Reps Grill Ex-NDDC MD, Summon Akpabio, Pondei [LEADERSHIP]
Barely 24 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a speedy and coordinated probe of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the House of Representatives yesterday issued fresh summons on the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio and the acting managing director of the commission, Prof Kemerbrandikumo Pondei.
The House committee on NDDC also interrogated the commission’s former acting managing director of the NDDC, Joy Nunieh, who testified virtually that there was no forensic audit going on in the commission.
She urged Nigerians to confirm for themselves, saying they should disregard every testimony and allegations she had made if the find out that there was forensic audit going on in the commission.
Following the committee’s invitation, the duo of Akpabio and Pondei are to appear before the lawmakers on Monday unfailingly to respond to allegations of financial irregularities in the spending of about N81.5 billion by the commission.
While Akpabio was yet to honour the invitation of the committee in the last three days, Pondei who alongside other members of the NDDC IMC had appeared before the committee on Thursday had walked out on the lawmakers after expressing lack of confidence in the leadership of the Committee.
The IMC specifically noted that chairman of the House committee, Hon Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, was an interested party in the probe, having been accused of several criminal allegations by the NDDC.
To ensure that the fresh summons for Akpabio and Pondei is obeyed, the committee resolved to in addition to an invitation letter serve the notice through the media.
Several allegations of alleged financial malfeasance were leveled against Akpabio and the acting managing director by the former acting MD of the NDDC, Nunieh.
She was supposed to appear before the committee on Thursday but was prevented by policemen who laid a siege to her Port Harcourt residence.
Nunieh told the lawmakers yesterday that she only spent N8billion during her tenure in the interventionist agency.
Nunieh who testified virtually was managing director of the NDDC between October 29 2019 and February 23,2020.
According to her, although the objective of the IMC was to supervise the forensic audit, there is no forensic audit going on at the interventionist agency at the moment.
She noted that no reputable auditing firm in Nigeria is among the nine sub-auditing firms already engaged to carry out the job.
She said, “The issue is that everyone in Nigeria has been deceived that the forensic audit is going on. I want to say here that if Nigerians find out that the forensic audit is going on every testimony and allegations that I have made should be canceled and disregarded.
“There is no forensic audit going on. Out of the nine companies on that list, none of our major auditing companies in Nigeria is on that list. Secondly, can I say that the forensic auditors have been procured? My answer is no.”
The former acting managing director, who made several allegations against Akpabio, stated that one of the cases of insubordination preferred against her was refusing to follow the minister to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting to defend the issue of the forensic audit.
She recommended that the NDDC be returned to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, noting that the commission was free of scandal when it was under SGF’s supervision.
Nunieh stated: “To Senator Akpabio, he felt the president had delegated all the powers to him. He felt he also had the powers of the board. There must be a reorientation for the minister. We didn’t have this problem from the records I saw when the NDDC was under the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The NDDC, I will recommend, should be taken back to the office of the SGF.
“The president had written a letter to the National Assembly appointing the forensic and suspending the appointment of the board. In that letter the president said that he was appointing the IMC to supervise the forensic audit. That was the reason he was bringing in the IMC.
“What I met wasn’t exactly what was going on; the minister, Akpabio, insisted that he will supervise the forensic audit. I reminded him and showed him a letter that the president had written. There’s no way that we can spend the money that’s in our budget.
“He requested in his memo to the president that money for the funding of the forensic audit be gotten from the service-wide votes. President Buhari, in his wisdom, refused that request and in writing said that it should be put in the NDDC appropriation budget, making NDDC the procuring entity.
“Can I now stand before this committee to say that the lead consultant has been procured? My answer will be no. Remember you cannot give any approval or procure any consultant without the appropriation made by the National Assembly. The 2020 budget hasn’t even been considered or discussed not to mention being passed.
“They don’t have approval, which was one of the reasons I refused to go before FEC. It was one of the issues of the insubordination because the act states that if I commit any offense it is five years imprisonment without an option of fine. So in going to FEC it will mean that I intentionally went there to obtain an approval under false pretenses knowing that the 2020 budget has not been passed and also knowing that it was criminal and anticipatory.”
Also, Mr Johnson Kolawole, the Head, Directorate of Research and Programmes, Act for Positive Transformation Initiative, an NGO, accused the NDDC IMC of gross abuse of budget implementation process.
He stated that the IMC had expended over N80billion between January 2020 and May 2020 as against the N22billion repeatedly portrayed by the IMC.
Ojo Takes-over As Ag NASS Clerk [LEADERSHIP]
The National Assembly Service Commission yesterday announced the appointment of Amos Alatunde Ojo as acting Clerk to the National Assembly.
The announcement which came at the heels of controversies over the retirement age of the current service officers of the commission, was made known through a statement signed by the executive chairman of the commission, Engr Ahmed Kadi Amisi.
Ojo took over from Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Omolori, who together with 150 top officials of the federal legislature were relieved of their jobs after it was established that they had attained retirement age of 60 or spent 35 years in service had been asked to go.
The commission also announced the appointment new top management staff of the service.
Those appointed include Bala Yabani Mohammed, national deputy clerk to the National Assembly; Daudu Ibrahim El-Ladan, acting clerk senate and Yusuf Asir Danbatta, acting secretary to the National Assembly Service Commission, while Patrick A Giwa will retain his current position as Clerk to the House of Representatives pending his retirement from service in November this year.
Ahmed, in the statement, explained that the body acted in pursuant to its mandate as provided in the National Assembly Service Commission Act 2014 (as Amended), Section 6(b) which provides that appointed person should hold or act.
The former Clerk, Omolori, had issued a statement recently after the announcement of his retirement by the commission insisting that he was illegally removed by leadership of the National Assembly to plant their lackeys in juicy positions.
Sani-Omolori had argued that the extant regulation as contained in NASS’ revised conditions of service duly passed by both Chambers of the 8th National Assembly puts the retirement age of staff at 40 years of service and 65 years of age, whichever comes first”.
But the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) on Thursday queried Sani-Omolori for issuing a press release to counter the commission’s directive on Wednesday.
The query was signed by the chairman of the commission, Engr Ahmed Kadi Amshi.
The query alleged that Sani-Omolori breached the public service rules by issuing the press release.
The query, the outgoing clerk is given 24 hours to explain why disciplinary action would not be taken against him.
It noted: “The attention of the National Assembly Service Commission was drawn to a Press Release titled: “Retirement age for staff of the National Assembly Service is 40 years of Service or 65 years of Age, whichever comes first” dated 15th July, 2020 and signed by M.A Sani-Omolori, Clerk to the National Assembly.
“As you are very much aware, the Clerk to the National Assembly is an employee of the National Assembly Service Commission, vide Section
6(1) b of the National Assembly Service Act, 2014 (As amended). The Clerk to the National Assembly has no authority whatsoever to dictate anything to the Commission. Your press release is considered by the Commission as a gross insubordination to a constituted authority.
Nigeria May Not Meet 2025 Deadline On Open Defecation – FG [LEADERSHIP]
Federal yesterday expressed dismay over the pace at which the country was tackling open defecation in Nigeria, saying with the implementation going at a snail speed, the country might not be able to meet the year 2025 target of wriggling the country out of its present position as number one in the list of countries notorious for open defecation globally.
Minister for Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, stated this during an interactive virtual meeting with the coordinators of ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the toilet’ Campaign’ in the 36 states and FCT in Abuja.
According to him, the ministry has so far recorded 27 local government in the country as open defecation-free while some other 10 local councils are awaiting validation by the National Task Group on Sanitation, making a total number of 37 out of the 774 local government in Nigeria.
He said at present, 16 states have declared a state of emergency following the president’s action last year.
The minister added that the task was not just for the national level to achieve, saying rather it was the collaboration of the states and local levels to key into the project, giving utmost trust while maximizing the best approach through advocacy to attaining its success.
Adamu said, “You may recall we started with one LG that was ODF as at April 2017, but today we have 27 in total, and I understand there are also 10 more LGs that are waiting for validation, but once the validation is done, we have 37LGAs in all.
“Although it’s a slow progress and we will like to see us doing more, we have 774 LGs and we have 5 years to get Nigeria rid of open defecation practice. We are still taking baby steps, but I hope we would make that quantum lead that we need to make as soon as possible”.
On his part, director of Water Supply and Control, Engr Benson Ajisegiri, said part of the process to achieve ODF is the Partnership for Expanded water supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) which is intended to accelerate potable water supply, especially to the rural areas in the country where vulnerable kind of diseases are rampant.
He confirmed that 33 states in the country were already partners with the programme, while only three states were remaining, including Borno, Anambra, Rivers as well as the FCT.
Notwithstanding, Ajisegiri noted that out of the 33 active states, 10 states have been randomly selected to have the experience of the first phase of the programme.
He said, “As of today, 33 states have signed the PEWASH protocols with us, indicating that they are interested to participate in the programme. That is very good news. Borno, Anambra, Rivers are yet to sign in with us, as well as FCT.
“We have finished the pilot project in kano and Ogun States. We are now going to the first phase of the project which is going to kick start in 10 states: Imo, katsina, Jigawa, Plateau, Zamfara, Sokoto, Ondo, Osun, Delta and Bauchi.”
NDDC: I Was Pressured To Spend N10b As Christmas ‘Palliatives’ — Nunieh [THE NATION]
The immediate past Acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Joy Nuniel, told on Friday of how pressure was mounted on her to give out Christmas palliatives last year to the tune of N10 billion.
Had she yielded, each of the states under the operations of the commission would have collected a minimum of N1 billion.
Her refusal to play ball, she told the House of Representatives on Niger Delta, was one of the ‘sins’ that cost her the appointment.
The committee is investigating financial dealings of the commission.
For the umpteenth time, Nunieh accused Niger Delta Affairs Minister Godswill Akpabio of upsetting a lot of things at the commission.
The House Committee summoned the minister to appear before it on Monday to come and respond to the allegations against him.
Akpabio himself threatened to sue Nunieh for defamation after the former NDDC boss alleged that the minister made sexual overtures to her which she rejected.
Akpabio said: “There is no scintilla of truth in all the allegations peddled around by Ms. Nunieh. They are simply false!”
Ruling on Friday on an ex parte application filed by Nunieh, a Rivers State High Court granted an interim injunction restraining the police from inviting or arresting her, pending the determination of the substantive case before the court.
The ruling came a few hours after the police in the state said that the deployment of policemen to Nunieh’s Port Harcourt residence on Thursday was official and was known to the Inspector General .
They asked Governor Nyesom Wike who ‘rescued’ her from the police on the day to release her ostensibly for interrogation.
Testifying before the House of Reps on the Zoom platform on Friday, Nunieh said all the talk about forensic audit in the NDDC was false as no such audit has started despite alleged huge payments made for the purpose.
She said: “Two days after our inauguration, at the same Le Meridien Hotel (Port Harcourt), that was his first meeting with the IMC (Interim Management Committee), namely Dr. Cairo Ojougboh; the late EDFA, which I will not be talking about much, let me respect his soul, and the only other staff of the NDDC that was there, one Mr. Etiebet, who later became the head of the procurement unit.
“At that meeting, he (Akpabio) reminded me about the dollars. Secondly, he told me that he wanted me to send some staff away; that they were the ones that spoilt Mrs Akwagaga (Enyia) who refused to sign and make certain payments and that he did not want them to spoil me.
“He said the first thing I would do was to write a letter to him – he gave me the draft; that I should put it on my letterhead. In that letter, I was supposed to write that Senator (Peter) Nwaboshi owned the 98 companies. I never ever told the world that Senator Nwaboshi was the senator that was collecting the N1 billion.
“The issue of the N1 billion was different. I said how can an individual be collecting N1 billion every month? The case of Senator Nwaboshi is the case of the 98 companies which I was supposed to write about.
My Life In Ruins, Says Man Who Lost Wife, 3 Kids In Auto Crash [THE NATION]
It has been nine odd months since Tarveshima Jebe lost his entire family of a wife and three children in an auto crash, but he is still far from getting over the disaster.
Tragedy had befallen the indigene of Tse Jebe in Mbagba, Mbahine, Ushongo Local Government Area, Benue State on September 14, 2019 when a vehicle his 32-year-old wife, Comfort, and children (David,10; Beauty, 7 and Favour, 2) were traveling in from Abuja to Makurdi crashed on Eggon-Lafia Road.
Since then, he has been grappling with an experience his fragile posture can hardly bear. Every new day, his mind is crowded with thoughts of his lost loved ones who were committed to mother earth on September 18 last year.
“For seven months after their burial in September last year, I could not sleep even for a minute,” he said as he recalled the good times he had with his wife and children before tragedy struck.
“I met my wife before she entered secondary school in Gboko and we started a relationship right then.
“She eventually completed her secondary school as my wife before she went to higher institution. So we have come a long way.
“I raise this woman myself and I never thought she could die before me.
“I was already laying the foundation for her to take care of my children even if I’m not there.
“She was so submissive to me, and they lived in Makurdi with my mother while I stayed in Abuja.
“A few months before their death, I travelled to Benin Republic on official duty.
“When I came back, the holyday was long, so I decided that they should come over to Abuja and spend their vacation with me.
“While in Abuja, we were going to Kaduna on a daily basis, enjoying ourselves on the train as one united family.
“We bought a lot of things in the process because I wanted them to enjoy life. I didn’t know we were having our last fun together.
“God took them away from me.”
I Only Got N500 For Killing My Boss, Says Ibadan Serial Killer
The suspected brains behind the series of killings perpetrated in Akinyele Area of Oyo State, 19-year-old Sunday Sodipe, has said that the only financial reward he got each time he killed for his herbalist trainer was the paltry sum of N500.
Sodipe, who said he was taken to a herbalist named Adedokun Ajani for apprenticeship, confessed that he never raped nor removed any part of his victim’s body, but that a spiritual gene usually had sexual intercourse with them.
He made the confession after he was paraded alongside two others involved in the crime at the Oyo State Police Command, Eleyele, Ibadan on Friday.
Sodipe said: “I was taken to Baba to learn herbal work. I went to help him buy food and after a while, he sent me away.
“Later, I went back to him to plead and remind him that I had been there earlier but he sent me away because I was too young to learn the work. He later agreed to take me in.
“Before I go out to kill anyone, I go to Baba. He would ask me to kneel down and close my eyes, and he would render some incantations on me.
“Afterwards, he would ask me to open my mouth and he would put something on my lips. He told me that whenever I hacked down my victims and there was blood, I should utter some incantations three times and walk round the dead body three times. He said during that period, a spiritual gene would have intercourse with the victim. He said I should stay there for about five minutes.
“I told him that would be difficult because I might not be able to escape if I stood there for five minutes. He told me that nobody would be able to enter as I long as I am backing the dead body, and that nobody would be able to see me.”
Asked if he was responsible for killing Barakat Bello, the student of College of Agriculture, Ibadan murdered in the city recently, he said: “Yes, I am the one who killed Barakat Bello. I met her bending down and I hacked her with a shovel. When people first rushed out, I was right there in their front but they could not see me.
2023 Presidency Won’t Solve Igbo Problems –Achike Udenwa [SUN]
Former Imo State governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, has called for the implementation of the 2014 Confab report, stressing that the country can never move forward without restructuring. He said that the North has nothing to fear if Nigeria were restructured as, it would be the fastest developing region. In an interview with VINCENT KALU, the former minister, noted that, a President of Igbo extraction in 2023 will not solve the problems of the Igbo.
What is your view on the state of the nation?
The issue of insecurity should be primary in whatever we are thinking of now because there is fear of loss of life and property in every part of the country today. Before, we thought it was just in the South and in the Middle Belt, but we have seen the activities of some foreign elements in the far North and that has brought insecurity to every part of this country, including the menace of Boko Haram, which has existed for years. I think whatever the government is planning for today; whatever they are thinking of, they must first reassure Nigerians that they are safe, which is the most important thing in the country today. We must look at our security outfits, are they suitable? We must also look at the activities of these hoodlums, be they herdsmen, Boko Haram, cattle rustlers, bandits and the rest of them, and find out exactly why it is happening and their sponsors. It is mindboggling that at the end you find out that all these miscreants carrying very sophisticated weapons, who are well prepared, must have been sponsored by somebody somewhere. These are the issues that we must resolve first because the whole country is in turmoil, nobody is safe.
I Don’t Believe In Marriage –Seun Kuti, Musician [SUN]
A chat with Afrobeat musician, Seun Kuti any day is an interviewers’ delight. Recently, this reporter sat down with the Egypt ‘80 bandleader and Grammy award nominee and he opened up on music, marriage, family, and rape among other interesting issues. Enjoy it.
How has COVID-19 lockdown affected your business as an artiste who is always on tour?
It has affected me tremendously. But not only me, it has affected Nigerian artistes including my elder brother, Femi. When I went to see him on his birthday, I told him that I was more affected than him because he was able to do one tour in Brazil before the lockdown. I have not worked since last year December 7. My last show was in January here in Nigeria. I have not really worked this year, but the ancestors always take care of their own (laughter).
Ancestors? I thought you were an atheist?
I am not an atheist. You know, it is a word that is being thrown around to describe me, but I am not. I am more of someone who does not believe in the conventional spiritual system that the world subscribes to.
So, what do you believe in?
I believe in my ancestors; those people that gave their lives for my own to blossom. I believe in humanity, nature, the sacred time, and I believe in myself.
Your father was the Chief Priest of the African Shrine and he performed sacrifices by killing cocks. Do you do the same?
Growing up, my mum was very traditional in her beliefs. I had a lot of etutu (sacrifices) growing up. All my body is inoculated from different types of illnesses. I have gbere (incisions) all over my body (laughter).