Oshiomhole begged to join PDP but we refused: Metuh

The spokesperson of  Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olisa Metuh, has claimed that the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on several occasions, begged the leadership of the party to let him decamp to the PDP.

He said the governor was consistently turned down by the Nigerian ruling party.

Mr. Metuh, who spoke via a statement on Wednesday, “urged the Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to be bold enough to tell Nigerians how many times he begged to join the PDP but was turned down”.

” The same PDP which Adams went on all fours, begging to join on several occasions has suddenly become the ” party of rogues” because of his desperation to justify the massive rigging and democratic aberration that was local government elections in Edo state.

” In 2007, Adams (Oshiomhole) begged to be given an opportunity under the Umbrella but we considered his governorship aspiration an assault on the existing zoning formula in the state and quietly turned him down. Again in 2012, Adams once more came cap in hand and our great Party again rejected him,” Mr. Metuh said.

Speaking further, Mr. Metuh said, “Is Adams just realizing how bad our party is and was all the while begging for membership,”.

ACN leaders are the real rogues

The statement also claimed that it is Mr. Oshiomhole’s Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, that is the real brood of rogues as their actions in the conduct of local government elections in Lagos, Ogun and now Edo show.

“First is that Oshiomhole is governor primarily because of the unflinching commitment of the PDP to the rule of law and credible elections. No amount of falsehood by the ACN can obliterate this. Governor Oshiomhole therefore carries a huge moral burden when as the largest beneficiary of these democratic values guaranteed by the PDP led Federal Government, he went ahead without scruples to deny his people the opportunity to elect the leaders of their choice.

“And when Oshiomhole referred to the PDP as corrupt,” the statement continued, “it is very needful to remind him that corruption is home to the states under the ACN.”

” Without guessing the disquieting cases of corruption in Edo State, we wish to ask Governor Oshiomhole to explain how less than a 7 kilometre Benin Airport road fraudulently awarded at six billion naira is yet to be completed after four years and how six hundred million naira was used to change the roof and repaint the walls of Idia College in Benin.”

The statement further said it was nothing but corruption that could cause the buildings at the central hospital in Benin to collapse under construction after the project was awarded at the whooping sum of N2 billion

The PDP also challenged the Edo Governor to unmask the face of the printer behind the sub-standard ballot papers used for the local government polls for which hundreds of millions of tax payers’ money was spent.

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Satellite imagery shows 2,275 houses burnt in Baga, Human Rights Watch

Contrary to the claim by Nigerian military that only 30 houses were destroyed in a military raid in Baga, Maiduguri on April 16 and 17 after a soldier was killed when members of insurgent Boko Haram attacked an military vehicle, satellite images obtained by Human Right Watch has revealed “massive destruction of civilian properties.”

A statement released by the organisation said it identified 2,275 destroyed buildings, majority of which are likely residential, with another 125 severely damaged.

Human rights Watch said its findings corroborate claims by the residents of the town that “counted 2,000 burned homes and 183 bodies” immediately after the attack.

The organisation said the discrepancy in the figure given by the military and the its findings as well as the refusal of the military to allow journalists into the town has given rise to concern that the military is working on a cover up.

“The glaring discrepancies between the facts on the ground and statements by senior military officials raise concerns that they tried to cover up military abuses,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

“Since the attack, the military has restricted journalists’ access to Baga, a remote fishing community on the shores of Lake Chad, 200 kilometres northeast of the city of Maiduguri. Boko Haram has destroyed mobile telephone towers in the area, claiming that security services used mobile phones to track down its members, making communication particularly difficult for survivors of the attack,” the statement noted.

Human Right Watch called on the government to “thoroughly and impartially investigate allegations that soldiers carried out widespread destruction and killing in the town.”

“The Nigerian military has a duty to protect itself and the population from Boko Haram attacks, but the evidence indicates that it engaged more in destruction than in protection,” said Mr. Bekele.

Some residents who fled the town after the attack told Human right Watch that they saw soldiers in uniform kill residents and burn houses.

The statement quoted a “27-year-old woman, who stayed in her house after the gunfire erupted, described to Human Rights Watch how soldiers went door-to-door looking for any men that remained in her neighbourhood.”

“I saw the soldiers drag a man out of another house. They started beating him with their guns. They were beating him severely and he was crying,” she said. “The man then ran, and I saw the soldiers shoot him. I heard the gunshots and saw him fall. On the other side of the road the soldiers were beating other people.”

Another resident said soldiers had threatened to treat habitants of the town as insurgent members openly before the attack.

“We had heard the soldiers say before [the attack] that since you people are not cooperating with us and are hiding your brothers, we will treat you as one of them,” the fisherman told Human Rights Watch. “I heard the soldiers say this. Everyone heard them say this. They were saying this in the open.”

Human Rights Watch Analysis of satellite images suggests that the fire that swept across the town was intentionally started and not sparked by rocket-propelled grenades fired by the insurgents as claimed by the military

“Because of the number of buildings destroyed by fire as well as their distribution across large sections of the town, Human Rights Watch believes that such fires were intentionally set and not inadvertently sparked by the detonation of rocket-propelled grenades or improvised explosive devices. Such weapons could not ignite fires on such a wide scale, nor could they set fire to non-attached structures. Small arms and light weapons do not contain the amount of explosive or incendiary material to produce such a scale of damage,” Human Rights Watch said.

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FG alleged misuse of N1.5tr, Senate blames N'Assembly

Senate Tuesday blamed the National Assembly over the alleged misuse of N1.51 trillion Special Funds Accounts by the Executive since they were established in 2002, saying the lawmakers failed in their oversight responsibility to monitor the accounts efficiently.

The Senate however, directed its Public Accounts Committee to further investigate disbursement of loans and payments from the accounts and report back within four weeks. It also upheld the recommendation that a law be passed to regulate the operations of the Special Funds Accounts.

The three Special Funds Accounts are the Stabilisation Account; Ecology Account and the Natural Resources Account.

The Upper House took the decision while adopting the report of the Senator Ahmed Lawan-led Public Accounts Committee which brought out incidents of alleged misuse of the Special Funds Accounts.

Debate on the revelations contained in the report generated serious outcry from lawmakers, who blamed the situation not only on the inability of relevant committees to conduct efficient oversights on the accounts but also on lack of ability to scrutinise the country's revenue base at the presentation of annual budgets.

Even the Senate President, David Mark attested to the  evidence of complacency on the part of National Assembly and pointed out that it was a wake-up call on the legislators.

He said: 'The problem of the fund is that aside lack of guidelines, we have also, through committees be held responsible for not taken pains to oversight how the funds are utilised. That is truly an indictment on the National Assembly; it is a wake-up call on National Assembly to do its work properly.

'If we have been following the funds since 2002, it would have been addressed earlier. It is right to look at these ones to see how the disbursements relate to areas they were disbursed. In all, we shared in the blame in these disbursements.

'We urged the committees to go back and look at those ones that were not misapplied and find out who has paid back loans and those that have not paid back. Also, for all intense and purposes, those who have taken loans from it should be asked to pay back.

'This report has nothing to do with political parties and our contributions showed that all of us are displeased with what happened. It is in the national interest that this kind of thing is not allowed to continue. We need to go by the draft bill which was proposed to spell out how the funds should be disbursed', Mark said.

Speaking in the same vein, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said it was not about political party in power but a share case of bad governance.

According to him, no state from the South East benefited from the loan. He suggested that the case be referred to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as a way of curtailing impunity in misappropriation of public funds.

Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, blamed the situation on too much discretion by the President. He maintained that the National Assembly had failed the nation by not monitoring the accounts.

'We have failed. How come we allowed such huge sums to be spent without guidelines? Perhaps, we need to invite our former colleagues who headed committees that were supposed to oversight the accounts.  The Senate had a month ago passed the first reading of a bill seeking a minimum jail term of two years for public officials who abuse special funds accounts

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Subsidy scam: EFCC arrests Ubah, granted bail

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Tuesday, arrested the Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah, for allegedly defrauding the Federal Government of over N43 billion under the fuel subsidy fund.

He was later released on administrative bail. Ubah, who spoke with Vanguard on telephone, denied the incident, saying that his detractors cooked up the story to tarnish his hard-earned reputation.

A security source told Vanguard that Ubah was picked up from his Maitama mansion in Abuja and taken to EFCC’s head office, where he made a written statement before being released on bail later in the evening.

It was routine invitation— Ubah

Ubah said: “The invitation by EFCC is routine and there is nothing wrong about that. I drove them in my car to their office and we exchanged pleasantries and it lasted for more than 30 minutes and I left.

“So anybody who is claiming that I was arrested is only trying to smear my image and tell white lies. Those who have nothing doing dwell in rumours and hearsay and it does not speak well of them.

“I went there and they asked of the subsidy matter, in which the police and the court had cleared me and you know that the court ordered that I should be paid compensation for damages. So after that I left. Does that mean that I was arrested?”

He then urged his supporters and the people of Anambra State not be cowed by what he called the antics of enemies of the people, adding that no amount of intimidation would stop him from rendering selfless services to the people.

This was even as a member of the House of Representatives from Jigawa State, Abubakar Bwari, was, yesterday, summoned by the court following the failure of the former Jigawa Governor, Saminu Turaki, to appear in court and stand trial over his alleged stealing of N36 billion of state funds.

Bwari reportedly stood surety for Turaki in court.

Why he was arrested— Source

At EFCC, a source said the commission moved against Ubah following his failure to honour earlier invitations to answer questions on the subsidy fraud.

According to information, Ubah was first invited to meet with the operatives on April 11, but he failed, necessitating another invitation on April 19, which he also allegedly spurned.

At the time of filing the report, Ubah was said to be answering questions from the operatives at the Abuja office of the commission.

The arrest is believed to be part of ongoing investigation and prosecution of persons and organisations that allegedly defrauded the Federal Government of about N1.7 trillion in dubious subsidy claim for the importation of premium motor spirit.

At the last count, more than 40 persons and organisations had been arraigned in court by EFCC for their involvement in the scam.

Wilson Uwujaren, spokesperson of the Commission confirmed the arrest but declined further comments.

Accusation

When his firm was accused of taking money through fraudulent means last year, Ubah had accused the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on the Verification of Subsidy Claims, Mr. Aig Imoukhuede, of bias and witch-hunting, following what he called ‘failed business deal’ they had together.

However, a 23-page report released by the Special Fraud Unit of the Police on November 5, 2012, alleged that Capital Oil and Gas received N43,291 billion for the importation of 538.74 millions litres of fuel through forged documents.

The SFU report detailed how top government officials in the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulating Agency, Nigerian Ports Authority, Department of Petroleum Resources and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency colluded with the firm to cook up documents.

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Jonathan, Amaechi and fight for the soul of Govrernor Forum

The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), tailored after the governors’ forum in the U.S., has steadily grown over the years to become one of the most powerful institutions in the country, even though – as Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has claimed – it was never intended as a pressure group but a peer group review mechanism. It probably reached its peak of influence during the virtual interregnum of 2010 when the ill-health of late president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, left a vacuum in Aso Rock, despite the presence of a Vice President. The forum was considered to have played an ignoble role then, having worked to prevent the recognition of then Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, as Acting President. If that incident taught President Jonathan anything, it was probably that he must be wary of the forum. Indeed, a series of events since his assumption of power as Nigeria’s president may have reminded him time and time again of this reality. And after months of a running battle between the Presidency and the forum, President Jonathan may have, in the opinion of critics, decided to find a way of taming that body, or infiltrating it. 

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Jonathan, Amaechi and fight for the soul of Govrernor Forum

The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), tailored after the governors’ forum in the U.S., has steadily grown over the years to become one of the most powerful institutions in the country, even though – as Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has claimed – it was never intended as a pressure group but a peer group review mechanism. It probably reached its peak of influence during the virtual interregnum of 2010 when the ill-health of late president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, left a vacuum in Aso Rock, despite the presence of a Vice President. The forum was considered to have played an ignoble role then, having worked to prevent the recognition of then Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, as Acting President. If that incident taught President Jonathan anything, it was probably that he must be wary of the forum. Indeed, a series of events since his assumption of power as Nigeria’s president may have reminded him time and time again of this reality. And after months of a running battle between the Presidency and the forum, President Jonathan may have, in the opinion of critics, decided to find a way of taming that body, or infiltrating it. 

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Jonathan, Amaechi and fight for the soul of Govrernor Forum

The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), tailored after the governors’ forum in the U.S., has steadily grown over the years to become one of the most powerful institutions in the country, even though – as Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has claimed – it was never intended as a pressure group but a peer group review mechanism. It probably reached its peak of influence during the virtual interregnum of 2010 when the ill-health of late president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, left a vacuum in Aso Rock, despite the presence of a Vice President. The forum was considered to have played an ignoble role then, having worked to prevent the recognition of then Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, as Acting President. If that incident taught President Jonathan anything, it was probably that he must be wary of the forum. Indeed, a series of events since his assumption of power as Nigeria’s president may have reminded him time and time again of this reality. And after months of a running battle between the Presidency and the forum, President Jonathan may have, in the opinion of critics, decided to find a way of taming that body, or infiltrating it. 

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