EFCC invites former Abia Finance Commissioners for questioning By Sunny Nwankwo

Enugu zonal headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited two former Abia Commissioners of Finance for questioning. In a letter dated May 25th, 2021 by Oshodi Johnson, the agency said Mr. Philip Nto and Mr. Obinna Oriaku, who served as Commissioners of Finance and Economic Development in 2014 and 2016 respectively were needed for questioning. The letter with serial No. CR.3000/EFCC/ENZ/CMIP/TA/352-2021/VOL.15/94, which was addressed to Abia Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Barr. Chris Ezem said it has become imperative the two former commissioners make certain clarifications regarding some financial transactions in the state within the period of their stay in office. Johnson, in the statement, said the request to have the ex-commissioners in their office was in pursuant to section 38(1) and 2 of the EFCC (establishment) Act, 2004. The statement has it they would upon arrival meet with Head Capital Market and Insurance Fraud Section. It was however, gathered the invitation of the two former commissioners may not be unconnected with the mismanagement of the Abia N22 billion Paris Club Refund. When contacted, Oriaku confirmed he was invited, promising to honour it. He said: “I want to make it clear that EFCC invitation is not a crime and cannot be misconstrued as a sentence for crime. “As commissioner for Finance for four years, it is necessary that I will be invited from time to time to shed light on what happened while I served as commissioner.” Oriaku said the invitation was sequel to a petition by one Dr. Murice Walton of Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited on how the state government allegedly held back their payment since 2017.

Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed Gets 2nd Term As UN Deputy Secretary-General by Sodiq Lawal

Secretary-general of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres yesterday appointed Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed to serve as Deputy Secretary-general for a second term, shortly after the UN General Assembly re-appointed him for a second term. Guterres’s second term starts on January 1, 2022, and will run for a period of five years. He succeeded Ban Ki-moon in January 2017 as the ninth secretary-general. Speaking with journalists after taking the oath of office for a second term, Guterres said he had extended an offer to Mohammed to continue in office. “After being elected, I have the pleasure to invite the deputy secretary-general to remain in my second mandate and I hope she will accept,” Guterres said. Mohammed, who was standing behind Guterres at the press briefing, responded with the comment: “absolute honour”. She had also served as the special adviser to Ban Ki-moon on post-2015 development planning, which focused on the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals. Mohammed is a diplomat and politician who is serving as the fifth Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, she was Nigeria’s Minister of Environment from 2015 to 2016 and was a key player in the Post-2015 Development Agenda process. Mohammed was born in Liverpool, UK to a Fulani Nigerian veterinarian-officer and a British nurse. She is the eldest of five daughters. She attended a primary school in Kaduna and Maiduguri, and Buchan School in Isle of Man. She further attended Henley Management College in 1989. After she finished her studies her father demanded she return to Nigeria. Between 1981 and 1991, Mohammed worked with Archcon Nigeria, an architectural design firm in association with Norman and Dawbarn United Kingdom. In 1991, she founded Afri-Projects Consortium, and from 1991 to 2001 she was its Executive Director. From 2002 until 2005, Mohammed coordinated the Task Force on Gender and Education for the United Nations Millennium Project. Mohammed later acted as the Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In 2005, she was charged with the coordination of Nigeria’s debt relief funds toward the achievement of the MDGs. Her mandate included designing a Virtual Poverty Fund with innovative approaches to poverty reduction, budget coordination and monitoring, as well as providing advice on pertinent issues regarding poverty, public sector reform and sustainable development. Mohammed later became the Founder and CEO of the Center for Development Policy Solutions and as an Adjunct Professor for the Master’s in Development Practice program at Columbia University. During that time, she served on numerous international advisory boards and panels, including the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development. She also chaired the Advisory Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Monitoring Report on Education (GME). From 2012, Mohammed was a key player in the Post-2015 Development Agenda process, serving as the Special Adviser to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Post-2015 development planning. In this role, she acted as the link between the Secretary-General, his High Level Panel of Eminent Persons (HLP), and the General Assembly’s Open Working Group (OWG), among other stakeholders. From 2014, she also served on the Secretary-General’s Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development. Mohammed served as Federal Minister of Environment in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari from November 2015 to February 2017. During that time, she was Nigeria’s representative in the African Union (AU) Reform Steering Committee, chaired by Paul Kagame. She resigned from the Nigerian Federal Executive Council on 24 February 2017. In January 2017, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced his intention to appoint Mohammed Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. In this capacity, she is a member of the UN Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (IACG). Thisday)

Ekiti APC suspends two members allegedly over ties with pro-Tinubu group by Clement Afolab

In April, the Chairman of Ward 8, Ado Ekiti Local Government Area was suspended over a similar offence. Ekiti APC suspends two members allegedly over ties with pro-Tinubu group June 19, 2021 2 min read For the second time, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has suspended two leaders of the party, allegedly for hobnobbing with the South West Agenda for 2023 (SWAGA), a political platform campaigning for a national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, to be Nigeria’s president. Kayode Adetifa and Jide Oso, who were slammed with the suspension, are members of the party in Ward 9, Owaye quarters in Ayede Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area of the state. In April, the Chairman of Ward 8, Ado Ekiti Local Government Area, Clement Afolabi, was suspended over a similar offence. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the larger number of the leadership of the party is averse to the activities of SWAGA, viewing it as contradicting the agreements of the party not to encourage groups that appear to be dividing the party. Like Mr Tinubu, the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, is believed to be nursing the ambition to become president. The suspension of Messrs Adetifa and Oso was communicated in two separate letters signed by the ward Chairman, Abejide Sola; Women Leader, Bamisayo Abigeal; Youth Leader, Oladipo Adekunle; Secretary, Fayemi Apeke, and Treasurer, Oloruntoba Bosede. “We noted from your activities in the party in the recent past that you have been working against the unity of the party even to the extent of creating a parallel ward that you named ‘SWAGA’ within the ward,” the letters dated May 31, 2021, stated. “You sent in confirmation of your action through Mr. Jide Oso, a former ward chairman on 16th May, 2021 to the ward that you have created another venue for this purpose. “You as well was invited to the general Executive and leaders’ meeting on 20th May, 2021 to explain your action and you confirmed that the message of Mr Jide Oso was sent by you as his principal and that you would not stop your parallel meeting for any reason. “In view of the above reasons the general executive of the ward met 27th May, 2021 and decided to suspend you for running against the party (APC) Constitution till further notice.” The Ekiti APC Publicity Secretary, Ade Ajayi, however, denied that the suspension had anything to do with their association with SWAGA. He said the report from the ward indicated that the two were defying the party’s orders and dividing the party through their actions “They were not suspended because of SWAGA. But they have been dividing the party and all efforts to rein them in failed,” he said on Friday. “They were invited to defend themselves; they confirmed it and party supremacy had to come to play. Nobody is bigger than the party.” The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Babafemi Ojudu, had earlier reacted to the action of the party, saying the suspension of party members for their association with the group was draconian and devoid of the tenets of democracy. A former senator, Dayo Adeyeye, is a major leader of the SWAGA group and is backed by a retinue of former members of the National Assembly and top politicians in the South-west zone. His campaign across the country is to sell the candidature of Mr Tinubu, detailing the reasons why the former Lagos governor should run for president in 2023. While Mr Adeyeye has continued his campaign unhindered, his activities have been irksome to the party leadership in Ekiti State.

Court rejects EFCC’s request in ex-NNPC GMD Yakubu’s $9.8, £74,000 fraud trial By Eric Ikhilae

A Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to amend its charge in the $9.8 million, £74,000 fraud trial of a former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu. Justice Ahmed Mohammed, in a ruling yesterday, held that granting the EFCC’s application would amount to varying a subsisting judgment given by the Court of Appeal, Abuja, on April 24, 2020. In the verdict, the court, among others, ordered Yakubu to enter defence in relation to counts three and four of the six counts originally contained in the charge on which he was arraigned. Justice Mohammed was emphatic that allowing the prosecution (the EFCC) to amend the charge was tantamount to disobeying the subsisting order by the Court of Appeal in its judgment of April 24, 2020. The EFCC claimed that its operatives, acting on a tip-off, raided Yakubu’s house on Chikun Road, Sabon Tasha area of Kaduna South Local Government Area of Kaduna State on February 3, 2017 and recovered the $9,772,800 and £74,000 cash kept in a fire-proof safe. The commission arraigned Yakubu on March 16, 2017, on a six-count charge bordering on money laundering offences. He was, among others, accused of failing to make full disclosure of assets, receiving cash without going through a financial institution, which borders on money laundering and intent to avoid a lawful transaction under the law, transported at various times to Kaduna, the aggregate sum of $9,772,800 and £74,000. The prosecution closed its case on October 17, 2018, after calling seven witnesses. The seventh prosecution witness, an operative of the EFCC, Suleiman Mohammed, spoke about how his team recovered the $9,772,000 and £74,000 cash in Yabubu’s house in Kaduna, which was later deposited in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Kano. At the closure of the prosecution’s case, Yakubu made a no-case submission, which Justice Mohammed, in a ruling on May 16, 2019, partially upheld by striking out two of the six counts contained in the charge and ordered the ex-NNPC boss to enter defence over the remaining four counts. The judge held that the prosecution failed to prove counts five and six of the charge, which related to allegation of unlawful transportation of the money. “Even though I am tempted to discharge the defendant on counts one to four, I am, however, constrained to ask the defendant to explain how he came about the money recovered from his house. “Fortified with my position, the defendant is hereby ordered to enter his defence in respect of counts one to four,” Justice Mohammed said in the May 16, 2019 ruling. The defence prayed the court to refuse the prosecution’s application for an amendment of the charge and allow the defendant to continue with his defence, a prayer Justice Mohammed granted in his ruling yesterday. When the judge ended the ruling yesterday, the defence indicated its intention to proceed with its case. But the court adjourned till June 30, following a plea by the prosecution for an adjournment on the grounds that the lead prosecuting lawyer was not immediately available.

Hundreds of aggrieved Kwara APC members dump party, form Kwara ‘Third Force By Demola Akinyemi

Following years of irreconcilable crisis in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in kwara state, after “O to ge” victory,some aggrieved members of the party weekend dumped the party and teamed up to form a new political association described as the “Third Force” in changing political equation of the state. Recall that the faction of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq had been at loggerhead with that of the minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed,Minister of state for transportation Senator Gbemisola Saraki and other splinter groups, over the control of the party which saw Hon Bashir Bolarinwa replaced by Alh Sanmari Abdullahi as the chairman of the party. The aggrieved APC members, who included senatorial chairman, ward chairmen, local government chairmen, women leaders, youth leaders, as well as APC party stalwarts across all the 16 local government areas, among others, in IIorin indicted the national leadership of the party of supporting the political agenda of the governor. They also accused the state governor and his loyalists in the party of alleged disenfranchisement in the recent membership registration and revalidation exercise. Speaking on behalf of the decampees, the former state APC senatorial chairman for Kwara Central, Mallam Abdulfatai Abdulrahman, said that, “It is impossible to achieve the developmental goals we are aiming for KWARANS in the midst of chaotic situation we found ourselves in Kwara APC”, adding that their new party would be unveiled in due course. The people, who tore their APC membership cards and burnt the party symbol of brooms, said that the plot to allegedly marginalize them was all about 2023 political permutations. He said,”As you are all aware, Kwara APC has been enmeshed in one crisis or the other almost immediately after the party’s primary, stretching into the campaign period and lingering up to date. “The crisis has gotten to its peak with the recent concluded APC membership revalidation and registration exercise in the state that was flawed with deliberate policies and grand orchestration to deregister and disenfranchise selected members of the party. “The success of a political party is anchored on its popularity, intra party membership cohesion, integrity and sincere commitment to the service of the masses. All these are glaringly diminishing in Kwara APC as it is now. “A grand design that denied majority of party members the opportunity to register and revalidate their membership across the state is a 2023 permutation agenda. We can never cross our fingers and watch the game from the sideline. “The deliberate inaction to address the lingering crisis in Kwara APC has become obvious to all discerning minds that the agenda to deregister and refusal to revalidate thousands of members across the state was a grand plot that has the backing of the National Caretaker Committee of the party. “From the highlighted points above, we the over twenty thousand card- carrying members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which includes Senatorial chairman Kwara Central, local government party chairmen, local government women leaders, youth leaders, ward chairmen, as well as APC party stalwarts across all the sixteen local government areas in the state hereby denounce APC and form a KWARA THIRD FORCE for the yearning and betterment of Kwarans at large “We are, therefore, calling on all well-meaning Kwarans to shun violence, unnecessary struggle and agitation on account of desperation to belong to a party that has thrown away a large chunk of its members”, he said. Mallam Abdulrahman also said that the new party would be unveiled in due course as soon as possible.

I won’t cede power to those who can’t win election in their domain — Buhari By Ibrahim Wuyo

Says those calling for restructuring are afraid of partisan politics President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated that he would not cede power to any politician who cannot win election in his domain. He spoke on Saturday as a Special Guest of Honour during the Launch of Kudirat Abiola Sabon Gari, Zaria Peace Foundation which took place at Ahmadu Bello University Hotels, Zaria,Kaduna state. Buhari who said there was nothing Nigerians needed now than Peace, said the country would be better if Nigerians remain united as a Sovereign nation than fragmented entities. Also Read: COVID-19: African economies won’t revive until vaccination deficiency addressed — AfDB According to him,those agitating for separation of Country were ignorant of war and it’s consequences. Represented by the Executive Secretary, Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Shehu ,the President explained further that for peace to reign in any society, people must be involved actively . “And again those who are discussing restructuring, my question is that what are you going restructure? If you ask many Nigerians what are they going to restructure, you will find out that they have nothing to talk about. Ssome of them have not even studied the 1999 constitution. The 1999 constitution is almost 70 to 80 percent 1979 constitution. “ “it is okay to demand for restructuring ,renewal of constitution, but what is most important now is how can Nigeria state make local government functional, how can Nigeria states make judiciary independent? Rather we ask Nigerians to focus on putting pressure on National Assembly members to make sure that that autonomy as enshrined in our constitution is respected and implemented.” “So if that were to be done, some of these issues like insecurity, you will find a situation where local government chairmen in collaboration with traditional rulers will form a chain of communication to figure out what is really happening.So these are the things I expect those calling for agitation to do. And I said also that majority of those calling for restructuring are people that are so afraid to go into partisan politics. And even if they were to go into partisan politics they will not win. “ “There is no government in the world that will cede their authority to the people that are not elected. You are telling us to resolve a system and call for an obscure conference to come and discuss how we can move forward as a nation, that can never be done and no country will agree to that.” “So those who are doing that should go back and meet their representatives in the House of Assmebly and ask for whatever amendment of constitution. Due process should be followed” “The other issue is that those who are calling for restructuring and confrence .on what they call ethnic nationality, If you go to Southern Kaduna, Taraba, who is to represent them? We have different combination of ethnicity in many states. Even Kano and Kaduna Igbo have properties. The same goes with Yorubas. There are Fulani in Port Harcourt .So those calling for whether seperation or restructuring, some of them I will say they are very naive or even mischievously dangerous. Those agitating for restructuring are ignorant of war and its consequences.Because Nigeria is a dominant force in west africa.” My appeal to each and everyone here is to try and educate their children. We are better as a nation, there is no way we can be separated, separation of the Country would not help matters,” he said. Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai who was represented on the occasion by the state Commissioner for education, Dr. Shehu Usman Mohammed ,said Nigeria had grown beyond separation. While urging Nigerians to tolerate to live together,the Governor said those calling for separation should come back to their senses because Nigerians are now in every part of the Country. The Guest lecturer, Professor Mohammed Tukur spoke on the way out to end crisis among divergent citizens of the Country. “In as much as we want peace to reign amongst us ,we must tolerate one another and respect our various norms and values. Tukur said mutual understanding and inter tribal marriage would also play significant roles in the promotion of peace amongst citizens,adding that there must be a policy to revamp the economy and review the nation’s security structure.

APC convention: Governors, power blocs intensify lobby for party structure by John Alechenu

Power blocs within the ruling All Progressives Congress have intensified their lobby for a better grip of the party’s structure ahead of the 2023 general elections, Saturday PUNCH has learnt. It was gathered in Abuja, on Friday, that governors and other interest groups within the party had started reaching out to one another ahead of the final approval being expected from the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for the national convention. An intense lobby for an acceptable zoning formula by the various power blocs especially among the party’s governors is in top gear. A member of the APC National Caucus, who spoke in confidence to Saturday PUNCH for fear of retribution, said, “Although we are yet to agree on a specific date for the convention because we have to deal with congress first, we must tell ourselves the truth; we cannot hold the national convention earlier than September if we are to do a good job. He further said, “The reality on the ground is, we are yet to complete the data capture of the raw data we collected from the states during the just concluded membership registration/ revalidation. “We need to capture the data at the National Headquarters in order to produce a credible register needed for not just our congresses, but also for the convention. “Some states are yet to submit their reports as we speak. The data capturing is ongoing here in Abuja.” In response to a question on the comment made by the President to the effect that he was expecting a report from the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/ Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee by the end of June, the party chieftain described it as the normal procedure. He said, “The committee will present its report to the President; if he is satisfied with their recommendations, the report is then presented to the caucus and the National Executive Committee for ratification before the congresses leading to the convention are held. “If he is not convinced, he has two options. One, ask the committee to review the schedule of activities or ask another committee to do it.” The party’s governors under the aegis of Progressives Governors Forum met on Wednesday to review a tentative timetable for the congresses as prepared by Governor Buni. This was confirmed by the Chairman of the PGF, Abubakar Bagudu, who spoke to reporters after an emergency meeting of the forum in Abuja on Wednesday. Bagudu said, “There is a proposal before Mr. President and once he approves it, the National Caretaker Committee will announce the date. “We considered the timetable and we have made some inputs particularly to comply with the Electoral Law and the party’s constitution. Remember, we, governors, are just one organ of the party.” A time table which was released by the Buni panel last week, but later withdrawn, indicated that ward congresses would begin on July 10th, while local government congresses would follow on August 6, 2021. State congresses were scheduled for September 3 and zonal congresses for 30th September, 2021. In response, members of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change, one of the three legacy parties which formed the APC, have started reaching out to other members to consider a former CPC member for the position of National Chairman. Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, who is the lead voice in the advocacy, had recently said, “When you advise that the party should be fair to the CPC in choosing the next APC National Chairman, you now start the campaign. I think we have gone beyond advice now. “So, I’m campaigning; I have done the consultation at different levels of the party; I have been in contact with all the major stakeholders of the APC and we strongly believe that what we are asking for is fair. “What we are asking for is not too much for the party to do; what we are asking for will actually keep the party together and that is what we have been saying. I have gone beyond just making a plea. I have gone to the stage of making consultations.” However, the spokesperson of Concerned APC Members, a pressure group within the party, Abdullahi Dauda, said, “The CPC bloc cannot claim it is marginalised. “With all due respect, our President was a member of the CPC; if you look at it that way, the CPC took the highest prize in the APC. “What is wrong with having somebody from Action Congress of Nigeria or All Nigerian Peoples Congress bloc? What we should be doing now is to rebuild our party.” PUNCH.