude oil from Nigeria and change direction, or pour their contents into other ships mid-stream,” he said.
“Some monies were paid to individual accounts. We are identifying the financial institutions and countries that are involved.
“I have been assured that when we get all our documents together, the United States and other countries will treat our case with sympathy,’’ the president told the Congressmen led by Darrel Issa.
President Buhari also told the lawmakers that his administration will encourage more regular meetings of the Nigeria-United States Bi-National Commission.
He said the commission could serve as a more useful platform for the promotion of bilateral trade and economic relations as well as joint cooperation in the war against terrorism.
Mr. Darrel assured President Buhari that the United States will support Nigeria against Boko Haram by providing training, intelligence and military platforms.
“We look forward to helping you in many ways to end the Boko Haram insurgency and the theft of crude oil in the Gulf of Guinea,’’ he said.