Fighter of Corruption in Nigeria Considers Next Steps

By ADAM NOSSITER

The cash was handed over in large sacks containing $15 million in $100 bills, bags so heavy that the stoop-shouldered civil servant needed help carrying them.

James Ibori, a former governor of an oil-rich state in southern Nigeria, was so desperate to escape prosecution on corruption charges that he tried to pay off the civil servant, Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s anticorruption commissioner. Mr. Ribadu accepted the money, but it was all a ruse.

A bespectacled former police officer with the no-nonsense style of a G-man, Mr. Ribadu did not keep the money, a remarkable act in a nation where corruption is endemic. 

Instead he deposited it in a government bank vault, evidence of Mr. Ibori’s many misdeeds, and in 2007 Mr. Ibori was arrested. Ultimately the charges did not stick — the governor was acquitted by a Nigerian court. 

He was eventually convicted of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud in Britain, where he had stashed a hefty chunk of the hundreds of millions of dollars of oil money he was believed to have embezzled.

The outcome of the case is in many ways an emblem of Mr. Ribadu’s career as a corruption fighter in Nigeria, a country Colin L. Powell once called a nation of “marvelous scammers”: a string of partial victories against a seemingly unbeatable foe.

These days Mr. Ribadu sits at home in a government-issue villa in this prefab 1980s-era capital, ruminating on his next move.

At 53, he has been celebrated inside Nigeria and beyond for his five-year tenure as chief of the anticorruption unit, beginning in 2003.

In that time he built the unit, called the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, into Nigeria’s largest anticorruption agency, with over 1,200 employees in six offices across Nigeria. He successfully prosecuted in 2005 Tafa Balogun, an inspector general of police who had resigned. Mr. Balogun pleaded guilty to failing to declare his assets. 

Mr. Ribadu arrested Mr. Ibori, the former governor of Delta State, in December 2007. He prosecuted 10 prominent national public figures, including nine governors.

His reputation gained luster only after he was forced from office in 2008 and into exile after what he said were assassination attempts, after he tried to prosecute corrupt politicians. 

He was appointed a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington and was also a senior fellow at St.Antony's College, Oxford.

He returned to Nigeria to run for president in 2011, but came nowhere near victory, and since then has struggled to find a place in Nigerian public life. 

He continues to investigate graft, but with a less prominent platform. His report pointing out large-scale corruption and waste in the country’s oil industry, which was published last year, was ignored by the government that commissioned it.

“One of my very big disappointments,” Mr. Ribadu said intently in an interview here.

Still, he remains a unique figure, prominent in the political opposition and often named as a possible future candidate for office.

“For the generality of the people, he is a dogged anticorruption crusader,” said Femi Falana, a prominent Nigerian human rights lawyer. “For the corrupt elements that constitute the political class, they fear him.”

Since Mr. Ribadu’s abrupt ouster as head of the anticorruption agency, “there is a feeling that the war on corruption is a lost battle,” Mr. Falana said.

The anticorruption fight appears to be on sabbatical in the garden of Mr. Ribadu’s home here.

“Most people you will have encountered will want to ‘settle’ you,” the soft-spoken Mr. Ribadu said in an interview in the garden, using a Nigerian term for a bribe. “Up to my last day at work, people were trying to bribe me. That is the shocking thing.

Mr. Ribadu began his career as a street police officer in some of Lagos’s rougher neighborhoods, eventually rising to become the chief prosecutor for the Nigerian police. He speaks with a piercing intensity, sometimes clenching a fist to punctuate a point. 

He grew up deep in Nigeria’s northern hinterland in the town of Yola. It was a devout Muslim household and a “refuge against pain and injustice” that succored persecuted lepers, he wrote in his autobiography.

Nigeria: Switzerland Returns U.S.$1.7 Billion Looted Funds to Nigeria, Others

The government of Switzerland has said that it has returned a total sum of $1.7billion both in cash and assets to Nigeria and other countries in the last 15 years.

Ambassador of Switzerland to Nigeria, Hans-Rudolf Hodel disclosed this to journalists in Abuja yesterday at the beginning of a 3-day seminar on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism, in conjunction with the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) and the Nigerian government.

According to Hodel, the countries to which the looted funds and assets were returned include: Montesinos case, Peru (2005), the Marcos case, the Phillipines (2003), the Angolese assets case, Angola (2005) and the Abacha case, Nigeria (2005).

Regarding the case of the late former head of state, Gen Sani Abacha's loot, the ambassador said Switzerland had returned $700million of illicit assets to Nigeria, and the case had been successfully closed since 2009.

"In December 1999, Nigeria presented to Switzerland a formal request for mutual legal assistance involving former Head of State, Sani Abacha. On the basis of Swiss legislation in partnership with Nigerian authorities, it was able to gather all relevant information to proceed, between 2005 and 2009 with the restitution of the funds to the Nigerian government," Hodel explained.

He also refuted claims in some quarters that the Swiss government was holding on to part of the Abacha loot.

He stated that Switzerland found only $700million which it had returned, adding that if there is proof of any looted fund discovered or left in any Swiss account, the government would follow due process and return it accordingly.

Regarding investigations into the fraudulent activities of some Nigerian marketers in the fuel subsidy scheme under the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF), he said the Swiss government in 2012 received a request from Nigeria for mutual legal assistance.

"The request has been forwarded to the competent Swiss judicial authorities who are in contact with the competent Nigerian judicial authorities. Legal proceedings are ongoing and we cannot provide any further information," Hodel said.

On the issue of terrorism, Hodel condemned the act in strong terms, describing it as a crime. The ambassador said that Switzerland believes that international and regional cooperation is crucial in the fight against terrorism.

"We, therefore, actively take part in the Global Counter-terrorism Forum and by doing so, intend to strengthen the comprehensive and balanced implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy", he said.

Nigeria to ditch polymer for paper banknotes

Nigeria is to revert to paper banknotes, the country\'s central bank has announced, in a policy switch bucking a growing trend around the world for tougher polymer-based currency.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) signed a deal in 2006 with Australia\'s Securency International to print lower more-circulated units of the naira in polymer, while higher denominations were kept in paper form.

But six years down the line -- and after allegations that the manufacturer bribed foreign officials to secure contracts, including in Nigeria -- the CBN said it was being forced to reverse the policy.

"Polymer has been on a test run since 2007. This explains why we did not go the whole hog by printing all the notes in polymer," central bank spokesman Ugochukwu Okoroafor told AFP.

"We only used polymer for N5, N10, N20 and N50, while N100, N200, N500 and N1,000 are in paper form.

"We soon discovered that the (polymer) notes easily fade out because of our peculiar hot climate in Nigeria... making them look tattered when in use over time."

Earlier experiments indicated that the polymer-based notes, which are in use in 23 countries around the world, including Australia, could last longer than traditional cotton-paper notes.

But Nigeria\'s central bank said there had been a public outcry about the poorer quality of some of the new currency in circulation.

Securency International was reported to have supplied 1.9 billion of its Guardian brand polymer-based notes to Nigeria between 2006 and 2008.

In the wake of the bribery claims, the Reserve Bank of Australia sold its 50 percent stake in the firm.

Innovia Security, which bought out Securency International earlier this year, said it did not comment on clients or their business but added that a number of countries with hot and humid climates used their product.

"We have had no issues of premature ink wear or colour fading in these markets," a spokesman said in an emailed statement.

Nigeria, whose economy is predominantly cash-based, is looking to increase people'

s use of electronic payment methods such as credit cards, online trading and introducing cashpoint machines in a bid to try to reduce the amount individuals carry around at any one time.

However, there are concerns that switching back to paper notes is a sign of a lack of a coherent policy.

"My concern is that Nigeria is fond of policy somersaults," said Moruf Akamo, a former banker.

"What becomes of the initial investment in the polymer technology, considering that the notes have been in circulation for only six years after their adoption in 2007?"

Akamo said the CBN should have done more research to ascertain the feasibility of polymer notes before starting the project.

"Why is Nigeria going back and forth? It\'s time our policy makers got their acts together and do what is right for this country," he said.

Yemi Adegbola advised the central bank against spending money to print paper notes, which can degrade quickly with daily handling and the tropical climate.

"I can\'t see any logic in going back to paper notes," said Adegbola, a treasury manager at a commercial bank in Lagos.

"The trend worldwide is to embrace polymer. I wonder why Nigeria\'s case is different?" he added, claiming that polymer was less susceptible to forgery.

"It\'s not easy to fake polymer notes like paper notes," he said.

Ufoma Okeke, a 25-year-old business administration student, said the CBN should not waste scarce resources on paper banknotes.

"Nigeria is broke. The states are finding it difficult to pay their bills. We can better utilise our limited resources rather than waste such on a white elephant project," she cautioned.

The CBN, however, said the switchover, likely from the middle of 2014, would not be a drain on the country\'s finances and would be gradual.

"What we have decided is to switch over to paper notes when we next want to print naira notes," said Okoroafor.

"When the polymer notes in circulation become tattered and ready to be disposed of, we will start the printing of paper notes."

New paper notes will be printed locally by the state-run Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company rather than abroad, he added.

PDP CRISIS: Baraje resigns as board chairman of NRC

The Chairman of the faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, tagged New PDP, Kawu Baraje, on yesterday resigned his position as the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC.

Mr. Baraje, who was suspended from the ruling party alongside four others on Monday by the Bamanga Tukur-led National Working Committee, NWC, tendered his resignation in a letter to the Federal Government, which he routed through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Pius Anyim.

He had been appointed to the position on May 22 in a letter with reference number SGF.19/S.81/XIV/430, but was inaugurated with other members of the Board on May 28.

Mr. Baraje, a former National Secretary and acting National Chairman of the PDP, said in the letter, which he also sent to the Minister of Transport, that he resigned because of the current crisis in the ruling party.

He stated that since the chairmanship of NRC was allotted to the party, the ongoing disagreement between some top members of the party would not allow him to continue in that position.

He asked the SGF to convey his intention to quit the position to the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, which he said he would remain loyal to.

Mr. Baraje and other senior members of the PDP had on August 31 walked out of the partys Special National Convention to form the New PDP.

Among those who joined him in the splinter group were former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, seven governors, and some members of the National Assembly.

The governors are Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), and Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers).

The formation of the New PDP worsened the crisis in the ruling party, which has remained intractable despite various peace meeting conveyed to resolve it.

Mr. Barajes letter, which he personally signed, reads in part, I hasten to express my sincere gratitude to His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, through your good office for the confidence he placed in my ability to have appointed me to such an exalted position as Chairman, Nigeria Railway Corporation.

His Excellency, Mr. President, will recall that this appointment came from his discretion in allotting some positions to our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

However, it is no longer news that there is an ongoing disagreement in principle between some top stakeholders of our party of which I am among on the one hand and the current leadership of the party on the other.

This quagmire has upturned my belief in the present leadership of our great party and has consequently made my continued stay as the Chairman, Nigeria Railway Corporation Governing Board uncomfortable.

Realizing that the position of the Nigeria Railway Corporation Chairmanship was allocated to the party and of which I am supposed to symbolize, I would appreciate if your good office could please convey to His Excellency, Mr. President, of my intention to relinquish this position with immediate effect because I can no longer represent the interest of the party whose leadership I no longer believe in.

While pledging his continued loyalty to the Goodluck Jonathan administration, Mr. Baraje said, I will like His Excellency, Mr. President, to please accept the assurances of my highest regard and consideration.

In a separate letter, dated November 12, to members of the Governing Board of the NRC, Mr. Baraje expressed gratitude to them for the supportive role they played as individuals and as a group in making his six months tenure successful.

He said he enjoyed their support, love and care within the period; adding that the Board succeeded in carrying out some positive changes in moving the rail transport in Nigeria forward.

No doubt, we have developed and maintained very cordial relationship amongst ourselves since we were sworn in as members of the NRC Governing Board on the 28th of May, 2013, he said. I must say that I have enjoyed your support, love and care within this short period of six months, May November, 2013.

He, however, told his colleagues that he was no longer interested in the job because of the crisis in the party.

This quagmire has upturned my belief in the current leadership of our great party, PDP, and has consequently made my continued stay as the Chairman of NRC Governing Board uncomfortable. I have therefore humbly turned in my letter of resignation to this effect immediately (copy attached.)

Mr. Baraje wished the members of the Governing Board continued success in the remaining tenure and assured them of his continued friendship and companionship, saying his door would always remain open.

Confirming Mr. Barajes resignation, the spokesperson of the New PDP, Chukwuemeka Eze, said he (Baraje) took the action to give room and time to manage the splinter group and avoid any insinuation or plot to use the appointment of his NRC Chairmanship to blackmail or embarrass him in future.

Mr. Eze said the struggle to emancipate and enthrone proper democracy in the polity remained a task that must be won.'

PDP CRISIS DEEPENS AS BARAJE,OYINLOLA & OTHERS SUSPENDED

Kawu Baraje

The crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, took a new twist Monday as the national leadership slammed an indefinite suspension on its former National Secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and three other leaders of the New Peoples Democratic Party, nDPD, and ordered their investigation, for alleged anti-party activities.

The others whose suspension was announced by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh at a press conference in Abuja, were a former acting National Chairman of the party, Kawu Baraje, a former Deputy National Chairman, Sam Sam Jaja and a former senator and ambassador from Jigawa State, Ibrahim Kazaure.

Mr. Baraje is the National Chairman of the nPDP, while Mr. Jaja is his deputy and Mr. Oyinlola, the National Secretary.

But Mr. Baraje and his colleagues have, through their faction, described their suspension as the greatest joke of the century, adding that it was not only an abuse of the party constitution, but also the court process, which reinstated Mr. Oyinlola as National Secretary.

While announcing the decision of the party to suspend the four persons, Mr. Metuh said preliminary hearings conducted in line with the PDP Constitution showed that they had breached Section 58 (1) (b), (g), (h) and (i) of the document.

Section 58 (1) says, “Subject to the provision of this constitution, the party shall have power to discipline any member who (b) commits any breach of the party’s constitution and or manifesto; (g) engages in disorderly conduct at meetings or rallies or at any party function; (h) engages in any conduct likely to cause disaffection among members of the party or is likely to disrupt the peaceful, lawful and efficient conduct of the business of the party; (i) engages in unauthorised publicity of disputes within the party or create a parallel party organ at any level.

The PDP spokesperson added that they are to be referred to the party’s National Disciplinary Committee, NDC, inaugurated two weeks ago by the National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, for further investigation. The Committee is headed by Second Republic Transport Minister, Umaru Dikko, a personal friend of Mr. Tukur.

He described the suspended persons as the pillars behind the formation of the nPDP, also called Kawu Baraje faction, and warned members of the ruling party across the country to avoid any dealings with them.

The action of the party is believed to be a move at preventing Mr. Oyinlola’s reinstatement as National Secretary as ordered by the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, last Thursday. He was sacked from the position by the Federal High Court, Abuja last January 11. He, however, approached the Court of Appeal, which delivered judgement last week.

Prior to the announcement of the suspension order on Monday, security had been beefed up around the party’s national secretariat in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, allegedly to stop Mr. Oyinlola from resuming as secretary.

Mr. Oyinlola, a former governor of Osun State, is the National Secretary of the nPDP, which was floated by a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, seven governors and some members of the National Assembly, elected on the platform of the PDP.

The governors are Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers) and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).

Reacting to the suspension, the faction in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chukwuemeka Eze, said it was the greatest joke of the century, adding that Mr. Tukur and the NWC members had exposed themselves as champions of undemocratic acts and greatest enemies of the party.

In September, few days after the birth of the Baraje faction, Mr. Oyinlola and 12 members of the PDP, who attended a rally he organised in his home town, Okuku in Osun State, were suspended by the state chapter of the party.

It was not clear why the seven governors belonging to the splinter group, also called G7 Governors and its other senior members of the Baraje faction, were not suspended.

It said, “With this greatest joke of the century, Tukur and his funny NWC have only succeeded in exposing themselves not only as champion of undemocratic acts but the greatest enemies of PDP as all their actions are all geared at ensuring that peace eludes the party.

“Nigerians can now understand why we are hell bent of ensuring that these military mentally inclined men are removed from our political psyche if we are to enrich and uplift our democratic credentials.”

The faction said the uncivilized action was not acceptable to its members, insisting that Mr. Oyinlola “must be reinstated as a matter of urgency as ordered by the Appeal Court as the national Secretary.”

It also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and any other government agency not to entertain any document or letter from PDP without the authorization of Mr. Oyinlola in view of the fact that he was the incumbent National Secretary of the party fully recognized and sanctioned by a credible Court.

It also urged “all good members of PDP to remain calm, steadfast and focused as we fight the illegality which Tukur and his people represent as the task to strengthen and rebuild our party is a task that we must conclude.”

Only on Sunday night, the governors expressed confidence that Mr Oyinlola would be reinstated as the national secretary of the party.

Mr. Aliyu, who spoke to journalists after a meeting of the group at the Kano State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, said its members were happy with the court order reinstating Mr. Oyinlola’s as the National Secretary of the PDP because it fell in line with the reforms they were canvassing.

“We look forward to resolution and future resolution of the matter,” the Niger State Governor said.

Apart from sealing the group’s national secretariat in Maitama District of Abuja, two previous meetings of the governors had been disrupted by the police.

Several peace meetings held to resolve the crisis in the ruling party had yielded no fruit. The governors met on two occasions with President Goodluck Jonathan and some senior members of the party at the Presidential Villa. Before then, the Elders Committee of the PDP led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, had also waded into the crisis.

POLICE DISTRUPTS G-7 GOVERNORS MEETING IN ABUJA

A team of policemen led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) incharge of Asokoro Police Unit, CSP Nnanna Ama, yesterday evening stormed the Kano State Governor’s Lodge located in Asokoro, Abuja and disrupted a caucus meeting of the Alhaji Abubakar Baraje faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a statement from the faction which calls itself the New PDP said.

The G-7 Governors in attendance were Mr. Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Dr. Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Dr. Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Engr. Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Retired Admiral Murtala Nyako (Adamawa).

The full text of the statement reads:

“The Caucus of the New Peoples Democratic Party (New PDP) met this evening, Sunday, on 3rd November, 2013, at the Kano State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, to review progress reports, accept the reports of committees and take important decisions on the future of the movement. The Caucus comprises the G7 Governors, former Governors, present and past Senators, past and present members of the Federal House of Representatives, National Working Committee (NWC) members and some elders and stakeholders of the party.

Sadly, midway into the meeting, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) incharge of Asokoro Police Unit, CSP Nnanna Ama, burst into the scene and ordered the meeting stopped, threatening to mobilize troops to abort it if his order was not obeyed. According to CSP Ama he has the directive from the Villa to arrest the Governors if the meeting is not stopped. For a DPO to be sent not only to disrupt meeting of Governors duly elected by Nigerians but to arrest them if they fail to heed his counsel is a sign that these people can decide to disrupt the association of any group of Nigerians at any time knowing that such an act is a breach of the Constitution of our country.  Not minding all our past complains about the impunity and disregard of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by our Security organs and it is sadden that the Federal Government has continued to maintain stoic silence and bluntly refused to call our security agencies to order accordingly to us is one of the wonders of the present administration in Nigeria. What is baffling to us the more is the continuous silence of our elders and past Heads of State on these various acts of impunity perpetuated by this administration knowing the grave danger such acts will lead this country to. Let it not be assumed that we are the only one to suffer for this desperation and frustration by some of these misguided elements in this administration as they will go after other Nigerians if they are not called to order on time.

Though before the arrival of CSP Ama the Governors have gone very far in their deliberations as the meeting has considered the Mobilisation/Contact Committee’s recommendations on how to receive the five new Governors joining the group and directed the NWC of the party to set in motion a machinery to receive the new entrants. The NWC was also directed to critically examine the available options and recommend to the Caucus the platform to be used for the 2015 general elections. The Caucus is to deliberate on this during its next meeting to be held immediately after the proposed peace talks with President Goodluck Jonathan. The options to be considered include either to remain in PDP or adopt any of the three other options, namely, accept the proposal of APC or join PDM, VOA or form a new political party.

The Caucus also noted the majority request that seeing that we have majority of our members in the National Assembly and majority of the Governors, the idea of continuous waiting for the meeting with Mr. President before deciding our future is no longer ideal in view of the lukewarm attitude of Mr. President and his lieutenants in restoring peace to the party and refusal to attend to most of our demands. The Caucus decided that we should give the President some weeks grace before finally deciding on our next line of action.

The Caucus also stated total displeasure at the lack of reasonable effort to sort out the lingering ASSU/FG face-off which has kept our children at home for over four months. It counselled the Federal Government to urgently arrest this ugly incident by declaring a state of emergency in the education sector to enable the Government meet up with the demands of ASUU.

The Caucus concluded by encouraging members to continue to keep faith with the leadership of the party at this trial period, fully aware that it is only a matter of time before we take a final decision that will auger well for our nascent democracy and the nation at large.”

The Criterion Empowers Youths at 7th Conference

The Criterion, an Association of Muslim Women in Business and different profession has concluded plans to empower the youths through vocational training during her forthcoming 7th Biennial National Conference in Lagos.

 With the theme 'Women Empowerment: Key to Societal Development', the four- day event is slated to commence on Thursday 14th November and end on Sunday 17th November.

According to the National Publicity Secretary of  association, event will offer opportunities for youths especially Secondary school students, Abdulmajeed Shakirat, will learn vocational skills such as soap making, event decoration and bead making.

Besides, participants at the event will have opportunity to listen to soul enriching and inspirational lectures and discussions from high profile speakers.

The conference which is an event for the whole family, has Sub themes such as: ``Self-Employment: making the dream a reality'', ``Small and Medium Scale enterprises: Challenges of the Millennium'' and `` Reorientation of the Empowered Women to empower others''

Delegates from all over Nigeria are expected to arrive Lagos on Wednesday. The event will kick off with interaction with 'Alasalatu' Women groups at Somolu Central Mosque on Thursday November 14, 2013 with Alhaja Sidikat Binuyo, the former Dawah officer of FOMWAN as the guest speaker 

The vocational training for Secondary schools students will take place at University of Lagos Auditorium where they will learn basic skills on bead making, soap making and event decoration on Friday, Nov. 15, 2013.

The Criterion will also pay a humanitarian visit to Remand Home for girls at Idi Araba, Lagos.

The formal opening will take place on Saturday Nov. 16, 2013 at the University of Lagos Multi-purpose hall where participants will have ample opportunities to interact, learn and listen to soul inspiring lectures. 

Alhaja Risqot Akiode, Permanent Secretary for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in Lagos State will deliver a key note address during the formal opening. 

The Association stated that free medical checkups will equally be going on concurrently during the conference while there would be opportunity for buying and selling.

The National Amirah (President) of the Criterion Dr. Olubunmi Labo Popoola said: ‘the theme for the conference has been specifically chosen because of the alarming rate of unemployment in the nation which has led to the rise in crime rate. 

The Association believes that when youths are gainfully engaged, the society will be a better place to live for all of us. 

Being passionate about women empowerment, the theme focused on women empowerment as the panacea to societal development’.

OVER 70 BOKO HARAM TERRORIST GROUP MEMBERS KILLED IN COMBINED AIR & GROUND ASSAULT

Nigerian troops killed 74 members of Boko Haram in an air and ground assault, the military said on Friday, a further sign of stepped up operations against the Islamist sect.

The offensive on Thursday targeted Boko Haram camps in the remote villages of Galangi and Lawanti in northeast Borno state where the militants have their strongest presence.

"The operation, which involved ground and aerial assault supported by theNigerian Air Force led to the destruction of the identified terrorist camps, killing 74 terrorists while others fled with serious injuries," Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Dole said in a statement.

Dole said two soldiers were wounded. The Nigerian military has in the past played down its own losses and those of civilians, security experts say.

The army said it had killed 37 Islamists in a similar strike last week in another remote area of Borno.

Nigerian forces have intensified attacks against Boko Haram since May, when President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three states in the northeast.

Boko Haram is fighting to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria. While the offensive against it appears to have scattered the movement, it has also seen reprisal attacks against civilians suspected of cooperating with the authorities.

Thousands have been killed since the sect launched its uprising against the state in 2009, turning itself from a clerical movement opposed to Western culture into an armed militia with links to al Qaeda's West African wing.

The group is seen as the biggest security threat to Africa's top oil producer. Although their activities are located hundreds of miles away from its southern oil fields, they have bombed the capital Abuja at least three times, including a deadly attack on the United Nations' Nigeria headquarters in 2011.

source:Reuters

N989.2m Scam : EFCC DECLARES AN ITALIAN WANTED

....... Also  Nsika Usoro and Steve Bajo for N107m Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has declared an Italian, Mariani Albino wanted in connection with a case of obtaining money under false pretence, stealing and money laundering to the tune of N989, 288,400.00 (Nine Hundred and Eighty Nine Million, Two Hundred and Eighty Eight Thousand, Four Hundred Naira Only).

Also declared wanted are two Nigerians, Nsika Usoro and Steve Bajo. The duo who are directors of Rigel Energy and Maritime Limited are wanted for fraudulent conversion of the sum of N107million belonging to So Energy, a subsidiary of Sahara Group.

Albino is 53 years, 5ft 3inches in height and fair in complexion. He speaks Italian and English languages fluently.

His last known address is No 9B, Ezekwuese Close, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

EFCC Arraigns Ex-Naval Officer, Others for N556m Scam

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, last Wednesday, October 23, 2013 arraigned Okorie Joseph Ogbonaya, Barrister Emmanuel Mbajunwa and Akaeze Ventures Enterprises before Justice Florence I. Duruohaigwe of the Imo State High Court sitting in Owerri on a 3- count charge bordering on conspiracy and stealing.

One of the charges reads, "that you Okorie Joseph Ogbonnaya and others still at large, sometime in the month of June 2009 at Owerri within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court with intent to defraud stole and fraudulently converted the sum of $2,256,000 (Two Million Two Hundred and Fifty Six Thousand United States dollars) property of former Oceanic Bank (now Ecobank Plc)"

The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Upon their plea, EFCC counsel, M.K Bashir asked for a date for trial and urged the court to remand the accused persons in prison custody. Responding, the defence counsel, D.O Agbo prayed the court to admit the accused persons to bail stressing that the charges preferred against them are bailable. He stated that the accused persons are ready to make themselves available for trial.

However, the prosecuting counsel objected on the ground that the offence for which the accused persons are being tried was felony and insisted on written applications for their bail. He informed the court that the first accused person, Ogbonaya had jumped the administrative bail earlier granted him by the Commission. He therefore urged the court to remand the accused person in prison custody pending the determination of the substantive case.

Justice Duruohaigwe after listening to the argument of both counsel, granted bail to the accused persons in the sum of N4million and one surety each in like sum. Each of the sureties must submit an affidavit of means, an evidence of tax clearance for two years and a recent passport photograph.

While adjourning the case to November 5, 2013, Justice Duruohaigwe ordered that the accused persons be remanded in Federal prison, Owerri until the bail conditions are met.

Ogbonaya was alleged to have obtained two loan facilities of Two Million, Two Hundred and Fifty Six United States Dollars, $2.256m ( about Three Hundred and Sixty Million Naira) and One Hundred and Ninety Six Million Naira (N196 Million) to enable his company, Akaeze Venture Enterprises import 100 containers of rice from Thailand. 

The imported rice was to be warehoused in a designated bank at Owerri. The suspects allegedly connived with the clearing agent to divert 81 out of the 100 containers to other locations unknown to the bank. The accused were said to have sold the diverted containers and converted the proceeds into personal gain.

The accused persons by their action committed an offence contrary to section 516 of the criminal code law cap 30 Laws of Imo state 1991.

House Probes Aviation Minister Over N255m Bullet Proof Cars

Fresh from the Sallah break, the House of Representatives, Tuesday, resolved to investigate the $1.6 million (N255 million) allegedly used by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to purchase two BMW bullet proof cars for the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah.

The committee is to ascertain whether the purchase was made by the minister; whether it was authorised by any appropriation; whether NCAA has been complying with Financial Responsibility Act (FRA) on Internally Generated Revenue, and whether the minister is entitled to such vehicle under any law in Nigeria.

Relying on Section 88 of the 1999 constitution (as amended), a member of the House, Hon. Osagie, expressed concern that given the poverty and unemployment ravaging the nation, “it will be absurd, unthinkable and indeed unpatriotic for an agency of government to connive with its political head to incur such an expenditure simply for the comfort and safety of one public officer.”

He said the RMAFC has elaborate recommendations regarding the conduct of public officers including ministers and how they would be catered for in terms of salaries and emoluments, housing and motor vehicle. He said recommendations on these have been passed into law by the National Assembly.

Supporting the motion, Hon. Joseph Kigbu (CPC, Nasarawa) said there was no justification for any public official to spend money on frivolities, adding that the practice needs to be checked.

Others who supported the motion were Hon. Hassan Sale (APC, Benue), Emmanuel Jime (PDP, Benue), Matthew Omegara (APC, Imo) and Mohammed Wudil (PDP, Kano.

In a related development, the House is equally investigating the renovation contract on the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano as well as alleged barring of the Qatar airline to the airport by the Ministry of Aviation.

Upon a motion by Hon. Aliyu Sani Madaki (PDP, Kano), the House resolved to inaugurate  an ad hoc committee to investigate allegations against the Ministry of Aviation for blocking Qatar Airlines from flying the Kano route. The committee is to also ascertain the quality of renovation work done on the airport.

While leading debate on the motion, Madaki said in June  , there was a bilateral agreement between Nigeria and Qatar officials in Doha where Qatar presented two options to be granted additional landing permits in Kano and Abuja.

According to him, one of the options was that Qatar be granted 21 weeks frequencies to Lagos and 14 weeks frequencies both to Kano and Abuja. He disclosed that the Nigerian delegation refused the 39 additional landing permits demanded by Qatar and instead directed the airline to use Enugu and Port Harcourt airport.

Both motions were unanimously adopted.

Source:The Will