Let us today take some time off and our attention away from trending issues that directly and openly affect our everyday lives like the economy, security and infrastructure to ponder on some other things that are in reality at the root of many of our problems but that we do not tend to link to the same problems.

In that light, we understandably tend to focus on the fruits of our discontent or achievement while we ignore the tree or the soil that yields these fruits. We don’t like to remember it but in reality, and gruesome as it may sound, there is always someone or some people benefiting from the pains and discontent of others.

Think about this: Every time you walk into or have to deal with an office that does not work efficiently some members of staff of that office and or some other privileged stakeholders are benefiting from the chaos that you term as inefficiencies and that cost you time, money and maybe emotions.

You are the discontent one whilst the others are the beneficiaries of the chaos. How did we get here and what is the essence of such situation? In a lot of cases, we are dealing with the dark side of the light of modernity. Let us put things into context and widen our framework of reflection. It is generally assumed that modernity and progress are intrinsically linked and that modernity allows progress to come to fore whilst progress is perceived as an index of modernity.

In between and around modernity and progress is knowledge or more generally information. We are able to progress and become more modern because many know more and most can do more.

A simple and very visible symbol of knowledge is literacy, yes, it is very possible to be knowledgeable without being literate but literacy allows more people to do more and it allows even more people to share the knowledge and ingenuity of others. Modernity shows this clearly where many more can now access the bible and other classic texts without guidance. The light of modernity is even clearer when we consider how many more people can aspire to higher education and thanks to mass media even many more can discover and aim for an array of goods and services before now considered exclusive and reserved for the view.

Information, technology and the import of finance has in modern times killed aristocracy. Let it be clear that I refer here to moral and intellectual aristocracy.

Death and dearth of any form of aristocracy aside, the darkest side of the light of modernity is however more visible when we consider the effect of literacy without knowledge. Whilst literacy gives all access to know, to express and even justify and articulate our thoughts and desires, it is knowledge that gives us the discipline to ponder on the why, to fully perceive the consequence of the what, to possess the desire to dig deeper, the stamina to resist the wrong and the endurance to persevere and do the just.

In the society or system of literate but unknowledgeable members, everyone can talk and opine because they can read and most do read headlines and hear soundbites but few actually listen to understand words and messages or dig deeper to decipher desire, interests, justification or desperation. Think of those who you know in private and public life that regurgitate and expatiate partisan lines, religious positions, favourable ethnic stances or common places without blinking and with a certainty and confidence that makes you sometimes doubt if a fact is real.

I have seen people who have never read let alone analysed the constitution engage in conversations or even debates on matters of law and institutions with an aplomb that would make a jurist stutter.

A dark side of the light of our times is that it is no more fashionable to tell someone to keep quiet and not to have, let alone express, opinions on matters for which they have not been trained or charged to manage.

Fully disclosure here as some people from CIAPS might be reading, I am also guilty of indulging students to express their views before learning but if I may put forward a defence and an excuse, I do that using a Socratic method that I very much cherish and in a declared learning environment with established safeguards and protocols.

The case is very different in our police stations or hospitals where doctors do not seem to be in charge and in control of their wards or officers in charge of their station and men any more. Only those who have the misfortune of visiting a police station lately can fully and accurately understand my pain and the level of chaos and indiscipline that has taken over our stations. Rather than order, officers tend to beg their subordinates to do tasks like take statements or attend to other matters that they are paid and charged to do.

In many state-owned hospitals, too many doctors are treated by nurses and other staff like nuisances that call to disrupt the peace of those busy with phone calls, chats and gossips.

Mind you even parents are struggling to guide their children as offsprings are now prone to viewing and living instruction as obtrusions. Some have argued that the case of the chaos at police stations is due to corruption and connivance, yes that is a strong case but what about hospitals and the situations we have with parents and children? My view is that these are all symptoms of society that is been engulfed by the darkness that light of modernity brings with its appearance. It is a darkness that makes people think that all must be treated equally regardless of knowledge and position in system and society.

It is time we commence serious conversations around roles and responsibilities in our society and systems, right now it is all about rights and views and that is dangerous. 

Someone called my attention to a video from a lawyer educating people that it is a crime and breach of privacy to screenshot a private conversation you had with another person and share it on a social media timeline.

It happens regularly on WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram and even LinkedIn where users publish a private conversation they had with another person. The person at the other end of the conversation can commence a legal action against you for breach of privacy.

Section 37 of the constitution provides thus; “The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected”. This section is the fons et origo for the protection of privacy of an individual’s privacy in Nigeria thereby making it a crime when a person’s privacy has been breached by another person which can include publishing a private conversation.

Taking a screenshot of a private conversation between you and another person without that person’s consent can be illegal and posting a private conversation between you and that person or even disclosing the conversation to a third party can get you sued for breach of privacy.

But this rule of the illegality of publishing a private conversation is not a rock solid one just as it is said that in every rule there must be an or some exceptions, the same goes with this rule. 

There are some instances where you can leak a private conversation without incurring any criminal liability. Truth be told, the legality or otherwise of publishing recordings of conversations/interactions in any medium is based on whether there is a reasonable expectation of privacy which is to be judged by the content and context of the conversation and whether it would be highly offensive and damaging to a reasonable person.

So the question posed in determining the illegality of publishing a private conversation is whether there is a reasonable expectation of privacy in the conversation. The answer to this question will be determined solely by the content or context of the conversation. 

As a petitioner bringing an action against another person for publishing the content of the private conversation you had with the person, the court in determining if you have a reasonable cause of action or not will consider amongst other things;

a) whether there was a reasonable expectation of privacy in the conversation

b) whether the content would be highly offensive or damaging

C) whether the content or the focus of the conversation is criminal in nature or not.

For instance, if two adults engage in sexting and sharing of their nude pictures and videos with each other, it will reasonably be expected that the content of such conversation should be kept away from the third eye and publishing such a private conversation will be highly damaging to the other person. So instances like this, a right to legal action may arise.

As a take home, if you must publish a private conversation for whatever reason, consider the potential damage it might cause to the person at the other end, think about the potential for the post to go viral, and think about the potential for the succeeding crimes relating to the posting of the messages. After considering the above, if you still want to go ahead to publish such a private conversation, be sure to blur out any identifiable information of the other person because sharing private information of another person is a crime on its own. 

Stan Alieke is a legal practitioner.

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THERE were indications, yesterday, that petrol scarcity has returned to Lagos and its environs as many oil marketers shut their outlets against motorists and other buyers.

The scarcity was noticed in Abuja and environs last week, development oil marketers had attributed to bad roads and high cost of diesel for distribution.

But checks by Vanguard, over the weekend, indicated that many independent and major oil marketers were not open for business, leaving only the NNPC Limited to attend to customers in most parts of Lagos visited.

It was gathered that NNPC Limited has supply because it remains the only importer of the product.

Despite deregulation, other operators have not been able to import petrol because of market uncertainty and lack of foreign exchange, currently standing at more than N1,000/dollar in the informal market.

In a telephone interview with Vanguard, yesterday, the President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chinedu Okoronkwo, said actions had been taken to address the situation.

He said: “Stakeholders have been meeting and measures have been taken to enable oil marketers to access foreign exchange at a rate that will not disturb the current price of the product.”

However, checks by Vanguard in Abuja showed that most major marketers which were opened have hiked their pump price from N615 per liter to N625 per litre.

Similarly, the Public Relations Officer, of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, had said: “The issue we have is that most of the private depots have gone out of stock because they get supply from NNPCL. Since NNPC is the sole importer, these private depots that independents buy products from also depend on the NNPC for their supplies. This arrangement is also encouraging profiteering.

“We have been finding it very difficult to pick products from NNPC in the past five days and that is why you are seeing the skeletal scarcity. It is not major yet. The important point here is that despite the deregulation, NNPC is still the sole importer of PMS and no other depot is importing.

“Some of the portals owned by NNPC have shut down and are no longer issuing authority to lift to marketers in some of their portals. This significantly shows that there is a gap in the chain of supply. But I was reassured by the MD of NNPC that they are expecting products and they will feed us very soon.

“I want to state that NNPC prices have not changed and they are still selling at N577.6/litre as ex-depot price”, he added

Also, the President of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria, NOGASA, Mr. Benneth Korie, had warned that the downstream in the country was under serious pressure as stations were shutting down due to harsh operational conditions.

Korie pointed out that “depot owners are so terribly affected by the increasing cost of the crude and exchange rate to the extent that many depots are practically deserted as their owners are unable to secure bank loans to fund their business due to high-interest rates.

[Vanguard]

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to honour his words of  uploading of election results from Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa on the commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, made the call while addressing a news conference on Sunday in Abuja.

Ologunagba said that the PDP has noted the statement by Yakubu that INEC would make full use of its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the IReV portal for uploading and electronic transmission of results in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi governorship election.

“The PDP notes that the INEC chairman has confirmed the use of BVAS and IREV in this election and even in previous election is a mandatory statutory requirement of the law

“The PDP holds Yakubu directly responsible and accountable to his pronouncements and that INEC is bound by law to electronically transmit results directly from the polling units using these technologies.

“The PDP is fully prepared for these elections and in line with the commitment of INEC will not accept any other means of transmitting results in these elections except as this manner pronounced by the INEC Chairman in line with requirement of Electoral Act, 2022,” Ologunagba said.

Ologunagba to that PDP had commenced training of its polling agents at all levels to ensure total compliance to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) Electoral Act, 2022, INEC Guidelines and Regulations especially as confirmed by Yakubu.

He expressed confidence that the party would win the elections in the three states.

He said that in Bayelsa, the PDP has Gov. Douye Diri, “a miracle and performing governor, who is on the ground and enjoys the overwhelming support of the people.”

He said that in Kogi, the PDP has a very popular candidate, Sen. Dino Melaye’s whose popularity and public acceptance have completely dwarfed and dumbed the rejected APC candidate, Usman Ododo.

In Imo, Ologunagba said that the PDP had a very popular candidate in Sen. Samuel Anyanwu whose popularity and acceptance across the State “have thrown the Gov. Hope Uzodimma and the APC in the State into mortal fear.

“Anyanwu’s mission to Make Imo Safe Again is resonating across the State and overwhelming majority of the people of Imo State are rallying with him to achieve this,” Ologunagba said.

He also reiterated the party demands for the immediate removal of INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Imo, Prof. Sylvia Agu.

He said that the PDP and other political parties had written several letters to INEC on the demand over allegation that Agu had been compromised.

“Recently the political parties including the PDP, Labout Party, Young Progressives Party (YPP), African Democratic Party (ADC), Action Alliance (AA) among others staged a peaceful protest to INEC demanding for her immediate removal.

“Agu is a relation of a national officer of the APC and there are allegations that she is being further compromised to assist the APC to rig the Nov. 11 governorship election in Imo State

“The continuing stay in office of Agu as Imo REC is provocative, inciting and amount to testing the will of the people of Imo State and daring them to do their worse.

“INEC has a lot of RECs from which the INEC Chairman can choose to replace Agu and avoid a scenario that could be worse than what happened in Adamawa State Governorship election where INEC refused to change the compromised REC.

“INEC chairman must note that the integrity of an election process is directly relation to the confidence of the electorate,” he alleged.

India, MumbaiCricket will be one of five new sports added to the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028, organisers revealed Monday.

Cricket, along with baseball/softball, flag football, squash, and lacrosse, was authorised by the International Olympic Committee’s session in Mumbai.

The IOC’s executive board last week accepted a proposal by LA organisers for Twenty20 cricket, the sport’s shortest format, to be included along with the four other new events.

But the final choice still had to be voted on Monday at the IOC session in Mumbai, one of the global centres for cricket, as India hosts the men’s 50-over Cricket World Cup.

Los Angeles chiefs have proposed a six-team event, in both men’s and women’s T20 cricket.

The United States is set to field sides as the host nation, but no firm decision has been made on the number of teams, or how they will qualify.

Cricket last featured at the 1900 Paris Olympics, when a team from Britain beat a side representing France.

Adding cricket to the Olympic programme is an obvious move, financially speaking.

It would tap into the lucrative South Asian market, attracting fans in countries such as India and Pakistan.

The Indian Premier League, featuring cricket’s global stars, has helped India become the unquestioned economic driving force of the sport, thanks to legions of fans and lucrative broadcasting deals in a nation where the game is almost a religion.

[OpinionNigeria]

Nigerians are brilliant, one of the best educated peoples in the world. But none of us can show our children or grandchildren the spot where, 63 years ago, our country’s independence was declared. The spot where the iniquitous colonial British flag was lowered and the Nigerian Green-White-Green independence flag was hoisted to proclaim the birth of the most populous Black Nation in the world.

That spot is buried under the concrete of our leaders’ lack of historical sense and greed. This spot, which is on Lagos Island, was known as the Race Course. You get it: where races, including those of humans and horses, were held. It was the place for parades, including those by school children and the military. It was the centre for ceremonies where we annually marked Independence Day.

In front of the Race Course was the Parliament Building where laws were made before the military shifted law-making to Dodan Barracks. At the opposite end was where the Unknown Soldier Cenotaph was built. Opposite the cenotaph was the famous Independence House, a 25-storey building completed in 1961. It was then the tallest structure in the country. That was before the Babangida military regime seized the building, turned it into ‘Defence House’. It was eventually burnt and abandoned.

By the side, is the Race Course Bus-stop, and opposite the bus-stop was the Love Garden, a big green park where couples were encouraged to take walks and sit out. It was also a place where, as school boys, we played football on our way home. The Love Garden disappeared. In its place stands the privately-owned MUSON Centre.

The lush 14.5-hectare Race Course itself was turned into concrete with a big event centre, offices, restaurants and bars. It is now called the Tafawa Balewa Square. No symbol, and nothing reminds us of the spot our independence was proclaimed.

In Obalende where I grew up, the race course where horses were tended and races held, has disappeared, giving way to concrete buildings as part of Dodan Barracks.

It can be argued that these places I have described are still mainly under public ownership. But there are many public places, some of historical significance which the elites simply parcelled amongst themselves and gave private titles of deed. For instance, Ikeja, the capital of Lagos State, had a stadium in its Government Reservation Area, GRA. That stadium has simply disappeared. Those who knew the Stadium during the Second Republic will find standing there today, private residential houses.

The costliest and most beautiful part of the country through colonial times into the 1980s, was Ikoyi GRA. It had perhaps the largest park in our history with streams and trees. It was called Ikoyi Park and was where, along with Bar Beach, citizens went for picnic. Ikoyi Park was seized by the elites who portioned out the natural water haven to themselves and built their private property. Today, on Ikoyi Park which has been renamed Parkview Estate, stand several privates houses, offices and hotels.

The conversion of public spaces, parks and waterways into private estates, offices and residential areas is not uncommon across the country. It is a main reason for flooding in many urban centres.

After witnessing this tragic trend in Lagos where I grew up, my antennae is bound to go up when I see a similar trend in Abuja where I reside. So far, only the Obasanjo administration with Mallam Nasir el-Rufai as the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Minister, made concrete efforts to restore the Abuja Master Plan and rescue the city.

I was therefore elated when on August 21, 2023,in his maiden address as the new FCT Minister, His Excellency Nyesom Wike declared the restoration of the Abuja environment as a key priority. Wike in his emphatic mannerism declared: “If you know you have built where you are not supposed to build, it will go down. It will go down. Be a minister of anywhere, be an ambassador. If you have developed where you are not supposed to develop, your house must go down”.

He added that: “Those who have taken over the green areas to build, our parks must come back, the green areas must come back. If you hate green, you must hate yourself. So, if you have anybody who is involved, that has taken over the green areas or has taken over the parks, to where you now do restaurants, we will not accept that.”

In excitement, I sent a public message to the new Minister on August 28, 2023. It reads: “Government officials and security agencies are seizing parks and green areas and building on them. Minister Nyesom Wike, if you are to be taken serious, let me throw a public challenge: the Nigeria Police Force has just seized the beautiful Berger Junction/Wuse Zone 6 public park and commenced massive construction. Can you check this rape of the environment by sending the violators packing? The frenzy with which this construction by the Police Property Development and Construction Company has gone on since President Tinubu was sworn in gives the impression that the builders want to present your office with a fait accompli. So, should Nigerians join you in this pointed fight, or are you backing down because the violator is the Nigeria Police?”

The police reacted to my writing by immediately removing most of its signboards. But when no reaction seemed to be coming from Minister Wike, the builders redoubled their efforts and since then, some of the buildings in the park have been taken to lintel level. But I have also received messages from members of the public mentioning other parks with illegal construction. In one case, I was informed that the police had seized another public park, this time in Utako and built structures right into the fence.

Two additional points to be made on the construction in the Berger Park. One, the builders have also cleared the land up to the natural water and the drainage system that collects drainage from Wuse Zones 1 and 2. So if the construction is not halted, there may be flooding in the area. The second point is that the massive construction stretches from Sudan Street, the parallel street the Abuja Environmental Agency has its offices and equipment. So, officials of the agency pass by the construction site on their way to work and back. The sheer audacity!

President Bola Tinubu and Minister Wike must prevent the tragedy that occurred in Lagos where public spaces and parks were converted to private use, from being the portion of Abuja.

A people who forget their past and condone impunity, cannot have a good future. The time to start rebuilding our country is now!

Around February 6, 2005, John Githongo, Permanent Secretary in Kenya’s Presidency responsible for Governance and Ethics, resigned after only two years in the role. As Michaela Wrong narrates in her vicarious memoir of Githongo’s tenure, his resignation letter was transmitted from an anonymous grocer’s shop in London at the beginning of what turned out to be a three-year-long exile. He had fled the job “fearing he could be murdered”.

When he took up the position in 2003, Githongo had arrived with energy and ideas from a senior role in global corruption watch-dog, Transparency International. Corruption, he told Ms. Wrong, “could only be fought from the top.” The main lesson from his two years on the job, instead, appeared to be that fighting corruption was also most usually frustrated from the top.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who had her own run-ins with trying to keep the country on the tarmac as Finance Minister, titled her memoirs on public finance reforms: Fighting Corruption is Dangerous. The New York Times described Githongo’s experience as “a cautionary tale about the dangers of challenging a thoroughly corrupted system”. Such tales have become the staple of a succession of bedraggled tenures of chief executives of Nigeria’s leading anti-corruption institution, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

By some coincidence, the EFCC’s first Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, took his job in the same year that President Mwai Kibaki appointed John Githongo to his position as the presumptive Czar of anti-corruption in the country. The year after his appointment, Ribadu reached an agreement with the Nigeria Police College, Ikeja, to train cadets for the EFCC. Among the graduates from the Course 1 Cadet cohort in 2004 was one Abdulrasheed Bawa.

The brief of the EFCC, meanwhile, ran up against constitutional design and cynical politics. Although the Commission is empowered primarily to ensure accountability through criminal prosecutions, ultimate control of that function under Nigeria’s Constitution lies not with the Chairman of the EFCC but with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, who sits in cabinet where the EFCC Chair does not. What the president gives to the EFCC Chair, he can take away by sleight of hand, a nod, or a wink in the direction of his Attorney-General.

Within two years at the beginning of the Millennium, Nigeria had created two anti-corruption institutions where one would easily have served. In 2000, President Olusegun Obasanjo first established the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, better known as the ICPC, to fight routine bureaucratic malefaction.

But Nigeria was on the receiving end of sovereign stress from the Financial Action Task Force, FATF, for allegations of high profile international financial crimes involving a joint enterprise of private citizens and public institutions, which made the rehabilitation of the country’s international credit rather frustrating. Somewhat under international duress, therefore, President Obasanjo established the EFCC to help him create the impression that the country was serious about this problem. The motive for the EFCC, it seemed clear from inception, was both instrumental and performative. That was clear enough to the politicians who created it. Most of the leaders of the institution since, however, liked to pretend to the contrary.

The EFCC volubly advertises its relative success against the most notorious advance fee fraud syndicates but has proved entirely inept in bringing to account senior politicians who have turned Nigeria into an object of abject pillage and plunder, often with the collusion of a succession of occupants of the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Successive Chairs of the Commission have all ended up tarnished and hounded.

Nuhu Ribadu was a dashing 40-year-old police officer and lawyer who came to national prominence at the turn of the millennium representing his employers before the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission headed by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa. He brought that gusto to his role as the pioneer chair of the EFCC where he seemed to command considerable bandwidth with then president, Olusegun Obasanjo to the point of holding sway in decisions over who was eliminated from the line of succession as Obasanjo’s tenure wound to a close.

A 2006 US Embassy Cable disclosed by Wikileaks feared that the work of fighting corruption under him was “widely perceived to be nothing more than a political witch hunt by President Obasanjo”. Human Rights Watch famously criticized him as preoccupied with the pursuit of “more headlines than convictions”. As Githongo made his way back to Nairobi from three years in exile in 2008, Ribadu was headed out to his own exile of about the same duration after suffering multiple humiliations and exposure to worse at the hands of Obasanjo’s successors.

The tenure of Farida Waziri, the retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police, who succeeded Ribadu at the EFCC, seemed ill-fated from the beginning. According to another cable also disclosed by Wikileaks, Mrs. Waziri was a client of the same politicians whom she was supposed to investigate and her every step seemed to be dogged by suspicion and controversy. A few months into his elected tenure in November 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan mercifully relieved Mrs. Waziri of her position, citing “national interest”.

Ibrahim Lamorde, who replaced Mrs. Waziri in 2011, was sacked in November 2015, barraged by allegations by the National Assembly very much redolent of the kind that he should have been investigating against those who were hounding him.

His successor, Ibrahim Magu, had the distinction of serving his tenure without Senate confirmation. On July 6, 2020, operatives of the State Security Service, SSS, arrested Mr. Magu and detained him for interrogation in connection with allegations of corruption.

Abdulrasheed Bawa was the first Chairman of the EFCC who was not a Police Officer. A lifelong staff of the Commission, Bawa was barely 40 when he was appointed to the role in February 2021 in somewhat controversial circumstances. On June 14, 2023, the presidency announced his suspension from office for opaque reasons given as “weighty allegations of abuse of office”. More than 120 days later, Bawa remains disappeared, reportedly an unacknowledged hostage of the SSS, his location unknown and undisclosed.

At least three aspects of Bawa’s fate merit attention. First, a government that claims democratic legitimacy should not be in the business of disappearing citizens, irrespective of what they are accused of. Whatever the allegations against Mr. Bawa are, they cannot justify putting him beneath the Constitution.

Second, Nigeria’s Constitution prohibits administrative detention, which is exactly what has become Mr. Bawa’s fate. Nigerians did not suffer that silently from military dictators. An administration led by those who claim to have resisted the abuses of military rule should not be caught now replaying the playbook that they reviled. If there are serious allegations against Mr. Bawa, he deserves to be brought to account administratively in line with the service regulations of his employers or before a court of law. Neither option warrants his indefinite disappearance.

Third, established under the National Security Agencies Act, the powers of the SSS are limited to investigation and enforcement of crimes “against the internal security of Nigeria”. Allegations of “abuse of power”, which the presidency claims to be the reason for Bawa’s suspension, would appear to be outside the scope of the SSS.

The standard response to this is that Mr. Bawa is receiving a taste of the medicine of institutional caprice that his EFCC meted out to suspects. The shortcomings of the EFCC under successive leaderships since its inception, including its investigation and detainee management protocols, are well documented. However, the habit of terminating successive leaders of the institution into political persecution is independent of that pattern.

Ironically restored under the current regime to public service as National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who bears indelible scars from being hounded into exile as pioneer chair of the EFCC, today supervises the disappearance of Abdulrasheed Bawa in complicit silence.

Nigeria’s politicians may be interested only in co-opting the language of fighting corruption but citizens have a duty to care that corruption is not enabled with official impunity. The disappearance of Mohammed Bawa is not merely a violation of the standards of Nigeria’s laws and Constitution; it also ensures that the job of fighting impunity for grand corruption in Nigeria does not stand any chance of success.

The House of Representatives has offered an explanation on why it was embarking on the purchase of vehicles for Members.

The explanation comes amid the uproar that greeted the move to purchase the vehicles amid biting economic hardship.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Akin Rotimi, offered the explanation in a statement on Sunday.

In the statement, Rotimi said the vehicles were not for the Members, but for their use in serving their constituencies. 

He went further to say that it is after their tenure that the Members can offer to buy the vehicles, if they want, at a rate to be determined based on the value then.

He said in the statement: “The House of Representatives is monitoring a trending topic across multiple traditional and online media, concerning the allocation of vehicles to honourable members, and because this issue has understandably generated significant public interest, we believe Nigerians deserve feedback from their elected representatives.

“While many versions of this story carry varying exaggerations, we can confirm that the National Assembly bureaucracy is in the phased process of procuring and distributing operational vehicles to honourable members over the coming weeks and months.

“This development is in accordance with extant procurement laws and has been the practice in previous assemblies. It is also not peculiar to the Legislature, as unelected government officials in the Executive arm of government from Director level and above, in most cases, have official vehicles attached to their offices.

“It is important to make a few clarifications. The vehicles to be allocated to the offices of honourable members are utility operational vehicles tied to their oversight functions in the discharge of their duties in the standing committees. They are not personal vehicles gifted to honourable members.

“For the duration of the 10th assembly (2023 – 2027), the vehicles shall remain the property of the National Assembly. At the expiration of the tenure of the 10th Assembly in 2027, should the extant assets deboarding policy of government still be in place, honourable members may have the option of making payment for the outstanding value of the vehicles to government coffers before they can become theirs, otherwise it remains the property of the National Assembly.

“The public is invited to note that as part of the 10th Assembly’s objective to ensure our integrity and independence, honourable members of the Green Chamber have resolved to maintain a respectable distance from the Executive arm of government, especially in issues relating to logistical aspects of oversight functions, including reaching difficult terrains in the country.

“No matter how remote the location is, as long as there are Nigerian citizens living there, they deserve highly mobile representatives who can see first-hand what they are going through, and ensure government interventions, programmes, and policies are carried out effectively. This can only be possible with functional and reliable off-road vehicles.

“Also, the House would like to inform the public that we remain committed to reducing the cost of governance in line with present realities. Those willing to research further would find a significant body of work with evidence that the percentage of the component of the Legislature’s budget as part of our national budget has been on a downward trend over the past decade, despite inflation and the expanding role and relevance of honourable members in the lives of citizens. It currently stands at 0.5% of the Federal budget.

“Accordingly, as all stakeholders continue to advance the conversation about reducing the cost of governance, we encourage looking in the right direction, and not cause disaffection for honourable members who want to discharge their duties effectively and above board, without being susceptible to inducement when the enablement to function is impaired.

“The vehicles are work tools, and not status symbols – Honourable Members are diligent and patriotic elected representatives and not entitled. The anticipated allocation of vehicles will contribute to improved representation, constituency outreach and oversight functions.”

[EagleOnline]

Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has kicked against the federal government’s plan to borrow $1.5 billion from the World Bank.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, while speaking with journalists at the ongoing 2023 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Marrakech, Morocco, confirmed the loan.

Edun, who promised that there would be a coordination of monetary and fiscal policies, pledged that President Bola Tinubu’s administration will not breach Ways and Means limits.

“On the talks with the World Bank on $1.5 billion budget support, that is correct.

“The World Bank is the number one multilateral development bank helping developing countries or funding developing countries, projects and programmes, and sectors.

“It has free money through either International Development Association (IDA).

“It is for the poorer countries and right now I think we qualify as one of the countries that can borrow in the normal window of World Bank funding but also some concessionary IDA funding and that means that effectively the interest rate will be zero,” Edun stated.

Reacting, Moghalu on his X official page said Nigeria is becoming a carcass, “and our political class its scavengers.”

“There is a real problem when Nigeria is set to borrow another $1.5 billion from @WorldBank for budget support, and SUVs worth N160 million each are reportedly to be bought for 360 members of the House of Representatives. We are not yet serious as a country.

“Nigeria is becoming a carcass, and our political class its scavengers,” he wrote.

[DailyPost]