Information available to 247ureports.com through sources in Jos, Plateau State indicates that the ongoing crisis in the State may return with a heightened vengeance judging by the indices unfolding at the four local government areas [LGA] presently living under the state of emergency imposed by the President of the federal republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan following the Christmas Day 2011 bombing of a Roman Catholic Church at Madalla, Suleja. The President, following his declaration of state of emergency, has withheld all LGA allocations to the four affected LGA [Jos North, Jos South, Barkin Ladi, and Riyom] – and for this reason salaries and other financial obligations remain unsettled for four months and counting.
As gathered, the State of emergency declared by the President may have come with good intentions but the consequences have become an unwelcome visitor to the four LGAs. According to officials resident at the area of concern, the state of emergency declaration was supposed to bring about the complete take over of the affairs of the LGA by the military – including the administrative affairs of the four LGAs. But the declaration by the President was said to have stop short of commanding the military to step into the LGAs to take over control. For this reason, the State Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang who had previously appointed transition chairman to man the LGAs pending when the State conducts an LGA election – continued to administer the four LGAs [that were supposedly under State of Emergency] with his appointed transition chairman.
As the State Government of Plateau State operate the various LGAs with appointed transitional chairmen, the monies / allocations released by the federal government are sent to the State government – to be managed by a care-taker committee set up by the governor and the legislators. In essence, the entire monies meant for the various LGAs are managed by the State Governor indirectly through the care-taker committee.
So with the supposed state of emergency, the military are said to have not sought to take over the affairs of the LGA – and the Governor’s are said to not be willing to hand over the affairs of the LGA to the military – and so for this reason, the President rose to halt all payments of LGA allocations to the four LGAs for the last four months. But a source within the Governor’s office who spoke to our correspondent indicates that ” when the president declared the state of emergency, he ordered the military to take over power from the administrators with immediate effect but the governor refuse them because he has an evil motive. This made the president angry and he stop any allocation to this areas. What we want you to do is to let the president know that this ongoing fighting is the grass that is suffering. We are suffering and the feature of our children is in danger.We are helpless, voiceless as the governor has bribed those in position of fighting for us” As a result, the salaries of the workers at the respective LGA remain unpaid including hospital workers and teachers. The teachers and other school workers have gone on strike – until further notice. The hospital workers have threatened going on strike at the end of the month.
The workers representing the four affected LGA were recently in a heated meeting with National Assembly [NASS] members representing their areas – to discuss a way out of the lock-jam. As 247ureports.com gathered, the workers pleaded passionately for the NASS representatives to impress on the Mr President to order the military men to take over the affairs at the LGA – tro enable the workers collect their salaries – and for their children to resume school.
One of the affected workers was passionate with his plea. He pleaded with our correspondent for help stating that “Our situation is getting worst than before. Do you know that some of our children in secondary and primary schools were not able to write the just concluded termly exams due to lack of school fees and now another term has begun. A notice has so far been issued to us not to even think of sending them to school because they will be sent back. And another thing is like in Riyom local government area and Barkin ladi LGA all in plateau state, have been experiencing serious attacks and their houses and food stuffs all destroyed and this heartless governor have refused to step down the political appointees to give way for the military to take over leadership of the LGAs. Sir, you need to see things for yourself i swear to God you must shed tears and these people are tribe of the governor. Pls intensify effort and let the president know”.
It is feared that if the President and the security forces remain tamed and docile over the administration of the 4 LGA in question, violence will return again to Jos metropolis – particularly since the Governor recently announced the ban of “okada” riders in Jos metropolis. The law is expected to take effect starting Monday. The last time the Governor attempted to implement such a law 2 years ago, it resulted to uncontrollable violence.
Dania Londono Suarez, who claims to be the woman who exposed the U.S. Secret Service scandal in Colombia, says that if she had wished, she could have taken documents while a U.S. agent slept. Londono Suarez gave a 90-minute interview to Colombia’s W Radio about the scandal.
BOGOTA, Colombia — A woman who says she was the prostitute who triggered the U.S. Secret Service scandal in Colombia said Friday that the agents involved were “idiots” for letting it happen, and declared that if she were a spy and sensitive information was available, she could have easily obtained it.
The woman said she spent five hours in a Cartagena, Colombia, hotel room with an agent, and while she barely got cab fare out of him, she could have gotten information that would have compromised the security of U.S. President Barack Obama if the agent had any. “Totally,” she said.
“The man slept all night,” said the woman, who was identified by her lawyer as Dania Londono Suarez. “If I had wanted to, I could have gone through all his documents, his wallet, his suitcase.”
She said in the 90-minute interview with Colombia’s W Radio conducted in Spain that no U.S. investigator had been in touch with her, although reporters descended on her home a week after the incident when a taxi driver led them to it.
“They could track me anywhere in the world that I go but they haven’t done so,” she said, speaking in Spanish. “If the Secret Service agents were idiots, imagine the investigators.”
That alarmed a U.S. congressman who is monitoring the case.
Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, issued a statement on Friday expressing concern that investigators “have been unable to locate and interview two of the female foreign nationals involved,” including Londono Suarez. “I have asked the Secret Service for an explanation of how they have failed to find this woman when the news media seems to have no trouble doing so.”
Eight Secret Service agents have lost their jobs in the scandal, although there is no evidence any of the 10 women interviewed by U.S. investigators for their roles in it have any connection to terrorist groups, King said earlier this week.
In the interview, Londono Suarez called the Secret Service agents caught up in the scandal “fools for being from Obama’s security and letting all this happen.”
“When I said, ‘I’m going to call the police so they pay me my money,’ and it didn’t bother them, didn’t they see the magnitude of the problem?” she said.
Londono Suarez said the man she slept with never identified himself as a member of Obama’s advance security detail for the April 14-15 Summit of the Americas and said she saw nothing in his room that would have indicated the man’s job other than a brown uniform.
Londono Suarez said the man had agreed to pay her $800, but that she never would have made a public fuss about his failure to pay had she known he was part of Obama’s security detail and realized the repercussions it would have for her.
“My life is practically destroyed,” she said. “My name is in the gutter.”
Her photo has been splashed all over the Internet since a newspaper took it off Facebook a week after the incident, when she said she fled Colombia fearing for her life.
“I was afraid they might retaliate,” she said, saying she feared for herself and her family after looking up Secret Service on the Internet and seeing that some agents were sharpshooters.
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has noted with deep concern the growing furore in political circles and the media over his alleged plans to seek re-election in 2015.
What began as an irritating distraction some months ago, appears to have now assumed a life of its own, dominating political discourse in the country, with all kinds of mischief-makers and opportunists latching on to it, to heat up the polity unnecessarily.
The pointless, diversionary and very distractive hue and cry about the President’s alleged ambition to seek a second term in office is becoming increasingly disturbing by the day with headlines such as “JONATHAN’S 2015 AMBITION CAN BREAK UP NIGERIA” and “JONATHAN’S 2015 AMBITION FUELING INSECURITY,” now regular fare in our newspapers and on the internet.
For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, President Jonathan wishes to reiterate that his primary concern and the focus of all his efforts now, just about a year into the four-year tenure for which he was elected in April 2011, is to deliver on his promise of positive national transformation.
The President’s sole preoccupation as the nation moves towards the first anniversary of his administration on May 29, 2012 is to continue to give effective and purposeful leadership that will steer Nigeria towards overcoming its immediate security and developmental challenges.
Nothing could be farther from President Jonathan’s mind at this point in time than the 2015 elections. The President has definitely not directed or authorized any individual or group to launch any campaign on his behalf.
As he has repeatedly warned on many occasions, including the last national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party, the inordinate ambition of a few self-centred Nigerians and their obsession with the politics of political succession in 2015 must not be allowed to distract the nation and its current leadership from the task of dealing with the much more urgent issues of development and the safety of Nigerians in all parts of the country.
President Jonathan urges the political class and the Nigerian mass media, once again, to focus on the immediate priority of protecting, preserving and consolidating democratic governance in Nigeria, and giving the nation’s current crop of elected leaders at all levels the opportunity to deliver on their promises to the people without the distraction of an unending campaign for future elections.
Information available to 247ureports.com through principal sources conversant with the activities inside the government house in Awka, Anambra State indicate that the Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi has opened up on the widely reported sack of Commissioners / Cabinet members. According to the information, the Governor spoke up at an interactive session yesterday [Friday] with the Inspector General of Police and other stakeholders in Anambra – stating that he has not sacked any member of his cabinet.
The Governor through his aide had on the early morning of Friday sent out text messages to his cabinet members requesting for their presence at an emergency Exco – meeting to be convened at 7:30am on Friday morning.
The call for the emergency Exco meeting by the Governor, as expected, sent shock waves across the ministries – who believed the Exco meeting to be the meeting where the Governor will officially announce the sack of the Commissioners. But the contrary was the case. The Governor chaired the meeting which started from 7:30am and lasted till 8:30am. Available information indicates that the Exco meeting proceeded with a normalcy that dispelled the rumor of a pending sack or dissolution of cabinet.
The Exco meeting was immediately followed by an interaction session with specially invited monarchs from Anambra and the Inspector General of Police, Abubakar [ who was on a brief visit to Anambra State]. The entire members of the Anambra State Executive cabinet were present for the interactive session. During the session, an interesting thing happened as the Igwe of Mbaukwu held the kola nut presented to the attendees of the session. The Igwe of Mbankwu while holding the kola nut and addressing the attendees made a remark and “jokingly” addressed the Commissioners as “ex-commissioners”.
The Governor was quick to interrupt the Igwe of Mbaukwu. The Governor in a “serious” demeanor corrected the Igwe of Mbaukwu that “no commissioner has been fired. I have not sacked any commissioner“. The governor’s quick utterance caught the cabinet members by shock – who had thought that the governor was prepping to sack them. Following the end of the interactive session, the Governor was reported to board a flight to Lagos where he is scheduled to received an award.
Independent inquiry into the rumor of cabinet dissolution indicated that the Governor may have reacted out of anger over the public dispute between one of the governor’s aide in the person of Nwaobualor and the National Chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance [APGA], Victor Umeh. Available information revealed that the governor had convened a special Exco to address his cabinet following the break of the dispute into the public arena.
At the meeting, he chastised the members of the cabinet over their lack of loyalty to the Executive Governor. He indicated that there appear undue influence of the national APGA Chairman over the activities of the State government. “I need to know who amongst you are with us and those against us” stated a visibly angry Governor who then went on to demand a handover note from the cabinet members. Recently gathered information confirms that the governor had suspected that some of his cabinet members where working in cohorts with Victor Umeh to compromise the integrity of his government.
Meanwhile Governor Peter Obi, according to a source, has refrained from responding to the allegations laid by the APGA chairman on his person. The source notes that the governor thought it unwise to have the public see him in an ugly tussle with his party chairman.
After the ubiquitous Nigeria/Biafra civil war in 1970 and Ndigbo were individually given N20 in exchange to any amount of money the Igbo left in the bank before the outbreak of the war, Ndigbo went crackers and speeded and spread to anywhere of the country and the world to make the ends meet. They were scorched by the sun and beaten by the rain while looking for what to eat, with the freshly memories of their property and beloved ones still very fresh in their minds. This is to say that if you want your friend or enemy to pass away gradually, you do what the Nigerian government did to the economy of Ndigbo during the period in quote. But Ndigbo refused to take their last breath. They made up and looked for the money with their bare hands. And they succeeded.
Since the media reported on Friday April 27, 2012, that the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has granted that a suit against former governor of Abia state, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu brought to it by the EFCC would be retried, the malevolence of this agency against Kalu has refused not to be refused a recurring decimal. Wednesday, July 25, 2007, after the EFCC obtained an intervening penalty order against the various assets of Kalu, while he was being prosecuted by the commission, The Sun Publishing Limited, was also affected, if not for the ebullient spirit of its team at that time that stood their gun. Nigerians of goodwill shouted and asked question about why the EFCC was very callous to deal with Kalu in such an inhuman manner only known for generals in wars who would do anything to bring their opponent down, either by magic or design.
One thing that left people mumbling as the EFCC was making people to believe that Kalu was an awful man when he was governor, was how Nigerians sympathy and reactions poignantly across the world flooded The Sun. In the same manner, Kalu got a share of the torrent of concern and prop up from even unanticipated lodgings. Some people thought that it was Kalu’s end as the EFCC was always in the news peddling and darkening the image of Kalu. He was however quite because in Igbo, there is a saying thus: He who carried nothing breaks nothing. He was not disturbed as the EFCC was making its counterfeit claims of 107 count charge of money laundering against him. The agency told Nigerians that he stole (not alleged) N3b while in office when he was arraigned in 2007, but today is the same agency not saying he stole N5b? And maybe, if the case Nigerians had known that Kalu hadn’t was being dragged by the EFCC to more years to come, the ‘stolen money’ by Kalu would hit N15b to N30b. Hence, the question, “EFCC: Out To Exterminate Kalu?” crops up.
For The Sun to alleviate the fears of its friends and business associates in 2007 the EFCC cacophonously lodged a manhunt against it, The Sun wrote that as an organization, it was not in any way against fighting corruption. It considered itself as partners of all the anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies, with evidence of its past editorial assistances, but it was unswervingly against mixing anti-corruption crusade with perceived hidden political purposes on the one hand and frequent alternative to impunity on the other hand.What made The Sun’s outburst very interesting was the fact that at the time (Thursday, July 26, 2007) of its statement to clear the air: Neither The Sun Publishing Limited nor any of the numerous companies owned or associated with Kalu were put on notice before the order was obtained nor were served with the court order, leaving the workers in The Sun completely in the dark as to what their offences were beyond their association with the marked Kalu.
The company was later notified by its bankers on a Monday that the company’s accounts at various banks have been sterile on the order of EFCC. Every bank that The Sun operated was also blocked by the EFCC. They said it was pursuant to this ‘court order’ widely acclaimed by Nigerians as tainted. The newspaper group was denied access to funds to finance its daily operations. In the same jaded manner the EFCC haunt The Sun, the agency had on Tuesday October 10, 2006, declared Kalu’s mother wanted. Then, you wonder why declare Madam Eunice, the mother of the indomitable ex-Abia State Governor wanted, whereas she was not holding any government position as at the time and after. Apart from Kalu’s motherly mother, 18 others who were officials of the then Abia State Government, local government helmsmen, personal staff of the governor‘s mother, some security aides and two brothers of the governor were in the ‘wanted’ list of the befuddled EFCC.
Hear this flimsy charge from the EFCC: “They were declared wanted for conspiracy, stealing, money laundering, official corruption and diversion of public funds.” While Kalu told newsmen on Tuesday that all those declared wanted were ready to submit themselves to a fair trial, Nigerians frowned at the EFCC that it was only pursuing the bid to give the kiss of life to President Olusegun Obasanjo‘s third term agenda. When the EFCC, perhaps, got a tip of the iceberg that it was chasing shadow in the case, the agency swiftly made a statement the same Tuesday through its Head, Media and Publicity, Mr. Osita Nwajah, saying that some of the security aides of the governor‘s mother shot at the commission‘s operatives, when the agency approached to arrest Madam Eunice and others on Monday, which was based on THEIR court order. You know what this means? Give a dog a bad name in order to hang her!
Further, to draw the masturbated psych of Nigerians who did not see witch-hunting of the EFCC to mean fighting corruption, the EFCC added that Interpol and other law enforcement agencies around the world and all the diplomatic missions in Nigeria had been alerted to treat the suspects as fugitives from justice if they set foot in their respective countries. But while the agency was saying that anyone who aids and abets the escape of suspects who had warrants for their arrest duly issued by a court of law would be in serious contravention of the laws of Nigeria and would be accordingly dealt with under the law and warned the suspects to surrender themselves for questioning, saying that “No one is above the law,” five years after, the EFCC have refused to act according to the following instructions by Kalu:
1. Kalu said the allegations by the EFCC were merely meant to distract the attention of those opposed to the failed third term bid of Obasanjo…
2. Those who are doing this should know that they cannot live in glass houses and be throwing stones.
3. There is massive fraud in the Presidency and nobody is talking about it.
4. Why do you declare people wanted when you know where they are?
5. This is all about resuscitating the failed third term bid of the President.
6. What I still insist on is that Obasanjo himself must be probed for serious cases bordering on corruption.
7. There should be a probe of his Temperance Farm account and other accounts.
8. In 1998, before he was elected, those accounts had no money in them.
9. Now, they are in billions.
10. How did the money get there?
11. How did he make all his money?
12. There are several companies undertaking multi-million naira projects in his Bells University, yet no one has said anything.
13. I have been in business before I became governor and will still be in business after.
14. So, I can account for all the money I have in my accounts.
15. No one can cajole me to support a third term for anybody or do anything unconstitutional by making false allegations against me or those who work with me or my family.
Notwithstanding, was it because of his outspokenness that the EFCC and its surrogates want to exterminate Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu out of circulation? This is evident that there is every conviction that there is a string up gang out there to destroy him ostensibly at all costs. But with God, his fate will never be like that of the eliminated Chief MKO Abiola, winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential elections, who was reportedly pummeled to the soil by anti-democratic elements.
Odimegwu Onwumere writes from Rivers State. (08032552855. Email:apoet_25@yahoo.com)
(Reuters) – Al Qaeda’s relationship with Iran’s government has been fractious at best and openly antagonistic at worst, according to documents confiscated from Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistanand made public on Thursday.
In the years since the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, high-ranking al Qaeda leaders, lower level militants and members of bin Laden’s family were held in custody by Iranian authorities, though U.S. officials say precise conditions of their confinement are unclear.
On occasion, Iranian authorities promised to release, and may have actually released, al Qaeda figures and family members. But at other times, the documents suggest, Iran and al Qaeda were engaged in what could almost be characterized as tit-for-tat hostage taking.
“The documents suggest that the relationship between al-Qaeda and Iran was antagonistic, dominated by indirect negotiations over the release of jihadis and their families detained in Iran,” said Lieutenant Colonel Liam Collins, director of the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a co-author of an analysis of the confiscated documents published by the center on Thursday.
Some U.S. critics of Iran have suggested that Iran’s relationship with al Qaeda was less hostile, or even cooperative at times.
Some American conservatives claimed that Iran was complicit in the September 11 attacks, and that, afterward Iran had provided a comfortable safe haven and base of operations for al Qaeda personnel fleeing U.S. military operations in Afghanistan.
Iran’s Shi’ite Muslim rulers deny cooperating with al Qaeda, which has its roots in the Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam dominant in the Arabian Peninsula. In their public statements, Iranian officials call al Qaeda a terrorist group, and Iranian security forces periodically report the arrest of al Qaeda members.
According to the West Point study, al Qaeda considered Iran as an alternative base for its activities after the U.S. attacked its Afghanistan safe havens in late 2001.
The study noted that a senior deputy to bin Laden, Saif al-Adl, suggested in public writings that al Qaeda had established contact with supporters in Iran affiliated with Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, though not with the Iranian government.
At the time that he wrote about this, Adl himself was believed to be under detention by Iranian authorities, as were the families of other al Qaeda militants who had fled Afghanistan.
RELEASING PRISONERS
Documents seized by the Navy SEAL team that killed bin Laden a year ago provide more recent insights into Iran-al Qaeda dealings. In a letter to bin Laden dated June 2009, one of his lieutenants reported that the Iranians had released “a group of brothers in several batches last month,” and were planning more releases, including possibly bin Laden family members, “within a week.”
According to the analysis by West Point’s experts, the Iranians likely were not doing this out of sympathy for al Qaeda. Rather, the analysis suggests, the letter to bin Laden indicates that Tehran freed some al Qaeda detainees in response to threats from al Qaeda and the November 2008 kidnapping of an Iranian diplomat stationed at Iran’s consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan. The diplomat was released in March 2010.
However, the release of bin Laden relatives mentioned in the letter to the al Qaeda leader did not fully materialize on schedule. Instead, one of bin Laden’s sons who had been held in Iran, Saad, reportedly was killed later in 2009.
This led his father, in a documents seized from his hideout, to advise an associate that he wanted a letter from Saad to be included in al Qaeda’s archives “in view of the important information it reveals about the truth of the Iranian regime.”
The West Point report notes that the Iranians continued to hold one of bin Laden’s daughters and her husband even after the diplomat was set free.
“It is not fair to separate women from their husbands; it is therefore necessary that they release her and her husband” along with the husband’s second wife, bin Laden wrote in a lengthy letter to an aide in May 2010 which was posted on the West Point website.
The West Point analysis of bin Laden’s correspondence says that while it is clear that the al Qaeda-Iran relationship was antagonistic, the rationale behind Iran’s detention of al Qaeda militants for years “without due process” is unclear.
The study says one reason the Iranians may have held al Qaeda personnel for so long was to deter the militant group from attacking Iran. Another reason, the report suggests, might be that Iran was holding al Qaeda detainees as bargaining chips for future dealings with Washington.
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has said African leaders should work closely together to confront the huge developmental challenges facing the continent.
President Jonathan was speaking to Special Envoys of President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, chairman of the Southern African Development Community, at State House, Friday.
The Special Envoys are Mr. Rui Jorge Carneiro Mangueira, Secretary of State of External Relations Ministry, Angola, Hon. Utoni Nujoma, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Namibia, and Dr. Siyabonga Cwele, Minister of State Security, South Africa.
The President said African leaders must look at the collective interests of the entire people of the continent, especially considering the huge challenges of hunger, unemployment, terrorism, political and economic stability and development.
President Jonathan said Nigeria would continue to sustain her tradition of robustly supporting the growth and development of the continent, like she did during the liberation struggle of Southern African nations.
He said issues of leadership positions in the African Union should not divide the continent, but urged concerted efforts and focus on finding solutions to the major challenges affecting the livelihoods of people.
President Jonathan said Nigeria remains committed to the ideals of the founding fathers of the African union, and would continue efforts towards achieving those ideals.
Earlier, the Special Envoys had briefed President Jonathan on the Southern African Development Community’s desire for a resolution of the stalemate in the choice of a substantive chairman for the African Union Commission.
A Federal High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State has sentenced one Gerald Emeka Obielom, 25, to two years imprisonment for offences bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretence and forgery. Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo convicted the accused on each of the 11 count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission. He is to also forfeit the sum of $7,050 (seven thousand and fifty dollars) which the court ordered should be remitted to the victim, Ms Minda Faltado as restitution. Obielom a.k.a Gerald Bosco was arrested on the 18th February, 2011 by operatives of the EFCC following a complaint by one Ms Minda Faltado, a Filipina, that Obielom using the name Gerald Bosco in collaboration with his cohorts deceived her through an online relationship (love scam) and fleeced her of several sums of money totalling thirty two thousand, Four hundred USD ($32,400) of which Seven thousand and fifty USD ($7,050:00) was traced to Gerald. The convict, an accountancy graduate who is yet to perform the National Youth Service (NYSC) confessed that he met the complainant on the internet; having fostered a relationship with her, started collecting money from her. “I later introduced my friends Henry Ibeh, Christian Nwokolo, Sunday Chinwuba and Valentine Nweke (all at large) to her and they too started to chat with her using my email address. “Minda has been sending money to Henry Ibeh who, in turn, has given me not less than $5000 USD. Christian Nwokolo collected a total sum of USD 7,700; Valentine collected a total sum of USD 11,504. Sunday collected a total sum of USD 6,400”, Gerald stated.
Despite some genuine complaints by some elements in the country, evidence are bounds that Nigerians had breathe a sigh of relief in the oil sector since President Goodluck Jonathan mounted the saddle of leadership as the President of Nigeria in May 2011. Before Jonathan resumption of office reports of scarcity of petroleum products mostly petrol was talk of the town. Kerosine was out of the common man rich, while gas was nowhere to be found. Vehicle owners queue all day long waiting for petrol, while others did night vigil at the petrol station.
Evidence also abound that during the military regimes, there were incidences of pipeline vandalism by unpatriotic citizens who made dubious gains from the petroleum resources including petrol, kerosene and gas and in some cases fire outbreaks from such vandalized pipes claimed several lives and lost of property running into billion of Naira.. The pipeline vandalism persisted unabated until the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), was left with the option of completely shutting down the nation’s refineries most of which were not properly maintained at the time. As a result, Nigeria which is the fourth largest crude oil producer within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, could no longer produce fuel for local consumption.
During Olusegun Obasanjo administration, fuel queue which was a major relic of the dark days of the military regimes held sway as hoarding, adulteration and black market selling of products continued. When President Yar’Adua’s came into office, his government initiated measures to revive the moribund refineries but could not achieve much as the petroleum industry in the country was already in a stage of comatose.
Determined to reverse the embarrassing trend, President Jonathan took the bull by the horns immediately he assumed power by initiating several reforms to reposition the upstream and downstream sectors. Part of the reforms was to engage an expert in the oil industry to pilot the affairs of the Petroleum Ministry. He appointed Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. Until her appointment into the federal cabinet as Minister of Transport in 2007, Mrs. Alison-Madueke who hailed from President Jonathan’s home state Bayelsa, was the first female Executive Director in Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). She moved to the Ministry of Mines& Steel Development in December 2008 from where she was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources in April 2010. President Jonathan appointed Diezani Alison-Madueke based on her good understanding of the petroleum sector and the tremendous cooperation she enjoys from chieftains of the oil industry.
Within the period of President Jonathan, the nation’s crude oil production has been consistently maintained above the budgeted production level of 2.3 million barrels per day. This is direct fallout of the amnesty programme which has now allowed for the renewal of production activities in wells hitherto shut-in as a result of the Niger Delta crisis. Effort at increasing the nation’s stock of crude received major attention under Mrs. Alison-Madueke with the escalation of oil exploration activities in the Inland Sedimentary Basins especially in the Chad Basin. Already the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources are concluding arrangement for contract award for advanced seismic data acquisition and processing.
In all, the seven in-land basins of Bida, Gongola, Sokoto, Anambra , Dahomey , Chad and Benue are billed to benefit from the programme. Yet the drive to increase the nation’s crude and gas reserve is not limited to the In-land Basin. As part of the effort at growing the capacity of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, (NPDC), eight producing blocks have been assigned to the company. With special support by the President for NPDC’s operatorship of the blocks, the impact has been tremendous on the NPDC’s growth aspiration with current production now averaging 80,000 barrels per day.
At the midstream sector gas supply for power generation and industrial use has been sustained with supply outstripping demand both in the Western and Eastern axes. Available records indicate that the volume of gas available for power generation is unprecedented in the history of oil and gas in Nigeria. Renewed efforts at ensuring relevant Gas Supply Purchase Agreements are being executed in order to encourage upstream gas development. Report has it that as at the last count-Three Gas Supply & Purchase Agreements (GSPAs) have been signed among buyers, gas suppliers and Aggregator Company (Egbin / Shell / Chevron / PanOcean). Contracts for the critical pipeline infrastructure for gas supply to Alaoji, Olorunsongo have been awarded with projects’ completion in 2012. Upon completion, this would lead to the availability of additional gas to generate extra 2000MW of electricity.
The Brass LNG project is been fast-tracked, while the implementation of the critical gas projects as encapsulated in the Gas Revolution was given a boost with the visit of the investors (Xenel of Saudi Arabia and Nagajurna of India) to the proposed site at Koko, Delta State for the 1.3 metric tonnes per annum Petrochemical and 1.3 MTPA fertilizer plants. There has generally been increased investor confidence in the Gas Revolution with additional gas utilization projects being pursued. These include:2.75 metric tonnes per annum Dangote Fertilizer plant in Edo State, 2.4metric tonnes per annum Brass Fertilizer plant in Bayelsa State, 1.34 metric tonnes per annum Indorama Fertilizer and 1.2MTPA methanol plants at Eleme, Rivers State and 450, 000 tonnes per annum methanol plant at Onne, Rivers State among others.
As for the downstream sector it is evident that products supply has been sustained nationwide through a combination of offshore processing, SWAP arrangements and increased domestic refining. The first 100days has seen the re-streaming of Kaduna Refinery and sustained operation of Warri Refinery. The issue of kerosene availability has been tackled through NNPC direct distribution programme. The integrity of key product pipeline infrastructure (Kaduna-Kano, Kaduna-Gusau, Kaduna-Suleja) has been re-established. The impact of this is that more products are now available in inland depots, which will enable faster intervention when necessary.
Beside the aforementioned achievement of the Federal Government in the oil sector, sustained efforts at increasing local refining capacity, through revamping the existing refineries with a view to increasing their contribution to national demand of petroleum products is on-going. An NNPC team is currently in Japan to conclude the engagement of the original Engineering Procurement Construction, EPC contractor for Port Harcourt Refinery which will be the first to be so rehabilitated.
Already the Nigerian Content Initiative signed into existence on April 22, 2010 by President Goodluck Jonathan is designed to ensure that Nigeria achieves the much desired In-country capacity in the oil and gas industry. This would guarantee that a huge chunk of the estimated $20 billion annual industry spend domicile in the country for the benefit of Nigerians and indigenous Nigerian Companies and Service Providers. Under the watch of the President, the Nigerian Content Development Board, NCDMB, which has the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources as Chairman of the Governing Council has ensured the escalation of the historic use of made-in-Nigeria pipelines by Exxon Mobil recently at its Edop – Idoho Offshore field, secured the placement of over 100 kilometers of pipelines orders in Nigeria ’s only pipe manufacturing company, SCC Abuja, ensured the increase of in-country fabrication tonnage from 1,000,000 in 2009 to 1,200,000 currently and an advanced talks with Jiangsu Yulong of China to establish 250,000 tons per annum LSAW Pipe mill in Nigeria
As for employment in the oil industry, the Federal Government has developed the Nigerian Oil and Gas Employment and Training Strategy, which has resulted in the absorption of over 5,000 engineers, geologists, welders and other skill sets into the industry and formed the basis of a national skill database. Nigerian Content activities have already generated over 30,000 direct and indirect jobs and will surpass 300,000 within the next four years
Jonathan short period in government has witnessed sustained interaction with the National Assembly to ensure passage into law an oil reform legislation known as Petroleum Industrial Bill (PIB) that will stand the test of time to the benefit of Nigeria , and give fair Return on Investment. Regulatory Control and Monitoring Considerable efforts have been made under the watch of Mrs. Alison-Madueke to ensure effective regulatory compliance in the Nigerian oil & Gas industry in the areas of enforcement of flare penalty of $3.50/1000scf to discourage flaring and encourage commercialization of the gas that is being flared, the launch of the “Offshore Safety Permit (OSP)” to account for the safety and competencies of personnel who embark on swamp, offshore and deep offshore duties in line with the expectation of the Nigerian Content Policy, the establishment offshore training centre within the Nigeria and completion of a pilot scheme of the National Production and Monitoring system (MPMS) aimed at ensuring independent real time production monitoring and accurate production accounting.
The massive transformation of the NNPC, the passage and implementation of the Nigerian Content Act, the push for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, the implementation of the Gas master plan as well as achievement of improved relations with critical stakeholders across the oil and gas value chain, were among practical measures through which the administration has ensured unprecedented stability in the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.
Many Nigerians are of the view that the petroleum sector under Jonathan’s presidency has been recording giant leap forward to the betterment of the country and apart from boosting the nation’s earnings from oil, employment opportunities had been increased. Within the past one year that the Nigerian Content Act was passed into law, over 30,000 direct employments and training opportunities had been created for Nigerians, making the sector the highest employer of labour.
However, these commendable efforts require sustainability to enable Nigerians continue to benefit from the reforms being implemented by the new administration of President Jonathan. Therefore, the need to retain Mrs. Madueke in the Petroleum Ministry to continue with the ongoing reforms cannot be overemphasized. Her administration having shown so much commitment and sympathy to the sector should be allowed to implement ongoing programmes that have succeeded in restoring the confidence of Nigerians and foreign investors in the sector.
President Jonathan has continued to demonstrate his commitment towards improving the lives of Nigerians by ensuring that their basic needs are within their reach. In the petroleum sector, the administration has clearly shown within the past one year that Nigerians can enjoy petroleum products without being exploited by dubious marketers who had made life unbearable for the citizenry for several years. Since this relief came through the instrumentality of Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s leadership acumen in the Petroleum Ministry and with the enormous challenges ahead that requires an expert to surmount, the status quo should be maintained so that various programmes lined up to ensure stability of the petroleum sector are not eroded by putting a square peg in a round hole in the new administration.
The Supreme Court yesterday, May 3, 2012, dismissed the appeal filed by former aviation minister, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode challenging the admissibility of computer generated statement of accounts under the old Evidence Act.
The appeal was sequel to an objection raised at the Federal High Court by counsel to Fani-Kayode, Mr. Ladi Williams (SAN) as to the admissibility of computer generated statement of accounts of the former minister.
Though, this objection was sustained by the trial court, the Court of Appeal in a well considered judgment set aside the decision of the trial court presided over by Justice A. R. Mohammed and admitted the said Statement of Accounts in evidence. Fani-Kayode appealed against the decision of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.
Whilst the matter was pending at the Supreme Court, the Evidence Act was amended and Computer-Generated Bank Statements were made clearly admissible by Section 84 of the new Evidence Act. At the same time, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in exercising his administrative powers transferred Justice Mohammed from the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court to Enugu Division and the matter was therefore re-assigned to a new Judge, Justice Binta Nyako.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission through its counsel, Mr. Festus Keyamo, therefore, filed a motion to dismiss the appeal before the Supreme Court arguing that the appeal has become academic in that the proceedings that gave rise to the appeal no longer exists.
At the resumed hearing of the appeal yesterday, the panel of the Supreme Court, after taking oral arguments from Mr. Williams (SAN) and Mr. Keyamo, concluded that the appeal has indeed become academic in that the proceedings that gave rise to the appeal have become spent.
The Supreme Court therefore directed Mr. Williams (SAN) to withdraw the appeal. The appeal was subsequently dismissed for being academic, while Mr. Fani-Kayode was directed to go back to the new Judge, Justice Nyako, to face his trial.
Meanwhile, the matter has been adjourned to October 10, 2012 for hearing.
