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RSG Accounts Probe: Court Slams N.6bn Damages Against EFCC …Fayose Demands N20bn From EFCC Over Sercurity Watchlist …As Commission Claims N1.5bn Recovery In S’ South
A Port Harcourt High Court presided over by Justice George Omereji has awarded N600million general and punitive damages against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in two separate fundamental human rights enforcement applications brought against it by the Rivers State Accountant-General, Mr. Fredrick Dagogo Abere and a retired Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Local Government Affairs, Mr. Lekia Biokpo.
Delivering a one and a half hour judgement in Port Harcourt, yesterday, Justice Omereji said it was embarrassing that the EFCC could invite the applicants in flagrant disrespect to the 2007 judgement which had made the Rivers State House of Assembly the only body that could pry into the accounts of the state government.
Justice Omereji restated that the EFCC has no right to investigate the Rivers State Government or any of its officials.
He noted that while the 2007 judgement was subsisting, the EFCC could not investigate the Rivers State Government accounts.
Justice Omereji said he was embarrassed by the actions of the anti-graft agency; which he said, had failed to appeal the judgment against it more than 10 years after it was delivered, but instead resorted to self-help by inviting the state officials.
He added that the first thing the EFCC should do was to vacate the subsisting order made by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court before taking any action on the accounts of the Rivers State Government.
Justice George Omereji also said that the EFCC’s Letter of invitation was in disobedience to the court order and also malicious, clarifying that only the Rivers State House of Assembly has the right, by law, to investigate the financial activities of the state government.
He noted that the action of EFCC by inviting the applicants, scandalising their names and declaring them wanted was a violation of their fundamental human rights.
The judge awarded N300million general and punitive damages for each of the applicants against EFCC as exemplary damages.
The anti-corruption agency was not represented during the judgement but the court had noted that hearing notice had been served on the respondent.
Speaking with newsmen immediately after the judgement, the applicants’ lawyer, Mr. Dike Udenna described the action of EFCC as unlawful and a breach of the fundamental human rights of the applicants.
Udenna said that the verdict of the court addresses actions of federal agencies which take the Judiciary for granted, stressing that the issue of corruption must be investigated and handled within the ambits of the law.
He expressed regrets that the law enforcement agency could take actions that would breach the rights of citizens, and noted that the applicants had filed for N500million damages but were awarded N300million each.
The applicants’ counsel said he was elated over the judgement, and expressed hope in the ability of the judiciary to protect the rights of citizens.
Udenna described the judgement as good for democracy, and warned security agencies, as well as anti-graft agents to ensure that they do not take the rights of the people for granted.
It would be recalled that in 2007, the Dr Peter Odili-led Rivers State Government had obtained a perpetual injunction restraining the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from prying into the accounts of the state.
The judgement vested the right to investigate the state government on the Rivers State House of Assembly.
But in defiance of the court order, the EFCC went ahead to invite the applicants, and also declared them wanted through publication of their pictures in the media.
Meanwhile, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has demanded a written apology from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for placing him on watch list and directing that he should be arrested if he attempted to travel out of the country.
Governor Fayose said in a letter to the commission by his lawyer, Mr Obafemi Adewale, also demanded N20 billion as damages, saying the EFCC had violated his rights and privileges as a sitting governor conferred with constitutional immunity against any criminal proceedings.
Fayose also demanded that the written apology should “be published to all security agencies in Nigeria, three national newspapers and the social media as well as withdrawal of the request/directive to security agencies to place him on security watch list.”
The letter stated that “unless these demands are met within 72 hours of the date of this letter, we shall not hesitate to carry out our client’s firm instruction to proceed forthwith to institute legal action against you to seek appropriate remedies before the law court without any further recourse to you.”
The letter was dated September 3, 2018, and has been received at the Abuja office of the EFCC.
The letter read: “By a letter Ref No: 3000/EFCC/ABJ/EG/TA/VOL.59/010 dated 12th September, 2018, you instructed all Security Agencies in Nigeria, including but not limited to the Nigerian Customs Service, NCC, to place our Client on a watch list and to arrest him at sight upon ‘suspicion’ that he might be attempting to flee the country.
In your exact words, we quote: ‘The under listed suspect is under investigation in connection with the above mentioned offences and there is reasonable suspicion suggesting that he may likely leave the country either through the land borders, airport, or seaport in order to invade investigation. Hence, you are kindly requested to watch-list and arrest him.’
“By these words, you have not only fallen foul of the clear provision of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic which grants our client, as an incumbent Governor, immunity from any criminal process/proceedings, you have also exposed our Client to ridicule, opprobrium, odium and hatred in the eyes and opinion of the ordinary man on the street and falsely and mischievously portrayed him as a common fugitive, a run-away from the law who could/should be arrested at sight like a dangerous criminal.
“By this act and words, particularly coming after our Client had by his letter of 10th September, 2018 duly received in your office on 11th September, 2018 voluntarily without any prompting by you or anybody else, offered to report in your office in Abuja on 16th September, 2018, the very next day after his tenure as Governor, Ekiti State would have ended and his immunity lifted, you have demonstrated premeditated mischief, open hatred for our Client and contempt for his office as Governor.
“This is even moreso when considered against the background of your earlier threat on your official EFCC twitter handle which was widely circulated on the social media and published in the Punch Newspaper of 16th July, 2018 where you mocked our Client in the following words to the whole world: ‘The parri is over, the cloak of immunity is torn apart and the staff broken, Ekiti Integrated Poultry/Biological Concepts Limited N1.3bn fraud case file dusted off the shelves. See you soon.’
“In the light of the above, our Client has directed that we demand of you and we hereby demand as follows; a retraction and withdrawal of the aforesaid request/directive to Security Agencies to place our Client of the security watch list and arrest him at sight even whilst he still enjoys immunity as Governor forthwith.
“A written apology to our Client published to all Security Agencies in Nigeria and in 3 National Newspapers and the Social Media for the flagrant mischievous and deliberate attempt to breach his constitutional rights and malign him in the eyes of right thinking members of the society.
“Payment of the sum of N20bn as damages to our Client for the flagrant, deliberate, pre-meditated and reckless libel and unprovoked attack on his character and reputation and breach of his constitutional right/immunity as an incumbent Governor.
“Take notice that unless these demands are met within 72 hours of the date of this letter, we shall not hesitate to carry out our client’s firm instruction to proceed forthwith to institute legal action against you to seek appropriate remedies before the law court without any further recourse to you.”
However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said over of N1.5billion has been recovered from investigated financial crime suspects in the last six months within the South-South Zone of the country alone.
The South-South Zonal Director of EFCC, Nnaghe Obono-Itam, who disclosed this in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, however, did not disclose the identity of the suspects or sources from where the said monies were recovered.
He said, “Over 221 cases have been forwarded for legal advice, with 44 cases charged to court and 16 convictions achieved through the past three quarters of this year.
“Between 2nd and 3rd quarter of this year, we have done recoveries of N1, 592, 568, 524.38, made up of N466, 486, 038.68 and N1, 126, 082, 485.07 as money held in various accounts. Out of that, we have N1, 000, 036, 448.06 on interim forfeiture with the Federal Government.
“We also have a total recovery of $678, 354.80, cash of $402, 425.89, and we have $275, 928.91 in account of Post-No-Deposit (PND) as well. We have €5, 254.20 with €5, 225 as cash and €29.20 in account of PND.
“We had in the second quarter received a complaint about a syndicate that uses online medium to sell fake results for WAEC, NECO and the rest. I am glad to say that we have been able to break that syndicate,” the South-South zonal director of EFCC stated.
Obono-Itam commended the Nigerian Army for its efforts in the arrest of 283 trucks/vehicles for loading illegally-refined petroleum products, adding that 15 vessels were under investigation with nine barges and two wooden boats also in custody of the commission.
“The trucks were arrested at different locations within Port Harcourt. Laboratory results of analysis from the DPR indicate that 121 of the trucks were carrying adulterated AGO, 39 loaded with High Pour Fuel Oil (HPFO) and Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO).
“Also, DPR result indicates that 31 of the trucks were loaded with waste/lube oil, four of the trucks loaded with crude oil, 24 trucks loaded with genuine products (AGO, PMS and DPK), 31 empty trucks and eight trucks loaded with fertilizers, animal feeds, spaghetti and polythene chemicals.
“Total quantity of products (AGO, PMS, DPK, crude oil, HPFO, LPFO and waste/lube oil) recovered from all the trucks/vehicles was estimated at 5, 6000, 000 litres,” he said.
The EFCC official further said that 59 trucks and about 1, 180, 000 litres of petroleum products have been temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Chidi Enyie & Dennis Naku
Letters
Ban On Christians Fellowship In Universities
If the story making the rounds on two Nigerian universities being sued for allegation of their ban on Christian fellowship in the campus is anything to go by, then Nigeria is in for another trouble.
According to the story, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Katsina State branch, in conjunction with an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF International), has instituted an action against two universities in Katsina State for indefinitely banning Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campuses.
The suit was said to have been filed against the two universities for violating the right to religious freedom by “indefinitely prohibiting” Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campus.
The Christian legal advocacy group further alleged that one of the universities enforced the ban by locking all worship and fellowship centre on university grounds, preventing Christian students and groups from accessing the facilities and banning them from meeting for worship and fellowship elsewhere on campus while their Muslim counterparts at both universities have been permitted to hold worship and fellowship meetings in university-constructed worship and meeting spaces.
Recall that in 2017, there was a news report on the outlaw of any other religious or tribal association on campus besides the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria by the authorities of the Umar Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina, Katsina State. A circular credited to the institution’s acting Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Sulaiman Kankara, which was later disowned by the university, contained the directive.
The last time I checked, Nigeria is a democratic, circular state where every individual is free to practise any religion of her choice. Section 38 of the Nigerian constitution provides: “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”
It is therefore wrong for a public university to indulge in this discriminatory act. A university is supposed to be an intellectual environment where people should be allowed some level of freedom. There must be robust fellowship and inter-faith relationship. People must be able to relate with each other without any discrimination or stigmatisation.
Knowing how delicate issues on religion are in Nigeria, one hopes that the authorities of the institutions concerned should swiftly look into the report and retrace their steps. The court should be objective in deciding the case and give students of other religions some leverage of freedom. It must be stated that the judgment on this case should not be delayed to avoid any retaliation in other parts of the country.
We already have a lot of issues to deal with in the country. Adding a religious crisis to it could be disastrous. Any university established and funded by either the federal, state or local government, should have freedom of religion. Let there be no more trouble in the country, please.
Waheed Abiodun,
Victoria Street,
Port Harcourt Township.
The NIMC, NCC Partnership
Reports have it that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed that they have partnered to enhance seamless linkage of National Identification Number-SIM across the federation.
Both Commissions said that in recognising the significance of this initiative in enhancing security and improving service delivery, they were committed to improving processes and enhancing efficiency.
This is a welcome development. It has been worrisome why Nigerians should be made to go through the rigorous process of linking their National Identification Number (NIN) with their phone numbers every now and then. Some people who engage in online transactions have recorded some losses over the past few weeks as some internet providers barred their lines due to their inability to successfully do the linkage.
Two weeks ago, I went to a High Court for an official engagement and was shocked to see the number of people seeking to get court affidavits for the linkage of the NIN with the phone numbers so that their line will be unbarred.
It is therefore hoped that the NIMC, NCC partnership will remove all the bottlenecks surrounding the Nin, SIM linkage and make the process very seamless. It is also hoped that this will be the beginning of the process of proper identity management in the country and gradual collapse of all the various forms of identification – Drivers Licence, Voters Card, NIMC card. Bank cards etc into one identity card so that one would not have to be moving around with loads of identity cards.
Ebele Ubani,
Jabi, Abuja.
The Unwanted Strike
Just when the students of Nigeria public universities are rejoicing that there had been a no interruption in the universities’ academic calendar for sometiime, the news about the warning strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU), broke.
The Joint Action Committee of the two organisations had directed members to commence a seven day warning strike last week, following the federal government’s inability to pay their four months’ withheld salary.
I do not even understand why the government should allow labour unions to down tools before acting on their demands. Did President Bola Tinubu not direct that university workers that were on prolonged strike in 2022 and their salaries stopped by the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration after the invocation of “No Work, No Pay” policy, should be paid four months of the withheld salaries?
Have members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) not been paid in line with the president’s directive? Why were SSANU, NASU and unions concerned not paid? These bodies issued an ultimatum to the federal government. Why was there no effort to address their grievances within the window period?
It is said that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. So, the government, having paid ASUU, should also endeavour to settle SSANU and NASU so that there shall be no interruption in our academic calendar. We did no wrong by choosing public universities. Government, ASUU, SSANU, NASU and what have you should let us learn in peace and graduate at the record time like our colleagues in private universities, please.
IB Michael,
University of Port Harcourt,
Port Harcourt.
Letters
Obi Should Do More, Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage, Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
Obi Should Do More
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has continued to voice out his opinion on the happenings in the country. On the budget padding scandal currently rocking the upper chamber of the National Assembly, he has told the Senate to provide Nigerians with some explanations on the matter.
He said the claims and counter-claims over the alleged N3 Trillion which was alleged by Senator Abdul Ningi to have been padded into the 2024 budget, requires proper explanation as to what Nigerians must need to know regarding management of the nation’s, insisting that the suspension of Senator Ningi for three months does not address the issue.
The Labour party chieftain had also expressed his concern over the hunger in the country a few days ago. He raised the alarm that Nigerians were spending all their money on food.
It is commendable of Obi to have stood with the masses at this critical time in the nation’s history and be critical of negative happenings in the country and bad government policies. However, Obi should do more than just criticising. It is said that “a tree cannot make a forest”. Therefore, Obi should galvanise all the law makers both on the national and state levels to tow the same line with him, which should be seen as the position of the Labour Party.
In 2023, there was a revolution in the country. People of all walks of life, of various religions and tribes trouped out in support of the labour party because they believed in Mr Peter Obi. People saw the Labour Party as a needed alternative to the two most populous political parties, PDP and APC. Based on Obi’s personality and popularity, some people who ordinarily would not have won councillorship positions in their communities were elected into state and national assemblies. Many of them won the elections for free, spending no shi shi.
Painfully, after assuming the exalted positions, many of them, especially those in the national assembly seem to have forgotten the masses. It is now business as usual. Among the seven senators and 36 House of Representative members of the Labour Party in the National Assembly, which one of them has moved a strong motion about the hardship currently being faced by the masses and how to address it? How many of them stood by Senator Ningi on the budget padding revelation? What out the exotic cars distributed to them, how many of them advised that they should go for less expensive cars and the excess money channelled into developmental projects? It has become a case of one not talking while on the dining table, right?
Obi should be able to organise his party to form a formidable opposition and a party that does things differently, a party that stands with the people. If the labour party elected political office holders carry on the way they have done since they came into office, they will keep de-marketing their party, forgetting that 2027 is just around the corner.
Ngozi Omeje,
Umuahia, Abia State.
Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage
I have followed the discussion on the proposed new minimum wage with keen interest and I just hope the leadership of the organised labour will be firm enough to represent the workers and refuse to fall prey to the ploy to disunite them.
It is disheartening seeing workers come up with different amounts as the proposed minimum wage. While the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, demanded that South-West states should pay N794,000 the Trade Union Congress, TUC, asked for N447,000. Similarly, workers in the Federal Capital Territory demanded N709,000, while their counterparts in the North-West clamoured for N485,000.
This idea of singing in discordant tunes is not good for strong unionism. I recall my days as a civil servant in Ibadan, Oyo state. That was during the time of Adams Oshiomhole as the National President of the NLC. The labour union was a force to be reckoned with and whenever the workers barked, the government caught cold. The increase in workers’ wages was fought for as body. There was nothing like federal workers going to the left and the state workers going to the right. Of course then, in 2000, the TUC did not exist as a separate body. The entire workers spoke in unison.
Yes, the states did reserve the right to say whether they can pay the national minimum wage or not but the national body of the NLC was carried along in the negotiation. Please, the NLC and TUC should come together and present a common front in the new minimum wage quest and ensure that workers in the states also get a fair deal. If not, some of the greedy governors will continue to subject the workers to hardship.
Pa Micheal Adeniran,
Rumuogba Housing Estate, Port Harcourt.
Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
“Today, he’s responding to a remark by the Governor that has nothing to do with him. The opposition is urging the Senate president to be mindful of his utterances. How can he turn the burial of late Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son, such a sad moment, to a political attack?. It’s disappointing. That’s political recklessness taken too far. We, the opposition parties, won’t tolerate such utterances anymore if it continues.”
Above was the response of a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, unguarded remark on Gov. Siminalayi Fubara’s comment during the burial of the late Access Holdings Plc GCEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son last weekend.
It is hoped that Akpabio will heed to the advice and learn how to talk in public. Tracing his character as a public servant and political office holder in various capacities over the years, one would notice that the senate president lacks the act of public speaking and carriage.
Was it not recently that he announced that the clerk of the house had sent money to each of the senators’ personal account for their holiday enjoyment only to be called to other and he changed it to ”In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” What about the “honourable minister off your mic” shameful display.
Whoever wants to die seeking public/political office should go ahead but leave our dear governor alone.
Loveth Opusunju
Minima, Opobo, Rivers State.
Featured
Fubara Promises Rivers Support For Wigwe Varsity …Cautions Political Class On Power Tussle
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has promised the state government’s commitment to supporting Wigwe University.
Fubara disclosed this on Saturday after the funeral service of the late Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, in Isiokpo, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Wigwe, alongside his wife, Doreen, and son, Chizzy, died in a helicopter crash in California near the Nevada border, United States of America.
Also involved in the crash was the Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
The governor said, “I want to say our brother has finished his work, though short. We, as a government, will do everything with the Wigwe Foundation to immortalise one thing.
“It is not the bank, the bank might have a new identity, a new boss to run it, other ventures will also have their names; but one thing that has his name is Wigwe University.
“We will do everything within our power to make sure the dream will continue to live just as he has planned it.”
Fubara questioned the mourners as to why they kept chasing worldly desires, stressing the significance of impacting lives rather than struggling for power.
“This one has to do with the political class, what is all these struggle all about? You want to kill, you want to bury, what is it all about?
“This is a man who was not a politician, he made his money through our investments, he had the world in his palm financially, he controlled even the political classes; but today, with all the power financially couldn’t control life. Is it not enough to ask ourselves why are we struggling? Why are we not making an impact on the lives of our people?” he queried.
Dignitaries present at the funeral service include the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria , Sanusi Lamido; Governors Alex Otti (Abia) Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Babajide Sawwo-Olu (Lagos).
Other dignitaries are former governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Peter Obi (Anambra), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Bukola Saraki (Kwarra), and James Ibori (Delta), among others.
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