PRESS RELEASE

Against the background of the State governors, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, in a meeting held on Wednesday evening inside the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja have said that they can no longer pay the N18, 000 minimum wage.

According to them, the minimum wage was imposed on them when oil sold for $126 as against the present price of $41 per barrel. Supporting the NGF position, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State told journalists that there was no way the country could continue with a situation where expenditure was more than income. He said, they are faced with a situation where they either have to reduce cost through salary reduction or downsize.

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, has described the decisions of the NGF to downsize the workforce or reduce the minimum wage as a way of increasing the country’s unemployment and poverty level which may result into large-scale corruption and increase in crimes. Minimum wage has a technical inversely proportional relationship with poverty and unemployment. This simply means that increase in minimum wage should result in reduction of poverty and unemployment and vise versa.

Speaking on behalf of the Coalition, the Executive Chairman, Comrade Debo Adeniran said, “The state governors as a matter of priority should declare economic emergency in order to remove unnecessary and irrelevant projects affecting wages in their respective states and not use the nation’s nose-diving economy as an excuse for reducing the minimum wage or downsizing their workforce.

“Even with the N18, 000 minimum wage, the salary of most average Nigerian workers cannot satisfy their immediate needs and which should not be so,” he said.

Adeniran called for the creation of more jobs through the establishment of more industries and institutions. He said that there was a need to establish a friendly environment for businesses to thrive in the nation so as to avoid bloated workforce in the country. Private sectors should be empowered so that they can plough back into the system and assist governments in taking care of its workforce.

The CACOL Chairman, however, warned state governments against non-payment of workers’ salary, insisting that there was no justification for that. States that currently owe their workers should suspend all irrelevant projects and pay their workers. According to him, the nation’s ability to consolidate its democracy depends on how well and coordinated the dividends of democracy trickle down to the masses. Minimum wages often considered as a measure to tackle poverty by ensuring all workers can enjoy a minimum level of income and living standard, it tend to boost the incomes of poor families that remain below the poverty line.

Mr Adeniran advised the state governments to itemize the income generating areas of the economy and set realistic targets, appoint manageable number of special advisers and ministries to reduce cost and ensure that a percentage of revenues is set aside on regular basis, to serve as backup for the rainy day.

The Human Rights activist stressed that “Minimum wage is an essential factor in the enhancement of productivity in not only the public, but also the private sector of the nation’s workforce. The states should also look inwards and find ways to harness the abundant human and natural resources that every state is blessed with. They should also endeavour to cut down on basic running costs and put a check on corruption and other practices that impact of their finance.

“It has often been said that the dependent on oil revenue is inimical to the economic growth of the country. Non-oil sectors of the economy should be harnessed.” Adeniran concluded.

Temitope Macjob

Acting Media Officer, CACOL

temitope@thehumanitycentre.org

cacolc@yahoo.com.

20th November, 2015.

                For more press releases and statements, please visit our website at

www.corruptionwatchng.com, www.cwatch.thehumanitycentre.org

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), has condemned the victimization and humiliation of heads of anti-graft agencies by both the executive and legislative arms of the federal government.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Monday 9^th of November, 2015 announced the unceremonious removal of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, thus bringing his reign as the country’s anti-graft head to an abrupt end amid, albeit, fraud allegations. Lamorde’s sacking came few weeks to the end of his four-year tenure.

It’s worth recalling that CACOL once called on the Federal Government to refrain from supporting the humiliation of Heads of anti-graft agencies and panels, noting that such practices is fast becoming a regular trend especially when highly placed public exposed person is under investigation or prosecution.

The Executive Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said, “One thing that such reckless sacking would engender is the fear of good people serving at anti-corruption, investigative panels or regulatory agencies as chairman or head. It has been established that when you fight corruption, corruption fights back and these corrupt elements are ruthless when they have to fight back.’’

Adeniran also expressed dissatisfaction over the sacking of Lamorde just days before the expiration of his tenure as the EFCC chairman, “more so when he had not been found guilty of any wrongdoing in spite of the allegations against him. If the system has tolerated him up till this point, why wouldn’t they give him the couple of days before the expiration of his tenure?

“We should recall that both Nuhu Ribadu and Mrs Farida Waziri were humiliated out of office in similar circumstances while investigation and prosecution of some highly placed government officials both at the national and state levels were going on. The same pattern plays out in the National Assembly where heads of committees that tried to probe corruption allegations have been humiliated one way or the other.”

Speaking further the anti-corruption crusader sited a handful of experiences; he noted that “apart from Nuhu Ribadu and Madam Farida Waziri, we have Hon. Ndudi Elumelu who headed a similar probe into the power sector (NIPP); Herman Hembe, the Chairman of House of Representatives Capital Market Committee probing the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC); Faruk Lawal who probed the issue of Petroleum subsidy; Sam Saba, Chairman of Code of Conduct Bureau, was also probed while a case of false assets declaration was going on at the Code of Conduct Tribunal against the Senate President and recently, a group, Mission for Peace and Development Initiative, was reported to have filed a suit before the Federal High Court, Abuja seeking an order removing the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar, on grounds of alleged corruption.

“If in the course of performing their statutory duties, they are accused of wrong doings, they should be made to complete the assignments they are handling, get to a logical conclusion before they are prosecuted or made to quit the office because quitting the office abruptly will be more of advantage to the accused persons than to the cause of justice. And getting the heads of these agencies and panels out of the way might be the only reason why the complainant or their cronies could have accused the heads of agencies investigating or prosecuting them so that the process of getting the criminals diligently investigated and prosecuted may be truncated”. Adeniran stressed.

Emphasizing that his Coalition is not holding brief for Larmode, or for these heads of agencies and panels, we believe that the substance of their findings i.e the cases they are pursuing before their own issues came up should be prosecuted first before they are hunted. While those that were been investigated never faced the law, it is those who headed the body that investigated them that were harassed and maybe humiliated into submission. If such a practice continues, people of good conscience would not want to serve in such agencies and panels as nobody would want to commit his life and career to projects that is most likely to ruin such life and career.” “Interestingly”, Adeniran continued, “none of such so-removed heads of anti-graft institutions had been found truly guilty of the charges leveled against them till date!”

“These heads of agencies and panels could have been given the benefit of the doubt; if they had earlier been found wanting they would not have been appointed to head such sensitive bodies where high level of integrity is required. The confidence of integrity that was reposed in them should be allowed to hold sway until the contrary is proven. The anti-corruption war in Nigeria can neither be effective nor sustained where there is no security of tenure and the leaders of the anti-corruption agencies are subjected to summary dismissal.” Adeniran concluded.

Temitope Macjob

Acting Media Officer, CACOL

temitope@thehumanitycentre.org

cacolc@yahoo.com.

10th November, 2015.

For more press releases and statements, please visit our website at

www.corruptionwatchng.com, www.cwatch.thehumanitycentre.org

PRESS RELEASE

The Coalition against Corrupt Leaders CACOL has demanded that cases of those that have been alleged and are being investigated or prosecuted of corruption crimes in the country, despite the removal of the Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Larmode and the weighty allegations leveled against the Chairman of Code of Conduct Bureau and the Chairman of Code of Conduct Tribunal, must go on.

Speaking on behalf of the Coalition, the Executive Chairman, Comrade Debo Adeniran expressed the opinion that the Coalition, though not in support of the EFCC Chairman’s sudden removal believes that the president has the prerogative to determine who he hires or fires; but in so doing, he should replace them immediately.

“Larmode’s removal could not have been surprising because his two predecessors Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Madam Farida Waziri were removed unceremoniously the same way after being accused of engaging in corrupt practices, especially by those powerful toes they stepped on. However, it is not really correct for the regime to engage in humiliation of their appointees; what was required was for the supervising Ministry and relevant Committees of the National Assembly to diligently play their oversight function on the agencies, all the allegations raised could have been discovered, nipped in the buds or prosecuted, during the period such suspects are running the agency and not when powerful people are being investigated or prosecuted by them.”

While expressing his reservation, the anti-corruption crusader noted that “what has happened to three Chairmen of the EFCC is not going to encourage people of good conscience to work in such an institution where there is no security of tenure. We know that nobody is infallible and anybody could commit any offence but we also know that we cannot pre-determine what the mind of an individual can dictate until it has manifested some traits that are not commensurate with the expectation of the office its holding.

“Though we also agree that the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, Justice Danladi Umar is no longer fit and proper to continue in his office, the cases he is handling should not be stopped or allowed to suffer long delay. It is expected that between now and tomorrow morning when the Senate President Bukola Saraki is billed to appear before the Tribunal, another trial judge should have been properly briefed to continue the trial seamlessly.”

According to Adeniran, “the allegations against the EFCC, CCB and CCT could be a deliberate ploy, because it is too coincidental to be accidental that the allegations are coming up when the Senate President and his spouse are being investigated and tried. Even some of the senators that accompanied the Senate President to the court are also suspected to have been in custody of the pieces of evidence that are being used against the anti-corruption agencies.”

Speaking further, he noted that, “no matter how weighty the evidences against corruption criminals are adopted, there must be due diligence in its investigation and criminals must be prosecuted. Our argument is that the first to be accused should be the first to be conclusively investigated and prosecuted without allowing the trial of the hunter to allow the hunted escape justice.”

In conclusion, Adeniran stressed that “it is to the advantage of the society that criminals quarrel among themselves with a view to exposing each other, but that a criminal exposes another criminal should not preclude any one of them from being adequately punished for the individual or collective roles they play in the execution of the alleged crimes; that is the only way by which we will get to the end of criminal activities within our society.”

Temitope Macjob

Acting Media Officer, CACOL

temitope@thehumanitycentre.org

cacolc@yahoo.com.

11th November, 2015.

                        For more press releases and statements, please visit our website at

www.corruptionwatchng.com, www.cwatch.thehumanitycentre.org

PRESS RELEASE

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders CACOL, has lauded IG Arase’s speedy intervention in the case of tortured journalist and condemned the recent heightened police harassments on civilians, urging him not to relent until the average policeman becomes a true friend of the people.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, according to a media release has queried the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, over the torture of Lagos-based journalist, Mr. Femi Owolabi, and others.

The victim, Owolabi and 30 other victims was reported on PUNCH Newspaper to have been arrested by policemen in mufti in front of a night club in the FESTAC area of the state and tortured for several hours at the State Department of Criminal Investigation and were released only after the policemen had extorted money from them. A day after it was reported, It was learnt that the Force Headquarters, Abuja, had reached out to the journalist and ordered a full-scale investigation into the matter; a development which led to the IG giving the Lagos police boss 48 hours to investigate what happened with a view to arresting the culprits.

Following the PUNCH publication, the Lagos police high command tendered an apology to Owolabi, ordered the arrest of the nine policemen involved and directed that they undergo an orderly room trial. The Journalist, Owolabi, according to a report on Saturday PUNCH of November 14, 2015 has said that he is not interested in compensation, but wanted the policemen responsible for his ordeal punished. The Lagos CP was reported to have promptly responded to the IG’s query with a recommendation that some of the police officers be charged with armed robbery

The Executive Chairman of CACOL, Comrade Debo Adeniran, in his reaction, commended the speedy intervention of the Abuja and Lagos Command Police Headquarters, in the matter, as a right step to fish out and deter violators of the rights of the populace. He said “the media reports replete with cases of extra-judicial killings, harassments, robbery, torturing etc have risen remarkably in recent times because perpetrators are hardly brought to book. Recent happenings have shown that families of victims are either intimidated by the police or are just too afraid to speak. Most times, police deliberately messes up investigation by encouraging families of the victims to hurriedly bury their murdered relatives, thus truncating the process of investigation through autopsy – all in an effort to pervert justice while on other occasions they tend to disclaim killer cops as impostors in police uniform and refuse to investigate.”

According to him, “What the police men did to the journalist and others involved is total human right abuse and should not be condoned. This case brings to focus the high-handedness and illegal operations conducted by Nigerian policemen, which are largely unreported by victims. It is necessary that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police takes necessary action not only by fishing and trying the police officers behind the torturing of Mr. Femi Owolabi and 30 others but make sure they are prosecuted by competent court of law and if found guilty, adequately punished.” He also agitated for adequate compensation for the Journalist and other victims for infringement on their fundamental human rights.

Assessing the implication, the human right activist averred that repeated assaults and attacks on innocent citizens have aroused anger and fear across the country. One main source of this ugly trend has been ascribed to the poor and inadequate training and orientation on police-public relationship.

Adeniran, therefore, stressed that the police must be made to respect the dignity of the human person in the citizens they are paid to protect, through a well-organized civil response to the actions of some psychotic folks in their midst. Police brutality continues to sour the relationship between members of the public and the force in Nigeria. ‘Police are your friends’ slogan now appears only as a parody of the reality of the police-public relationship.

“There is the need for citizen’s lives to be protected by security agencies hence a stop must be put to torturing, robbery, harassment and use of live bullet on innocent and harmless citizens. The police must be made to realize that they are employed and paid to protect and not to torture and kill the people. The only excuse for the use of force is exclusively against criminals and this should only be permitted as an act of self-defense. We however believe the IG Arase’s effort at cleansing the image of the police could never be attained with those identified bad eggs still serving in the Force.”

Adeniran concluded by calling the attention of the Nigeria Police to the spate of uncivil and unprofessional behaviours capable of debasing the image and profile of the force in the country and urged the Inspector-General of Police to continually embark on measures that will rid the Force of the unrepentant bad eggs within its rank.

Temitope Macjob

Acting Media Officer, CACOL

temitope@thehumanitycentre.org

cacolc@yahoo.com.

9^th November, 2015.

For more press releases and statements, please visit our website at

www.corruptionwatchng.com, www.cwatch.thehumanitycentre.org