Outrage Over Killing Of Festus Iyayi By Police Escort Truck In Kogi Governor's Convoy-PM News, Lagos

Posted: November 13, 2013 - 13:30

Killer government police escort cars in a ghastly accident

By Eromosele Ebhomele

Outrage has greeted the killing, yesterday, of former President of the Academic Staff Union of University, ASUU, Professor Festus Iyayi, by a car in the convoy of the Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, with many slamming the governor over his drivers’ recklessness.
Some even want the driver of the car that killed Iyayi prosecuted and that, if possible, Nigerians should frustrate any future attempts by the governor to seek election into any public office.
Iyayi died at 66, in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital, on his way to Kano for a meeting of the ASUU National Executive Council concerning the over four-month old strike embarked upon by the union.
Lagos-based lawyer, Femi Falana, while expressing shock at the death of his former client, urged Nigerians to stop agonising and take action.
Falana, who fought and won the case against the sack of Iyayi and Professor Itse Sagay from the University of Benin during the era of Professor Grace Alele-Williams as Vice Chancellor, also complained that governors in the country, with the exception the Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola, are known for their reckless convoys.
He said the driver that killed Iyayi must be arrested and prosecuted because the drivers in Wada’s convoy are notorious for causing fatal accidents.
When contacted this morning, Professor Itse Sagay was too devastated to speak on the death of Iyayi as they were very close during Iyayi’s lifetime.
Prof. Ahunna Okerengwo, the Chairman, University of Port Harcourt chapter of ASUU, said she was still in shock over the death of Prof. Iyayi.
Toni Kan, a journalist and author called Iyayi’s death a sacrifice, another major and sad loss of one of the nation’s best.
The Head, Department of English, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Professor Damian Opata, described the death as unfortunate.
“It is very sad coming at this time,” he said.
The National Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, Chibuzo Asomugha, said the death of Iyayi is both shocking and disappointing.
“What! How did it happen? I can’t believe this! This is quite shocking and disappointing. I’m lost for words, I can’t make further comments, please,” he reacted when our reporter contacted him.
Also reacting to the sudden death of Iyayi, chairman of University of Lagos chapter of ASUU, Oghenekaro Ogbinaka, condemned the manner in which the former National President of the union lost his life.
“The convoy of the Kogi State governor in its usual manner, has cut short the life of one of our best. It is a very sad day for ASUU,” Ogbinaka said.
Reacting to Prof. Iyayi’s death, Prof. Friday Okonofua of the University of Benin, accused Governor Wada of being responsible for his death.
“It is the governor of Kogi that killed him. He was killed by a reckless convoy. He killed one of our most distinguished academics who has won laurels all over the world. We would hold the governor of Kogi responsible for his death,” Prof. Okonofua said.
President Goodluck Jonathan, in his condolence message to Iyayi’s family, the leadership and members of the ASUU, said he was especially dismayed that Iyayi died while going to contribute to efforts to finally resolve the ASUU strike which has disrupted academics in the nation’s universities for over four months.
Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo state used the opportunity to appeal to ASUU to reconsider government’s position on the strike.
Sunny Akhigbe, a Nigerian who commented on the death of Iyayi, said: “this is tragically painful, a very big loss. I knew this fellow in UNIBEN when ASUU was very vibrant. This Nasir Fagge-led ASUU of today is not serious. Are they so broke that they cannot take care of their elders?
“Why should an elder who led the association almost three decades ago cramp himself into a bus and set out for a journey of more than 14 hours by road to attend NEC meeting? Even leaders of road transport workers will not do that.”
Born in 1947, Iyayi, who was the ASUU president in 1986, was also an author with four books to his credit. He also won the Commonwealth Prize for Literature for ‘Heroes’, one of his books, in 1988.

Baraje Quits Railway Board, Tells Jonathan He Has No Faith In PDP Leadership

Posted: November 13, 2013 - 01:42

New PDP chairman, Kawu Baraje

The national Chairman of the new Peoples Democratic Party, Abubakar Kawu Baraje, today resigned his position as chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC). Mr. Baraje stated that he decided to leave the board position in order to devote more time to managing the nPDP and to avoid any scheme to use his NRC chairmanship to blackmail or embarrass him in future.
Mr. Baraje added that he no longer had confidence in the leadership of the PDP.
His decision was conveyed in what was titled, “A Letter of Gratitude and Resignation of Appointment as Chairman, Nigeria Railway Corporation Governing Board.” The letter was addressed to Anyim Pius Anyim, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
Personally signed by Mr. Baraje, the letter stated: “I hasten to express my sincere gratitude to His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, through your good office for the confidence he placed in my ability to have appointed me to such an exalted position as Chairman, Nigeria Railway Corporation.
“His Excellency, Mr. President, will recall that this appointment came from his discretion in allotting some positions to our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). However, it is no longer news that there is an ongoing disagreement in principle between some top stakeholders of our party of which I am among on the one hand and the current leadership of the party on the other. This quagmire has upturned my belief in the present leadership of our great party and has consequently made my continued stay as the Chairman, Nigeria Railway Corporation Governing Board uncomfortable.
“Realizing that the position of the Nigeria Railway Corporation Chairmanship was allocated to the party and of which I am supposed to symbolize, I would appreciate if your good office could please convey to His Excellency, Mr. President, of my intention to relinquish this position with immediate effect because I can no longer represent the interest of the party whose leadership I no longer believe in.”

EFCC Arrests Delta State Auditor General For Local Government Over Falsification of Documents

Posted: November 13, 2013 - 02:05

Mary Njokanma

For alleged refusal to go on retirement after reaching and passing the mandatory 35 years of service as well as falsification of documents, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) South-East Zone, on Thursday arrested Ms. Brown Mary Njokanma, the Delta state auditor general for local governments.
A source in the EFCC Enugu zonal office who pleaded for anonymity told SaharaReporters that Ms. Njokanma was arrested following a petition against her, but that she was later granted bail.
“We told her clearly that she was still in our hook and we shall get back to her because the evidence brought forward by the petitioner against her are overwhelming. A woman who came to service with level four and through the service went to school and came back and rose to that position [should not] deliberately refuse to retire,” the source said.
“With available evidence and records with us shows that the woman was actually employed in 1973 in the defunct Midwestern state. Our findings have also shown that the Bendel Development and Planning Authority where she first got her employment in 1973 [had] been in existence since 1960 in the defunct Midwestern state,” the source added.
The petition was written by a nongovernmental organization called Excellent World Foundation, and entitled “Fraudulent and Illegal Collection of Salaries By Mrs M. Brown Njokanma, Auditor General, Local Government, Delta State.”  Signed by its executive director, Mr. Michael Enahoro Michael, and obtained by SaharaReporters, it accused the supposedly retired auditor general of flouting civil service rules and falsification of documents to perpetually remain in office although her tenure had elapsed.
The petition also accused Ms. Njokanma of fraudulently and illegally collecting salaries and entitlements when she ought to have retired in 2008 according to service rules, and appealed to the anti-graft agency to compel her to proceed on retirement as well as order her to refund all the salaries collected illegally from the coffers of Delta State.
The petition underlined Ms. Njokanma’s date of employment in the civil service in November 1973 under the Midwestern state, albeit as Miss Mary Aizebioje, her maiden name. It asserted that Miss Mary Aizebioje was the same person as Ms. Brown Mary Njokanma.
Elements of the petition read as follows:

• “The said Mrs. Brown M. Njokanma has severally falsified her date of birth and that of her appointment to continue in this fraudulent act. Contrary to the evidence, a senior staff list was published on April 1, 1987 (official document 5 of 1987) where it was fraudulently and wrongly stated that her date of birth and date of first appointment are 12th, December, 1957 and 14th, August, 1981 respectfully.
•  
• “Again in the Delta state government senior staff list of 31st, December, 2006, Mrs. Njokanma fraudulently and wrongly stated her date of birth and first appointment to be 12/12/1957 and 14/8/1983. Mrs. Brown M. Njokanma in the falsification of her date of birth and date of first appointment is to avert possible retirement and to gain pecuniary benefits from the Delta state government, her employer.”
•  
• “She sat for the confirmation and promotion in 1982 which shows she was employed in 1973 and couldn’t have been employed in 1981 and [written] the examination in 1982 and her date of first appointment confirmed to take effect from October 1, 1975.” stressing that Mrs. Njokanma having been employed in 1973 ought to have retired since 2008 as the mandatory 35 years in service and anything contrary is a fraud and illegal collection of salaries not due to her since 2008 till date.

SaharaReporters had before now obtained a letter dated November 13, 1973 that indicated that Ms. Njokanma was hired by the then Bendel State civil service in 1973. Her first posting was to the then Bendel Development and Planning Authority, Benin City. A source familiar with civil service rules and procedures told SaharaReporters that she was due for mandatory retirement as far back as November 2008.
Another letter obtained by SaharaReporters, dated February 16, 1976 and issued by the Bendel Development and Planning Authority (reference No. CPA 315/9) confirmed Ms. Njokanma’s appointment. Other documents reveal that Ms. Njokanma applied for in-service training variously on September 9, 1976, February 3, 1977 and October 23, 1978 – and all were granted.
A source confided in SaharaReporters: “Every month Mrs. Njokanma collects N570, 000 as salary outside other entitlements. From November 2008, when she was supposed to retire, till date, she has received over 31 million Naira. So many letters have been written to various offices, but the more all these letters are written the more she carries millions of naira to bribe her way to continue to stay in office.”
An impeccable source disclosed that because of the special interest of the permanent secretary, Directorate of Establishment and Pension; the head of the state’s civil service; the chairman of the civil service commission and some other top government officials in the matter, they continued aiding and abetting the auditor general to evade retirement.
Contacted by phone, Mrs. Njokanma confirmed her arrest and said that she was given a clean bill of health by ICPC through a letter to the state government but when asked for a copy of the letter she was unable to provide it.
“Yes I was at EFCC and I gave them my position too and they promised to get back to me again. The issue has gone to court before and the court struck it out, we have gone to EFCC and they said my tenure is valid and I don't know why they are still dragging this matter.”

Iyayi Killed By Kogi Governor’s Convoy

Posted: November 12, 2013 - 15:55

SaharaReporters has further confirmed that Festus Iyayi, a well-known Nigerian novelist and activist academic, was killed when a car in the convoy of the Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, rammed into his vehicle near Lokoja in Kogi State.
A police source as well as an eyewitness told SaharaReporters that Mr. Iyayi died instantly at the scene of the ghastly accident. Mr. Iyayi was on his way to Kano to attend a meeting of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) whose members have been on strike since July. The union’s meeting in Kano was called to decide on a possible calling off of the strike and a return to teaching.
With today’s accident, Governor Idris has further consolidated his reputation as having one of the most reckless convoys in Nigeria where drivers attached to governors and other top officials are known for driving dangerously. In late December 2012, Governor Idris’s convoy was also involved in a deadly accident that claimed the life of his aide de camp. Mr. Idris was hospitalized at the National Hospital, Abuja where he was treated for serious injuries.
In a brief telephone conversation today, Kogi’s Deputy Governor, Yomi Awoniyi, confirmed that the governor’s convoy was involved in an accident earlier today. But Mr. Awoniyi said he had not obtained the details of how the accident happened, telling our correspondent that he was away in Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom State, on official duty.
In the early and mid-1980s, Mr. Iyayi broke out of the confines of his academic discipline and emerged as one of Nigeria’s most radical writers with such novels as Heroes, Violence, and The Contract.
Mr. Iyayi studied economics and business management in the old Soviet Union as well as in the UK, and became a career-long professor of business at the University of Benin (UNIBEN).
A fearless, outspoken member of ASUU, he was at one time a leader of the union’s chapter at UNIBEN before becoming the group’s national leader in 1986 during the dictatorship of General Ibrahim Babangida. In the early 90s he was elected as the President of the Committee for the Defence of Human rights (CDHR).
His death will be seen as the biggest individual casualty of ASUU’s prolonged strike as well as the history of accidents caused by the deranged driving by convoys traveling with Nigerian state governors.
ASUU President Nasir Fagge confirmed his death to SaharaReporters. He said the sad news was broken to the union a few hours ago.
A lawyer in Abuja told SaharaReporters that he hoped Mr. Iyayi’s family would sue Governor Idris for failing to restrain the recklessness of drivers attached to his convoy. “This madness by the convoys of governors will not stop until citizens affected by it start rising to say a big no,” the lawyer said.

In Kano, Two Soldiers Killed In Shootout With Boko Haram

Posted: November 9, 2013 - 17:59

Two soldiers were yesterday killed in Kano during a confrontation between a combined team of the Kano Joint Task Force (JTF) and the Directorate of State Security with suspected Boko Haram members.
Five members of the militant group were also killed.
The shootout, which took place at Hotoro Dan’marke quarters and Brigade quarters in the early hours, lasted for about three hours, during which the residents were gripped with fear and panic.
Some of the residents told our reporter that the combined team stormed two residences where the suspected terrorists were living, leading to the gun battle.
Items recovered from the hideouts of the terrorist gang include 2 AK47 rifles, 458 rounds of 7.62 special and 6 AK47 rifle magazines.
Capt. Ikedichi Iweha, the Kano spokesman of the JTF, said in a statement that intelligence reports indicated that the terrorists were in the process of finalizing plans to carry out simultaneous suicide attacks in Abuja and Kano.
“The proactive reactions of the JTF have denied the terrorists freedom of action in Kano and from using the state as a spring board to launch attacks on other parts of the country. This is due to the cooperation the JTF is receiving from members of the general public. The recent rise in activities of members of the terrorist sect may not be unconnected with the increase in pressure being mounted on them by troops in the North Eastern axis and their desperation to make loud statements of their presence,” he said.

He urged members of the public to go about their normal businesses without fear as the JTF has increased its patrols to cope with the pressure of the ember periods and fleeing terrorists.

“However, worrisome is the ease with which terrorists secure accommodation easily in Panshekara, Ja’en, Mariri, Farawa, Hotoro, Sherada, Brigade and other outskirt areas in the state despite appeals by the JTF to property owners to desist from renting their properties to persons with questionable identities. The JTF in Kano would not allow the state to be used as haven for terrorists.”

He warned that those appeals having fallen on deaf ears, the JTF would not only continue to destroy any such properties found to accommodate terrorists but will also arrest their owners and treat them as accomplices even if they do not reside in the property.

He called on all residents of Kano not to relent in the fight against terrorist elements who are seeking refuge, and to continue to report any suspicious persons regardless of gender for immediate action so as to prevent loss of life and property.

Passengers Aboard Aero Flight Abandoned For Hours On Tarmac In Abuja As Aircraft Breaks Down

Passengers stranded on the flight last night in Abuja

Passengers aboard an Aero Contractor Boeing 737 plane scheduled for a trip to from Abuja to Lagos were left stranded inside the aircraft for several hours, with airline officials nowhere in sight to offer any explanation, SaharaReporters has learnt from a source who was one of the abandoned passengers.
“It was as if the Aero Contractors turned us into prisoners of war,” said the passenger, adding that many passengers were terrified as the plane sat on the tarmac of Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja for several hours, with passengers locked up inside.
Our source disclosed that Flight AJ132 from Abuja to Lagos was supposed to take off at 8 p.m., but was delayed until midnight. Then, once passengers boarded, they were left inside the aircraft until 3 a.m. on Saturday. He added that the pilots and the crew left the aircraft with the passengers without giving any explanation. A source at the airline said it was a case of “Aircraft On Ground”, a term used to depict seriousness of engine trouble that causes an aircraft to be grounded.
“I think this kind of thing can only happen in Nigeria where customers are treated by an airline as if they were just rats trapped inside a plane, and the pilots and crew members disappear just like that.”
SaharaReporters could not reach a line for Aero Contractors to obtain an official response to the incident. Several passengers booked on other Aero’s flights suffered similar delays at airports around Nigeria.

How NNPC, Oil Marketers Connive With Swiss Oil Dealers To Rob Nigeria Of Billions Of Dollars-PREMIUM TIMES

Posted: November 6, 2013 - 22:56

By Premium Times

A new report has detailed how the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in cohort with major Swiss oil trading companies, is draining Nigeria of billions of dollars of revenue through the sale of crude oil below the market value.
The report, titled Swiss Traders’ Opaque Deals in Nigerian, released on Monday by Swiss non-governmental advocacy organisation, the Berne Declaration, also described the schemes employed by Nigerian and foreign fuel importers, such as creating offshore subsidiaries referred to as “letterbox companies”, ship-to-ship transfer to create untraceable paperwork, payment of subsidy money to phantom and non-existing importers, and partnering with politically exposed fraudsters to defraud the country over $6.8 billion from 2009 and 2011.
Berne Declaration describes the Nigerian oil scam as the greatest fraud Africa has ever known.
The report narrates the specific roles played by seven major oil marketers and fuel importers through their shell companies in Switzerland and notorious offshore tax haven, Bermuda, to deny Nigeria billions of naira in tax earnings.

NNPC opaque deals
Describing the NNPC as the “all-powerful,” the report says the government owned corporation “plays a significant role in maintaining the ‘resource curse.”
According to the report, oil, which makes up 58 per cent of Nigeria’s revenue, is not contributing to the country’s development as much as it should. The report blames the engrained poverty and inequalities in the country partly on the siphoning of the nation’s resources through the NNPC and other shady deals by fuel importers in collusion with foreigners, especially Swiss commodity trading firms.
Prominent among these shady deals are the partnership between the NNPC and two Geneva-based commodity trading firms, Vitol and Trafigura, registered in Bermuda.
Through NNPC partnership with Vitol (the largest oil trader in Switzerland) and Trafigura (the third largest) described as ‘operational and financial black boxes’ billions of naira that should have accrued to the government are wired to Bermuda where the joint venture is established.
“In reality, the profit generated by these entities escapes State coffers, first, because no taxation in Bermuda is paid, since the tax on profits is zero,” the report stated.
“Vitol and Trafigura alone took respectively 13.44 % and 13.49 % of Nigerian crude oil exports in 2011 for a cumulative value of 6.7 billion dollars.”
More than 56 per cent of oil put up for sale by the NNPC in 2011 valued at $14.004 billion were sold to Swiss companies or Nigerian companies with “letterbox” subsidiaries in Switzerland.
The report shows how NNPC is cashing in on the disrepair of the country’s refineries to feed its fraudulent partnership with these oil dealers. Despite the fact that local refineries operate at less than 40 per cent capacity, the NNPC still allocates crude to them as if they were operating at full capacity. The excess allocations are then sold to Geneva-based companies or Nigerian oil marketers through their letterbox subsidiaries in Switzerland at knockdown prices or exchanged for refined petroleum products in shady swap contract.
“Nigeria is the only major producing country that sells 100% of its crude to private traders rather than market it itself and benefiting from the resulting added value. A number of beneficiaries of export allocations are nothing but letterbox companies whose sole merit is that they are linked to high-ranking political officials or their entourage,” the report stated, a view similar to that by a Nigerian government investigation team headed former anti-graft boss, Nuhu Ribadu.
The report suggested that Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) and their fronts are also cashing in on the absence of money laundering legislation in Switzerland to hide their loots. In fact, many of the “letterbox” subsidiaries may have been set up for that specific reason.
“Politically-linked holders of such letterboxes are known, in banking terminology, as ‘politically exposed persons’ (PEPs), towards whom any financial intermediary must exercise particular duties of due diligence by virtue of the law on money laundering in order to ensure the legality of the funds. In Switzerland traders are not subjected to such duties and have no obligation to question the credibility of their partners. This leaves them with full latitude to trade with such fake entities. But in Nigeria such entities represent a major part of the ‘market’,” the report explains.
Geneva, a haven for Nigerian Fraudsters
Oil importers that have been indicted in the subsidy scam have found a convenient hide out in Geneva where they have established subsidiaries.
Berne Declaration explains why Geneva has become a haven for these companies:
“There are two reasons underlying the creation of these subsidiaries… In certain cases, it is a matter of benefiting from the tax that the cartons offer for companies working primarily abroad – which is undoubtedly relevant for a Nigerian importer in other case the primary motivation is to get closer to banks specialising in financing trading. This hope has often proven vain due to the reputation of Nigeria and the relative anonymity of these firms. This is all the more so since several of these companies have no real activities in Switzerland, have contended themselves just with an address in a fiduciary or lawyer’s office.”
The report identifies seven major Nigerian fuel importers as the worst culprits. They include:
MRS Group, which owns a subsidiary, called Petrowest Services SA. MRS Group was indicted by the Technical Committee on Payment of Fuel Subsidy for collecting tens of millions of dollars between 2011 and 2012 that it could not back up with documents of physical transactions.
The Presidential Committee on Verification and reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payment later cleared MRS. The committee did not give any reasons to show that its transactions were legitimate, according to the Swiss report.
Ontario Oil and Gas limited owned by Ugo-Ngadi Adaoha has a Swiss Subsidiary named Ontario Trading and located at the premises of Nimex Petroleum in Geneva. Nimex Petroleum was once suspended from trading in Nigeria for not supplying required maritime documents.
Mrs. Ugo-Ngadi was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, in August 2012 for fraud and conspiracy but was later released on bail. Ontario was indicted for over N4 billion false subsidy claims.
The report revealed that despite dropping Ontario Oil and Gas from the list of fuel importers for 2013, the company was allowed to continue its crude oil export business.
Rahamaniyya Group, which owns a subsidiary called Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas SA in Geneva since October 2010 is also located in the premises of the shady Nimex Petroleum which seems to be acting as an incubator for shady companies.
The company was asked to reimburse over N507 million subsidy funds collected, but has not been stopped from importing fuel.

Tridax Energy and Limited and Mezcor Limited have Swiss subsidiaries named Tridax SA and Mezcor SA in Geneva. They both received N2.544 billion ($15.9 million) without importing any petroleum products. In fact, the companies received permits to import products before applying for it. The companies, according to the Swiss report, have been traced to close associates and the younger brother of the Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Sahara Energy’s Swiss subsidiary is called Sahara International Pte Limited. The company was requested to reimburse the government’s N6 billion subsidy fund it falsely collected. Despite importing less fuel than they should have and have been paid for, the company is still being allowed to import fuel.
There is also the Lagos-based Aiteo Energy Resources Limited owned by Benedict Peter and Francis Peter. Its subsidiary in Geneva is called Aiteo Suisse AG. Aiteo was asked to reimburse the government over N578 million in subsidy fund it falsely collected. Just like Tridax and Mezcor, Aiteo also received the permit to import fuel without requesting for it.
Efforts to reach the NNPC spokesperson, Tunmini Green, on the agency’s reaction to the report were unsuccessful. Ms. Green’s phone was switched off.