Corruption Allegations: In Case FG Has Forgotten These Cases! By Dirisu Yakubu

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By Dirisu Yakubu

The victory of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2015 Presidential elections elicited hope of the unusual variant.

For
well-meaning Nigerians and friends of the nation, the emergence of a
man seen by many as an incorruptible left-wing politician was the
beginning of good things to come for Africa’s largest democracy.

Muhammadu
Buhari, in 2015 enlisted into a unique guild of statesmen who have had
the rare privilege of presiding over the affairs of the nation both as
military Heads of State and democratically elected President.

Until
his victory in the last general election, the only member in that
unique class was President Olusegun Obasanjo who governed the country
for eight years (1999-2007) under a constitutional democracy.

Before
providence shone on him, Buhari who had on three occasions contested
the highest elective office in the land without success had openly
mouthed his desire to weed out corruption, root and branch from the
nation’s psyche. No one with soiled hands, he had boasted, would walk
the streets a free man until he or she is made to face the full wrath of
the law.

Thus, upon assumption of office, the war against all
forms of corruption was expected to task the energy of the first citizen
as Nigerians waited earnestly to see convictions of corrupt elements,
who had in the past, enriched themselves with our collective patrimony.

As
Mr. President’s tenure comes to an end in just a few months from now,
the administration last week made a futile attempt to arraign one of its
biggest officials for alleged corruption.

The Chief Justice of
Nigeria, CJN, Walter Onnoghen is alleged to have failed to declare his
assets and to demonstrate its commitment to zero tolerance for graft;
the federal government through the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, is set
and plans to arraign him before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT in the
days ahead.

However, prominent Nigerians have kicked against the
move, counselling the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to
instead, beam its searchlight on a litany of corruption allegations
involving people close to his government.

NNPC $25 billion contract scam

When
allegations of procedural infractions in contracts award of about $25
billion were made against the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Maikanti Baru by the Minister of
State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu were made public in 2017;
Nigerians expected swift action, especially given that the man who
pointed an accusing finger was a serving minister.

Kachikwu had
claimed in his petition that Baru never consulted the Board Services
Committee, before terminating some appointment of senior staff even as
he alleged that the NNPC Board was not carried along in the awards of
contracts. According to the minister, the standard legal requirement is
that any contract above the sum of $20 million must be approved by the
Board; a fact he accused Baru of glossing over.

The minister
listed major contracts awarded by Baru without the input of NNPC board
to include $10 billion crude term contracts; $5 billion Direct Sales
Direct Purchase (DSDP) contracts; $3 billion AKK pipeline contract;
financing allocation funding contracts worth $3 billion; and NPDC
production service contracts worth $3-$4 billion.

In what
appeared a description of his growing frustration with the NNPC boss;
Kachikwu penned these lines which led to many Nigerians calling on
President Buhari to swing into action:

As in many cases of things
that happen in NNPC these days, I learn of transactions only through
publications in the media. The question is, why is it that other
parastatals which I supervise as Minister of State or chair their boards
are able to go through these contractual and mandatory governance
processes and yet NNPC is exempt from these?” Baru would later provide a
defence, and he came short of accusing Kachikwu of knowing only a
fraction of the laws governing contractual processes at the NNPC. The
issue has since died naturally, with both the accuser and the accused
mending fences.

Babachir Lawal’s multi-million naira grass-cutting scandal

His appointment as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF
was hailed by those who knew him as a demonstration of President
Buhari’s readiness to do away with the recycling culture that had
permeated the polity for decades. The SGF Office is seen as one of the
most influential in the Presidency, given its pivotal role in policy
drive, monitoring and evaluation.

Not long after he was
appointed to supervise the Presidential Initiative for the North East
(PINE), allegations of fraud were levied against him, prompting calls
for his sack, arrest and prosecution.

Lawal who hails from
Adamawa State, was accused of awarding a grass-cutting contracts to
Josmon Technologies Limited, which thereafter paid about N317 million to
Rholavison Engineering Company Limited, owned by the former SGF.

Worrisome still is that the grass-cutting contract was awarded while
Lawal was still the nation’s chief scribe; a clear breach of the
nation’s code of conduct for public officers and the Procurement Act. A
total of at least five companies were alleged to have transferred
millions of money to Lawal’s company and into his private account with
Diamond Bank PLC in tranches.

Additionally, he was said to have awarded contracts to cronies who owned firms that failed to pass the requirements set by law.

However,
rather than calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC to wade into the matter, President Muhammadu Buhari set up a panel
to investigate the issues raised and on October 30, 2017, he accepted
the recommendations of the panel, headed by Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo, SAN.

He was subsequently ordered to vacate his office
while a fellow Adamawa indigene, Boss Mustapha was appointed in his
stead. Buhari had earlier cleared Lawal on the grounds that the National
Assembly which first investigated the matter did not give him a fair
hearing. National outcry followed and the President appointed the
Osinbajo panel.

Although the EFCC submitted the report of its
independent investigation to the Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, no action has been taken yet,
fuelling insinuations that the man may have been left off the hook.

Professor Usman Yusuf NHISGATE

He
exhibited an uncommon stubbornness that shocked not only those bent on
seeing him quit his office but many Nigerians as well. Professor Usman
Yusuf, until recently, the Executive Secretary of the National Health
Insurance Scheme, NHIS last year was on the spotlight for reasons
bordering on alleged corruption and abuse of office. NHIS chairman, Mrs.
Enyatu Ifenre while testifying before a panel set up by the House of
Representatives, accused Usman of paying consultants N508 million
without recourse to due process.

She also claimed that the
Professor spent another N48 million on staff training without the
approval of the governing board of the scheme as required by law. He was
also accused by the representative of the Civil Servants Association of
Health Workers, Omomeji Abdulrazak of awarding corts worth N46 million
and N17.5 million for maintenance and capacity building to Lubek Nigeria
Limited; a company Usman allegedly had controlling interest and owned
by his nephew, Hassan Yusuf. His accusers also claimed that he spent
N567 million for the payment of his seven police orderlies without
approval.

With persistent call for his removal getting louder;
President Buhari finally ordered his ouster but not a word has been
heard from the anti-corruption agencies.

Kemi Adeosun’s NYSC certificate ordeal

Her
British accent complimented an undeniable brilliance to cap a fulfilled
life for pretty Kemi, who after earning deserved ovation for doing
pretty well to reflate the Ogun state economy as Finance commissioner,
got appointed as Minister of Finance.

She did get a pat on the
back for steering the economy during the turbulent days of recession;
Kemi would later get more than she bargained for when news filtered in
that the National Youth Service Corps Exemption certificate she paraded
was forged.

She threatened legal action and sang her innocence
to high heavens but the media stuck to its guns, insisting that Kemi, a
graduate of Economics from the University of East London, indeed
presented a forged the certificate. Some reports claimed the ground was
getting set to fire her until she threw in the towel, tendered an
apology and left the shores of Nigeria in controversial circumstances.

What
pained many Nigerians to the bones was the defence put up by
Presidential aide, Professor Itse Sagay to the effect that Kemi should
be left on her job even as he questioned the relevance of the scheme.

“Who cares about youth service? I don’t bloody care whether she did
youth service or not. It is irrelevant as far as I am concerned,’ Sagay,
a Professor of Law was quoted as saying. Kemi left Nigeria without the
law taking its course l

Okoi Obono-Obla WAEC Certificate controversy

Like Adeosun, Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on
Prosecutions, Mr. Okoi Obono Obla is enmeshed in certificate forgery
scam. A report by the House of Representatives panel indicted him for
allegedly forging his secondary school certificate, with which he
secured admission to the University of Jos to study Law.

The
University, called upon to state its position, held that the result
deposed was the same one used by Obono-Obla to gain admission into its
Law faculty.

However, the lawyer brushed aside the allegations,
claiming that the lawmakers lacked the powers to investigate criminal
matters.

Maina’s ghost-mode and missing billions

Abdulrasheed
Mina first came into national limelight when he was appointed chairman,
Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms. Rather than clean up the
mess, he was soon involved in allegations of N2 billion Pension
Biometric Scam in the office of the Head of Civil Service of the
Federation.

Before calls for his arrest became public, he ran
away even as the Interpol were put on the alert. In a dramatic twist
however, he made his way back into the civil service under the present
administration, with a promotion and a new desk at the Ministry of
Interior. With Nigerians bent on seeing the end of the matter,
Borno-born Maina ran away for the second time and has since not been
seen.

Ganduje’s video

Kano state governor, Abdullahi
Ganduje was recorded collecting bribe in foreign currency in what has
been described as kickback from contractors working for the state
government. A voice in the video could be heard telling the governor,
“I think you should collect this money before anyone walks in. “I think
you should put it on your body to conceal it with your babanriga.”

No
one expects any action given Ganduje’s immunity as provided in Section
308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). So, what is to be made of the
anti-corruption war ably led by President Buhari? For Mike Ozekhome,
SAN, human rights activist and Constitutional lawyer, there is no such
thing as anti-corruption at the moment.

Speaking exclusively to
Saturday Vanguard, Edo-born Ozekhome said, “There is not and has never
been any true fight against corruption.

What we have had has
been an onslaught on opposition and critical voices, whilst the
government carefully protects the corrupt elements in their midst.

Over 90% of the cases in court against these people arise from Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP campaign funds which were privately sourced.
Meanwhile, all the campaign funds of the ruling ALL Progressives
Congress, APC have never been investigated, including those that funded
the President. Some were indicted by Commissions of Inquiry in their
states, but the government has never prosecuted any of them.

All
you need do to be cleansed of your corruption is to decamp and join the
APC Like Naman, the leper who was dipped into River Jordan 7 times and
became immediately cleansed of leprosy.”

Source:- Vanguardngr

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