Thursday, 13 August 2015
MUST READ | APC PRESS RELEASE] Don’t truncate the fight against corruption – APC warns.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned against any attempt to truncate the ongoing fight against corruption under any guise, while also expressing total support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s determination to end the scourge of corruption in the country.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party appealed to all Nigerians, especially opinion leaders, to ensure that their actions and utterances do not give comfort to those who have looted the commonwealth.
”Our party promised Nigerians change, but the change that we promised and which Nigerians desire so much cannot be achieved if we allow the resources that belong to all Nigerians to be appropriated by a few. How do we upgrade our decayed infrastructure and provide jobs for our people when the money meant for that has been squirelled away by a few?
”President Buhari has promised to break the vicious cycle of corruption that has held Nigeria down. How can he do that if he allows those who have looted the treasury to escape justice, and then use their ill-gotten wealth to fight the government? How can he do that if he turns a blind eye to the monumental cases corruption in all sectors.
”We know that fighting corruption in a society where the cankerworm has eaten deep into its fabric will not be easy. We know that corruption will always fight back. But there is no other choice than to confront and destroy this monster once and for all, lest it destroys Nigeria,” it said.
APC said the President’s sincerity of purpose can be seen from his statement that any of his party members who is found to be corrupt will not escape justice.
”Therefore, those who are shouting themselves hoarse by saying the Buhari Administration’s fight against corruption is selective or is a distraction are only seeking to sabotage the epic battle.
”If they have any case of corruption against any member of the APC, they should forward their evidence to the appropriate anti-corruption agency. But to take to the airwaves and the pages of newspaper to use their paid agents to launch a campaign against the anti-graft fight is to fight against the very existence and survival of Nigeria.
”The danger in truncating the fight against corruption is that it will consign Nigeria to poverty, insecurity and unemployment in perpetuity. That is why we are restating our unalloyed support for the President, and urging him not to be deterred or distracted by those hiding under sophistry to weaken the fight,” the party said.
It said those who are engaging in nitpicking on the anti-corruption fight are simply implementing a well-oiled plan to make enough noise by accusing the Buhari Administration of being selective, and hope to create enough confusion and distraction to hoodwink unsuspecting Nigerians.
”We are glad that most Nigerians have lent their support to the government’s fight against corruption, going by their interventions on the Social Media which has now become a people’s parliament of sorts, and other fora. We urge them not to relent in their support, irrespective of the antics of the naysayers,” APC said.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Lagos, Aug. 13th 2015
President Buhari sacks MD, NPA
President Muhammadu Buhari has terminated the appointment of the Sanusi Ado Bayero, managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA).
According to Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, the termination of Bayero’s appointment is with immediate effect.
“He is to hand over the management of the NPA and all government property in his possession to Habibu Abdullahi who has been reinstated as managing director of the NPA by President Buhari,” Adesina said.
“President Buhari wishes Alhaji Bayero well in his future endeavours.”
Bayero was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in the twilight of his administration
According to Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, the termination of Bayero’s appointment is with immediate effect.
“He is to hand over the management of the NPA and all government property in his possession to Habibu Abdullahi who has been reinstated as managing director of the NPA by President Buhari,” Adesina said.
“President Buhari wishes Alhaji Bayero well in his future endeavours.”
Bayero was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in the twilight of his administration
Bishop Kukah And His Peace Committee Really Need To Have A Seat, By Jude Egbas
As I understand it, the job of the National Peace Committee (which is led by a former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar and whose de facto spokesperson is Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese) should have been over with the outcome of the presidential elections and the eventual handover of the reins of national leadership from Goodluck Jonathan to Muhammadu Buhari.
But last Tuesday, bedecked in cassocks, babariga, bling-bling and suits, they hurtled to the presidential villa to overreach themselves once more.
The peace committee has a problem with the way the incumbent is going about his corruption war and said so in unmistakable terms.
“It is no longer a military regime and under our existing laws, everybody is innocent until proven guilty”, Bishop Kukah thundered to the press as cameras clicked and tapes rolled.
“I don’t think any Nigerian is in favour of corruption or is against the President’s commitment to ensuring that we turn a new leaf”, Kukah said blithely. “What we are concerned about is the process”.
Last week, the National Peace Committee (NPC) initiated a rather clandestine meeting between immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari. Reports suggest the NPC is proposing a soft-landing for erstwhile officials of the Jonathan administration and maybe, for the man himself. The NPC has been left antsy with the intensity with which Buhari is going through the books.
All of these nonsense really has to stop.
A peace committee is what it is–a body set up to keep the peace. A peace committee doesn’t go about telling Presidents how to govern or delineating for same, which policies not to pursue. The terms of reference of a committee like Abdulsalami’s revolves around making sure there is no break down of law and order and I don’t see how a President who promised to recover loot and fight corruption during the electioneering campaigns, shouldn’t be allowed to carry on with that job description.
The peace committee is constituting itself into a nuisance around the corridors of power and there comes a time when they really have to know when to stop.
But on Thursday, Bishop Kukah was back on air to make a case for his committee.
As a guest on a ChannelsTv breakfast program, Sunrise Daily, Kukah rehashed some of the bare-bone lines he reeled out to the press some 48 hours before. My take-aways from his rather whimsical on-air outing are as follows:
1. President Buhari has to start governing and leave his anti-graft war on the back burner.
2. The September date for the appointment of Ministers isn’t exactly what the APC promised Nigerians during the campaigns. In any case, why is the APC expending so much energy on fighting corruption when there’s a country to run?
3. The press is prejudiced like the rest of the Nigerian people and both categories are always on the lookout for scapegoats to hang their woes on. Hence, the delirium in blaming Jonathan for the present woes of the country
4. If Jonathan hadn’t conceded defeat with that ‘historic’ phone call of his, the country would have gone up in flames and Buhari wouldn’t be where he is, the ChannelsTV presenters wouldn’t be sitting in that cozy studio of theirs and as Bishop Kukah, he wouldn’t be discussing with the TV station from his Skype-enabled computer.
5. Jonathan has done his best for Nigeria and should be accorded some respect as the hero who saved an entire nation–170 million strong–from erupting in flames; when he accepted that he had been roundly beaten at the ballot.
6. If Buhari insists on his probes, who is to say he wont be the victim of a probe himself when he leaves office? When will the cycle of probes end and that of governance begin?
The very notion of the ongoing probes into the activities of the past administration, appeared to leave Kukah uncomfortable and irritated. He couldn’t mask his disgust. He stopped short of calling for the deification, canonization and veneration of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
And for a member of the clergy, it was quite a sorry sight to behold.
Make no mistake, Jonathan’s concession phone call will go down in our country’s annals as one of the best acts of statesmanship this side of the Atlantic. For a continent famed for its sit-tight rulers, the former President deserves his place in the pantheon for throwing in the towel when he did. It was an act that doused plenty of tension in the land and helped prevent another blood-bath we could ill afford. Many Nigerians recognize that phone call as uncommon in these shores and have applauded deservedly.
But calling to concede shouldn’t preclude a successor from fulfilling his campaign promises. Buhari rose to power at the center thanks in large part to his ascetic, anti-corruption disposition. His number one campaign promise everywhere he showed up during the stump, was to fight corruption and block leakages. He parroted the same anti-graft lines on national and international television. He was Mr. anti-corruption and Mr. anti-corruption was Buhari. Nigerians could barely distinguish the two.
It is therefore uncharitable of anyone to now suggest that Buhari’s present corruption war is a distraction especially when a large chunk of the voters who got the man elected, aren’t complaining and are cheering his gumption and intrepid demeanor; every step of the way. If voters wanted the same tainted, timorous leadership that brought the country to its present sorry state, they probably would have stuck with Jonathan or the APC hierarchy would have settled for an Atiku Abubakar, for instance.
In any case, to get the job done the way he has promised he will, Buhari has no choice but to fight corruption and clean up the Augean stable–exactly what he’s been doing. He’s set out his stall to fight the monster called corruption and should be left alone to do so. The President has also said he isn’t going to witch-hunt anyone and that he’s simply focused on recovering stolen funds.
At a time when they should be tending to their flocks, going about their normal businesses or assisting the President with useful tips on how to recover stolen loot just so we can make life better for the lot of the citizenry, the country’s elders chose to file to Aso Rock to lecture a President on how best to do his job and how not to fulfill his cardinal campaign promise.
Worse, they unleashed an unsavory spokesperson on us all.
The National Peace Committee really has no job to do at this time and that body should be dissolved forthwith. We appreciate the job its members undertook in fostering peace during and after the elections and we’ll beckon on them when next we require their services.
This we promise.
*Jude Egbas is on Twitter as @egbas
Wednesday, 12 August 2015
APC Coupist Call For Abrogation Of The 1999 Constitution: Voice Of Jacob, Hand Of Esau (READ)
The attention of the leadership of International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety) is drawn to a public statement made by a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and 2015 gubernatorial aspirant of the Party in Bauchi State, Northeast Nigeria, Dr. Ibrahim Yukubu Lame in which he called for “establishment of emergency powers for President Muhammadu Buhari” above the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.
Dr. Ibrahim Yakubu Lame, who is also a former Minister for Police Affairs, further recommended for extra constitutional processes of fighting corruption to ensure speed and results. To him, the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and her processes are very slow. The referenced public statement was widely published in a number of print media including the Nigerian Pilot Newspaper of Monday, August 10, 2015.
We see Dr. Ibrahim Yukubu Lame’s call as not only ill-conceived, coupist and treasonable, but also a “voice of Jacob, a hand of Esau” situation. That is to say that he is not alone in that infamous statement and may most likely have gotten the blessings of his federally ruling political party and the Presidency. The riotous statement of his is a gross violation of Section 1 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, which forbids governing Nigeria or any part thereof except in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
Few years past under the Obasango’s corrupted and bastardized constitutional or presidential democratic government, a similar script (third term or tenure elongation) was prepared by his Presidency and a similar riotous character was hired to present it as a personal statement for the purpose of putting same into public consciousness.
In a matter of weeks, the statement spread like a wildfire and became a national debate. It later moved to the National Assembly and grounded the all-important national legislative businesses. The infamous plot was oiled by then Presidency costing Nigerians billions of naira.
Today, they are at it again. This time around, it is a constitutional abrogation project or theory with Dr. Ibrahim Yukubu Lame hired as its hypothesis experimenter.
It is on indisputable record that the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and his Party-APC has since 29th May 2015 observed the fundamental provisions of the 1999 Constitution in gross breach with impunity. Most of their conducts so far are clearly repugnant to the Constitution.
In other words, the 1999 Constitution under which President Muhammadu Buhari became the 6th electoral President of Nigeria has been enslaved and treated leprously. As we write, the Director General of Nigeria’s Secret Police, the Department of State Security Services (SSS), Retired Director Lawal Musa Daura and the acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs. Amina Zakari are occupying their positions in gross default or breach of the 1999 Constitution.
There are several other gross breaches of the Constitution including gross lopsided federal appointments and composition, which grossly violate Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution. Others are unconstitutional use or deployment of the operatives of the SSS to harass, intimidate, arrest and detain a number of Nigerians with trumped up or “trial by ordeal” accusations including INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners; deliberate usurpation by the SSS, with presidential backing, of the constitutional and statutory duties of the Nigeria Police Force, the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices & Related Offenses Commission including dabbling into fraud and other white collar and non political crimes constitutionally and statutorily left in the hands of the NPF, etc.
It is also constitutionally riotous and saddening that close to three months in office, President Muhammadu Buhari has not constituted a federal cabinet. Till date, the all-important offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) are constitutionally vacant.
Nigeria has never experienced this democracy sole administrator-ship since the adoption of presidential democracy in 1979 and the return to electoral civilian administration in 1999.
It is therefore, not surprised observing the unhealthy turn of events under the Buhari’s Presidency particularly its manifest coup against the 1999 Constitution. These explain why we hold that the APC chieftain’s riotous statement is the voice of Jacob and the hand of Esau.
There is also a clear link between the riotous statement and the militarist antecedents of President Muhammadu Buhari. Under his military’s inglorious epoch, “emergency presidential powers” was the norm.
The 1979 Constitution, which gave birth to the 1999 Constitution with modifications; was brutally corrupted and bastardized to the extent that it was coded with “ouster clauses” including “presidential emergency powers” such as infamous Decrees Nos.2 & 4 of 1984. It is the same “emergency powers” that are now seemed being demanded presidentially through the backdoor.
On the other hand, it saddens our heart that leading civil society organizations and activists based in the Southwest, who used to be “Nigeria’s social saints” have slumbered and turned their “activism machineries” into “executive” or “consultancy rights activism”. It is no longer “street activism” but “INEC-CSOs Situation Room Interface” or “CSOs-National Assembly Interface”.
READ ALSO: DSS Interference In Elections: Full Text Of The ‘State Of The Nation”Document By 39 Senators
The likes of popularly respected Femi Falana, SAN, who used to approach law courts from left, right and center, on matters of unconstitutional conducts by political office holders, have suddenly hung his wigs and gowns in the face of these manifest constitutional infractions. In their days, questions pertaining to “abuses of the spirit and letters of the Constitution” by political office holders were frequently sought and obtained judicially.
Today, it is only the “letters of the Constitution” that are looked at, and even at that, their gross
abuses no longer constitute “presidential and impeachable breaches” under the Buhari’s Presidency.
abuses no longer constitute “presidential and impeachable breaches” under the Buhari’s Presidency.
Another trigger of these social maladies is the corruption and bastardization of the country’s media industry by corrupt former and present political office holders particularly the print and electronic segments. Today, the referenced media segments have turned to propagandist or alarmist industry, oiling these monumental constitutional infractions with impunity. The roles of the mass media (sustenance of constitutional democracy, rule of law, good governance and human rights) contained in Sections 22 and 39 of the 1999 Constitution have brutally been murdered.
We, therefore, call on the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force to investigate the riotous statement of Dr. Ibrahim Yakubu Lame and prosecute him for treason if found culpable. Even if he denies the riotous statement by reprobation; a common feature of the country’s political office holders; circumstances leading to its issuance or utterance, including where he made it, when he made it, who he made it to, the media he made it to and recording gadgets used, etc should be thoroughly investigated and popular findings made.
The riotous statement under reference is grossly repugnant to Section 1 (2) of the 1999 Constitution. By that Section, Nigeria or any part therefore shall not be governed outside the provisions of the 1999 Constitution. Dr. Yakubu Lame’s “emergency presidential powers” recommendation is totally extra constitutional and amounts to recommendation for a military coup or anarchist governance of Nigeria.
We advise President Muhammadu Buhari again to follow at all times the dictates of the 1999 Constitution or step down inexcusably.
Signed:
For: International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)
Emeka Umeagbalasi, B.Sc. (Hons) Criminology & Security Studies
Board Chairman (+2348174090052 (office)
emekaumeagbalasi@yahoo.co.uk , info@intersociety-ng.org
Uzochukwu, Oguejiofor-Nwonu, Esq., (LLB, BL), Head, Campaign & Publicity Department
Obianuju Igboeli, Esq., (LLB, BL), Head, Civil Liberties & Rule of Law Program
Chiugo Onwuatuegwu, Esq., (LLB, BL), Head, Democracy & Good Governance Program
For: International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)
Emeka Umeagbalasi, B.Sc. (Hons) Criminology & Security Studies
Board Chairman (+2348174090052 (office)
emekaumeagbalasi@yahoo.co.uk , info@intersociety-ng.org
Uzochukwu, Oguejiofor-Nwonu, Esq., (LLB, BL), Head, Campaign & Publicity Department
Obianuju Igboeli, Esq., (LLB, BL), Head, Civil Liberties & Rule of Law Program
Chiugo Onwuatuegwu, Esq., (LLB, BL), Head, Democracy & Good Governance Program
As Nigeria's Peace Committee Resurrects.
By Hamisu Salihu
The 2015 general elections Peace committee headed by former president Abdulsalami Abubakar must be commended for the roles they played towards the successful or peaceful conduct of the hotly contested 2015 presidential elections. They worked both on and behind the scenes to trigger and influence events that later culminated in the historic handing over from the ruling PDP to the opposition APC. We give kudos to them for that!With the achievement of their primary objective therefore, one had thought the Peace committee would naturally disband and give the newly elected government space to do for Nigerians what it has promised them at the campaign trail. Alas, that appeared not be the case; as the Peace committee on Tuesday 11/08/2015 suddenly resurrected and abruptly paid President Muhammadu Buhari a visit many Nigerians found unusual and unexpected.
Speaking after ‘the closed door’ meeting, Mr Mathew Hassan Kukah while responding to a question about their mission which appeared to be on Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade, said: ‘I think what we are concerned about is process. It is no longer a military regime, and under our existing laws, everybody is innocent until proven guilty.’ Connecting the dots of events occurring prior to the peace committee’s meeting with Baba Mai Gaskiya such as the visit to Villa by two former heads of state, it won’t require any political expert to decipher the code and conclude that the Peace committee met with PMB purposely to intercede on behalf of certain interests or individuals likely to come under the loop of President Buhari’s anti-corruption or loot recovery crusade.
Unless we, ordinary Nigerians, were kept in the dark about the entire terms of what was called Abuja Accord signed on January 14, 2015, which the Peace committee mid-wifed, I do not think that allowing officials who stole from public treasury to escape justice was part of the agreement signed in the event of Buhari defeating the then incumbent Goodluck. But I stand to be corrected though! Thus, for the peace committee’s spokesperson to make the scathing innuendo and remark that Nigeria was ‘no longer a military regime’ is uncalled for as it all sounded like someone was wailing on behalf of the bereaved. For goodness’ sake, since when has it become the peace committee’s responsibility to hold forte for those suspected of looting our commonwealth in billions? Which is the import of the entire message of Mr Kukah and his committee!
The last time I checked Nigeria was not operating a caste system; we are all said to be equal before the law irrespective of class and status. And, as an enthusiastic follower of events and happenings in Nigeria, I have heard and read of how some ordinary folks involved in or suspected of theft of items not worth a million Naira were set on fire by angry mobs. And that is still the unofficial penalty for theft in many places in Nigeria! While I am not a subscriber to or a believer in jungle justice, the import of this is that majority of Nigerians are seriously averse to anything to do with theft or corruption. And, so far, I have never heard of a committee set up either by Mr Kukah or any of his Peace committee members purposely to fight such jungle justice meted out on ordinary oles or barawos! So what PMB’s anti-corruption fight style or ‘process’ typical of ‘military regime’ is Mr Kukah and his committee ‘concerned about’ that is worse than setting suspects ablaze?!
For avoidance of doubt, President Muhammadu Buhari was voted into power by Nigerians to specifically fight the cancer of corruption. In fact it has been said by someone that should Buhari fail in all areas but succeed in killing official corruption, Nigerians will ultimately be happy for it and with him. And I agree with this. In essence, the whole pedestal upon which the charismatic statute of PMB rests is his anti-corruption credential; hence any individual or group who arm-twists, cajoles, intimidates or blackmails PMB into soft-pedalling or jettisoning entirely his anti-corruption campaign does PMB and Nigerians a great disservice and disfavour. And, history and posterity will not forgive that individual or group for setting corruption free from the hands of Nigerians after it was chased, caught, wrestled to the ground, tamed and handed over to the only alpha/Mallam Nigerians believe knows best how to slaughter the monster–That is President Muhammadu Buhari!
Salihu is of the department of economics, University of Surrey, UK
Tuesday, 11 August 2015
Buhari sacks heads of NNPC subsidiaries, appoints 4 new Group Executive Directors
Photo credit: Bloomberg
The new Group Managing Director, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, disclosed that the new appointments are in line with the Federal Government’s aspiration to transform the Corporation into a lean, efficient, business-focused, transparent and accountable national oil company in keeping with international best practices.
The appointments, which were approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, include Dr. Maikanti Baru, Group Executive Director, Exploration & Production; Mr. Isiaka Abdulrazaq, Group Executive Director, Finance & Services; Engr. Dennis Nnamdi Ajulu, Group Executive Director, Refining & Technology; and Dr. Babatunde Victor Adeniran, Group Executive Director, Commercial & Investment.
Others are: Mr. Rowland Ewubare, Managing Director, Integrated Data Services Ltd (IDSL); Mr. Modupe Bammeke, Managing Director, NNPC Prpoerties; Mr. Abdulkadir Saidu, Managing Director, Duke Oil; and Mr. Dafe Sejebor, Group General Manager, Nigerian Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).
Also in line with the aspiration to reposition the Corporation, 12 personnel have been recruited from the private sector into the top management cadre to jump-start a new business outlook to enhance the operational environment as a profit-driven business as against the current civil service orientation.
National Peace Committee: Jonathan Did Not Seek Our Intervention
*Says fight against corruption must follow rule of law
By Tobi Soniyi in abuja
National Peace Committee, headed by Abdulsalam Abubakar on Tuesday in Abuja said that former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, did not call the committee to intervene on his behalf to placate President Buhari in his anti-corruption crusade.
Fielding questions from journalists after the committee met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja, the Coordinator of the committee, Bishop Mathew Kukah, said: "Anybody is free to come to our committee but President Jonathan never by telephone or another means talked to the committee. We went to see him, but that is after we had already seen members of the political party, members of the civil society. We planned to see the speaker because we couldn't see him yesterday.
"This is a very planned series of intervention essentially just to hear out everybody and I think the good news is that Nigerians are committed to a new nation; they are committed to ensuring that the gains and blessings God has given us come to fruition."
Asked why it has become necessary for the committee to intervene, he said, "This is not an intervention, it is a hearing out process. When we had election it was like a wedding; now the reality of government is now the marriage and people need to be encouraged.
"We need to reaffirm that this is our country and the only thing we can collectively be opposed to is injustice, iniquity, corruption and in that regard we all had one single conversation."
He said Buhari had also reaffirmed the need for the committee to continue and that the international community also welcomed the contributions of the committee.
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