Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Certificate Forgery: Delta Assembly Commission Confirms SaharaReporters Story
*Sacks 26 Workers
Delta State House of Assembly Service Commission, Monday confirmed our December, 2013, story of certificates forgery involving over 30 staff and some directors in the state house of Assembly.
The certificate forgery story which was first unraveled by SaharaReporters was
confirmed today by the chairman of the commission, Barr. (Mrs) Josephine Ada
Kachikwu, saying that 26 employees of the State House of Assembly have been
dismissed for parading fake certificates.
Mrs Kachikwu, who disclosed this in a statement, also said that the dismissal
was done after a thorough verification and re-verification exercise carried out
by a firm of auditors engaged to carry out a certificate verification exercise
of staff.
According to the commission’s boss “Based on in-fighting by some employees over
seniority resulting in protests that some of their colleagues were presenting
fake certificates so that they would be upgraded far and above their equals,
the commission engaged the services of a firm of external auditors to carry out
certificate verification.
The firm has submitted its report and every case was subjected to further re-verification to remove any possible human error and so far, 26 employees have been dismissed from the services of the commission for parading fake certificates; two are on interdiction, while pending cases are about 20.”
While using the medium to highlight the activities of the commission, Mrs
Kachikwu reiterated that the decision to sack the staff will go “down in
history as the most agonizing decision by the commission,” stressing that since
the inauguration of the commission under her watch as chairman by Governor
Emmanuel Uduaghan in 2011, it had been carrying out a policy of motivation of
employees to ensure an “efficient and effective service delivery in the
legislature.
“It is very important to state that the commission has set a standard whereby
every eligible staff for promotion is subjected to a refresher course and
subsequent examination before being promoted; staffs are always promoted based
on merit.
As an incentive package, the commission pays a handsome out-fit allowance to all staff annually to enable them maintain cooperate and dignifying looks of parliamentary staff.
The commission has provided a labour-friendly climate for the flourishing of a robust workers’ union, the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN).”
Mrs. Kachikwu however thanked Governor Uduaghan for approving the funds for the
training and re-training of staff which has made staff to be more conscious of
themselves and their duties.
Meanwhile, the dismissed staff and their categories are as follows, Management
cadre 2, Middle Management cadre 10, Technical cadre 5, Senior Staff under
Admin. 6, Junior Staff under Admin. 3, Interdiction 2 and pending cases are put
at 20.
Court Did Not Declare Defected APC Reps' Seats Vacant - House of Reps Caucus
Yesterday, a Federal High Court Presided over by Justice Adeniyi Ademola handed down a ruling in which he restrained 37 APC members who joined our great party on December 18, 2013 from effecting the change of Leadership in the House of Representatives thereby granting the prayers of the Plaintiffs – the PDP in the suit.
For us in the APC, we were not surprised because in the course of the proceedings the same judge had earlier issued a preservative order as soon as the arguments against his jurisdiction in the case was taken. This was our first apprehension of the commencement of the case.
Our fears were further confirmed when the judge after granting the reliefs sought in the suit went ahead to render an opinion on issues that were not before him nor solicited by the plaintiffs.
Consequently, a section of the media and indeed the public have been misled by the court ruling into believing that the said judgment has effectively terminated the tenure of office of the affected members. This is not only untrue, but also a mere obiter dicta expressed by a judge who veered off the course of the case before him in order to do the bidding of the ruling party.
At best the judgment has turned law on its head and cannot stand.
Our Colleagues have taken steps to appeal the judgment and we are confident that justice will prevail.
In the meantime, we want to assure members of the public that there is no court judgment before the House, directing any member of the APC to vacate his or her seat.
In any event, section 68 (2) of the 1999 Constitution makes it clear that satisfactory evidence must be presented to the House before any of the provision of S.68 (1) can become applicable. At the moment the APC in the House remains strong and focus on the need to provide necessary checks and balances to the rudderlessness of the ship of State as being piloted by the ruling party in this country today.
At a time when this government is unable to explain to Nigerians the where about of huge missing funds; at a time when profligacy among Ministers of this government has reached its crescendo; at a time when scores and thousands have been sent to their untimely death under a scheme purported to be a recruitment sham; at a time when government assets in the power sector have been sold out with Nigerians experiencing more darkness than light; at a time when insecurity and insurgency has almost defied government emergency rule and at a time when mis governance has taken center stage while Nigerians has continued to wallow in abject penury, the PDP government has continued to run the country like the private fiefdom of those holding the reins of power.
Nigerians, we know cannot succumb to the shenanigans of the ruling party that has plundered this nation for 15 years.
The House of Representatives remains the bastion of hope of the traumatized and pauperized Nigerians and we shall not give in to the attempt of some of our PDP colleagues in collusion with a certain judge to turn facts and law on its head to achieve some sinister ends.
Finally for the avoidance of doubt, let me state unequivocally on behalf of our members that the import of yesterday ruling was that our 37 members cannot participate in the removal of Principal Officers of the House nothing more, nothing less.
Every other pronouncements by the judge as to the status of our 37 members of the House were mere opinion, In any event, this judgment was given in vain and in ignorance of the House rules which governs the appointment of party leaders in the parliament. It is also an attempt by the court to meddle in the internal affairs of the parliament. This certainly is not the import of the doctrine of judicial review.
As we speak our colleagues have appealed the vexatious ruling and we hope to get justice soon. We believe the House of Representatives will take due notice of the appeal in this case.
Thank you.
RT HON SAMSON R-OSAGIE (FCIA)
MINORITY WHIP
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr President, Alison-Madueke’s cup is full
THE recently-uncovered financial recklessness and obscene lifestyle involving Diezani Alison-Madueke is truly the apex of cumulative impunity by the Minister of Petroleum Resources. She is accused of living extravagantly at the expense of Nigerians by wasting about N10 billion to maintain one of the three private jets she is using for official and personal travels. More shocking disclosures are still streaming in.
The details of the preliminary enquiry in the House of Representatives are unnerving. The minister is said to have spent €500,000 (N130 million) monthly or N3.21 billion in two years to maintain a Challenger business jet. Every time she flies the second jet on a round trip, taxpayers lose €600,000 (N137 million), while the cost of the third aircraft is still to be ascertained. The irreducible minimum Nigerians demand of the House Public Accounts Committee is to establish the facts of the case.
But as usual, a duplicitous Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has attempted to turn the page on the scandal by defending its deviant minister. It says, “It is standard practice for a large oil and gas corporation such as the NNPC to make use of the most efficient means of transportation to ensure the effective and efficient coverage of the vast scope of critical oil and gas assets under their purview.”
The Presidency, also playing the ostrich, claims it is not in possession of documents or papers or “has any petition relating to such issue” and will “rather await the outcome of the ongoing investigation by the House of Representatives before it can undertake any reasonable action.”
The public is waiting, too. But the same President Goodluck Jonathan did not bother to follow the due process in line with the law and civilised practice before suspending Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, over allegations of financial recklessness. How many probe reports will smear Alison-Madueke before Jonathan saves his government from the NNPC’s serial graft scandals?
Alison-Madueke’s tenure as Petroleum Minister, which started in 2011, has been scarred by pains, controversies, sickening graft at the NNPC and now, wantonness at the expense of a country in dire economic straits. The 2011 petrol subsidy scandal, in which the parliament approved only N245 billion for payments, saw the government spending N2.5 trillion. The protests that trailed the January 2012 petrol price hike and the subsequent investigations made it obvious that the government used the humongous amount to corruptly enrich Petroleum Ministry and the NNPC officials, staff of the petroleum subsidy agencies, marketers and cronies, though some of them have been undergoing lacklustre prosecution since 2012.
It is noteworthy that the government has been spending about N971.1 billion annually since then to offset petrol subsidy, showing that more than N1 trillion was plundered from the nation’s coffers in 2011 alone on petrol subsidy under Alison-Madueke’s watch. In 2012, the minister secured the approval of the parliament for a loan of $1.6 billion to carry out Turn Around Maintenance of the nation’s four refineries. Brimming with false excitement, she had promised the nation that the refineries would function at 90 per cent capacity after the repairs. But the best the facilities have averaged since then is a measly 22 per cent.
Why has our Petroleum Minister, just because the NNPC generates more than two-thirds of the country’s external income, become so prodigal? Earlier this year, the nation groaned helplessly with the unveiling of the kerosene subsidy scandal, for which the NNPC has been deducting illegally from national revenues in spite of a presidential directive that stopped the subsidy in 2009. In February, the Senate uncovered how the corrupt oil corporation had been spending N700 million daily to subsidise kerosene without the product reaching consumers who pay as much as N150 per litre, instead of the NNPC’s N55 per litre.
In a normal environment, the aggregate of these misdeeds is enough to send a minister packing. In France, a former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is being tried for allegedly receiving money illegally to fund his party’s campaign. Nigeria should also be a society where anybody, no matter how highly placed, is subject to our laws.
But, there is more. Sanusi, at a series of parliamentary hearings this year, listed wide-ranging fraudulent acts by the NNPC, the sum of which is that the rogue oil corporation has not remitted $20billion of oil money it sold to the Federation Account. “It is established that of the $67 billion crude shipped by the NNPC between January 2012 and July 2013, $47 billion was remitted to the Federation Account. It is now up to the NNPC… to produce proof that $20 billion unremitted either did not belong to the Federation or was legally and constitutionally spent,” Sanusi said. The NNPC, which Alison-Madueke supervises, has yet to give the nation satisfactory answers to these posers.
The NNPC has been swimming in a sleazy barter arrangement with some international companies over the 445,000 barrels of oil per day the government sets aside for domestic refining though the four refineries have the capacity to produce just at 22 per cent.
Corruption has never been so brazen and sickening in the country as in recent times. Regularly, fresh nerve-jangling allegations of venality in public office assault the citizens. Unfortunately, the parliament, as usual, may just make futile noise about this outrageous case, as many of such probes have been prematurely interred in its burial chamber.
But Jonathan must know that it is hard to move on when so many questions on graft involving his government are still unanswered, foremost being what he has done with our oil money.
Culled from Punch Newspaper
Environmental Sanitation:Citizen's response at Asaba
Volunteers and Interim Council Councilors waiting to begin the exercise
action time
people at work
Asaba must be clean
"Justice Ademola did not order 37 lawmakers to vacate seats - APC" –
by: Lai Mohammed
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said Justice Adeniyi Ademola did not order the 37 members of the House of Representatives who defected to the APC to vacate their seats because he is not competent to issue such a ruling, as the issue of whether or not they can defect was not before him
In a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party however said it will appeal the ruling because Justice Ademola's perpetual injunction restraining the concerned lawmakers from participating in motions and debates in the House is unconstitutional and defeats the very purpose for which the members were elected into the House.
It said Justice Ademola's unsolicited comments were clearly gregarious,unnecessary, superfluous and has no foundation in law or fact, hence should be ignored.
APC asked the Chief Justice of Nigeria to act urgently to sanction Justice Ademola for engaging in mischief that could bring the bench into disrepute.
''If this case had been issued a day later than Monday, we would have said the Judge was caught in the web of April Fool! Alas, he indeed made the ruling on Monday, hence the need for us to take it very seriously for several reasons.
''Firstly, the question whether the House of Representatives members should vacate their seats was not a question before Justice Ademola for determination. The only question for him to determine was whether the APC members, with their numerical strength at that time, had the right to change the House leadership such as the Majority Leader, Chief Whip and their deputies. So Justice Ademola had no business commenting on seats being vacated.
''Secondly, it is highly unprofessional and unethical for one Judge to delve into a matter that is sub judice in another court. A Judge should not make comments on matters being litigated in another court. The question of seats being vacated or otherwise is being heard by Justice Ahmed Mohammed in the Federal High Court in Abuja who, on 29 March 2014, said the issue was still live before him and is not ripe for Judgment,'' the party said
APC recalled the alarm it raised in a statement on Dec. 14th 2013, that the PDP is shopping for a pliant Judge who will be heavily induced to do its bidding in the case over the defections from the ruling party to the APC.
In that statement, the main opposition party warned against any attempt by the PDP and the Presidency to turn back the hands of the clock as far as the cleaning up of the judiciary is concerned, by inducing a servile and disreputable Judge to do the duo's bidding.
Quoting from that statement, APC said: ''We recognize the efforts of the present CJN to sanitize the Judiciary since she assumed the mantle of leadership but she should not allow any black leg to reverse the gains that have been recorded on the altar of unmitigated avarice. This is because if that happens, Nigerians will hold the Judiciary vicariously liable for the catastrophic consequences that may follow.''
Noting that its alarm has now proven to be prescient, the party wondered whether there was any link between what is clearly an exercise in judicial rascality and President Goodluck Jonathan's recent boast in Kwara that the PDP would soon retrieve its 'stolen' mandate from those who defected from the PDP to the APC.
''That presidential boast raises the following questions: What did the President know and when did he know it? Was this judgement procured by the PDP for a price, in which case the President's statement amounted to a Freudian Slip? Are we to expect more of this?
''It is necessary to unravel this so the PDP and the presidency, in their desperation, will not paint the judiciary with their brush of failure and crash our
democracy,'' it said.
The party urged its supporters not to panic as the judgement was clearly intended to cause mischief, adding however that the plan by the PDP and the
Presidency has fallen like a pack of cards!
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
Interim National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Lagos, April 1st 2014
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said Justice Adeniyi Ademola did not order the 37 members of the House of Representatives who defected to the APC to vacate their seats because he is not competent to issue such a ruling, as the issue of whether or not they can defect was not before him
In a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party however said it will appeal the ruling because Justice Ademola's perpetual injunction restraining the concerned lawmakers from participating in motions and debates in the House is unconstitutional and defeats the very purpose for which the members were elected into the House.
It said Justice Ademola's unsolicited comments were clearly gregarious,unnecessary, superfluous and has no foundation in law or fact, hence should be ignored.
APC asked the Chief Justice of Nigeria to act urgently to sanction Justice Ademola for engaging in mischief that could bring the bench into disrepute.
''If this case had been issued a day later than Monday, we would have said the Judge was caught in the web of April Fool! Alas, he indeed made the ruling on Monday, hence the need for us to take it very seriously for several reasons.
''Firstly, the question whether the House of Representatives members should vacate their seats was not a question before Justice Ademola for determination. The only question for him to determine was whether the APC members, with their numerical strength at that time, had the right to change the House leadership such as the Majority Leader, Chief Whip and their deputies. So Justice Ademola had no business commenting on seats being vacated.
''Secondly, it is highly unprofessional and unethical for one Judge to delve into a matter that is sub judice in another court. A Judge should not make comments on matters being litigated in another court. The question of seats being vacated or otherwise is being heard by Justice Ahmed Mohammed in the Federal High Court in Abuja who, on 29 March 2014, said the issue was still live before him and is not ripe for Judgment,'' the party said
APC recalled the alarm it raised in a statement on Dec. 14th 2013, that the PDP is shopping for a pliant Judge who will be heavily induced to do its bidding in the case over the defections from the ruling party to the APC.
In that statement, the main opposition party warned against any attempt by the PDP and the Presidency to turn back the hands of the clock as far as the cleaning up of the judiciary is concerned, by inducing a servile and disreputable Judge to do the duo's bidding.
Quoting from that statement, APC said: ''We recognize the efforts of the present CJN to sanitize the Judiciary since she assumed the mantle of leadership but she should not allow any black leg to reverse the gains that have been recorded on the altar of unmitigated avarice. This is because if that happens, Nigerians will hold the Judiciary vicariously liable for the catastrophic consequences that may follow.''
Noting that its alarm has now proven to be prescient, the party wondered whether there was any link between what is clearly an exercise in judicial rascality and President Goodluck Jonathan's recent boast in Kwara that the PDP would soon retrieve its 'stolen' mandate from those who defected from the PDP to the APC.
''That presidential boast raises the following questions: What did the President know and when did he know it? Was this judgement procured by the PDP for a price, in which case the President's statement amounted to a Freudian Slip? Are we to expect more of this?
''It is necessary to unravel this so the PDP and the presidency, in their desperation, will not paint the judiciary with their brush of failure and crash our
democracy,'' it said.
The party urged its supporters not to panic as the judgement was clearly intended to cause mischief, adding however that the plan by the PDP and the
Presidency has fallen like a pack of cards!
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
Interim National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Lagos, April 1st 2014
SSS Jail Break: Abu Kaka, 200 Other Boko Haram Inmates Escaped SSS Detention
Information reaching 247ureports.com from competent and reliable sources near the activities of the State Security Services [SSS] reveal that the image maker of the SSS may have not been completely truthful with the public when she appeared at the Channels Television News Program on the morning of Monday March 31, 2014 over the shootings at the SSS headquarters on Sunday early morning.
According to the available information, the incident that occurred at the SSS headquarters on Sunday March 31, 2014 resulted in the escape of over 200 Boko Haram detainees being held at the SSS headquarters.
Among the detainees that escaped was the notorious high ranking member of the Jihadist group, Abu Kaka.
Abu Kaka was reported to have been arrested by the joint task force [JTF] over a year ago following a tip off by informants. He is said to be the number 3 man in the Boko Haram terrorist organization – at the time of his arrest. He was in charge of Boko Haram’s media communications. He was considered a priced catch by the Nigerian security operatives.
Sunday’s incident at the SSS headquarters between the operatives of SSS and the Boko Haram detainees is said to be the result of long term planing by the detainees.
According to our source, the Boko Haram detainees had gotten knowledge of a existing underground tunnel at the SSS headquarters. It is not certain how they got knowledge of the tunnel but our source indicated that the detainees would have not gotten the knowledge of the underground tunnel without the aide of an SSS operative or the aide of another high ranking insider of the security system in Nigeria.
Through the underground tunnel, the Boko Haram detainees found their escape route. According to how source, over 300 detainees were being held at the SSS facility when the Sunday morning incident occurred. At the end of the said incident, our source states that the SSS was only able to account for the whereabouts of less than 50 Boko Haram detainees – out of the over 300 detainees that were held at facility.
Our source pointed to the hovering aircraft above the SSS headquarters and the Central Business District Area of Abuja – on Sunday morning – as SSS’s effort to search or hunt for the escaping Boko Haram prisoners.
The source who claims to have firsthand knowledge of the SSS operations challenged the SSS and its image maker to make available Abu Kaka for the public to see – either through an interview on public television or through a press conference. The source indicated that there was jubilation at the Kuje prison in Abuja among Boko Haram members held at the facility.
He stated that the Boko Haram members imprisoned at Kuje were jubilating over the successful escape of one of their leaders from SSS detention.
He added that the SSS is presently working tirelessly to quietly re-capture the escaped inmates.
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Fani-Kayode Warns against Muslim-Muslim Ticket for APC
By Shola Oyeyipo
If paradventure the All Progressives Congress (APC) settles for the Mohammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu presidency, the party would fail woefully in the coming 2015 presidential election.
A former Minister of Aviation and member of the party, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, who gave the warning yesterday in a reaction to the alleged Buhari-Tinubu ticket which translates to Muslim-Muslim ticket, said: "If we do that, we will not only offend the Christian community but we will also loose the election woefully."
The
outspoken former minister, who said he had noted it in several political
meetings of the party, reiterated that such move would amount to "the
biggest mistake that my party, the APC, can make is to field a Muslim-Muslim
ticket in the 2015 Presidential election."
He
noted that Nigeria had gone past the 1993 era when the MKO Abiola and Alhaji
Babagana Kingibe ticket received massive support from Nigerians, irrespective
of religious divide.
"Whether we like it or not, we must accept the fact that religion plays a major role in our politics today. Our party must have both a Christian and a Muslim on the ticket if we want to be taken seriously in the presidential election.
"I
implore those who think otherwise to sit down and think this through properly.
We must not present a Christian-Christian ticket as this would be insensitive
to the feelings of Muslims and we must not present a Muslim-Muslim ticket as
this would be insensitive to the feelings of Christians.
"I
for one would never support a ticket that presents two members of the same
faith no matter what the consequences would be," he warned.
He
maintained that Nigeria belongs to both Muslims and Christians.
“We
are all one and we must ensure that we do not hurt the feelings or the
sensitivities of one another either advertently or inadvertently. As they say
'the road to hell is paved with good intentions.'
He
therefore advised that the APC must be mindful of its actions, deeds and words,
"no matter how well-intentioned they may be, and let us ensure that we do
not confirm the terrible stereotyping that those who are against us are trying
to label us with."
According
to him, the APC is the only hope for Nigeria and should not mess it up by
making the wrong choices, adding that "a word is enough for the
wise."
Court Turned Law On Its Head, APC To Appeal Judgment
APC and Minority Leader of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has described Monday’s ruling by the Federal High Court, Abuja as a strange judgment that turned law on its head.
In reflecting on the judgment he said the judgment is a product of error of court the lawmakers would be willing to appeal at a higher court.
"The judgement is strange and will be appealed. No person can be compelled by law to stay in an association against his or her wishes."
Gbajabiamila also said that the judgment is an affront to right of association of the lawmakers.
"It negates a fundamental right of association of every citizen that is inalienable. Section 68 of the constitution has been turned on its head and the error of the court is manifest"
"Section 68 was never argued in court by any of the parties. The judge gave an opinion he was never asked to give and an argument that was never canvassed in court"
Signed
Wasiu Olanrewaju-Smart
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