FEATURES
Life they say is full of surprises and fate twists as long as a person lives. The story of the embattled former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, is not farfetched from the foregoing.
Having risen to prominence through an almost miraculous means, he became a mighty force to contend with in Nigeria’s financial landscape. Feared and revered at the same time, Emefiele’s economic policies were ones to be wary of in Africa’s largest economy.
Today, the all-powerful financial emperor lies at the mercy of the Federal Government and the many toes he had stepped on as the former CBN governor, especially the incumbent President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu.
Appointed in 2014 by the then President, Goodluck Jonathan after the controversial ouster of Sanusi Lamido as head of Nigeria’s apex bank, Godwin Emefiele was anointed the right captain to stir the ship of the CBN.
The anointed Emefiele had barely spent one year in his leadership of the CBN when his principal, Jonathan lost his re-election into office as Nigeria’s president. The oil of his anointing must have been so sacred that he was retained as the Governor of Nigeria’s apex bank by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who took over from Jonathan.
He became the longest-serving governor of the CBN after his tenure was renewed by former President. While at the helm of the CBN affairs, Emefiele operated several policies that almost crumbled the country’s economy. In 2015, as Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves fell by about $5,183,866,731, a situation that closed the year at a 10-year low, Emefiele’s CBN placed foreign exchange restrictions on 43 items like margarine, rice, cement, and private jets.
The CBN claimed that the essence of the restriction was to improve and support local production of these commodities, but it also deprived importers of those commodities access to foreign exchange.
Not long after this self-celebrated feat, the CBN’s policy witnessed stiff economic resistance as black market vendors began to multiply exchange rates, a situation that has been blamed for the weakening of Africa’s largest economy’s currency; the demand for dollars increased at the black market and the naira weakened.
To address the fall of the naira, Emefiele went further to take some unconventional steps. One of them was the reported use of the Department of State Services operatives to monitor the Bureau de Change operators who sold more than the CBN’s pegged N400/$ or bought at more than N390/$. He was also reported to have ordered the cutting of trees where black market vendors worked in the Federal Capital.
In 2021, it was reported that the “CBN under Emefiele issued a circular restricting banks and other financial houses from operating accounts for cryptocurrency service providers, given the money laundering and terrorism financing risks posed by cryptocurrency. The apex bank went further to ban a website that reported the value of the dollar in the black market among other stringent measures.
Poverty, rising inflation
Under his reign as CBN Governor, Nigeria’s inflation kept rising yearly (8.05 percent in 2014 through 9.01 in 2015, and eventually 18.85 percent in 2022 and an all-time high of 27.33 percent in October 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics report) and with the naira losing its value.
The NBS data showed that Nigeria became poorer under its financial rule. The NBS reported that some 133 million (about 63%) Nigerians were multidimensionally poor. This meant that the poverty was not just in monetary terms but less access to other basic amenities.
Although factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war cannot be exonerated from being culprits in Nigeria’s economic misfortune, Dr Moses Ogah, a former banker and economist at Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Markurdi, told Saturday PUNCH that the direction of the monetary policies from the central bank also led inflation to rise from a single digit the governor met it in 2014 to double digits currently experienced in the country.
“As Professor Kingsley Moghalu said, ‘He is, without debate the worst and most damaging Central Bank Governor in Nigeria’s history.’ Under his watch, Nigeria’s inflation rose to hyperinflation; from a single digit of eight per cent to an all-time high of about 28 per cent. That is why we are where we are today in the country. The policies are killing us economically. Food inflation which concerns the average Nigerian has risen to about 31 per cent making it more difficult for the indigent to survive,” Ogah noted.
CBN’s law violated
The CBN’s loans to the government otherwise known as ‘Ways and Means’ jumped from N790bn in May 2015 to N23.8tn in 2022 ($49bn). The Ways and Means Advance clause of the CBN Act Section 38(2) & (3) can be activated if the government suffers a revenue shortfall but should not be more than five per cent of the government’s previous year’s budget. The failure to adhere to this rule attracted heavy criticism from different quarters.
A careful observation of the loan given to the government under the Emefiele administration showed a disparity from the amount permissible. This has been blamed for Nigeria’s increasing inflation. Emefiele was reported to have justified the continuous borrowing, saying, “The CBN is a banker to the government and also a lender of last resort to the government, hence it is responsible for helping the government in times of need.
Ogah said the CBN’s loan to the government under the Way and Means by the suspended governor was political and a breach of its (CBN) constitution. “The CBN is supposed to be a regulator of financial institutions in the country while also ensuring economic stability through the formulation of macro-economic and fiscal policies. He went too far to violate the CBN Act in order to please his paymasters,” Ogah added.
The Senate approved the upward review of the Ways and Means loan accessible by the government from five to 15 per cent at the end of President Buhari’s administration. Also, the Senate approved the request of former President Buhari to restructure the N22.7tn loan from the CBN under the Ways and Means provision.
Partisan despite the law
Beyond his monetary policies, that sank Nigeria’s economy for almost seven years, Emefiele became famous for his political involvement, especially in the run-up to the 2023 general elections. The now humbled Emefiele violated Nigeria’s Constitution which states that “a Central Bank governor, to protect the independence of the Central Bank, cannot participate in partisan politics, when he attempts to vie for the presidency in May 2022.
Ahead of the 2023 presidential poll, he approached a court where he sought an order that would permit him to run against Bola Tinubu, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, and several other notable politicians for the presidency without resigning.
“He thought he had done enough for the cabal around Buhari and wanted to be rewarded with the president’s seat. He got the support of the cabals to contest in the primary elections and that made him more interested in politics. When it was obvious that he would not win the race against Bola Tinubu, he decided to support another candidate who also lost the election,” Isah Omata an APC party faithful and political analyst told Saturday PUNCH.
CBN policy summersault
In October 2022, the CBN rolled out new monetary policies, including a naira redesign, limits on cash withdrawals, and the introduction of a cashless economy. The apex bank argued that the policy aimed to deal with the circulation of fake naira notes and discourage vote-buying, terrorism financing, and cash hoarding among others, a move expert says has debased Nigeria’s economy.
The naira redesign was resisted by the former Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who claimed that her ministry was not aware of the monetary policy.
Speaking further, Ogah said, “The naira redesign though good at the surface was poorly implemented. Nigerians were not carried along; no proper machinery was put in place to help the citizens cushion the effect of the attendant scarcity that would result from the redesign. This action caused Nigerians a lot of economic misfortune which they are yet to recover from, and the economy is seriously impacted.
The loss of lives in some states over the naira scarcity protest, while banks and PoS operators were reportedly manhandled by frustrated citizens.
Ojochide Adams, a Nigerian said, “At first, I was happy with the CBN policy of naira redesign because I felt it would stop politicians from vote-buying and election rigging. But I became upset when I realised that the new currency was not well circulated and the hunger and suffering in the country became untold. This is one of the worst government financial policies I have seen in Nigeria,” she said.
The death of a 71-year-old broadcast journalist in Oyo State popularly known as Baba Binti due to naira scarcity. He was reported to have died while trekking to work due to a lack of new naira notes to board vehicles.
Currency redesign
The currency redesign was heavily criticised as political and an effort to combat the now President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and frustrate his bid to become the next president of Nigeria. While the move was celebrated by the unsuspecting citizens at first, it came under serious criticism when life became unbearable for Nigerians.
“Worried that he had annoyed Tinubu and would fall out of favour with him should Tinubu win the presidential race, Emefiele decided to introduce harsh economic policies, especially the naira redesign and cashless economy. By this, he intended that the electorate would see APC in a bad light and vote the party out in the general elections,” Isah added.
Tinubu had also accused Emefiele of trying to frustrate his effort to win the elections through the naira redesign policy that mopped up cash from circulation.
“Keep the naira, we will vote and be elected. You may change the ink of naira notes. What you expect will not happen. We will win. They don’t want the forthcoming election to hold. They want to scatter it but that won’t be possible,” Tinubu had said.
Violation of court order
The CBN under Emefiele disobeyed the Supreme Court order that the old naira notes should remain legal tender. Nigerians waited for the CBN and the former President Buhari’s position, but this was not forthcoming, hence the citizens became reluctant to accept the old notes as a means of payment, a situation that further heightened the hardship in the country.
In February, the governors of Kogi, Kaduna, and Zamfara states took the Federal Government to the Supreme Court and urged it to declare the naira redesign illegal. Despite the earlier court order to suspend the policy, the governors went ahead to announce the invalidation of the old naira notes at the expiration of the February 10 deadline.
In March, the Supreme Court gave a final ruling that the old naira notes remained legal tender in the country till December 31, 2023, giving way to all controversies around the matter. It was also reported that “Experts estimated the loss to the failed naira redesign policy at N20tn.”
Multiple exchange rate system
Nigeria’s apex bank under Emefiele’s leadership operated a confusing multiple exchange rate system. This practice left many foreign investors in confusion and uncertainties and created room for corruption and inefficiencies. The multiple exchange rates were however stopped by President Tinubu during his inauguration on May 29, 2023.
Transparency concerns
The suspended CBN governor had come under public criticism for not releasing the financial statement of the apex bank to the public. The action violated the CBN Act 2007 which states that “The bank shall, within two months after the close of each financial year, transmit to the National Assembly and the President a copy of its annual accounts certified by the auditor
“A report required to be submitted to the National Assembly and the President shall be published by the bank in such a manner as the governor may direct.
“The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the last day of each month makeup end, publish a return of its asset and liabilities as at the end of business on that day, or if that day is a holiday, as at the close of business on the preceding business day,” the Act reads.
Failed agricultural reform
Food is a major concern globally, especially in a developing economy where almost 70 per cent of its population is involved in agriculture; one would believe that empowering the farmers would translate to empowering more than half of the country’s population.
In a bid to boost agriculture in the country in line with former President Buhari’s policy for agricultural reforms, the CBN under Emefiele launched the Anchor Borrower’s Scheme; a programme that has been highly criticised for its shady practices.
Agricultural Economists at the University of Africa Bayelsa, Dr Onuche Unekwu, noted that the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme was a good intervention by the President Buhari government, but added that it lacked proper implementation.
“The Anchor Borrowers’ scheme was a very good move by the government. It would have helped to boost agriculture and food security in the country if it had been properly managed. Poor implementation led to poor results,” the varsity don said.
In Ogun State, farmers criticised the programme, saying it did not deliver the value they anticipated.
“We were made to register for the Anchor Borrowers Programme and we mobilised our members massively to register. After a series of orientations and enumeration, we waited for the inputs which did not come until planting seasons were over. Some of our shortlisted members were even replaced on the list,” Oluwole Rotimi, a member of rice farmers’ group lamented.
Fall from grace
In a twist of fate, the oil of his anointing could no longer keep him in favour with the new government. Emefiele fell out of favour with the Tinubu administration when he was suspended on June 9, 2023, and was directed to immediately hand over the affairs of the CBN to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate). At this point, the fall from grace began.
What were his sins?
In January, it was reported that the DSS had applied with reference number FHC/Abj/CS/2255/2022 and sought permission from the High Court in Abuja to arrest and detain Emefiele over terrorism financing and fraudulent activities. He was also accused of being involved in economic crimes on the ‘national security dimension’.
The secret police accused Emefiele of fraud, money laundering, round-tripping, and conferment of financial benefits to self and others. He was also accused of corruption related to the “Ways and Means”
After his suspension, Emefiele was arrested by the DSS for investigation on June 10 and freed on June 26 after several legal battles. He would then be arrested the same day by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which detained him. He was remanded on November 18 and later released after 34 days in custody on December 23, 2023.
Lessons to learn
In a phone conversation with our correspondent, the Chancellor of the International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights, Jackson Omenazu, advised that political appointees and Nigerians, in general, should understand that power was transient and obedience to unlawful directives had its consequences no matter where it was coming from.
“My only concern is that in Nigeria today, those who approved the directives go home quietly while those who implemented the policies suffer. From all indications, Emefiele is not alone in the financial restructuring of the CBN that crashed the naira. He had the former president’s approval for some of those policies even principal officers of the National Assembly approved these policies. So, they should be called for questioning too,” he said.
Omenazu admonished political appointees to resist wrong directives from their principals.
“I am not holding brief for Emefiele because, at his level, he is supposed to know when there is a wrong directive and tell the president that he cannot implement such policies or append his signature. He kept quiet and played along believing that his master was a superman.
“He should have known that everything has an expiry date and today, he is moving from one prison and court to another while his principal rests at home. Political appointees should rather resign in protest than submit to wrong policies that will negatively impact the citizens,” he said.
- DANIEL ADAJI
Former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, has revealed that one of his friends has offered to pay a N50 million ransom being demanded by bandits who abducted Alhaji Mansoor Al-Kadriyar’s six children.
The kidnappers have threatened to kill the remaining five sisters after murdering Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar on Friday.
She was killed on Friday by her abductors and was laid to rest according to Islamic rites on Saturday.
Nabeeha was a 400-level student of Biological Science at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Others abducted include Najeebah (500 level, Quantity Surveying) and Nadheerah (300 level, Zoology).
Posting on X, the former minister wrote: “Alhamdu lil Laah! I am personally not in support of paying ransom to criminals. However, since it became clear that we lost our daughter Nabeeha yesterday and the five remaining daughters have been threatened, I spoke with the father on the matter yesterday and today, I spoke with a friend and a brother who offered to pay the remaining 50 million Naira of the 60 million immediately.
“I conveyed the account number of the father of our daughters, Mansoor Al-Kadriyar, to the friend and brother to send the money directly. Any additional amount generated yesterday, the father can use to treat the daughters and other family members, in sha Allah.
“May the Almighty Allah reward the brother and friend with Jannatul Firdaus for the donation.”
NDLEA raided a “Skuchies’’ factory operated by a 28-year-old at Moniya area of Ibadan on Jan. 11.
Skuchies is a Chapman drink laced with hard drugs.
NDLEA’s spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi stated on Sunday in Abuja that 76.6kg of Indian hemp, 134gm of tramadol, 93gm of Rophynol and 50 litres of skuchies were recovered from the factory.
He added that in Ondo State, NDLEA arrested four drugs suspects in a hotel off Ado-Ekiti Road, Akure, on Jan. 12 with 524.5kg Indian hemp.
He stated also that NDLEA nabbed a 26-year-old man at Ala Forest, Akure, and recovered 293.5kg of Indian hemp and a Dane gun from him.
NDLEA also arrested a 67-year-old man at Otuo, Owan East Local Government Area of Edo on Jan. 11 with 454 blocks of Indian hemp weighing 311kg loaded in his Lexus salon car.
Babafemi stated also that NDLEA nabbed a 43-year-old man on Jan. 9 at Ayangba in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi.
He was in possession of 43 blocks of compressed Indian hemp, weighing 22kg and three pinches of methamphetamine, the NDLEA’s spokesman stated.
(NAN)
Key players have continued to react to the rumoured threats by some foreign airlines to pull out their services from Nigeria due to the lingering unpaid $800 million trapped funds in Nigeria.
As of December, the Regional Vice President of International Air Transport Association (IATA) for the Middle East and Africa Country, Mr Khalil Al-Awhadi had at the 2023 Global Media Day press conference in Switzerland put the accumulated trapped funds in Nigeria at $792 million which made Nigeria the highest indebted country to the foreign carriers globally.
Only last week, the federal government announced the payment of another $61 million out of the trapped funds to the airlines.
In a media conference held by the President of Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN), Mr Kingsley Nwokoma, he likened the $61 million recently paid by the government as a drop in the ocean, calling on the federal government to urgently negotiate with the foreign carriers.
According to Nwokoma, negotiating an agreement with the foreign airlines will restore their confidence in the ease of doing business policy being propagated by the Nigerian government.
The foreign airlines representative who insisted that the latest $61 million debt paid cannot address the huge financial predicaments of the airlines, cautioned that some of the foreign airlines may leave Nigeria in protest of their trapped funds.
His words: “I will suggest the federal government should sit down with the foreign airlines to negotiate quarterly payment of the outstanding funds This will ease the payment burden on the government and also assure the airlines that the government is sincere in her promise that the airlines will get their full money from the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
The likely threats of the foreign carriers pulling out of the country out of frustration has however continued to generate mixed feelings amongst key players with some arguing that if such a situation arises that it may put extra pressure on air travel which hitherto had been at a crossroads due o high fares slammed on Nigerians by the foreign airlines as a way to survive the negative effects of the trapped funds.
Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune at the weekend, the President of the National Association of Nigerian TravelAgents (NANTA), Mrs Susan Akporiaye though said she did not see the foreign airlines pulling out of the country as it is being speculated, she however said should the airlines make do with their threats, that the situation will not bring good tidings to the travel professionals and Nigeria.
While declaring that the subsequent pullout of the foreign carriers from Nigeria “will further put pressure on travel, refuge competition with prices going up further”.
Akporiaye added: “Personally, I don’t see them going through with threats because this year some airlines have increased their flight frequencies from 4 times a week to 6 times a week. Some who are already flying everyday are requesting an additional slot to be flying twice a day, but in a worst-case scenario if any airline makes true threats that will not be good for us as travel professionals and Nigeria, it will further put pressure on travel, reduce competition and prices will go up further.
“The way out is for government to prioritise the situation and get the forex for the airlines to be able to repatriate their funds either all at once, installments. I will advise 50% at once & the balance in a structured payment plan that is workable and agreeable by both parties”.
For a former military commandant at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Group Captain John Ojikutu, retired, the pullout of the foreign airlines will pose serious implications for Nigeria.
According to Ojikutu: “80% of our earnings in commercial aviation will be gone if the foreign airlines carry out their threats to withdraw their operations in Nigeria.
“Whoever knows the minister of aviation and aerospace development, Mr Festus Keyamo should tell him now. Whoever knows President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should go tell him now too to tell Keyamo to go find out what happened to the forex earnings ($2.5bn) that the Nigeria Aviation services providers collected from the foreign airlines annually? This is not a joking matter like the palliatives and the subsidies.
“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo told these characters to domicile these earnings in the CBN and be collecting the naira equivalent. What is the Accountant General and the Auditor General been looking at?”
While some stakeholders have described the threats from the foreign carriers to leave. Nigeria as a cheap blackmail, others have called on the government to take the development seriously, citing how Emirates Airlines, one of the airlines whose funds were trapped in Nigeria pulled out of the country over one year ago.
The IATA Vice President had in December lamented how many of the foreign carriers whose funds formed part of the trapped funds have been faced with operational challenges due to their inability to repatriate their proceeds out of Nigeria to their home countries.
A BBC Africa Eye report has insisted that the late Nigerian televangelist, TB Joshua faked miracles within his Synagogue Church of All Nations.
BBC in the report stated that it had uncovered a web of deceptive practices allegedly employed by the late Nigerian televangelist to fabricate miracles and listed six ways the late church leader allegedly faked miracles
It noted that the investigation, which draws insights from more than 25 insiders across various countries, sheds light on a series of deceptive tactics employed within SCOAN.
The investigation, which was published on BBC Eye Website on Sunday, alleged that Joshua, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 57, was a fraud.
It details six ways through which TB Joshua allegedly deceived worshippers, noting that these discoveries came from those who worked with the late church leader.
In 2004, Nigeria’s broadcast regulator prohibited the airing of pastors’ supposed miracles on live terrestrial TV, leading Joshua to launch Emmanuel TV on satellite and later online.
His global television and social media network became one of the world’s most successful Christian platforms, broadcasting to millions across Europe, the Americas, South East Asia, and Africa. His YouTube channel garnered hundreds of millions of views.
Below are the six ways listed by the BBC Africa Eye in its report:
“1: The emergency department: An exclusive section of the church, named the “emergency department”, was responsible for making the so-called miracles look real.
“This is where the sick, who came to be healed, would be screened, and where the team would decide who should be filmed and prayed for by Joshua.
“Agomoh Paul, who supervised the department for 10 years – receiving direct instructions from Joshua, told the BBC that the team was “trained by medical doctors”.
“He is a former disciple – one of an elite group of dedicated followers who lived with the pastor inside the Scoan compound.
“Any cancerous situation, they send them away. Then, people who had normal open wounds that can heal, they bring them in, to present as cancer,” he says.
“Only a select group of trusted disciples were allowed to work in the emergency department. They would write placards for each follower to hold, detailing their made-up or exaggerated ailments. When it was time to meet Joshua, they would stand in line in front of the cameras and be “healed”.
“It was a complicated system. Not all disciples knew what was happening. It was a secret,” Mr Paul says.
“2: Drugs: Every foreign visitor who came to the church to be healed had to fill out a medical report, detailing their illness and the medication they were currently prescribed.
“They would be told to stop taking them, but Joshua would order pharmacists to procure the same medicine.
“Without their knowledge, they would “put those drugs in their fruit drinks,” explains Mr Paul, who said people would be urged to drink the cocktail that had been blessed by Joshua.
“This meant while visitors were residing at SCOAN, they would not become unwell and would believe in the divine healing powers of their pastor.
“In the 1990s when HIV/AIDs had reached epidemic levels across parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Joshua told visitors to stop taking their antiretroviral medication when they returned home.
“I know people died because they didn’t take their medicine, and it’s difficult to live with that,” admits a former disciple, who asked not to be named.
“Tash Ford, now 49, who went to Lagos from the South African city of Johannesburg in 2001 in the hope of having her failing kidney healed, was told to stop taking her drugs.
“It was the promise that… you could supernaturally receive a new kidney,” she told the BBC.
“At the time she had already had two kidney transplants. Ms Ford says the disciples said: “Stop taking your medication and just believe.”
‘She did believe she had been healed. But when she got home, after four weeks of not taking her medicine, she went into renal failure and was admitted to hospital.
“The medics initially managed to save her kidney but eventually it stopped working and she had to have kidney dialysis for more than six years before having a third transplant in 2011.
“3: Brainwashing: Ms Ford says when she was at Scoan she never had any doubts: “I honestly thought we were seeing miracles. I literally couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I saw someone walk out of a wheelchair.”
“The theatricality seemed to draw everyone in.
“The former disciple told the BBC that after being screened, the chosen followers would be told to “exaggerate their problems so that God can heal you and exaggerate your healing”.
“The people, themselves, are clearly being manipulated,” she says.
“The church had a ready supply of wheelchairs which followers were coaxed to use. They were warned they would not be healed unless they sat in one when they met Joshua.
“We are telling them: ‘If you come out there, and walk with your legs, Papa will not pray for you. You need to shout: “Man of God, help me, I cannot walk,”‘” says Mr Paul.
“Another former disciple, Bisola, who spent 14 years living at Scoan, accompanied Joshua on his National Healing Campaign at the Church of Our Saviour in Singapore in 2006.
“She says she saw people in wheelchairs try to stand up after the pastor told the congregation “he had released faith into the stadium”.
“However, these people had not been screened and she saw them fall down. “I was crying. I was crying for them,” she says.
“The emergency department workers themselves were also being manipulated. They were subjected to horrifying ordeals, including rape, physical violence, and torture, and lived by a strict set of rules – forbidden to sleep for more than a few hours at a time.
“Now they struggle to understand how and why they continued to follow the pastor’s orders.
“TB Joshua told me: ‘Don’t worry, we use this thing to build people’s faith in Christ.’ I wasn’t having in mind that I was actually doing something wrong. I thought I was doing something that would help to build the faith of people in the church,” says Mr Paul.
“For Ms Ford, it has meant she has lost all faith in organised religion: “I wish we had known that it was all a farce, that it wasn’t true. I was manipulated into believing that what the prophet was doing was supernatural, miracles, wonders, signs.”
“4: Bribes: Some disciples allege they were charged with finding people who needed money to pretend to be sick.
“When they performed healing crusades in countries outside Nigeria, they would go to the poorer areas of a city to search for people living in poverty.
“We would say: ‘We need you to just act out this particular scene and we will pay you,'” another former disciple told the BBC.
“We get them into hotels, we get them cleaned up. They come, they do what they do. We give them their money and the rest is history,” she says.
“Before the service, they would tell Joshua which rows they had planted these people, and what clothes they were wearing, so he would know who to perform his supposed miracles on.
“People would be brought in just to pretend that they were healed,” she says.
‘5: Fake medical certificates: The “healing miracles” broadcast to millions regularly included medical reports stating people had been cured of HIV/Aids and diseases like cancer.
“Doctors were interviewed on camera confirming the cures.
“In 2000 Nigerian journalist Adejuwon Soyinka reported that these medical certificates were fake, but Joshua quashed his investigation and it went nowhere.
“To this day some people believe they were healed, but insiders say it was all a performance on the late preacher’s part.
“The whole thing is stage-managed and faked. It’s faked,” says Mr Paul, describing Joshua as an “evil genius”.
“There was nothing that took place in the compound that Joshua did not know about, he explains.
“TB Joshua was the one who masterminded the whole manipulation,” he says.
“6: Video manipulation: The “miracles” were filmed and then edited to make it look like the supposed healing had happened instantaneously. Before and after footage was spliced together to show his purported miraculous powers, but in reality the films were shot months, or even a year, apart.
“All you see on TV is the before and after, you don’t know the time-space,” says Bisola, who was Scoan’s chief video editor for five years and worked on Emmanuel TV. Like other insiders interviewed by the BBC, she opted to only use her first name.
“What people see… is not real. It is a fraud,” she says about the clips and broadcasts she oversaw.
“I am speaking now as someone who was an insider,” she says.
“Anything they did not want viewers to see was “cut away”. It was all “organised”, she says.
BBC Africa reached out to SCOAN with the allegations but received no response, although the church denied previous claims against Joshua, stating, “Making unfounded allegations against Prophet TB Joshua is not a new occurrence… None of the allegations was ever substantiated.”
Thirty-two-year-old Alli and Abdullahi, aged 35, who were the two suspects arrested by personnel of the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), popularly known as Amotekun Corps, in Saki, Oke Ogun area of Oyo State, in connection with a human head found in the abode of one of them, have spoken on how they got it.
The suspects also revealed their use of human parts for themselves and clients who might desire fortune. One of them, Alli, even confessed that he was once caught burning a human bone and animal parts for fortune making, while Abdullahi said he had a bucket containing human parts which he also intended to use in making money ritual.
On Thursday, the Nigerian Tribune reported that Abdullahi confessed that the human head was severed from the body of a corpse on Monday evening, a few hours after it was buried.
When contacted, Amotekun’s second-in-command, Mr Kazeem Babalola Akinro, confirmed the story, saying that the corps received information at about 11am on Tuesday that a human head was found under a car.
The car owner said that he saw the head when he wanted to jack up his vehicle to fix tyres he removed from it. This led to the arrest of Alli by the Amotekun Corps because he was the only tenant in the house.
Though he initially denied that the human head found was for him, claiming that it belonged to his contact, Abdullahi, a search of his apartment revealed an earthenware pot on fire in which a human leg bone and animal parts were being burnt.
Also found in his ‘consultation room’ were objects and herbs which he confessed he was to use along with the parts being burnt.
Mr Akinro said Amotekun operatives also went to Abdullahi’s house after contacting him, and he confessed that he was the one who brought the human head to Alli’s residence, and that it was Alli who asked him to get it for him. Abdullahi’s claim was admitted by Alli.
He added that the suspects and exhibits found with them had been transferred to Oyo State Police Command for further investigation.
Saturday Tribune’s interview with the suspects went thus:
Alli
“I’m from Ago Amodu but I live in Saki in Oke Ogun area of Oyo State. I’m a native doctor which I started nine years ago. I was not born into it but just tapped the knowledge of divination from different native doctors and Afaas. I do different kinds of treatment for my clients such as those who are sick, those with mental problem and those who want awure, among others.
“This is my first time of buying a human head. Materials found in an earthenware pot in my house were just leg bone of a human, head of a sheep, head and leg of oga (chamelon), alligator pepper and eggs which I was burning for wealth ritual which I aimed to use and also sell to anyone who might need it. I got the human leg bone from Abdullahi whom I asked to get it for me.”
How I learnt human parts usage
“I learnt different things from the records of native doctors but the person I learnt the use of human parts from is dead.”
How human head was found with me
“I got to know Abdullahi some weeks ago. We are both Muslims but also practise divination and herbal treatment. I linked up with him on Facebook. When we met at Maulud prayer on Monday, January 8, at an area in Saki, I discussed with him that I needed a human head. He told me that he had someone he would ask to get it and I would have it by Tuesday morning. I wanted to use it for money ritual and keep it for sale to clients who would desire it, as well as for myself.
“In the morning, I went out. On my return, I had just started the burning of the materials I had when people came in and asked me if I was the one who tucked a human head underneath my landlord’s car. I replied that I didn’t know about it because I was not told by Abdullahi that he had brought the head. He later told me that he called me but I didn’t pick the call. However, I didn’t check my phone to know that he called before my return home.
“The people who came to me were angry at my denial, saying that I was the only one at home. I insisted that I didn’t know anything about it; that was when Amotekun officers came.
“On entering my apartment, they saw the earthenware pot on the fire and asked questions on it. I told a lie that it belonged to Abdullahi. We went to his house and he confessed that he was the one who put the head underneath the car when he didn’t meet me at home and calls to my line were unanswered.
“I was not into the human head for money ritual. I was using ijimere’s head, igala’s skin, sheep’s head, with other materials for it. I was getting results but greed (ikojaaaye) overtook me.”
Salami Abdullahi
“I am a butcher and also an Afaa. I saw Alli about four weeks ago on Facebook. I chatted with him and we met at an Islamic programme on Monday. He told me that he needed a human head. I told him I would help tell someone I knew who was involved in getting such things.
“I had never followed anyone to cemeteries to get heads from buried corpses but when I told the person I contacted, a carpenter (name withheld), he said there was no problem. I was introduced to him by a friend living in a neighbouring Francophone country whom I told that I needed things to use for money ritual (asiribibo).
“He asked me about the native doctor work I was doing and I told him that it was not thriving, leaving me in penury. That was when the friend asked me to get human parts and grind it with tomato leaves, abamoda leaves and papasin leaves. He said that after grinding them together, I should fry the mixture with four eggs and eat it.
“When I asked him about how to get the human parts, he directed me to the man in Saki. When I got to him, he said he had few human parts and gave me without taking any money. So, I got the human parts found in a paint bucket in my house from him. I wanted to use for fortune making (asiribibo).
“When the man wanted to get the head on that same Monday, he came to my house in the evening and told me to follow him. He had earlier told me that he had gone to the cemetery earlier to survey it for a new burial site. We got to the cemetery at about 7pm. We scooped sand used to cover the corpse and he used the knife he brought to detach the head of the corpse from the neck.
“We left the place after 10pm and I went to his house on Tuesday to collect the head and take it to Alli. He charged us N40,000 for it and I was expecting him to give me between N2,000 and N3,000 as my share, but we were yet to pay him when our deed was discovered.
“I used to engage in native medicine and prepare charms in addition to Islamic religion that I practise.”
When asked why he committed the act despite frequent reports of such cases and people’s anger concerning them, Abdullahi replied: “Atenuje lo pa mi (it is greed that killed me).”
Friends of former federal lawmaker, Tokunbo Afikuyomi on Saturday, lost millions of naira to fraudsters who had earlier hacked the WhatsApp number of the Lagos politician.
Having succeeded in taking control of the use of the app, the criminal elements, according to Afikuyomi, sent messages to his contacts, soliciting financial help on his behalf.
Although some of the friends were clever enough to alert him; others heeded the call for help by transferring various amounts of money to the account numbers provided by the criminal gang.
Recounting his ordeal, the ex-lawmaker said, “Yesterday morning (January 13), some scammers hacked my phone line and temporarily seized control of my WhatsApp messages. They then sent fraudulent messages to some of my contacts requesting that they transfer some money on my behalf.
“Many of my friends quickly called me up on the regular phone while some others spoke with my aides to alert me.
However, unfortunately, a few others did not suspect that anything was wrong. They innocently complied with the fake request and made transfers of millions of naira to the various account numbers in different banks supplied by the scammers.”
Aware of the danger that lurked ahead, Afikuyomi said he quickly alerted the relevant authourities to track the fraudsters and reveal their identities.
He continued, “I immediately complained to the relevant security and regulatory agencies and I thank the anti-fraud unit of the police for springing into action immediately.
“Their efforts led to identifying some of the account numbers and the details of the respective owners through which the scammers collected various sums of money. The security agents are also already deploying technology to geo-locate the perpetrators. Investigations by relevant agencies are still ongoing.
“Meanwhile, I have suspended the use of my WhatsApp number till the authorities can conclude their investigations and I can now put more security measures in place to protect the line. I can only be reached through regular phone calls on the same number,” he added.
Expressing displeasure with the nation’s banking system, Afikuyomi wondered how it was possible for scammers to have succeeded in fraudulently opening accounts for the sole purpose of defrauding others.
“I must at this stage express my dismay with the lack of due diligence in the bank account opening and maintenance system in our country. This is what has come out so far in the investigation of this phone hacking scam.
“The scammers opened so many bank accounts without supplying the banks with the necessary security checks and details required by the law. In the same manner, it is now obvious that some of the Over Top Media Services providers do not fully comply with the provision of Nigeria’s Data Privacy and Protection Laws,” he added even as he vowed to go the whole distance in helping relevant agencies to smash the syndicate.
“I hereby express my determination to do everything within the law to smash this evil syndicate that has brought pain and tears to many people within Nigeria and those in the diaspora.
“Let me use this opportunity to thank everyone whose prompt response is helping to reduce the impact of this weekend scam. The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, Director General of the National Financial Intelligence Agency, Modibo Hamman Tukur, and the Deputy Governor (Corporate Services), Central Bank of Nigeria, Bala Bello, deserve special mention for their efforts in unveiling the perpetrators of this crime.
“This crime is an indication of the perilous times that we live in when the technology that was invented to make life easy for all of us has also become a source of endangering our lives and properties.
“We therefore need to be more careful, cautious, and discerning in responding to some of the messages being sent to us purportedly by our acquaintances. It is usually good to double-check the supposed source of the message, particularly if it involves a request for a transfer of money.
“This is the reality of the new age of technology in which we live. It has come with its impersonal, impassioned, distrustful, and distasteful challenges,” he further said.
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced the successful disbursement of the initial tranche of the syndicated $3.3 billion crude oil prepayment loan to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
The bank said the initial disbursement was about $2.25 billion, the second and final tranche of $1.05 billion expected to be disbursed later.
The bank described the facility as a “landmark financing and Nigeria’s largest crude oil prepayment facility as well as one of the largest syndicated loans raised in Africa in 2023.
“Investors were keen to consider ticket sizes of $250 million and $500 million amidst current headwinds and year-end pressures in the loan markets,” the bank said on Saturday.
The terms for the 5-year facility, which have attracted critical reviews in Nigeria in recent times because of impact on the country’s rising debt profile, carries a margin of 6.0 per cent per annum above the 3-month secured overnight financing rate (SOFR).
Also, the transaction structure has an embedded price balance mechanism where 90 per cent of all excess cash from the sale of the committed barrels of the crude oil (after debt service) would be released, while the balance of 10 per cent would be used to prepay the facility.
The Bank clarified that this arrangement would effectively shorten the final maturity of the loan and free cash flow from future pledged crude oil cargoes for use by Nigeria.
The initial participating lenders included Afreximbank, Africa’s multilateral trade finance institution; Gunvor International BV, a Geneva-based multinational energy and commodities trading company, and Sahara Energy Resources Limited, an African-owned, leading international energy and infrastructure conglomerate.
Afreximbank said its extensive structuring and technical experience in arranging similar complex oil & gas financing facilities in Angola, Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Chad Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana played a huge role in sealing the deal, despite a very challenging period in the global l financial market.
Afreximbank acted as Sole Mandated Lead Arranger, Technical and Modelling Bank, Bookrunner, Facility Agent, Offshore Account Bank, Intercreditor Agent and Collateral Agent, while United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) acted as the Local and Onshore Account Bank for the transaction.
While applauding the successful financial closure of the transaction, amid criticisms by concerned Nigerians, Afreximbank) President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Benedict Oramah, explained that “this facility further demonstrates the Bank’s commitment to supporting African economies when such assistance is most needed.
“Afreximbank stands by its member countries in good and in difficult times. The disbursement of the initial $2.25 billion under the facility will support Nigeria’s long-term economic stability, ease access to import financing for raw materials and essential goods, support Industrialisation and trade development efforts. We are pleased that despite the typical year-end encumbrances, our partners and investors rallied and raised the funds required in record time. We thank them for their support,” Oramah said.
The NNPC group chief executive officer, Mele Kyari, said “the proceeds of the facility have been made available to the Federal Republic of Nigeria as one of several efforts towards improving macro-economic stability. The participation of global, international and regional syndication firms is a further testament to the lending market’s appetite for financing sponsored by NNPC and signifies solid market confidence in Nigeria.”
The group managing director/CEO, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Oliver Alawuba said that “UBA is delighted to participate in this transaction which accentuates its commitment to providing necessary interventions and solutions towards addressing economic issues in Nigeria”.
[Leadership]
With the suspension of all programmes administered by the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) by the Federal Government, indications have emerged that the ongoing probe of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, over an alleged N585 million fraud in the ministry would birth far-reaching reforms in government’s intervention programmes targeted at the poor and vulnerable.
This is even as stakeholders have said that flaws in the leadership recruitment process in the country is the major reason corruption thrives in Nigeria to the extent that public officials entrusted with funds and materials to distribute to the poor and vulnerable would siphon them.
The stakeholders, comprising Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), religious leaders, technocrats and public affairs analysts, also told The Guardian that the failure of past administrations to tackle corruption in the fuel subsidy regime paved the way for the financial scandal in the Humanitarian Ministry, arguing that if the government had taken justice to those who perpetrated fraud in the fuel subsidy regime, there would have been no need for the removal of subsidy as well as provision of palliatives to poor Nigerians.
They maintained that corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of the nation, urging the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Police and other anti-corruption agencies to seriously beam their searchlights on other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and ensure that those who are siphoning public funds are fished out and brought to justice.
Nevertheless, the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to suspend “all NSIPA-related activities, including but not limited to all distributions, events, payments, collaborations and registrations” may be targeted at heeding these calls.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, who announced the suspension of the programmes last Friday evening, had explained that the move was further to the ongoing investigation of alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its programmes.
In a statement signed by a Director of Information in the office of the SGF, Segun Imohiosen, which was made available to newsmen, Akume said: “All four programmes administered by NSIPA, viz; N-Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme and Home Grown School Feeding Programme (the “Programmes”) have been suspended for a period of six weeks in the first instance.”
The SGF further said: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has also raised significant concerns regarding operational lapses and improprieties surrounding payments to the Programmes’ beneficiaries.
“He has therefore constituted a ministerial panel to conduct a thorough review of the Agency’s operations with a view to recommending necessary reforms of the NSIPA.”
In the statement, the President assured “stakeholders and all Nigerians that his administration remains committed to a swift and unbiased process that will ensure that, going forward, social intervention programmes will work exactly as intended, to the benefit of the most vulnerable Nigerians.
Notwithstanding, the Executive Director, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Ibuchukwu Ezike, told The Guardian that most of the people elected and appointed into positions of trust in Nigeria are people who owe no allegiance to Nigeria, hence the penchant by some public officials to steal what is allocated to uplift the poor.
“They are nominees of like minds in the leadership of the parties or people who are close to those in government or who assisted the candidate or the party in their campaigns to win elections and the likes. So, their key mission in office is to loot and plunder Nigeria, not otherwise.
“Late Dr. Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo, the former Vice Chairman of NADECO and Chancellor of the Eastern Mandate Union (EMU), in his locus classicus book, The Stolen Billions, described the characters of those appointed by the military to political positions in Nigeria as looters who have no stake in Nigeria. He cited the case of one former Minister of Petroleum, Alhaji Alhaji, who attended an OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria, with $500, 000 in the 1990s. Alhaji hired a prostitute who drugged him and made away with his portfolio bag that contained all the sensitive documents for the meeting, his international passport and the $500, 000. This barbaric and greedy attitude of the military politicians is what has continued in government after 1999,” he stated
Ezike also wondered what a neophyte without character and experience would do when given a high profile position except to plunder. He noted that the clamour to give women and the youth opportunity to serve in government has become a process for “the shameless, circulating Nigerian elite to nominate their wives, children, relations, associates and girl friends without due qualifications for such offices.”
He added: “No one thinks about those who have been in the trenches fighting for a better, just and progressive society, who have been tested and proven to be good, credible, intelligent and patriotic.
“Then comes the issue of home training and godlessness. Most of the Nigerian parents in politics lack absolute regard for discipline, good behaviour and respect for the law, due process, human rights and God. Their children are trained in similar manner and when they find themselves in such offices, their major interest, like their parents, would be to steal any money they see and appropriate any opportunities they find. My people, Ndigbo, have a saying that “agwo anaghi amu ihe di mkpurisi (meaning that snakes do not produce short offspring).”
Noting that it is not impossible “to address this shame and return Nigeria to a corridor of pride, honour and happiness,” Ezike urged the government to put in place strong mechanisms or laws that frown at corruption and abuse of office.
“The anti-corrupt institutions namely, the Police, EFCC, ICPC, Code of Conduct Bureau should be made independent in truth and action, and be strengthened to be able to do their duties creditably well and without fear or favour. All those who indulge in this despicable and reprehensible practice should be severely punished to serve as a deterrent to others. Also, qualified, patriotic, honest, just, experienced and hard working Nigerians, who are all over the world, should be considered for sensitive and important positions so that they can deliver and become the signposts for credible, transparent and good governance. And lastly, our judicial system must sit up, be truly independent, clean and rigid in dealing with corruption cases to ensure that justice is adequately dispensed,” he stressed.
Speaking in the same vein, President of The Credibility Group, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, noted that the ‘victory first, morality later’ mentality of Nigerian politicians robs off on appointments into public offices, hence the large scale corruption in the public sector.
His words: “The failure of recruitment is an expression in human resources. This is where a team will have an objective, a destination. But in public affairs under the control of politicians, the motto is ‘victory first, morality later.’ In the race for victory, morality has no place. Any leader of a political party who does not understand that has a big mountain in front of him.
“In achieving victory, a Nigerian political party leader will grab victory and dare you to go to court, knowing very well that the electoral body will never supply the certified true copies of the election details. And of course, the electoral body will suffer no consequences for unconstitutional conduct.
“So, the party gathers the people who will make victory certain. In the end, the dubious people get appointments while the honest people are stranded.”
On the way out of the quagmire, he said: “What can be done is a tall order. In a sentence, every vote must count. The process of making votes count begins with appointments into the electoral body and the judiciary. I grew up seeing the judiciary as the last hope of the common man. As an adult and a lawyer, I know that justice is a rare commodity.”
Travel Technology Consultant, Clara Chinwe Okoro, also noted that appointments made by any government on the basis of political party, without taking into cognizance the issue of integrity and capability of the individuals in question is likely to throw up the kind of situation the government is dealing with currently.
“And then again, I believe ethics and accountability isn’t a very strong priority for this government.
“The judiciary would have been recourse for justice on behalf of the citizens in cases like these but we know that it is almost impossible with the antecedents of what we have witnessed lately. When we take the pedigree of public servants seriously, then the solution will come,” she said.
For former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Federal Government to stop chasing shadows and muster the political will to tackle corruption.
He noted: “The root cause of our predicament is corruption. If we had sincerely tackled corruption in the fuel subsidy regime, there would have been no need to remove it, and there would have been no need for palliatives nor rampant poverty; we should stop chasing shadows
On his part, the Anglican Archbishop of Enugu, Most Reverend Emmanuel Chukwuma, has described the financial scandals in the Humanitarian Ministry as unfortunate, lamenting that corruption has reared its ugly head early in the life of the current administration.
Chukwuma said: “It’s unfortunate that this issue of corruption is happening within five months of this administration and that shows that the ministers should be properly watched. We had serious corruption during the last regime and no investigation was done against the offenders. The people who recommended Betta Edu should be blamed because they did it on selfish grounds. The President should beam more searchlights on all the ministries. The National Assembly is not free from all these corruption because there was never a proper scrutinisation of those appointed ministers. They are also corrupt.
“The President should be more sincere in fighting corruption to save this nation because there is money in this country but it is going into the wrong hands.
They should repent. The ministers are doing what they are doing because of greediness, lack of contentment and insincerity. Politicians without good business and good background should not be appointed into office. There should be honest and serious screening of anyone to be appointed.”
Also, the Archbishop, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, His Grace, Most Reverend Alfred Adewale Martins, described the alleged fraud in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs as very disappointing, lamenting that it was not the first time.
Martins said: “It is very disappointing that the immediate past minister and present minister have been enmeshed in allegations of corruption. It is disappointing, especially because their ministry has been entrusted with bringing relief to the most deprived people in the country. It is a betrayal of trust and confidence and in many ways it speaks to the fact that the intervention programmes don’t seem to be adequately thought through in a way that will make a difference to the immediate people in this country.
“In the first instance, the process of gathering data that the ministry is supposed to use in giving intervention; it is difficult to see how it can be done in a transparent way without any shadow of doubt. The process of gathering data and eventually making the intervention have not had the kind of transparency that is needed and so corruption can easily creep in into the system. And apart from that, I believe intervention that gives N20,000 and N30,000 to individuals and the rest of it, however useful it may be, doesn’t really address the basic problems of empowering people in terms of education, provision of social amenities and many other areas. I think these are the problems I found with the intervention that the government has been making through this poverty alleviation and so on.
“These people who ‘rob’ the country and the masses, I see it as a kind disposition that people seem to have when they are entrusted with public offices; that it is their own opportunity to grab as much as possible. They see it as their own opportunity to create wealth for themselves and their immediate families knowing very well that in the end not much is going to happen to them. And indeed, many times, nothing happens. In other words, the impunity with which people have carried out this act over the years have made people to be so bold as to continue to do it because they know that there are no consequences. After some time there is public outcry, and everything dies down and everybody forgets. That is what I think gives them the boldness to continue unabated in our country.
“So, to get it right, I think that it is necessary to think through how the intervention will actually make the difference; think it through in such a way that whatever obstacle might be on the way would be addressed even before it begins. Then, of course, the ethics that guide people in their work also needs to be re-jigged because everybody is all about how much I can get from public funds. Maybe there are some who are not like that. Until the government’s action is taken to a logical conclusion, until people are brought to book for what they do wrong, until those things are done, I’m afraid we will still continue in this way.” Nigerian filmmaker and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Colobarmedia 707, John Njamah, said the Nigerian system was embedded in corruption.
“This is not the way to go as a country. If you give birth to children and you have questionable character, there is every tendency that the children will emulate you.
“Corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of our society. What we have are political appointees who act with impunity and mess up the system. No decorum whatsoever. It is very unfortunate the situation we are in as a country.
“There should be a total overhaul of the system because it is in shambles. The people we have there are recycled political holders. Things have to change,” Njamah added.
Chairman, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), Lanre Suraj, said it is high time Nigerians sat tight and did anything humanly possible to kill corruption in the system before it brings the country down.
Suraj warned that the spate at which corruption is going, and the impunity with which the perpetrators were doing it, calls for a serious concern among Nigerians He said the Betta Edu case further shows the abject weakness of government institutions, which include also the security agencies and judiciary.
Suraj urged the government to ensure that those culpable are made to face the music. He said one of the reasons people get involved in corruption with impunity is because those found guilty are not severely punished.
“You can imagine someone who is charged and sentenced for graft but the same person is asked to enter plea bargaining, which means he/she would release part of what he mismanaged and by interpretation keeps the rest.
“This has emboldened civil servants to get involved in corruption with impunity,” he said. Suraj suggested that institutions like EFCC, ICPC, Code of Conduct Bureau and Code of Conduct Tribunal be made stronger and independent.
“If public officers do not declare their assets publicly before and after their election and or appointments, it will be difficult to fight corruption. We should know the value of a public servant before and after his tenure in office so that nobody will use public funds to enrich himself. We also need to empower the security agencies as well as the judiciary,” he added.
He said more searchlights must be beamed on corruption at the state level, alleging that corruption at that level could triple what obtains at the federal level.
[Guardian]
President names Edun, Pate, four others in ministerial committee
The Presidency yesterday announced the setting up of a Special Presidential Panel to audit financial dealings of the suspended schemes administered by the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA).
The constitution of the panel, according to President Bola Tinubu‘s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, was in a bid to achieve a thorough house cleaning in NSIPA.
Tinubu had on Friday directed the suspension of the four programmes for an initial four weeks, following various allegations of sleaze against officials in the agency.
Ngelale said yesterday that the panel, consisting of six members, all ministers of strategic sectors, will be chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun.
The panel, among other tasks, will undertake a comprehensive review and audit of existing financial frameworks and policy guidelines of the four social investment programmes under NSIPA.
The SA said: “This Special Presidential Panel is tasked with immediately undertaking a comprehensive review and audit of existing financial frameworks and policy guidelines of the social investment programmes with a view to implementing a total re-engineering of the financial architecture of the programmes with detailed modification to procedures guiding the programmes’ implementation moving forward.
“The Special Presidential Panel, which is comprised of ministers representing strategic sectors and will ensure a multi-disciplinary approach to the reform effort, is made up of the following members:
“Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance – Chairman; Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare – Member; Honourable Minister of Budget and Economic Planning – Member; Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation – Member; Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy – Member; and Honourable Minister of State for Youth – Member.
“President Tinubu anticipates that this Special Presidential Panel will validate the confidence reposed in it by winning back all lost public confidence in these vital programmes over the years by ushering in a new era of operation based on open and accountable governance frameworks that will prove impervious to abuse and incompetence for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households across our nation.”
[TheNation]
More...
- One of six killed sisters already killed by bandits
Nigerians on social media have started a fundraising campaign for the ransom to seek the release of a lady identified only as Nabeeha and five of her sisters who were kidnapped by kidnappers in their house in Abuja on January 2, 2024.
In the early hours of Wednesday, January 3, 2024, an X user, Adamu_Asiya_, who identified herself as a cousin to the kidnapped sisters announced the kidnap, noting that her uncle was killed in the process. She said, “Please pray for my sisters and uncle when you see this. Nabeeha, her sisters, and her dad were kidnapped in their house last night. We lost an uncle in the process. Your duas are needed.”
Two days after her first tweet, she informed the public that the father of the girls was released by the kidnappers with a ransom of N60m placed on the lives of the Najeebah and her sisters with a deadline given.
After her tweet, the hashtag, #Najeebaandhersisters was created to raise the N60m demanded by the kidnappers. However, in the early hours of Saturday, the cousin of the kidnapped sisters, Asiya, came on X to announce that one of the sisters, Nabeeha had been killed by the kidnappers after failing to meet the deadline for payment of the ransom given to the father, raising the ransom to N100m
She posted, “Innalillahi wa Inna ilaihi rajiun????????????
Please put Nabeeha in your prayers.
May Allah grant her Al-Jannatul Firdaus????????
They killed her…”
Following the death of Nabeeha, there was an outrage on social media with Netizens demanding the police and Nigerian government act immediately to ensure the release of the sisters,
Former media aide to Maj. Gen Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd.), Bashir Ahmad, on his official X handle posted, “I join fellow concerned Nigerians in urgently calling on the @PoliceNG through its PPRO @PrinceMoye1 to acknowledge and respond to the unfortunate incident involving the kidnapping of Najeebah and five of her sisters #NabeehaAndHerSisters more than a week ago. The information shared by a family member @Adamu_Asiya_ this morning indicated that the kidnappers have tragically killed Najeebah as a warning and demanded a N100 million ransom for the release of the remaining victims.
We implore the Nigeria Police to prioritise this case and deploy all necessary resources to safely rescue the remaining victims.
Thank you!”
An X user, hayateey1, posted, “As an average Nigerian if you have refused to lend your voice for the rescue of Late Nabeeha’s 5 other sisters, know that you are no different from the government and security operatives you always call out and castigate. Insecurity affects all of us directly or indirectly! Let that sink in!”
Another X user, KawuGarba posted, “If we keep quiet, this insecurity will consume all of us.
“The innocent girl Nabeeha executed by armed bandits terrorists could be any of us.
“FUGUS girls have spent almost 4 months in captivity, with no explanation and the media is silent about them.”
Adedayo_agarau posted, “What else do Nigerians in Nigeria have to do to be safe? They pay taxes. They pray. They go to work.
“Institutionalised criminal rings have been picking up innocent Nigerians and using them to get rich quickly or score political points. IT HAS TO STOP.”
@dansatty also posted, “People get kidnapped day-in day-out in a country that has a government? Where are the security operatives saddled with the responsibility of protecting the citizens? What is the president @officialABAT doing about all these? It is a stranger’s turn today, it can be your turn or your loved ones’ tomorrow. #Najeebahandhersisters”
@wizarab10 posted, “Hello @IretiKingibe. A father and his 6 daughters were kidnapped within the FCT. The dad was later released with a request to bring N60 million naira to secure his daughters’ safety. Unable to meet the deadline, one was killed and others will follow suit if he doesn’t meet their demands
“How do we secure the release of this man’s daughters? Please, how do you intend to secure the lives of the citizenry within the Federal Capital? I need you to use your good office to help.”
Responding to an X user who alleged that the police have been silent on the incident, Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, stated that not all information must be addressed on X.
He said, “For your information, the police and other security agencies have been on the matter. Don’t allege security operatives wrongly, rather you ask questions, and you will be guided and informed. Ask questions, and drop allegations or speculations. Peace!!!.”
In a subsequent post on X replying to Bashir Ahmad, Adejobi urged the family of the victims to work with the police on the matter.
He posted, “Pls let the family members or you relate with us codedly. Let them reach out to me on my personal line, and drop a msg there. We have been working on it, but we need some info. We will try our best possible to emplace all necessary measures to rescue them unhurt. But we need to get some info pls. Thanks.”
Former Osun State Governor, Adebisi Akande, has opined it is challenging to tackle corruption in the country due to the “corrupt mindset” of Nigerians.
Naija News reports that Akande stated this while speaking with journalists in his Ila-Orangun country home on Saturday as part of activities marking his 85th birthday.
According to him, corruption is not the first thing to fight in Nigeria because one can perish, stressing that successive administrations in the country have failed to defeat corruption.
Lamenting over the failure to embrace hard work, the pioneer Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said many Nigerians would prefer to cut corners while blaming the government.
He added that until Nigerians have a change of mindset and embrace the virtues of dedication and hard work, no leader would be able to attack and defeat corruption in the country.
He said, “In Nigeria, corruption is not the first thing to fight otherwise you get perished. The mindset is corrupt.
“The man who wants prosperity by miracle is corrupt. You want to own a car or house by miracle, you are already a corrupt man.
“In a country where everybody is corrupt, who is that leader, who will bell the cat?
“So you are only blaming the leader, but you are corrupt yourself. Go to religious circle, everybody wants comfort without work.
“The present generation doesn’t want to work. They want everything by miracle. Such a community can never be prosperous. No leader can make them prosperous.
“They will just be blaming government. A country where everybody is corrupt like Nigeria, nobody can solve the problem.”
Collins Ajereh, the Nigerian singer and music executive, who is popularly known as Don Jazzy, has showered accolades on award-winning singer, Davido, over his enthusiasm for music.
Don Jazzy, while speaking on the Zero Condition podcast, said he had always supported Davido for a long time, even when he was a member of the defunct Mo’Hits label.
According to the music executive, he had thought Davido would be the next big music producer after him.
He also applauded Davido’s passion for music despite coming from a wealthy family.
He said: “When I heard back when I thought Davido was going to be the next me because he sang and produced the song. Just go to Davido’s Instagram page or Twitter page, you will understand the passion this guy has for music.
"This guy wants to work, he loves the music thing. Currently, there is money, he has a private jet. If he stops today, he is still going to fly a private jet and he will still be fine.”
Yemi Alade, the award-winning Nigerian singer, has said music for her is passion and not a career.
Speaking in the latest episode of the Tea With Tay podcast, Alade explained that if she were to choose a career years back, she would not have chosen music.
The ‘Johnny’ crooner said, “It [music] was always a passion and I was hoping to see where it would take me. Do I feel like I needed to drop everything I was doing in life and focused solely on music? No.”
Speaking further, Alade said, “I loved the idea of it [music] but I did not wanted it to be a career. I did not see it as a career. It was a big hobby I was very invested in. But not a career.
“If you had asked me 11/12 years ago if I wanted to be a musician, I would not pick that as a career choice. I still wouldn’t do it. As much as I was into a lot of music related stuff, I just believed that this hobby I would do something with it but I’m going to continue with my academics like my parents want me to. I’m certain I’m going to get a job if music didn’t work out.”
She, however, said it changed after she won the Peak Talent Show in 2009 after which she signed to Effyzzie Music Group, and had a hit with her single ‘Johnny’ in 2014.