Minister of Works, David Umahi, says the project that led to the disbursement of N9.3bn to a Microfinance Bank by the ministry of Works was not awarded when he assumed office.

Recall that Tracka, BudgIT’s service delivery promotion platform, had exposed how the Federal Ministry of Works paid N9.3bn to FIMS Microfinance Bank Ltd in violation of the 2007 procurement law.

The release of the funds for 62 projects was made between June and December 2023.

Tracka stated that some of these projects include “the payment of N1.4bn in September 2023 for the construction of Yaba-Yangoje Road in the Federal Capital Territory; N1.2bn in October 2023 for the rehabilitation of a 2km road from Oriawo-boroboro-oke-medina School of Science Road in Atiba, Oyo state; N1.2bn in October 2023 for the rehabilitation of Kosobo-awe Junction Road in Oyo East LGA in Oyo state and N1.2bn between August and November 2023 for the rehabilitation of Ejule-otukpo road in Benue State to mention a few.”

Tracka added that according to its mission statement and the information on its website, FIMS Microfinance Bank Ltd. was incorporated on December 11, 2009, to conduct microfinance businesses/services with a certificate of incorporation number RC 858800.

“As a financial institution, the award of road construction contracts amongst others to this company is a violation of the Public Procurement Act 2007, ” BudgIT’s Country Director, Gabriel Okeowo, had said while calling on anti-graft agencies to question and probe the payments as well as prosecute the erring officers.

But while clarifying, the minister said he was in the senate when the first payment was made in June.

He said the ministry acted in accordance with the law as the payment was made for service delivered by contractors and not for contract awarded to the bank itself.

“There are issues with the report because up to 20th of August, I was in the senate. When a contractor has done his or her work, the money becomes his money, he can say, pay it to this bank or another. So, they are being mischievous. If they are asking whether the job has been done, that is reasonable and a right to provide an answer but they do not have the right to say where a contractor will say his money will be paid. Whether it is paid into a microfinance bank or not, without prejudice that I don’t have the facts about the jobs, they have no right to say it is paid into a microfinance bank.”

He added that the information was a distraction, alleging that it is the work of bad contractors to fight back.

“The jobs were never done by me, payments were not done by me and even if it was me, if the jobs were done and the certificate generated; deployed to the platform and it was appropriated and money was released against the project, then they have no right to question where it was paid.”

“In all the states. It is our policy that the state governors through their appointed officials must mark off any project especially the emergency projects. When the contractor has completed a job, no matter how big it is. My advice for the governor is to come to the site and look at it before it gets to our office for payment, where this procedure is not done, I will not sign any generated certificate. So, we have invited the public to also be a part of the monitoring,” he said.

The abrogation of the positions of acting and deputy leader in the leadership cadre of the apex Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, is throwing up many questions. In this report, SEYE OLUMIDE, Southwest Bureau Chief, looks at the issues that prompted the development.

The lingering face-off between the two nonagenarian leaders of the apex Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti and Pa Ayo Adebanjo, whom he (Fasoranti) relinquished leadership authority to as acting leader of the group in 2021, may have been tactically resolved with the abrogation of the positions of acting and deputy leader.

The group, however, constituted an Elders’ Caucus to manage its affairs while retaining the position of a national leader, who would lead until death calls.

Following this unanimous decision, which was raised at the group’s quarterly meeting, held in Akure at the residence of Pa Fasoranti last Thursday, Adebanjo ceased to be the mainstream Yoruba group’s acting leader, while Fasoranti remains the organisation’s substantive leader.

A communique signed by the organisation’s National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, explained that the elders’ caucus would be responsible for advising Fasoranti on sundry issues.

Members of the elders’ caucus are R.F. Fasoranti as Chairman, Ayo Adebanjo, Oba Olu Falae, Senator Cornelius Adebayo, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Basorun Seinde Arogbofa, Senator Kofo Bucknor- Akerele, Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu, Lt.-Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd), Maj.-Gen. Olu Bajowa (rtd), among others.

Before last Thursday, the two nonagenarians took extreme positions on whether the group is a socio-political or socio-cultural organisation. They, and their loyalists, also toed separate paths during the last general election, especially on who to support between the presidential candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Bola Tinubu and that of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi.

Fasoranti and his loyalists maintained that Afenifere is a socio-cultural body but the Adebanjo faction insisted that the group is a political body. The Fasoranti side also believed that with where Nigeria is today, it is expedient for it to support its own while the Adebanjo side insisted that the baton of power should move to the Igbo and not the Yoruba nation.

Although Tinubu defeated Obi to emerge President, Adebanjo, who had based his position on fairness, justice and equity, expressed open sympathy and support for Obi, even up to the Supreme Court; a decision that irked many Yoruba people, who wondered the type of inducement that could have prompted such an unflinching support for an easterner at the expense of his fellow Yoruba man in the power game of Nigeria.

Some had alleged that what prompted Adebanjo goes beyond the principle of justice, fairness and equity but a personal dislike for Tinubu, while others said the nonagenarian had always been looking for a means to take a pound of flesh from the former governor of Lagos State over the shabby treatment he (Tinubu) inflicted on Afenifere in the past.

An investigation by The Guardian revealed that majority of those parading themselves as loyalists of Pa Adebanjo all the while took the decision with the thinking that it would be wrong to backstab an elderly person not necessarily because they believe it makes sense to ditch a fellow Yoruba man and support an Igbo for the presidency, knowing full well the unfavourable disposition of the Southeast to Southwest in the politics of Nigeria.

It was learnt that many of those who played along with Adebanjo would have played the game differently and it was not clear if some of them had been romancing with the camp of Fasoranti.

The last three years had left the group more polarised than it had ever been since it was founded in the 50s to fight and advance the cause of Yoruba people; making the once-respected Afenifere to become a shadow of itself, with many respected Yoruba sons and daughters choosing not to identify with it.

Pa Reuben Fasoranti

Deputy/Acting Leader Positions Abrogated
The decision taken last Thursday was said to have been planned for the group’s meeting last September when the youth in the organisation threatened to pull out unless Adebanjo is removed as acting leader. It was gathered that it took the wisdom of Oba Falae to calm frayed nerves after which a reconciliation committee met with Adebanjo. It was learnt that Adebanjo refused to entertain the committee.

But another committee was said to have been set up, which comprises Olusegun Mimiko, Iyiola Omisore, Demola Folarin and Dare Babarinsa, which Adebanjo also refused to meet with.

Another effort towards reconciliation was also made, which involved the Fasoranti group and the Adebanjo group selecting five people each to broker a truce. It was however gathered that on the day the meeting was supposed to hold, Pa Adebanjo directed his loyalists not to attend.

Some members of the Fasoranti side reportedly met with Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State to intervene in the issue, which prompted the governor’s move sometime last year to reconcile Afenifere. But he was stylishly rebuffed.

It was also gathered that Mimiko, Bishop Ladigbolu and Arogbofa also attempted to reconcile the group but were also forced to jettison the effort.

These efforts could be what Mimiko referred to last Thursday when he disclosed to journalists after the meeting in Akure that all efforts and avenues had been explored to reconcile the group to no avail, hence the decision to abrogate the position of acting and deputy leader.

Genesis Of The Impasse
When Pa Fasoranti relinquished authority to Adebanjo, he must have done that on the basis that it was appropriate for him to yield ground for a more youthful and energetic person after 13 years in the saddle. However, the genuineness of his intention then could be questioned as there were more younger and energetic people within the group apart from Pa Adebanjo, who was also in his 90s then.

Since 2021, the organisation has been polarised along Fasoranti and Adebanjo factions with differences based on socio-political and socio-cultural ideologies. The Adebanjo faction has continued to maintain that since Pa Fasoranti has handed over authority, integrity and the ethos of Yoruba Omoluabi behooves on him to allow the new leader to function uninterrupted, while the faction loyal to Fasoranti insisted that the authority was delegated to Adebanjo in acting capacity and that the principle behind the leadership in Afenifere is until death.

Justifying his position that Afenifere remain a socio-political group, Adebanjo insisted that the principle behind the establishment of Afenifere was political during the First Republic when the defunct Action Group (AG) was the major party in the Western Region. But after the military coup of January 1966, all political parties were proscribed, which compelled AG to transform to a socio-cultural organisation. The Fasoranti faction, however, posited that Afenifere functions as a socio-cultural body, which warehouses all Yoruba persons in all political parties but with the sole agenda to seek the good, advancement and progress of Yoruba land and by large, Nigeria.

It held that since Yoruba are members of all political parties, it would not be appropriate to say that the organisation is affiliated solely to one party.

Another sharp division among loyalists of the two nonagenarians is the accusation by Adebanjo’s camp that the other faction is insincere and somehow dishonest. They were quick to recall that when the late Pa Abraham Adesanya, the predecessor to Pa Fasoranti, abdicated power, “Pa Adesanya never came out again to make public statement like Fasoranti is currently doing. Pa Adesanya left Pa Fasoranti to direct the affairs of Afenifere as he wanted.”

They also pointed out that when the former governor of Ondo State, Pa Adekunle Ajasin, abdicated power to Pa Adesanya as Afenifere leader, due to old age, the Second Republic governor never interfered in the leadership directives of Adesanya until he passed on.

They contended that Pa Fasoranti, who in his own wisdom and volition conceded leadership to Pa Adebanjo, cannot act contrary to what his two predecessors did when they handed over the mantle of leadership.

They also faulted Pa Fasoranti and his loyalists for saying that Afenifere is not political. “What did they say when the same Afenifere supported former President Goodluck Jonathan, a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in 2015? Were they also not part of Afenifere when the organisation backed former President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2007 presidential election against the late President Umaru Yar’Adua? In 2019, the same Afenifere supported former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who was the candidate of PDP against Buhari.”

Those sympathetic to Pa Fasoranti, however, insist that neither Ajasin, Adesanya nor Fasoranti attempted to lead Afenifere astray like Adebanjo was trying to do. To them, Adebanjo cannot place the interest of other zones above that of the Yoruba.

Tinubu Factor In The Crisis
There are insinuations that President Tinubu may have had a hand in the latest development in Afenifere, especially the removal of Pa Adebanjo in acting capacity. The Organising Secretary of Afenifere, Abagun Kole Omololu, has, however, clarified that, “the development is not about Tinubu as you can see that not everybody in the committee has political affiliation. Pa Adebanjo and Senator Femi Okunrounmu and others were part of the committee. All we are after is the interest of Yoruba and Nigeria. I can tell you specifically that the Presidency knows nothing about it.”

He also dismissed, as unfounded, the allegation that some hawks, who have political ambitions and are looking forward to using Afenifere to negotiate for something with President Tinubu, were the ones that instigated Pa Adebanjo’s removal.

“That’s just a cheap blackmail and far from the truth,” he declared.

[Guardian]

•How Tinubu can achieve positive results

Mr. Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra State and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25, 2023 spoke with Ikechukwu Amaechi on the lessons of the February 2023 Presidential elections and the state  of the nation. Excerpts:

The 2023 elections have come and gone. What are the biggest lessons you learnt therefrom?

Well, for me, the biggest lesson is the fact that Nigerians are actually committed to good governance. They are not as complacent as people thought they were because they, especially the youths, were actually committed to doing the right thing. That is why they came out in their numbers to participate in the elections.

The second lesson is the realisation that the leaders, most people in the elite class are not actually interested in good governance because you can classify the electoral umpire as part of the elite class, the government, all of us are not prepared to do the right thing because if the elites are prepared to do the right thing, the result or the outcome of the election would have been different.

But for me the elections have come and gone and I don’t want to talk about the issue of the 2023 elections again. It has come and gone and I am done with it.

What I am talking about now are issues of governance because the average Nigerian today is talking about the Nigeria of today, and the Nigeria of tomorrow. That is what is important.

Talking about governance, are you satisfied with where Nigeria is today?

That is really a question for the generality of Nigerians to answer. Ask the average Nigerian how he is faring today. The truth is that we have many more Nigerians thrown into poverty, millions of Nigerians don’t know where the next meal will come from. Nobody is sure what the price of a cup of rice, garri or a loaf of bread will be tomorrow. So, it is Nigerians that you should ask the question.

It is not a question for me to answer. It is not something I alone will tell you. Ask Nigerians, the masses out there on the streets of Nigeria and you will get a feel of what they are going through. But I know that the situation is critical.

But President Bola Tinubu will definitely disagree. He is of the opinion that his reforms – removal of fuel subsidy and floating of the Naira – in particular are not only bold and consequential but are working, so much so that speaking at the 10th German-Nigerian Business Forum in Berlin, Germany in November 2023, he said he deserves to be listed in the Guinness World Records for the reforms he has made since assuming office on May 29, 2023.

He may actually be correct when he claims that his name deserves to be in the Guinness World Records. Don’t forget that people’s names don’t always make it into the Guinness World Records for only altruistic reasons. So, it depends on which angle he is coming from. If the idea is to put his name in the Guinness Book of Records for causing Nigerians the most hardship – untold hardship, of course he is spot on and I will totally agree with him because his reforms are not achieving what they are meant to achieve.

But some of your critics say that both you and Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also promised to remove the fuel subsidy if elected. So, Tinubu did it. What is wrong with that?

Yes, I agree that the fuel subsidy has to be removed because it is not sustainable, but there should have been gains from the removal. Right now, they say they are saving billions of Naira, which nobody is feeling the positive impact. The other subsidy is the exchange rate. They said when the Naira is floated, people will be able to access foreign exchange at the same rate. But today there is even a wider gap between the official exchange rate and the unofficial rate. The official rate is about N900 to $1 while the unofficial rate hovers between N1,300 to N1,400. So, the gap today is even bigger.

The implication is that we are doing something that is just not right. It is not enough to claim that you have removed subsidy. And these are the things that we need to look into because the idea of reforms is that it is something that would have helped Nigeria to begin to walk on the right path, in the right direction and it must be all-inclusive. I have always said reforms in governance should be in all sectors simultaneously. We should be dealing with the issues of cutting the cost of governance, corruption, all forms of waste, targeting priority areas – education, health, pulling people out of poverty, simultaneously.

You cannot do one and leave the others. What you are doing has to be seen by the people. I was a governor and we dealt with these issues simultaneously and holistically. That is the only way to achieve positive results.  If you do one and leave the others, you are bound to have problems. These issues should be dealt with simultaneously and transparently. People have to see what you are doing.

But Tinubu on January 9, directed that all the entourage to state and international events be drastically reduced by 60 per cent. Shouldn’t that suffice?

No, no! I am talking about cost of governance, overall cost of governance.  And remember what I just said, everything has to go simultaneously. You cannot do this and leave that. It has to be done across board.

Some people strongly believe that despite the removal of fuel subsidy, the Tinubu government may, in fact, be paying a much higher subsidy now for Nigerians to be able to buy petrol at N600 per litre given the strength of our national currency. Do you have that feeling too?

Well, I have just told you that anything we are going to do, we must do it in such a way that people will see the gains. And there must be a clear destination of where we are headed, where such policies will take us. It is easy when you tell people to suffer today because in five years, ten years, they will get to the Promised Land and everybody who is preaching that is in the same vehicle. So, everyone is in the same situation.

You cannot be preaching A and doing B. You cannot tell people, let us fast and they are seeing you feasting. If you preach fasting, everybody must be seen to be fasting. Some shouldn’t be feasting while telling others to fast. The issues that are fundamental today starting with the issue of security of lives and property, people must see the government doing something. It is not about empty rhetoric. Governance is hard work. They must see and appreciate that their leaders care for them, their welfare. Unfortunately, that seems not to be the case. All they see now is the elites celebrating when the masses are poverty-stricken and told to further tighten their belts.

But again, speaking at the second term inauguration of Governor Hope Uzodimma last Monday, Tinubu assured Nigerians of an impending economic recovery, expressing confidence in the country’s ability to overcome the adverse effects of the fuel subsidy removal. He was upbeat about the country reaping positive outcomes from the elimination of the fuel pump price subsidy. He said in the past 40 years, a few people were cornering our commonwealth, and calling it subsidy but assured that things are looking up. “Things will get better for the good of all Nigerians. With me, there is hope,” he said.

Nigerians will be the judge. Of course, the picture he is painting is unreal. That means he is far removed from reality. I tweeted this week that things are getting worse, not better. People must learn how to govern and serve transparently and truthfully. The reality is there for everyone to see. Even if we did things wrongly in the past, like some people will refer to me and say, when you were there what happened, even if we did it wrongly in the past, must we continue doing the wrong things now?

Remember when I was campaigning, I said, I will draw a line because if people did the wrong things yesterday, I am not saying they should go free, but let us draw a line, let us start now and say, no more because we have seen where the wrong things of yesterday have gotten us to. So, if people yesterday did the wrong things, yes, I agree that we should ask questions if need be, but for me, on a scale of 100 per cent, I will devote 10 per cent energy on yesterday because yesterday is gone and put 90 per cent on today and tomorrow because those who only think about yesterday will not be able to meet up with the demands of today and tomorrow.

And I am talking to you from experience – what I have done before. That is why I laugh when people say to me, Peter when you were there, Anambra’s rating on this or that was so and so but when your successor came, it improved. But they forget that it was what I did that my successor was being rated on. People say, when you were there, education was not good, it was when Willy Obiano came that it improved; poverty rating was this. But they forget that it was what I did that improved the ratings. So, you must concentrate on dealing with today. For me, I want to see the cost of governance cut drastically in every area today and the money invested in priority areas. That is what will be used to measure tomorrow.

I want to see corruption reduced to the barest minimum today. That is what will guarantee our tomorrow. And in doing all this, there should be no grabbing of headlines, no media frenzy. When the right things are done, everyone will see it and feel it. When I was doing what I was doing in Anambra State, and you are aware of that, I was with the people every day, they knew what we were doing but it was only after eight years when I was leaving that I invited the media to come and tour the state and see what I was able to do.

Just, yesterday, someone asked me a question that he heard I built a psychiatric hospital and school at Nawfia and I said yes. Let me tell you, one of the things we need to fix quickly in this country is the issue of psychiatric hospitals. People don’t seem to be aware that Nigeria has a huge mental health crisis. Perhaps, in a scale of ten, one Nigerian has a mental health issue. These are the issues we need to deal with.

That is frightening. What could be the cause?

So many things but they all boil down to stress, poverty and depression. Nigerians are really suffering. Don’t make any mistake about that and these are issues we have to deal with. I keep saying it every day that health and education are issues that pull a people up. That is what solves the problems of the society. So, you need to deal with them simultaneously and people will see you working hard at it. You may not achieve 100 per cent result but people must see 100 per cent effort. And you are not going to achieve that by doing what we are doing now. It is not about noise making. Dealing with these issues is not about noise, when you do the right thing, people will see it, they will feel it.

But the government is striving to pull people out of poverty through various poverty alleviation schemes although some people are of the view that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation should be scrapped. 

I am not talking about what should be scrapped or what should be retained. For me, whatever the ministry, even if we decide to create new ministries today, people want to see transparency. What they are doing must be transparently and clearly defined and followed through in the service of public good. People want to verifiably see what you are doing and why you are doing it, not propaganda and sophistry. They will support it if they see the sincerity of purpose. So, you can create a new ministry, just like I always say, you can borrow money. Nigeria needs to borrow but just tell us what you are doing with the money you are borrowing.

If I am president, if I have the opportunity, I will do exactly what I am telling you. It is not rocket science. All it requires is the political will to do what is right and what will promote public good. Go and ask people in Anambra State, I was meeting with traditional rulers, community leaders, students, church leaders, everybody, and I will tell them, this is what we want to do and this is why we are doing it. Simple! Inclusive governance because they are the people who elected you. I told them we are going to do this and that. I will tell them areas we will concentrate and the people will see what is being done.

So, when I say we will make more money from agriculture than oil due to the vast uncultivated land in the North, that we need it to pull people out of poverty in the North, to kick-start the industries that are dead in the North, the people will see it. And it is not going to be a political statement. These are factual statements that will be backed by action. It is not going to be achieved overnight but we need to be on the right path and continue on that trajectory. That is what other nations have done over the years and it worked for them. Ours will not be different.

You are an apostle of good governance. From what you have seen so far, do you think Nigerians share your vision? Do you believe that in Nigerians you have faithful disciples who believe in good governance?

Yes, I do. Nigerians believe in good governance. They don’t only believe in it, they clamour for it.

If they do, why then didn’t they vote for you?

But you know as well as I do that they did. The problem is that the elites are still manipulating the system to suit their whims and caprices. But it will get to a stage that their machinations will consume them. The ordinary Nigerian wants something good. The elites are still manipulating the situation and they are still in charge. How long they will continue to be in charge, I don’t know. But I do know that the votes of the people and the people themselves are bigger than them.

So, what they do is that they manipulate the system for their selfish interest and personal aggrandisement and these elites are in every sector. They are not just in politics. They are in the corporate world, church, every sector. So they manipulate the religious, tribal and ethnic sentiments to make sure that nothing good happens.

They tell you, for instance, that oh, this man is tribalistic but they are the worst tribalists. Oh, this person is a religious bigot, but they are worse. And because they know how to manipulate the system to suit their selfish agenda, they tend to have their way for now.

But it won’t be forever because the scales are beginning to fall off the eyes of the people. Is there any religion that its adherents buy bread cheaper? Is there any religion that members buy petrol at a cheaper rate? Is there any religion whose adherents are not suffering the poverty ravaging the country today? Is any tribe immune from the consequences of bad governance? No! But when elections come, they pull the issues of ethnicity and religion from their bag of tricks” and put them on the table and they will be singing about them because it is their talisman.

It is also like the nonsense which people espouse everyday of joining the ruling party so that you can become part of the centre. What type of statement is that? Must we run a Nigeria where if you are not part of the government at the centre, then you are ostracised? No. Nigeria should be a place where no-matter where you are, you should be able to live a normal life.

Do you go to America and tell someone in California that he or she must vote for a particular person so that they will be part of Washington DC? The answer is no. They just want to vote for who governs California or who governs America.

Vanguard News

NeuRaL AI, a Lagos-based provider of essential support to organizations intending to build and deploy Large Language Models (LLMs) for generative text, has announced the launch of BionicBox.

BionicBox represents a significant step forward, making large language models (LLMs) more accessible, adaptable, secure, and fast. The AI Readiness Report 2023 highlights a surge in demand for generative AI technologies, similar to Chat GPT, across various sectors.

“Yet, challenges like specialized expertise, domain-specific requirements, and security concerns often hold companies back”, says Oluseyi Akindeinde, the founder of NeuRaL AI.

Speaking on the needs BionicBox would address for enterprises, Akindeinde, said:

“BionicBox stands for enhanced customer experience. Our on-premise RAG system personalizes customer interactions, boosting satisfaction and loyalty, and leading to increased goodwill and profitability.

Operational Efficiency: Our solution, featuring Chat GPT-like capabilities, facilitates quick interactions with live documents, enhancing decision-making and productivity, thereby boosting profitability”.

“It enables increased profitability, because our AI models enhance operational efficiency, unlocking new profitability levels. The secure on-premise deployment ensures data privacy, overcoming limitations of traditional models”.

“Innovation in Products/Services: Our RAG integration supports the development of innovative products or services, driving growth and diversification”.

These opportunities, the founder said, are practical and in line with industry trends. “Our hardware and software suite democratizes advanced AI capabilities for more enterprises, demonstrating our commitment to value-driven technological innovation”.

Enterprises considering generative models face choices between open-source, Cloud API, or in-house development. Neural AI’s BionicBox caters to these diverse needs. “Open-Source Expertise: We optimize high-performance models like Llama 2 7 and 70B with extended context lengths. Our support extends to enterprises needing this level of fine-tuning.

“Cloud API Security and Control: Our on-premise solutions offer enhanced security and control, mitigating risks associated with cloud-based services. “Adaptability and Quality: BionicBox provides a flexible, secure, high-quality alternative to traditional generative AI, tailored to unique business needs.

He further described BionicBox as represents a significant step forward, making LLMs more accessible, adaptable, secure, and fast. “It addresses key challenges in inference speed, pretraining, fine-tuning, privacy, and RAG. We’re bringing cutting-edge language modeling to industries that need  it the most”, Akindeinde said.

[Nairametrics]