Abuja Chief Magistrate’s Court has ordered the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar, to conduct an investigation on Senator Andy Uba and a businessman, Chibuike Achigbu, over the controversial $15m cash allegedly to be given to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as bribe by former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori.
A statement from the Festus Keyamo Chambers, signed by Messrs Oghenovo Otemu and Ugochukwu Ezekiel, assistant head, Abuja, said the court made the order on Monday, September 10, 2012, following a direct criminal complaint made by the chamber.
The IGP was ordered to report his findings to the court on September 26, 2012.
The statement read, “On Monday, September 10, 2012, the Chief Magistrate Court, sitting in Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, presided over by Chief Magistrate Okagu, made an order directing the Inspector-General of Police to conduct a thorough criminal investigation against one Andy Uba and Chibuike Achigbu over allegations surrounding the $15m Ibori bribe.
“The order was made based on a Direct Criminal Complaint filed in the court by Mr. Festus Keyamo against Andy Uba and Chibuike Achigbu accusing them of conspiracy, abetment and bribery in respect of the $15m Ibori bribe.
“The court has ordered the Inspector-General of Police to report back to the court with his findings on the 26th of September, 2012.
“Mr. Festus Keyamo has already written to the Inspector-General of Police forwarding the Certified True Copy of the court order for his attention and necessary action.”
Achigbu had on August 29, 2012, filed an application before an Abuja Federal High Court to claim the $15m, which had been kept in the strongroom of the Central Bank of Nigeria as unclaimed property since 2007.
Achigbu claimed that, rather than bribe money from Ibori, the sum was actually monetary donations pulled together by a group of unnamed businessmen to fund the campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2007.
He said he actually handed the $15m cash to Uba, then a presidential aide.
Although Achigbu had said in the now withdrawn application that Uba offered to depose to his claim to the $15m on oath before the court, the Senator denied the claims and distanced himself from the suit.
The Federal Government and Delta State Government are currently enaged in a legal battle for the cash.
The matter will come up for hearing on September 17, 2012, when Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Abuja FHC will determine a motion in which the Federal Government applied for the final forfeiture of the money to it.
Officials at the Nigerian Embassy in Cote d’Ivoire are accused of promoting human trafficking in the country
Child-trafficking and prostitution involving Nigerians has triggered a controversy in Abidjan following the arrest of 16 victims with consular cards issued by the Nigerian embassy in Cote d’Ivoire.
The victims, mostly teenagers, were arrested by the Ivorian police, working with Interpol and a non-governmental organisation, Family for Protection of Human Rights (FEPDH).
The Consular cards are security documents issued by the Nigerian Embassy in Cote d’Ivoire to protect citizens from harassment by security officials. More than two million Nigerians reside in Cote d’Ivoire, with many relying only on the consular cards as a form of identification.
The Nigerian Ambassador to Cote d’Ivoire, Kayode Obajuluwa, said that the consular cards are usually issued based on the recommendations of the Nigerian community leaders.
“Any Nigerian who is applying for consular I D card must obtain certification or confirmation from the Nigerian community leaders.
“They fill a form and come along with the application to the embassy before the cards are issued,” he said.
Mr. Obajuluwa said “hundreds’’ of cards get processed each day, so the embassy has to rely on community leaders for screening before issuance.
He said the presidents of the Nigerian community had been instructed to submit specimen signatures and their stamps in order to check fraudulent practice.
“If you look at the dates on the cards issued to the girls, I believe these cards were issued when the consular ID card was handled by a contractor who was a private person.
“It is one of the things I came to clear because a private person established an office here, he was given a room in the chancery and had his private workers who operated the ID cards scheme from 2004,” the ambassador said.
Mr. Obajuluwa said the cards were issued at a cost of 4,000 CFA (N1, 330) to Nigerians residing in Cote d’Ivoire by the embassy.
The Consular officer in the Embassy, Obinna Ogbonna, said the embassy is overwhelmed by applications.
“Because of the numerous applications we receive, we cannot just call them and start interviewing them one by one. They are numerous. In a day, we receive more than 100 applications,” he said.
The NGO, however, said cards were regularly issued in “bulk’’ by the embassy to “agents after the payment of 10, 000 CFA (N3, 330)”.
Anthony Assemota, President of FEPDH, said the consular cards provide covers for trafficking and prostitution by Nigerian teenage girls in Cote d’Ivoire, who usually work to pay off huge balances requested by their “madams”.
He said a percentage of the girls brought into Cote d’Ivoire die from the rigours of prostitution, diseases, ritual killings and, sometimes, depression.
Mr. Assemota said some workers of the embassy had asked him to stop cooperating with the Ivorian police and Interpol to arrest the Nigerian teenage girls, and minors working in prostitution ring.
The FEPDH president said the NGO had assisted in the repatriation of more than 550 girls since its inception in 2005, while prosecuting some traffickers who have been jailed in Abidjan.
One of the arrested victims, Esther Emagono, who had spent four months in a brothel in Abidjan, said “a man” usually visited her “madam” to collect passports of new girls on their arrival.
She said the ID cards get processed at 10, 000 CFA fee (N3, 330), without the recipients going to the embassy.
Another victim, Blessing Edovmonyi, said her “madam” processed her consular card, without going through the Nigerian community by sending an “agent” who received 13, 000 CFA (N4, 330).
Narrating her experience, another teenage victim said she was brought into Cote d’Ivoire in June, 2012 on the pretext of going to work in a boutique and was forced into prostitution by her “madam” after getting an ID card.
“I was sleeping with 10 to 15 men every day and they pay 1, 000 CFA (N330 or 2, 000 CFA (660) and I was given a target to balance of 850, 000 CFA (N290, 000) before I can be released.
“We don’t speak French so it is hard to escape and we are monitored. Some girls got killed when they tried to escape and we take oath on arrival at the herbalist’s place,” she said.
Lucky Amadiegu, who admitted he was a trafficker who had been jailed twice for trafficking in Cote d’Ivoire, said the cards are usually processed through a “man’’ when girls are brought in from Nigeria.
He said the consular cards are “authentic” and direct from the embassy.
Mr. Amadiegu spoke at the police headquarters in Plateau, Abidjan, where the arrested girls and traffickers were detained.
He said the madams’ pay 10, 000 CFA for the processing of a card for each girl through the “man’’, who obtains the cards from the embassy.
“We have lost two girls this year that I know in Abobo- Abidjan alone. One was mysteriously killed by her mum,” he said.
Uyi Isibor, a friend to Mr. Amadiegu, said the victims and traffickers all know the “man’’ who handles the processing of consular cards from the embassy.
Thousands of Nigerian trafficked teenagers and, some minors, ply their sexual trade in the Ivorian economic capital, Abidjan, its suburbs and interior villages on cocoa farms.
The sex trade, according to FEPDH and the Ivorian police has grown after the country’s political crisis, with a surge of trafficked under-aged girls between the ages 13 to 15 years.
Mr. Assemota said the Ivorian criminal justice system had jailed many Nigerians for human trafficking and prostitution, with a renowned trafficker, Nensah Irudumu, sentenced to ten years in June, 2012.
The Executive Director of the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice, Rev. David Ugolor, was yesterday released from the Oko Minimum Prison in Edo State.
Ugolor was arrested on July 27 by the police after he was named by a suspect, Garuba Usman Maisamari, as the sponsor of the murder of Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, the former Private Secretary to Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
Maisamari alleged that Ugolor paid him N200,000 of the N20 million agreed on to kill Olaitan.
He said he hired four others, who killed Oyerinde.
An Edo State High Court presided over by Justice Esther Edigin had earlier ordered Ugolor’s release from police custody, but the order was not obeyed.
In August 31, Ugolor and nine others were arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court and remanded in Oko Minimum Prison.
Ruling on the bail application filed by Ugolor’s counsel Mr. Olayiwola Afolabi, Justice P. Imodemhe said beyond Maisamari’s statement, the police could not prove beyond reasonable doubt that Ugolor was involved in the murder.
Justice Imodemhe said the report in the counter-affidavit filed by the police showed that they are still investigating the matter and are not ready to prosecute Ugolor.
He granted Ugolor N1 million bail to a surety with landed property within the court’s jurisdiction.
Ugolor was released from prison about 4:30pm.
He was wearing a dark green t-shirt, blue jean trousers and a brown jacket when he walked out of the prison .
Ugolor was received by members of civil society organisations. They sang solidarity songs. Some of them carried him on their shoulder while others powdered his face.
Ugolor said he was grateful to God for everything.
He said: “Good will always triumph over evil. This has shown that when you are good to humanity, humanity will be good to you.”
His wife, Ngozi, who was at the court, said her husband is a life giver and not a life destroyer.
CAIRO — Protesters angered over a film that ridiculed Islam’s Prophet Muhammad fired gunshots and burned down the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, killing one American, witnesses and the State Department said. In Egypt, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, tore and replaced the American flag with an Islamic banner.
Tuesday’s attacks were the first such assaults on U.S. diplomatic facilities in either country, at a time when both Libya and Egypt are struggling to overcome the turmoil following the ouster of their longtime leaders, Moammar Gadhafi and Hosni Mubarak in uprisings last year.
The protests in both countries were sparked by outrage over a film ridiculing Muhammad produced by an American in California and being promoted by an extreme anti-Muslim Egyptian Christian campaigner in the United States. Excerpts from the film dubbed into Arabic were posted on YouTube.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton confirmed that one State Department officer had been killed in the protest at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. She strongly condemned the attack and said she had called Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif “to coordinate additional support to protect Americans in Libya.”
Clinton expressed concern that the protests might spread to other countries. She said the U.S. is working with “partner countries around the world to protect our personnel, our missions, and American citizens worldwide.”
“Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet,” Clinton said in a statement released by the State Department. “The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.”
In Benghazi, a large mob stormed the U.S. consulate, with gunmen firing their weapons, said Wanis al-Sharef, an Interior Ministry official in Benghazi. A witness said attackers fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades at the consulate as they clashed with Libyans hired to guard the facility.
Outnumbered by the crowd, Libyan security forces did little to stop them, al-Sharef said.
The crowd overwhelmed the facility and set fire to it, burning most of it and looting the contents, witnesses said.
One American was shot to death and a second was wounded in the hand, al-Sharef said. He did not give further details.
The violence at the consulate lasted for about three hours, but the situation has now quieted down, said another witness.
“I heard nearly 10 explosions and all kinds of weapons. It was a terrifying day,” said the witness who refused to give his name because he feared retribution.
Hours before the Benghazi attack, hundreds of mainly ultraconservative Islamist protesters in Egypt marched to the U.S. Embassy in downtown Cairo, gathering outside its walls and chanting against the movie and the U.S. Most of the embassy staff had left the compound earlier because of warnings of the upcoming demonstration.
“Say it, don’t fear: Their ambassador must leave,” the crowd chanted.
Dozens of protesters then scaled the embassy walls, and several went into the courtyard and took down the American flag from a pole. They brought it back to the crowd outside, which tried to burn it, but failing that tore it apart.
The protesters on the wall then raised on the flagpole a black flag with a Muslim declaration of faith, “There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet.” The flag, similar to the banner used by al-Qaida, is commonly used by ultraconservatives around the region.
The crowd grew throughout Tuesday evening, with thousands standing outside the embassy. Dozens of riot police lined up along the embassy walls but did not stop protesters as they continued to climb and stand on the wall — though it appeared no more went into the compound.
The crowd chanted, “Islamic, Islamic. The right of our prophet will not die.” Some shouted, “We are all Osama,” referring to al-Qaida leader bin Laden. Young men, some in masks, sprayed graffiti on the walls. Some grumbled that Islamist President Mohammed Morsi had not spoken out about the movie.
A group of women in black veils and robes that left only their eyes exposed chanted, “Worshippers of the Cross, leave the Prophet Muhammad alone.”
By midnight, the crowd had dwindled. The U.S. Embassy said on its Twitter account that there will be no visa services on Wednesday because of the protests.
A senior Egyptian security official at the embassy area said authorities allowed the protest because it was “peaceful.” When they started climbing the walls, he said he called for more troops, denying that the protesters stormed the embassy. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
The Cairo embassy is in a diplomatic area in Garden City, where the British and Italian embassies are located, only a few blocks away from Tahrir Square, the center of last year’s uprising that led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. The U.S. Embassy is built like a fortress, with a wall several meters (yards) high. But security has been scaled back in recent months, with several roadblocks leading to the facility removed after legal court cases by residents.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry promised in a statement to provide the necessary security for diplomatic missions and embassies and warned that “such incidents will negatively impact the image of stability in Egypt, which will have consequences on the life of its citizens.”
One protester, Hossam Ahmed, said he was among those who entered the embassy compound and replaced the American flag with the black one. He said the group has now removed the black flag from the pole and laid it instead on a ladder on top of the wall.
“This is a very simple reaction to harming our prophet,” said another, bearded young protester, Abdel-Hamid Ibrahim.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Egyptian police had removed the demonstrators who entered the embassy grounds.
Muslims find it offensive to depict Muhammad in any fashion, much less in an insulting way. The 2005 publication of 12 caricatures of the prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper triggered riots in many Muslim countries.
A 14-minute trailer of the movie that sparked the protests, posted on the website YouTube in an original English version and another dubbed into Egyptian Arabic, depicts Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a madman in an overtly ridiculing way, showing him having sex and calling for massacres.
The website’s guidelines call for removing videos that include a threat of violence, but not those that only express opinions. YouTube’s practice is not to comment on specific videos.
Sam Bacile, an American citizen who said he produced, directed and wrote the two-hour film, said he had not anticipated such a furious reaction.
“I feel sorry for the embassy. I am mad,” Bacile said.
Speaking from a telephone with a California number, Bacile said he is Jewish and familiar with the region. Bacile said the film was produced in English and he doesn’t know who dubbed it in Arabic. The full film has not been shown yet, he said, and he said he has declined distribution offers for now.
“My plan is to make a series of 200 hours” about the same subject, he said.
Morris Sadek, an Egyptian-born Christian in the U.S. known for his anti-Islam views, told The Associated Press from Washington that he was promoting the video on his website and on certain TV stations, which he did not identify.
Both depicted the film as showing how Coptic Christians are oppressed in Egypt, though it goes well beyond that to ridicule Muhammad — a reflection of their contention that Islam as a religion is inherently oppressive.
“The main problem is I am the first one to put on the screen someone who is (portraying) Muhammad. It makes them mad,” Bacile said. “But we have to open the door. After 9/11 everybody should be in front of the judge, even Jesus, even Muhammad.”
For several days, Egyptian media have been reporting on the video, playing some excerpts from it and blaming Sadek for it, with ultraconservative clerics going on air to denounce it.
Medhat Klada, a representative of Coptic Christian organizations in Europe, said Sadek’s views are not representative of expatriate Copts.
“He is an extremist … We don’t go down this road. He has incited the people (in Egypt) against Copts,” he said, speaking from Switzerland. “We refuse any attacks on religions because of a moral position.”
But he said he was concerned about the backlash from angry Islamists, saying their protest only promotes the movie. “They don’t know dialogue and they think that Islam will be offended from a movie.”
___
Associated Press writer Bradley Klapper in Washington and Esam Mohamed in Tripoli, Libya, contributed to this report.
Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, has denied reports linking him to gunrunning and arms smuggling.
The minister said this in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. George Udoh.
Moro said those who made the allegation contradicted themselves in the report published by an online portal as he also urged security operatives to investigate the allegation of gunrunning against him and also those behind it.
He further stated only such a move would serve as a deterrent to those whose motive was to pull down those holding political offices.
According to him, his accusers said the arms involved were imported by the Federal Government for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, insisting that he (the minister) did the importation of the said arms.
He also denied the report that he was arrested and prosecuted for being in possession of a pistol in Abuja, adding that the same court found him innocent and the allegation and acquitted him.
He explained that it was his driver, who doubles as his security aide, that was found with a pistol and not himself.
The minister argued that if arms and ammunition procured for the NSCDC were missing, the para- military organisation would have publicised it.
The statement added, “On the grave allegation of illegal arms importation and gunrunning, the minister said this is pure fiction. One, the political hacks behind this campaign have exposed their ignorance to the public.
“One day, they said that the arms were imported by the Federal government for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, then, in the same statement they said the minister illegally imported the arms. So which one should we believe?
“Furthermore, the NSCDC is a public office in a public domain whose comment could be sought to find out if there are missing arms rather than crying wolves when none exists.”
(CBS/AP) CAIRO – A film attacking Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, has sparked aggressive protests against U.S. interests in both Egypt and Libya.
In Egypt, mainly ultraconservative Islamist protesters climbed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo Tuesday and brought down the American flag, replacing it with a black flag with an Islamic inscription to protest a video attacking Islam’s prophet, Muhammad. Hundreds of protesters marched to the embassy in downtown Cairo, gathering outside its walls and chanting against the movie, which they claimed was produced in the United States.
It was the first time ever that the U.S. Embassy in Cairo has been breached and comes as Egypt is struggling to overcome months of unrest following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak’s autocratic regime. U.S. officials said no Americans were reported harmed in the assaults in Cairo or the eastern city of Benghazi. Officials tell CBS News Egyptian police have now removed the demonstrators who had entered the embassy grounds.
In Libya, an Interior Ministry official says armed men stormed the U.S. consulate in Benghazi – once the seat of the Libyan revolution – and set the building ablaze after there was a similar protest there against the film. Witnesses say most of the consulate burned.
Wanis al-Sharef, an interior ministry official in Benghazi, says the attackers stormed the consulate after firing in the air. He says nobody was in the consulate at the time.
Reuters is reporting, however, that armed gunmen and security forces clashed at the consulate office in Benghazi.
“There are fierce clashes between the Libyan army and an armed militia outside the U.S. consulate,” Abdel-Monen Al-Hurr, spokesman for Libya’s Supreme Security Committee, said, adding that roads had been closed off and security forces were surrounding the building.
A U.S. embassy source said there had been “an attack” on the diplomatic office in Benghazi, but gave no further details.
Sam Bacile, an American citizen who said he produced, directed and wrote the two-hour film said he had not anticipated such a furious reaction.
Speaking from a telephone with a California number, he said the film was produced in English and he doesn’t know who dubbed it in Arabic.
“The main problem is I am the first one to put on the screen someone who is (portraying) Muhammad. It makes them mad,” he said in an interview in a telephone number in California. “But we have to open the door. After 9/11 everybody should be in front of the judge, even Jesus, even Muhammad.”
He said many of the film’s cast quit half way through the production, which he started “three or four” years ago, because they were afraid of Muslims.
He said the film also addresses the persecution of Copts in Egypt and blames the U.S. and its allies for fighting Muslims. “The U.S. should fight the ideology, not the people.”
In Cairo, the crowd chanted: “Say it, don’t fear: Their ambassador must leave.”
–
A U.S. Embassy official disputed a report that embassy guards had fired their weapons at the protesters, CBS News’ Alex Ortiz reports from Cairo.
Dozens of protesters scaled the embassy walls, went into the courtyard and took down the flag from a pole. They brought it back to the crowd outside, which tried to burn it, but failing that, tore it apart. The protesters on the wall then raised on the flagpole a black flag with the Muslim declaration of faith on it, “There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet.”
The flag, similar to the banner used by al Qaeda, is commonly used by ultraconservatives around the region. Almost all the embassy staff had left the compound before the protest, and the ambassador was out of town.
The protest was sparked by outrage over a video being promoted by an extreme anti-Muslim Egyptian Christian campaigner in the U.S., clips of which are available on the social website YouTube and dubbed in Egyptian Arabic. The video depicts Muhammad as a fraud, showing him having sex and calling for massacres. Muslims find it offensive to depict Muhammad in any fashion, much less in an insulting way. The 2005 publication of 12 caricatures in a Danish newspaper triggered riots in many Muslim countries.
By evening, the protest grew with thousands standing outside the embassy, chanting “Islamic, Islamic. The right of our prophet will not die.” A group of women in black veils and robes that left only their eyes exposed chanted, “Worshippers of the Cross, leave the Prophet Muhammad alone.”
Dozens of riot police lined up along the embassy walls. They did not stop protesters who continued to climb up the wall and stand on it, chanting. But it appeared they were no longer going into the embassy compound.
One young member of the ultraconservative Salafi movement, Abdel-Hamid Ibrahim said, “This is a very simple reaction to harming our prophet.”
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. was working with Egyptian authorities to try to restore order.
The protest took place on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, but there was nothing to indicate the demonstration was tied to the anniversary.
The demonstration also happened the same day Mohammed Zawahiri, leader of the newly established Egyptian Salafist Jihadi Movement and brother of al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, called on followers to protest the film outside the embassy Wednesday.
Only a few staff members were still inside, as embassy security had sent most staff home early after learning of the upcoming protest, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Morris Sadek, an Egyptian-born Christian in the U.S. known for his anti-Islam views, told The Associated Press from Washington that he was promoting the video on his website and on certain TV stations, which he did not identify.
He said the video “explains the problems of the Copts who suffer from Muslims,” which he blamed on the Koran itself.
For several days, Egyptian media have been reporting on the video, playing some excerpts from it and blaming Sadek for it, with ultraconservative clerics going on air to denounce it.
Medhat Klada, a representative of Coptic Christian organizations in Europe, said Sadek’s views are not representative of expatriate Copts.
“He is an extremist … We don’t go down this road. He has incited the people (in Egypt) against Copts,” he said, speaking from Switzerland. “We refuse any attacks on religions because of a moral position.”
But he said he was concerned about the backlash from angry Islamists. “They don’t know dialogue and they think that Islam will be offended from a movie.”
Several demonstrators interviewed by CBS News’ Alex Ortiz in Cairo seemed to think that infamous Quran-burning Florida Pastor Terry Jones was the source of the film, even though it’s apparently not an American production. Of the numerous protesters interviewed by Ortiz, none had even seen the film. They’d just heard about it and turned out en mass, which shows the power of the Egyptian rumor mill.
The embassy is located in a diplomatic area in Garden city, where the British and Italian embassies are located, only a few blocks away from Tahrir Square, the center of last year’s uprising that led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. The U.S. Embassy is built like a fortress, with a wall several yards high.
Like him or hate him, President Good luck Jonathan made a landmark achievement at the beginning phase of his administration in May 2011 when he signed the Freedom of Information Act of 2011 into law.
This is one piece of legislation that had a chequered history right from the time that it was presented to the National Assembly over eight years ago with two sessions of the National Assembly deliberately overlooking it without passing it into law because of the unfounded fear and apprehension by those politicians with skeletons in their cupboard that the passage of such a radical legislation would expose their dirty flanks and make them vulnerable to prosecution for their shady deals.
Those politicians who have for over four decades become major parasites and hindrance to the growth and democratic advancement of the nation state through their dastardly criminal acts of corruption and economic crimes waged relentless war of attrition against the proponents of the freedom of information Bill so much so that they even went to town shouting from mountain tops that the passage of the piece of legislative framework was targeted at unleashing the might of opposition media practitioners to ditabilize the power-that-be and surplant leaders of the opposition political platforms. To be fair to him, President Jonathan even as a Governor of Bayelsa State has always supported the clamour for the passage of the Freedom of Information [FOI] Bill into law.
However, the proponents and promoters of the then Freedom of information bill including institutional supporters such as the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission, the organized civil society community in Nigeria, the media; organized labour and other professional bodies stood their ground and insisted that for Nigeria’s democracy to become respectable and firmly rooted, then a law that would liberalize the spread of information that would enhance the enthronement of good governance, transparency and accountability such as the Freedom of Information Bill must be passed into law.
The current session of the National Assembly which came under formidable pressure proceeded to pass the Freedom of Informtion Bill into a law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after several amendments and tinkering with some provisions even as the President signed it into law shortly after he won the 2011 General Election that was generally adjudged as substantially free and fair.
If for nothing, the President scored major point with the signing of this revolutionary law which has ignited a gale of freedom of speech and expression all across Nigeria even though certain key Cabinet members of the President Jonathan’s administration holding such offices that deals directly with the spending of public fund have come under the scrutiny of several pro-transparency groups for failing to provide certain basic information requested by these non-state actors for the purposes of promoting transparency and accountability. The Minsistry of Federal Capital Territory under Senator Bala Mohammed is guilty of flauting the FOI requests that pours into his office in torrents.
Only few months ago, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and the Minister of finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who convoked a meeting with some leaders of the organized civil society came under the spotlight for breaching the provisions of the Freedom of information Act by the actions of her top bureaucrats who were accused of refusing to accede to freedom of information requests of some non-state actors who indeed needed the information to help Nigeria become a better society whereby good governance, principle of transparency and accountability would become sacrosanct.
Some of the groups claimed to have proceeded to the Federal High Court to compel compliance. The Minister of Finance promised that her ministry will surely comply with freedom of information requests properly presented and brought to her attention.
When therefore some few weeks back during the conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Abuja the President told Nigerians that he is the most criticized President in the World, I was among those who were shocked that our President who boldly signed a revolutionary piece of legislation like the Freedom of information Act into law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria could turn back to lament that he has become the most criticized President of Nigeria.
Conversely, when very recently the President criticized the Nigerian Media for whar he considers as lack of objectivity and balance because most owners of the media are politicians and business elite, this writer was not shocked but his follow up comment was astonishing because he thoroughly qestioned the integrity and credibility of information emanating substantially from the Nigerian media when he asserted that Government will no longer rely on information gathered from the media which according to him informed the signing of the performance assessment contract by the members of the Executive Councl of the Federation and the heads of Government agencies.
When therefore in the last days in August 2012, the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation sent an invitation to our group to attend the first ever Presidential Retreat on the ongoing constitutional amendment, I was full of surprise because of the public pronouncements of President Jonathan which goes to show that he is not comfortable with the groundswell of criticisms directed at some of his policies by a cross segment of the society.
I was in the process of inaugurating a desk of our organization in Lagos State but had to abandon this task to pursue the larger national interest which is to attend the September 6th 2012 first ever Presidential Retreat with the organized civil society community convoked by President Jonathan at the State House in the nation’s capital.
My decision to honour the invitation of the President paid off for the fundamental reason that for the first time President Jonathan spoke from the heart when he told about sixty of us that gathered as leaders of the organized civil society community alongside his federal cabinet members, that his administration truly desires to bequeath to Nigerians a Peoples’ constitution that would stand the test of time and that would truly enthrone good governance and respect for the principle of Rule of law if the provisions are respected as sacrosanct by all and sundry.
The National Assembly was powerfully represented at that Presidential retreat by the major figures involved in the current constitution amendment process including the Deputy Senate President Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who is the Chairman of the Joint National Assembly committee on Constitutional amendment even as the Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives Emeka Ihedioha, a joint chairman of the parliamentary constitution amendment committee who was at the epochal event delivered one of the most inspiring speeches when he told leaders of the civil society community that the National Assembly can not amend the constitution without the important input from the members of the public who are the real owners of the Nigerian sovereignty from where Government officials and the National legislators derive their authority and legitimacy.
According to the Deputy Speaker “The input and voice of the Nigerian people must take precedence over our [National Assembly] own views and feelings. That is the essence of representative democracy. We represent Nigerians not ourselves. We remain umpires in this matter, at this stage. No amendment of the constitution will take place without a broad consensus on the issues. It is therefore crucial that relevant information on the pros and cons of various issues be robustly canvassed and discussed.”
He listed some of the issues already tabled by a cross segment of the Nigerian people for consideration in the process of amending the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to include the issues of federalism; indigeneship/residency; justice sector reforms; legislature and the strong position by most proponents for making chapter two enforceable and binding on Government officials since they make up the fundamental objectives of State policy.
The Chairman of the National Assembly’s joint constitution amendment committee and the Deputy Senate President Mr. Ike Ekweremadu who came with the most organized and colourfully printed lecture text titled; “Strategy for evolving a Peoples’ Constitution”, commended President Jonathan for the convocation of the first ever Presidential Retreat on constitutional amendment for the leaders of the civil society community.
He supported the clamour by the Nigerian people for a Peoples’ constitution and affirmed the National Assembly’s determination to amend aspects of the constitution with the expectation that democracy will be better for it at the end.
His words; “The legislature is considered the most fundamental arm of democratic governance. In its purest form it serves to secure the foundations of democracy by translating the will of the people into the law of the land. At the core, the legislature is the mirror of the society’s soul”.
President Jonathan who addressed the leaders of the civil society ex-tempore spoke glowingly of the solemn determination and desire of majority of the Nigerian people for a truly Nigerian constitution and stated that the reason for the Presidential Retreat was not to cajole or unduly influence opinion of the human rights activists into supporting his views on constitutional amendment but to hear from the organized non-state actors on how best to achieve the peoples’ constitution.
He explained that the outcome of the Presidential committee on the review of outstanding constituional issues headed by Justice Alpha Belgore which is being turn into a white paper by a committee headed by the Federal Attorney General and minister of Justice Mohammed Bello Adoke would be forwarded soon to the National Assembly for the purpose of constitution amendment.
Majority of the participants proceeded to demand that the new constitution to be passed into law by the National Assembly must only be done after a national referendum is conducted so that the grund norm of the Nigerian law would gain tremendous legitimacy.
The particpants stunned President when they rejected any move to amend the tenure of office for the Presidency, office of Governor from the current four year of two terms maximum and nothing more contrary to the position canvassed by the President.
President Jonathan had consistently expressed his opinion that he would prefer one term of six years.
One thing became clear at the end of the Presidential retreat on constituional amendment and that revolves around the charter of demand by most Nigerians that the National Assembly must consult extensively with all segments of the Nigerian society before going ahead with the process of amending the constitution since the outcome would become the Peoples’ constitution and not one colonial or neo-colonial document that would only promote the selfish interest of the political elite.
Determined to find out what constitute the concept of the constitution and also what gives legitimacy and legality to the constitution, this writer researched the work authored by Ma. Elena K. Parayno who clearly stated that constitution refers to the body of rules according to which the powers of sovereignty are exercised.
On the importance, nature and purpose of function of the constitution, Parayno stated that the people exercise control of their government primarily through the Constitution which protects them from unjust exercise of governmental power and through periodic elections by means of which they choose the officers to represent them.
Political scientists say that a constitution is the supreme or fundamental law creating the government, having been enacted by the people themselves. This argument of the scientists in this school of thought supports the general clamour for a Peoples’ constitution to be wrtten by the people of Nigeria.
The purpose of the constitution as can be found in several scholarly works of reputable and knowledgeable sources consulted during the process of writing this piece, is to draw the framework or general outline of the system of the government and to specify the respective powers and functions of the various branches of government comprising this framework.
Therefore in amending the 1999 constitution and hopefully for the very last time, the National Assembly must carry the people along.
Some draconian provisions that impedes transparency like the immunity clause in section 308 must be jettisoned even as issues of state police and respect for fundamental freedoms and plurality of religions must be upheld as sacrosanct.
Some scholars went as far as distinguishing constitution from statute. According to these scholars; “A Constitution is a law given directly by the people, while a statute is a law enacted by the people’s representative”.
–
+Emmanuel Onwubiko, Head, Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria, blogs @www.huriwa.blogspot.com.
Worried by the recent report of the DIG Parry Osayande (rtd)-led Police Reform Committee, Nigerians find it difficult to reconcile between the committee’s terms of reference and the actual report.
One of the fundamental question has been: Of what importance and usefulness are recommendations of a retired Deputy Inspector-General of police in reforming a police force that he helped destroy?
How would such recommendations, proffered by the same actors that brought the police to its knees, be accepted by a government keen on genuine reform of the police force. Could they rectify now that which they failed woefully to do while in service?
It is a great challenge and a thing of concern to all well meaningful Nigerians that young and talented security experts that are to be consulted to proffer solution to the failure and battered image of the police in view of the current security challenges were not consulted but left in the hands of old men who only travelled abroad for the sake of estacodes, winning, partying and on medical ground to do so. It is quite unfortunate that Mr. President do not take certain things into consideration before constituting the committees.
The committee was to look into redeeming the image of the Police, reposition the organization like what is obtainable internationally to meet with the challenges on ground and to see how the Police Act could be reviewed and amended considering the fact that certain functions have been conceded to other agencies of government to achieve synergy and for effective performance.
If these terms were critically examined and followed strictly, the service will be rated high among her contemporaries internationally but the reverse is the case as the committee was only busy working towards a pre-determined outcome that would serve their interest.
Will it not amount to fighting corruption with corruption, should government implement such recommendations? If that is to be done, what will be the level of corruption which the Federal Government is fighting in the society?
If all the agencies referred notably The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Federal Road Safety Commission, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission are to be merged with the Police, will it make better the performance of the service and how can the IG of Police tackle or survive the level of corruption that will grossly increase in the service because pouring a new wine into an old bottle or mixing an old wine with new one will amount to the same problem in the Police which is yet to be solved.
The report of the committee does not show that the members really agreed to work together as one. The Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade, condemned the report in totality especially when it was recommended that his ministry should be scrapped. The minister responded by saying that the committee worked out of context by not following the terms of reference.
Parry Osanrinde who never rose to the position of IGP before retiring from the service cowed all the retired IGPs banking on his positions as Chairman of the Police Service Commission and his other contacts yet police pension fund fraud took place under his watch and he had no answer to it.
Perhaps, scrapping the Ministry of Police Affairs may not a ploy for him to have total control of the Police system in order to carry out his hidden agenda.
It is worthy of note that the committee served as a means of enriching certain persons who see the assignment given to them as a means of grabbing their national cake.
The fraudulent aspect of this assignment is that the money released for the people to travel to the state to seek public opinion on how to reform the Police was released but not utilized! How many persons among those that received the allowance really travelled? Some of the directors cooked up the report in their houses using members of their family to do so.
A case at hand is one Mrs. Elizabeth Lortium, an Assistant Director with the Ministry of Police Affairs with her team whom were to travel to states to seek public opinion but could not do so rather they stayed behind to prepare false report in their houses and submitted to the committee to deceive Nigerians.
In her case, her son, Anthony Lortium helped to compile the falsified report which she submitted. The question is: Who is fooling who and can this not be perceived to be another pension fraud saga? How can this help in solving the problem in the police?
The committee does not know agencies that were carved out of the Police because the members have a hidden agenda. For instance, the Federal Road Safety Corps was established by a decree in 1986 during the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida with Professor Wole Soyinka as the Corps Marshal.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) was established by Act of Parliament in 2002 to fight corruption under the regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps was established in 1967 as a voluntary organisation and became a full-fledged paramilitary and security agency of government through an Act of Parliament in 2003.
These bodies were not in any way affiliated to the Nigerian Police nor carved out of Police. So what claim is the report saying bodies that were carved out of the Police such as ICPC, FRSC and NSCDC should be merged with the Police?
The members are not ready to tell Nigerians the truth of what they mean because the aforementioned bodies cannot be said to be the headache of the police. All the said agencies have international affiliation and as such serve as autonomous bodies.
The Nigeria Police should ponder awhile, and have a rethink on how to take care of her internally generated problem and not by joining issues with other agencies. They should address their failure and apologise to Nigerians thereby seeking for forgiveness.
–
Okwudili Onyeke is of the Society for Good Governance
Information reaching 247ureports.com through sources within the presidency indicates that the President of the federal republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan may have cut his working trip short to travel to Germany. According to the source, the President may have opted to travel to Germany concerning his wife’s medical condition.
The President was previously scheduled to arrive Gaborone, Botswana on Tuesday for scheduled talks with President Seretse Khama Ian Khama – and participate in a Nigeria-Botswana Business Seminar – and then return to Abuja on Wednesday September 12, 2012.
The President’s abrupt decision to travel to Germany has led to wild speculations over the first lady’s health condition. A source who admitted that there appears a wall of silence around the 1st lady’s health condition, stated that the 1st Lady’s health condition remains stable and, that the President may have “just decided to steal time to see his wife”.
It remains unsure the health status of the 1st lady but speculations are that it may have worsened.
The on-going demolishing exercise affecting over 19 towns and villages within the FCT belonging to innocent poor Nigerians at this particular period of security challenges in Nigeria, is viewed in different quarters as a calculated attempt hidden under the cover of development to ridicule the Goodluck administration and swell the number of criminals nationwide.
In an opinion poll conducted, majority of the communities affected have developed various degrees of anxiety, high blood pressure and even stroke on receiving the shocking news.
The ‘unfortunate’ communities affected include; Pyakasa, Dei-Dei, Karmo-Dape, Suburi, Idu, Jabi, Guzape and Gishiri.
Those affected communities in the time of need in 2011, had exhibited a high sense of loyalty and commitment to the ambition of President Jonathan at the April presidential election across party divide while perhaps at that particular time, the FCT Minister who is now bent on carrying out the exercise to the latter, is alleged to have relocated to his native Bauchi State to put a finishing touch to his strategy to defeat the incumbent PDP governor, Isa Yuguda and replace him with an Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governor despite the position occupied by Yuguda as the North-east zonal campaign coordinator of Goodluck/Sambo campaign organization.
Across section of the people interviewed opined that it is mere greed and penchant for ill-gotten wealth that brought about the obnoxious policy to render some law abiding citizens homeless in their own country for no justifiable reason.
Abubakar Sambo, a native of Bauchi State resident at Mpape said, “The timing for the exercise is wrong as it is inhuman, unjust and insincere and only intended to enrich a selected few land speculators and their highly placed masters. The current security situation, bedeviling the country is enough reason to discourage the minister and his co-travelers from such an inhuman exercise. To render people homeless without a convincing reason is an invitation to violence and boast to crime”.
Isiaka Onimajesin, a sociologist and university lecturer opined that, “an average Niger Deltan who may be affected by the exercise is likely to relocate to the creeks and join the army of militants for continuation of violent attacks on oil installations while the population of Boko Haram members may swell by recruiting disenchanted northerners affected just as the ranks of kidnappers in the Eastern states will receive a boost. Armed robbers and street urchins will also jubilate in the South-west as those affected by the demolishing exercise would be compelled to join them”.
The sociologist added that, “the social implications are too many. The political factor is too heavy and the economic justification is very weak. Although government has a right to control development of towns and villages through demolishing as obtained in the 1976 Land Use Decree still in use that same government is at least expected to be humane and study situations before embarking on such sensitive exercise of destabilizing its people”. Samuel Ajeigbe, a political economist said, “It ought to be noted that part of the reason for the level of insecurity in the country today is from the effects of past demolishing exercises carried out in the FCT as many youths were displayed and immediately took to crime to source for livelihood within the FCT.
National secretary of an anti-corruption group, Yakubu Alhaji Jibrin said, ‘The planned exercise is wicked, barbaric, primitive and very inhuman from a person who is alleged to be nursing a presidential ambition and plans to sponsor another politician for gubernatorial race in Bauchi State. Although the minister and his co-travelers need money to lubricate their respective political machineries against 2015, such money should not be sourced from the legitimate property of others and should not be through blackmail of the very administration one claims to serve ”.
Nancy Njoku who was affected said, “President Goodluck should direct his minister to put a stop to the exercise and then sack and probe him and all those who master-minded the exercise. The president should know that it is some estate developers that are conspiring with the FCT administration to earmark certain areas for demolishing so to acquire same for their private businesses against the interest of other law abiding poor citizens whose interest is supposed to be protected by government”.
Ibironke Adeyemi Esq, opined that, “those clamoring for the demolishing exercise do not wish the president well in his political endeavor. The architects of the nefarious anti-people policy are meant to whittle down the respect the people have for the president and stability of his administration. Their aim is to use the exercise to cause disaffection between the president and those affected who massively voted him to power in 2011 against the wish of some politicians and use the effects of same exercise in 2015 against him”.
Some unconfirmed insinuations going round say that the minister may want to use the demolishing exercise to acquire some of the land for himself, his family members and friends as is always the case in his style of administration since he was appointed a minister in 2010.
Commenting on the exercise, Sylvanus Nnamdi, an indigene of Abia state who claimed to have resided in the FCT since its creation said, “This is the worst and most wicked administration in the history of FCT. Nasir El-Rufa’i never demolished other people’s property but claimed the property belonging to government including plots developed by crooks and those hijacked by criminals. Senator Bala must be one of those working under ground against the success of the very administration he claims to be serving. How can he embark on such an inhuman exercise even if it was approved by the president? The president in his normal sense cannot approve such an exercise against the very people that voted him to govern them. It is inhuman, barbaric and calculated to cause chaos and anarchy”.
Jibrin Musa Tirwun an indigene of Bauchi State residing at Kubwa in the FCT said. “The minister has now shown his true color to all. We learnt he wants to contest the Bauchi State gubernatorial seat in 2015. Is that what Bauchi State should expect from him? If he needs more money for the campaign, let him source it from other legitimate ways rather than rendering people homeless and reallocating their land to shylocks. It is too bad. I have no business with that man again and we shall campaign against his ambition”.
