In Saudi Arabia, Where Family and State Are One, Arrests Over Corruption May Be Selective

King Salman’s close relatives not only rule Saudi Arabia. They are also in business with it.

But the Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is leading a sweeping crackdown against what he has labeled “corruption” that has swept up at least 11 princes from the House of Saud. But his immediate family’s complicated and mostly undisclosed business interests are raising questions about what that accusation means in a kingdom where the law has so far included little or no regulation of what other countries have labeled and outlawed as self-dealing.

Saudi laws, issued by royal decree or derived from Islamic law, have so far included little or no regulation of the sprawling royal family and its closest clients. The family has never disclosed the sources of its income, how much its members might take from the country’s oil revenues, how much they earn from state contracts or how they afford their lavish lifestyles.

King Salman has never explained where he got the money to buy as much as $28 million in London luxury homes, just as his son, Crown Prince Mohammed, has never said how he was able to plunk down more than $500 million for a 440-foot yacht he spotted one day and decided he had to own.

The kingdom, an absolute monarchy, has also never attempted to create an independent court system to adjudicate claims. And if corruption is defined as private profit at the public expense, the practice is so pervasive that any measures short of revolutionary change may appear to be selective prosecution.

“It is straight out of the autocrat’s playbook,” said Katherine Dixon, a researcher at Transparency International who has studied the Saudi defense industry. “Using state resources for your own ends is still O.K. if you are part of the right faction or clique, but because corruption is what people care about, it is used as a public rallying cry to justify a crackdown.”

She and others compared Prince Mohammed’s campaign to anti-corruption drives by President Xi Jinping in China or President Vladimir V. Putin in Russia, where prosecutions are often politically motivated.

As many as 500 people have now been detained on allegations of corruption as part of the crackdown. Many are being held at Riyadh Ritz-Carlton in what may be theworld’s most luxurious prison.

The Saudi Council of Ministers said Tuesday that all arrests were “based on specific evidence of criminality and acts that were intended criminal transgressions and resulted in unlawful gain.”

Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, right, the former chief of the national guard, is among those detained.CreditHassan Ammar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

“The rights of the accused and the facts relating to the offenses are protected by law at all stages during the investigation and judicial process,” the council added.

But the government had not disclosed any specific charges or evidence, or even the names of those arrested. The first wave began just hours after a royal decree created an investigating committee under Prince Mohammed, leaving little time for inquiry. The courts are under the effective control of the king and crown prince. And it was unclear which branch of the court systemmight hear the cases — the main Shariah court system or the more specialized board of grievance courts that handle administrative complaints.

“This is a Pandora’s box to start having anti-corruption trials,” said David Ottaway, a Middle East fellow at the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan research center. “Where does it stop within the royal family? Are there any princes that can show clean hands?”

“The law is not meant to govern the ruling family in any meaningful way, or to govern the relations between the ruling family and the state,” said Nathan J. Brown, a scholar at George Washington University who studies Arab legal systems.

“Ultimately, the king and some high members of the royal family can do what they want and make it legal later,” he said, and the lack of regulation over royal self-dealing “opens the door wide to what would be considered corruption in other systems.”

Many Saudis appear to have applauded the crackdown. Two-thirds are under 30, many are frustrated by high unemployment, and some may take a certain satisfaction at even an arbitrary comeuppance for so many of the rich and powerful.

“It’s going to be popular with the commoners who see important parts of the al-Saud family as a rent-seeking, unaccountable caste,” Steffen Hertog, an associate professor at the London School of Economics and the author of a book on the Saudi bureaucracy. “Saudi businesses have been complaining about royal encroachment for decades.”

Some cases may be clear-cut.

One area that the official Saudi media say Prince Mohammed intends to investigate is flooding in the city of Jidda that killed more than 100 people in 2009. In that case, a Saudi businessman was accused of absconding with millions of dollars allocated for a Jidda sewage system and never installing any pipes.

“We all knew, and we never reported on it,” Jamal Khashoggi, then the editor of a major Saudi newspaper and now living in exile,wrote this week in The Washington Post.

Beyond that case, only a few anonymously sourced reports of the potential charges have emerged. A professionally coordinated social media campaign, which appears to be organized by the government, has accused the most important prisoner, Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, the former chief of the national guard and a son of the previous king, of enriching himself at public expense by diverting funds from the national guard. Citing unnamed sources, news reports have suggested that he would be accused of hiring ghost employees and paying inflated contracts to companies he owned for equipment like walkie-talkies and bulletproof military gear.

His brother, Prince Turki bin Abdullah, the former governor of Riyadh, will reportedly be accused of paying inflated contracts to companies he owned for a subway under construction in the capital.

But in a country named for its ruling family, the line between public and private money can be hard to discern.

Prince Mohammed’s corruption committee “can basically detain anyone for anything they choose to call corruption,” said Robert Jordan, the former United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia. “That’s part of how this web was spun.”

The most famous detainee, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, had no apparent need for graft. He was well known as an investor in international stock markets and as one of the world’s richest people; the sources of his wealth were more transparent than most princes.

Prince Alwaleed had been a critic of the kingdom’s closed economy and pervasive corruption. A secret 1996 diplomatic memorandum said that Prince Alwaleed told the American ambassador how a handful of senior princes controlled billions of dollars in off-budget programs, revenue roughly equal to one million barrels of the country’s oil per day. According to the memo, the Two Holy Mosques project and the Ministry of Defense’s strategic storage project, were “highly secretive, subject to no ministry of finance oversight or controls.”

The memo, disclosed in the trove of State Department documents released by WikiLeaks seven years ago, provided a detailed blueprint of the varied ways that money flows to members of the royal family either from state coffers or through private business in an otherwise opaque system.

An embassy official received an unprecedented glimpse into royal finances when he visited the Ministry of Finance Office of Decisions and Rules in 1996, where servants came to pick up stipends for their royal masters. Sons of the founding king received as much as $270,000 a month, while a great-great-grandchild collected $8,000 a month. On top of those payments, bonuses of $1 million to $3 million were handed out to, say, construct a palace.

Princes were known for borrowing money and simply never paying it back, which nearly led to the collapse of the National Commercial Bank. Royals were also known to act as the exclusive agents for foreign companies in the kingdom. When they founded their own businesses, they often relied on either government spending or state subsidies.

“The government, specifically the Ministries of Finance and Municipal and Rural Affairs, often transfers public land to princes, who in turn sell it at huge profit to real estate developers,” another diplomat wrote in a2007 memorandum, noting that Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the longtime ambassador to the United States, and Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahd, the favorite son of King Fahd, profited to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars by selling land for a centrally planned megacity north of Jidda.

Perhaps the most famous statement on corruption in Saudi Arabia was made by Prince Bandar. In an interview with PBS in 2001, he said: “If you tell me that building this whole country, and spending $350 billion out of $400 billion, that we had misused or got corrupted with $50 billion, I’ll tell you, yes. But I’ll take that anytime.”

Weapons contracts have long been a source of wealth. British media reported that Prince Bandar received well over $1 billion in secret payments from BAE Systems, the leading British military contractor, over the course of a decade. The son of founding King Abdulaziz’s personal doctor, Adnan Khashoggi, became a billionaire as an arms dealer and go-between for weapons makers and members of the royal family.

“In other countries we talk about petty bribes,” said Ms. Dixon of Transparency International. “In Saudi Arabia, it is theft on a grand scale.”

source:New York Times

Former Governor Uzor Kalu says Obasanjo lacks moral right to criticise Buhari

By Lawani Mikairu

Former Abia State Governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu on Friday said he will write a comprehensive reply to former President Olusegun Obasanjo letter to President Muhammadu Buhari criticizing his poor handling of the economy and urging him not to contest the 2019 presidential election after consulting the international intelligence community , adding that  the ex- president lacks the moral right to write such letter.

Kalu who made this known  in an interview at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two ( MMA2), in Lagos alleged that the former President  is the cause of many of the things that are happening in the country today.

And that PDP plundered the NNPC and CBN  at will , insisting that the APC will open the books to show the level of rot, it inherited from the PDP.

He also said Buhari has recorded some achievements  in his two and half years tenure , which should necessitates his re- election listing the commencement of work on the Second Niger Bridge and other interventions in the economy.

Kalu said :” I am not going to talk about former President Obasanjo’s letter because I am going to make some consultations with the United States, Germany, China and the United Kingdom, then  I will come back and speak on that letter. I think Obasanjo’s letter is not in the best interest of Nigeria. I don’t want to reply him now because I have given you example time without number”.

“There are three express roads Obasanjo refused to build when he was the President of Nigeria. Port Harcourt, Okigwe, Umuahia, Enugu expressway.
It is being built now by the Buhari administration. Another one is the Enugu, Awka, Onitsha expressway.
It is being built now by the Buhari administration. Obasanjo did not build it. Then there is the Onitsha, Owerri and Aba expressway. The Buhari administration is building it now”.

“Between Obasanjo and Buhari who should I call my friend in real terms? It is Buhari who is developing our region. With the roads, trailers loaded with manufactured goods in Aba will be able to get to their various destinations from the city. So Buhari is my friend; so he is a better President”, he said.

He added that ,”I don’t wish to reply that letter now because the former President has no morals that should qualify him to write that letter. This is because he is the cause of many of the things that are happening in this country today. I will make consultation with  the intelligence community of the countries I have mentioned before I will reply Obasanjo’s letter”.

Kalu  also said it will be unfair to the South East , South South and South Westerns part of Nigeria not to support the second term bid of Buhari, given the need to return power to the Southern part of the country after the completion of his two terms.

He however called on Buhari to speak up on the challenges of insecurity affecting the country , especially as it affects the attack of some section of the country by Fulani herdsmen.

source:vanguard

APC Committee on True Federalism recommends resource control, state Police, others

True Federalism Committee of the ruling party headed by Governor Nasir El-Rufai has submitted its report to the National Working Committee of All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday, calling for more devolution of powers to states.

The committee recommended that 10 items be moved from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List.

The items so recommended to be moved are Foods, Drugs, Poison, Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances; Fingerprints and Identification of Criminal Records; Registration of Business names; Labour; Mines and Minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys and natural gas; Police; Prisons; Public Holidays (to be classified as National Public Holidays and State Public Holidays); Railways and; Stamp Duties.

Resource control

“We have proposed that mining, minerals, oil should go to the states. Then there will be certain constitutional amendments. The Petroleum Act will be amended to show that states can now issue oil mining licences; the Land Use Act, Nigeria Minerals and Mining Act, the Petroleum Profit Tax Act 2007 would all need to be amended. So, we have proposed amendment that will ensure that minerals, mining and oil are vested in the states except offshore minerals.

Independent candidacy

”The committee equally recommended independent candidacy but with a caveat that individuals who intend to stand for elections must not have been a member of any political party at least six months to the elections in which they intend to contest.

“We believe that if these amendments are passed by the National Assembly, they will significantly re-balance our federation, devolve more powers to the states, reduce the burden of the Federal Government and make our country work better. This is something that people have been agitating for a long time and we have taken the reports of all previous constitutional and national conferences and put these before the Nigerian public in 2017 and these are the feedback that we got -10 recommendations – to move from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list and we have drafted the bill that will enable that to be passed by the National Assembly and the state houses of assembly,” said el-Rufai.

In the 56-page report sighted by Vanguard, the committee also recommended that the current Presidential System of Government with all its limitations be upheld but said the associated twin issues of corruption and high cost of governance be urgently addressed.

State creation/merger

The committee kicked against the creation of more states, saying any action to the contrary would amount to “merely creating new sub-national bureaucracies and their attendant costs, while reducing the share of federal statutory allocation accruing to existing and proposed new states.”

On merger, the report said: “There is no widespread support for merger of states…Nonetheless, the committee strongly recommends that the Constitution should provide for legal and administrative frameworks for states that might in future wish to consider this option provided this does not threaten the authority or existence of the federation. This recommendation is based on the growing regional economic cooperation that is being witnessed among states in various geopolitical zones of the country in order to maximise their potentials and opportunities.”

No LG autonomy

On local government autonomy, the committee said since “one size does not fit all,” the states should be allowed to legislate for local governments, including creating more councils.

“Local government autonomy is a very interesting subject in which we were surprised at the outcome. There were divergent opinions on this issue.

“We recommend that the current system of local government administration provided for by the constitution should be amended and that states should be allowed to develop and enact laws to have local government administration system that is peculiar to each of them,” the committee stated.

Police and Prisons

The committee said the police and prisons should be moved from the exclusive to the concurrent list. State police would however handle certain categories of cases.

“Most of the prisons in Nigeria, historically, were owned by the local governments, native authorities and the state of Nigeria. They were taken over by the federal government after the coup of 1966. We are recommending a reversal to the state of things as at 1966 but an additional responsibility is that the federal government will continue to have federal prisons while we have state prisons. Again, this is a major recommendation because right now we do not have enough prisons; our prisons are congested because only the federal government can build prisons. We think that sharing this responsibility with the state will make prisons available and reduce the burden on the federal government”.

Public Holidays

“Item 8 is Public Holidays. We want public holidays to be removed from the exclusive list to the concurrent list so that there will be federal public holidays for the entire country and then states can have their public holidays. This is already happening unconstitutional. This will just make the actions of the state governments lawful and legal and avoid confrontations with the federal government on this subject.”

Stamp Duties

“We are recommending that legislation on Stamp Duties should be moved to the concurrent list but the state will only legislate on stamp duties only for transactions involving individuals and businesses but not limited liability companies that were incorporated by the government of the federation.

“On Independent Candidacy, the committee notes that majority of respondents were opposed, surprisingly, to independent candidacy. However, the committee still recommends that the party should support the demand for widening the political space by allowing for independent candidacy. We believe that having independent candidates with necessary safeguards will make the political parties to be more honest and more democratic. So, because majority of the respondents were against independent candidacy, we believe largely because most of those that took interest in our deliberations were party members. We believe widening the political space is consistent with APC’s and the President’s commitment and we have made recommendations but with very strict conditions. We have included in the bill to allow for independent candidacy that no one that wants to run as an independent candidate should not be a member of a political party six months to the election.

So, by that, what it means is that you cannot be a member of a political party, lose primaries and then go ahead to run as an independent candidate. You have to make up your mind six months to the elections that none of the parties is good enough and you want to run as an independent candidate. We have put this safeguard to ensure that independent candidacy is not a platform for opportunism but a deliberate, passionate decision, not an emotional one. We have put four safeguards. One, any person who desires to stand as an independent candidate must not be a registered member of any political party at least six months before the election in which he intends to contest.

Two, his nominators must also not be members of any registered political party. Three, the said candidate must pay a deposit to INEC in the same range as the non-refundable deposit payable by candidates sponsored by political parties through their parties. So instead of paying to the parties, you now pay to INEC. If a governorship candidate pays one million to his party, you must pay one million to INEC to stand as an independent candidate. Finally, the candidate must also meet all other qualification requirements provided for by the constitution and any other law.”

On local government autonomy, the committee said since “one size does not fit all”, the states should be allowed to legislate for local governments, including creating more councils.

“Local government autonomy is a very interesting subject in which we were surprised at the outcome. There were divergent opinions on this issue.

“We recommend that the current system of local government administration provided for by the constitution should be amended and that states should be allowed to develop and enact laws to have local government administration system that is peculiar to each of them. What we heard from Nigerians is that as far as local government is concerned, there is no one size fits all. We all come from different histories, different cultures, different administrative systems and we believe that the constitution should ensure that there is a democratic local government system in every state but the details of, and the nature of that local government system, the number of local governments should be left to the states and states houses of assembly.

“We proposed amendments to Sections 7, 8, 162, the first schedule, part one and the first schedule of the constitution to give effect to our recommendations. The section that list the local governments and their Headquarters should be removed, so local governments are no longer named in the constitution. States can create their local governments and determine the structure of their local governments. We are by this, recognizing that in a federal system, you cannot have more than two tiers of government. Having three tiers of government is an aberration. There is no where in the world where our research has shown us that you have more than two federating units.”

Citizenship

“On citizenship, the issue of local government or state of origin is discriminatory and should be replaced with state of residence. It is around this that we have proposed an amendment to the Federal Character Commission Act to allow people domiciled in a place to be considered as indigenes.”

Judiciary

“We have proposed an amendment to create the State Judicial Council that will appoint and discipline judges within a state while the National Judicial Council will exercise control over the appointment, discipline of judges of the federal government only. We have proposed the creation of the state court of appeal so that from the High Court, you can first appeal to the state court of appeal before it goes to the Supreme Court of the federation. Again, this is consistent with federal practice all over the world.”

Referendum

“We also propose a constitutional amendment to allow for a referendum to be conducted on burning national or state issues before decisions are taken. Right now, the constitution has no room for referendum, but only in the creation of states.”

APC to Conclude Report Consideration mid-February

“Today is one of our proudest moments since we were entrusted with the task of running this party and we have succeeded in producing the government which we have sustained up till date and today, we have a report by a team of the most intelligent, young Nigerians; young Nigerians dealing with the most fundamental issues and challenges that beset this nation. Yes, a few months back, before August 2017, we had all sorts of experts pontificating or grandstanding on the issue of true federalism, on the issue of restructuring, resource control forgetting that even though the APC and all the parties that constituted the APC had committed themselves to true federalism or restructuring or whatever they decide to call it. Even then, the details still needed to be filled in. The concept had been accepted. The need for it was accepted but what did they mean? All those grandstanding on restructuring, what exactly did they mean? Did they mean a federation based on six or eight zones? Everyone that was pontificating had his own views but when you challenge them on what is restructuring or what is true federalism, they get aggressive, calling you names that you don’t believe in the country. When people run out of subjects to talk about, they remember restructuring. I hope this report will finally lay to rest such tendencies.

“But from the presentation of the chairman of this committee, everybody now has an idea of what the APC stands for with regards to true federalism and restructuring. This is the totality of our views, but it is still going to go through the mill. What I will promise you, Mr Chairman and members of the committee who have put in so much hardwork -you have not only provided the details, but you have gone ahead to provide the mechanism for implementation both in terms of law and necessary presidential action, is that this report is going to get the expeditious consideration of this party, the APC. Am going to promise that before the middle of February, it would have been considered and decided upon by the major structures of this party, the NEC, the Caucus of the party. And whatever is thereafter agreed, will be presented to the authorities as the considered views and decisions of the APC for appropriate implementation.

“What you have done is very challenging. What you have done will be controversial but what you have done still has given the basic foundation for the building of a new nation and a new way of doing business in this country; that we will not only devolve power and spread the wings of development nationwide but that will enable the people of this country to not only hold the president accountable but to also hold the states accountable because once this report is approved and implemented, states will become important routes of economic activities and development nationwide.”

AU blasts Trump for remark on ‘shithole countries’

The African Union, AU, on Friday blasted President Donald Trump for his profane comments about African countries and other nations, and recalled the U.S.’ history of bringing in slaves from the continent.

Trump Trump used the words “shithole countries” to describe Haiti, El Salvador and African countries in response to the suggestions by lawmakers that they restore protections for immigrants from there, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

The White House has not disputed the report. Responding to the remarks, AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo reminded Trump that many Africans “arrived in the U.S. as slaves,” adding that Trump’s profane statement “flies in the face of all accepted behaviour and practice.”

She described the U.S. as “a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity.”

In her statement, Kalonda said the African Union and its partners would continue to address the causes of migration while also fighting against racism and xenophobia.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s governing African National Congress party took to Twitter to chide Trump over his “offensive” choice of words.

Others responded to the derogatory slur with humour. “Good morning from the greatest most beautiful ‘shithole country’ in the world!!!”

@vanguard

Presidency Bike Accident: President Buhari’s Son, Yusuf, ready to be discharged

President Muhammadu Buhari’s son, Yusuf Buhari, who was admitted into Cedarcrest Hospital, Abuja, following injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident, is ready to be discharged.

According to a statement issued by Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in Abuja on Friday, the Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr Felix Ogedegbe, confirmed the “cheery news.’’ Yusuf Buha Adesina quoted Ogedegbe as saying that Yusuf Buhari underwent successful emergency surgical operations carried out by a team of neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons.

A statement issued by Ogedegbe read: “Mr Yusuf Muhammadu Buhari, son of His Excellency President Buhari, was admitted into Cedarcrest Hospitals Abuja in the late hours of the Dec. 26, 2017, following injuries sustained as a rider of a motorcycle.

“Following initial stabilization, he was taken into intensive care. He underwent successful emergency surgical operations the following morning carried out by our team of neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons.

“Over the following week, his condition improved remarkably and he was transferred from intensive care to the ward. “He has remained stable ever since and has continued to make remarkable progress. He is now ready to be discharged.

“His extremely speedy response to treatment so far is testimony to the world-class early care he has received here in Cedarcrest, Abuja.

“We are grateful to His Excellency, President Buhari and Her Excellency the First Lady Mrs. Aisha Buhari for the confidence in us and for allowing us to look after Yusuf.

"This show of confidence goes a long way to strengthen our collective belief in our resolve to offer world-class health care locally. Ogedegbe also lauded the efforts of the two ministers of health, hospital team for their dedication and hard work during the operations.

He added: “We are extremely grateful to our entire hospital team for their dedication and hard work during this period. “We are also grateful to the Minister of Health, the Minister of State for Health, and the eminent advisory team of specialists assembled by the Honorable Minister of Health who supported us in the course of looking after Yusuf.

"We are grateful to all Nigerians who prayed for Yusuf, his family and his carers. His response to treatment so far is clear testimony to answered prayers. “We did note some very misleading reports about this incident making the rounds in some social media outlets. Most of them would not ordinarily need to be responded to. “Suffice to say that there was only one person involved in this incident. No one else required treatment for this incident or its aftermath. Yusuf’s friend was not involved in the accident and did not sustain any injuries whatsoever. “Her Excellency was not at any time treated for shock and she was not admitted into Cedarcrest at any time. “In addition, Cedarcrest Hospitals has remained open to othr in-patients and out-patients and at no time were any patients denied access to the hospital.’’