Corruption Watch – Page 23

August 3, 2015

Withhold Sitting Allowances Of Lawmakers That Followed Saraki’s Wife To The EFCC- CACOL Tells Clerk Of The Senate

By admin / Monday, 03 Aug 2015

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) a group of civil-society, community-based and other non-governmental organizations has asked the Clerk of the Senate to withhold the salaries of the lawmakers that followed Saraki’s wife to the EFCC.

In a statement signed Debo Adeniran the Executive Chairman of the group, said; “As concerned Nigerian, our Coalition was taken aback last week to see the large entourage of Mrs. Toyin Saraki, wife of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki which comprised mainly of the elected ‘honourable’ lawmakers from both the higher and lower chambers of the National Assembly.”

Speaking further the group said; “These lawmakers and supposed representatives of the Nigerian people, reportedly accompanied Mrs. Saraki, who was invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to answer to an allegation of corrupt practices, in a show of solidarity with the accused. It is disheartening that a total of twenty-five legislators could abandon their statutory duties to follow Mrs. Saraki to the office of the EFCC and waited for over the six hours that the exercise lasted.”

According to the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL , it said is particularly disturbed and miffed at what could termed, not only a show of shame, but a clear departure from what their primary constitutional duties are; “Although they have the right to presume that Toyin Saraki is not guilty until convicted, so could decide to show their support, but doing that at the detriment of their constitutional duties is highly reprehensible. Our findings show that there were sittings in both the House of Representatives and the House of Senate on the said day Toyin Saraki went to the EFCC. This presupposes that the 25 lawmakers boycotted the sittings to perform the shameless role of ‘bodyguards’ to Mrs. Saraki. It is highly condemnable that our lawmakers would leave their statutory role of law-making while playing the meddlesome interloper, thereby diminishing the exalted chambers they represent.”

“As much as we do not have much against their show of shame, however, paying the lawmakers sitting allowance for the days they didn’t sit would amount to double jeopardy for our dear country. To this end, since those who accompanied Toyin Saraki to the EFCC’s office didn’t attend the sittings, they should not be paid for those days. Aside withholding their allowances, we urge the House to query this untoward attitude of these ‘dishonourable’ honourables as failure to do so would encourage the perpetration of greater shenanigans by our elected lawmakers. Thanking you for the anticipated understanding and cooperation while hoping you will address the matter with the utmost urgency it deserves,” it said.

Source: Universal Reporters.

August 3, 2015

Children: Jamb, The Need For Improved Efficiency

By admin / Sunday, 02 Aug 2015

Reports recently indicated that the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have announced a reduction in its cut-off mark for students seeking admission into tertiary institutions.

The examination body reduced the cut-off mark to 180 for admission to degree programmes, and 150 for national certificate in education, national diploma and national innovation diplomas.

The new directive was revealed at the 2015 Combined Policy Meeting on Admissions to Degree, Nigerian Certificate of Education, and National Diploma.

At the meeting, JAMB also announced its new policy to redistribute candidates to universities other than their first choice; a policy where applicants are reassigned to other universities with lower number of candidates.

The benefit of the new policy as explained by JAMB Registrar was adopted to help needy universities with lower number of candidates and assist JAMB candidates have better chances of admission in universities they are reassigned to; an effort geared towards helping candidates of over-subscribed institutions gain admission to other federal or state universities rather than wasting their scores.

The development, which generated sharp criticism from stakeholders almost paralyzed activities in some of the most sought after universities in the country.

The Child Help in Legal Defence of Right to Education in Nigeria, CHILDREN Project in its own contribution to series of reactions of stakeholders, parents, students etc is of the opinion that the JAMB seems to have proven itself to be incompetent over the years.

We see the stance of the institution allowing universities to conduct their own exam before they can admit students, as a way of subjecting eligible students to the harrowing experience of having to write two exams, an exercise we consider as unnecessary and stressful. Such exercise could only mean that the Nigerian universities have lost confidence in the ability of JAMB to conduct credible and usable exam. And, of course, one of the ultimate benefits of an exam is how useable it is.

It has become clear that JAMB is not adequately coordinated; its invigilation machinery is open to abuse and compromise, thereby rendering the entire conduct of the exam itself incredible and lacking in merit, a development that usually culminates in half-baked or absolutely unqualified candidates coming out with amazingly high scores that eventually qualifies them for admission.

The Universities, on their own part, having discovered overtime this anomaly, upon observing the abysmally poor performances of such ‘compromised’ candidates in their class works, have so far opted for a way out by conducting another round of examination, now known as post-JAMB exams.

He who comes to equity, they say, must come with clean hands. Thus, for JAMB to confidently justify its constitutional authority of conducting qualifying exams for admission into the tertiary institutions in the country, it must look in-house and ensure that its turn-out in exams merit the marks scored. This would save the innocent candidates from having to go through the harrowing experience of writing exams twice before they are deemed qualified.

Understandably, the institutions themselves, may not be complaining so loud as such post-JAMB examinations rake in huge amounts of money for them at the end of the day. One fact that cannot be disputed and which confers legitimacy on every individual institution’s decision in this regard, is its unfettered independence and right to determine which material is good enough for admission into its courses. The prerogative of determining qualifications for admission constitutionally lies with the institutions concerned.

To this end, JAMB has to sit up, do a thorough in-house overhaul and come up with reforms that will eventually restore the needed confidence from both the tertiary institutions as well as the applying candidates. It is by so doing that this incessant crisis over cut-off marks, arbitrary distribution of candidates to institutions other than their choices, among other things, could be resolved.

Source: Universal Reporters.

August 1, 2015

CACOL: Saraki’s Wife’s Entourage To The EFCC; A National Embarrassment

By admin / Friday, 31 Jul 2015 05:21PM

Well-meaning Nigerians were taken aback as they watch on their TV set the large entourage of Mrs. Toyin Saraki, wife of the senate president, which comprised mainly of the nation’s ‘honourable’ law-makers from both the higher and lower chambers.

These national law-makers and supposed representatives of the Nigerian people, reportedly accompanied Mrs. Saraki, who had been invited by the anti-corruption agency to come and answer to an allegation of corrupt practice, in a show of solidarity with the accused.

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL is particularly disturbed and miffed at what it terms not only a show of shame and gross irresponsibility but a clear anti-thesis of what their primary constitutional duty is.

One cannot but wonder how far President Buhari would be able to go in his avowed war against corruption in this country, if the very law-makers who are expected to give him the needed support through the provision of enabling legal frame-work with which to successfully prosecute the war, are openly, though tacitly, fraternizing with corruption by turning themselves into bodyguards of a suspected corruption criminal”.

Press reports have it that a total of twenty-five legislators abandoned their statutory duties to follow Mrs. Saraki to the office of the EFCC and most of who waited for over the six hours that the exercise lasted. “They are doing the jobs Nigerians didn’t elect them to do.

Although they have the right to presume that she is not guilty until convicted but do not have the right to portray her innocent of the allegations made against her, even before being interrogated.

The lawmakers’ conduct presupposed that they are determined to intimidate the EFCC in its task of tackling corruption. It’s sad that they choose to abandon their statutory role of law-making while playing the meddlesome interloper, thereby diminishing the exalted chambers they represent.

Their case could be likened the incident to that witnessed during Obasanjo’s days, when Bode George was being accompanied by shameless praise-singers who had to roll out drums, clad in ‘Aso Ebi’ and danced in and around the court premises in solidarity with the accused each time he appeared in court to answer to corruption charges.

CACOL observes that, this singular act by these legislators, is a clear indication that certain members of this very important arm of government, if not called to order, are out to make the job of eradicating corruption or at least, stemming it to the barest minimum, by Buhari’s administration, more complex and difficult than ever envisaged.

The Coalition of anti-corruption organisations therefore calls on Nigerians to get ready and be set to confront anybody, group or institution, that is out to frustrate President Buhari’s efforts at wrestling to submission this gargantuan, seemingly untameable monster, called corruption and save Nigeria from its destructive tendencies. We should share President Buhari’s assertion that “if we fail to kill corruption, corruption will kill us”. It must be seen as a collective responsibility; Buhari can’t do it alone.

We are asking Nigerians not to spare corrupt characters, whoever they may be, but adopt CACOL’s slogan to “name, nail, shame and shun corrupt leaders, anywhere, everywhere”.

Source: Universal Reporters.

July 31, 2015

Adeniran: $150bn stolen fund underestimated

Jul 30, 2015TEMITOPE OGUNBANKETop Stories0 Comments

Comrade Debo Adeniran is a human rights activist and the chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL). In this interview with TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE, he speaks on the plan of President Muhammadu Buhari to rid the nation of corruption. Excerppts

How do you see the revelation by President Muhammadu Buhari that over $150 billion stolen by past government officials are kept in foreign banks?

To say the least, the figure President Muhammadu Buhari quoted could have been underestimated going by the ferocity with which most Nigerian leaders have been frittering away the resources of this country and also the circumstances we find ourselves since the past 16 years that we have returned to civil rule. If we put it roughly that we produce 2.5 million barrels of fuel in a day and it is sold at an average of $70, we will be having about $175 million per day. You can imagine what the total amount generated from sales of crude oil will amount to in 16 years. Apart from the money realised from the sales of crude oil, the country also generated revenue from other sources like the Apapa Port. We also generate funds from Customs and Excise, airports, taxes and rates. If we look at what we have earned as a country and juxtapose it with what had been put on infrastructure, the development we have in the country does not show that Nigeria has spent up to 10 per cent of annual budgets on the developmental projects, otherwise all indices of good budget practice wouldn’t be as lopsided as we have them. So, much more money would have gone into private pockets than it has been estimated. So the $150 billion estimate is more than conservative. However, it is a good start that the president has decided to trace the looted money to all the countries where they are domiciled and requesting or working with authorities of those countries with a view to repatriating such stolen funds into Nigeria.

How do you think President Buhari and the anti-graft agencies should go about recovering the stolen money?

Buhari should follow the normal channel through mutual legal assistance treaty that Nigeria has with the countries where such monies are stashed, if he really wants the stolen funds repatriated. The president may succeed if he invokes the treaty, but I am not sure Nigeria has such with Switzerland although that country has been voluntarily returning Abacha’s loot to Nigeria. There are several other countries that may not be willing to return the volume of the money that is kept in their banks by the looters except there is international status that Nigeria can invoke to compel them to repatriate the fund. Buhari should also prevail on the governments of the countries where the public funds are stashed to assist Nigeria to expose those behind the practice. Properties acquired in those countries must also be investigated and if it is discovered that the properties are procured through proceeds of corruption, they should be confiscated on behalf of Nigeria, sold and the money repatriated to Nigeria. The anti-corruption institutions also need to be further strengthened with human and material resources that can enable them to deliver on their mandate; that is when the anti graft war would begin to bear good fruits.

How do you see United States promise to help Nigeria to recover the stolen wealth?

It is a good and welcome development and it is a kind of new turn of event and a way by which America appreciates the desired change that we have gotten from the rotten past to the present. Nigerians should see the present regime as the first of its kind since independence. There is no time when progressives have been able to govern this country at the centre. This is the time we are having everything close to that and it means other countries are also watching what is happening and appreciate it that somebody that has the best credibility among all those who contested for the position got it at the end of the day; somebody who has a track record of integrity, somebody who had done it within the limits of his own capacity in the past and everybody can rely on him to apply the national budget as judiciously as possible in power. So United States has good reasons to repose so much confidence in President Buhari and that might have informed their enthusiasm at hosting him in the Blair House that is used for only Head of Government that they could trust which is a conferment of a lifetime award that our credibility rating has soared high.

Will you advise the Buhari administration to probe the looters?

The president should not waste time in probing the looters as long as he knows that they have, at one time or the other, looted the country’s purse. What he should do is to hand them over to anti corruption agencies who will do due diligent investigations on it; prepare quality charges against them that will ensure that they are convicted. The punishment for the convicted looters should go beyond slap-on-the-wrist. It should be deterrent enough that every civil and public servant would be afraid to conspire with anybody to steal state funds and what we are recommending is not actually death penalty but life jail for anybody that stole up to N10 million. All their properties and everything they must have possessed should be deemed to have been acquired through fraudulent practices, corruption, stealing, embezzlement, extortion etc., and should be confiscated by the state and converted into the use of the country.

Do you really have confidence in Buhari and the anti-graft agencies to recover the stolen wealth, considering past failure to bring many corrupt people to book?

It is the past failure of the earlier civilian governments in Nigeria that led to the change that Nigerians clamoured for and the change that they got. The change from corrupt elements recycling themselves had been effected and the change that brought in somebody of high credibility rating and integrity has doused the tension and the doubts that Nigerians cast on their leaders and that is also accentuated by the enthusiasm with which Nigerians received their president in the United States. This is also evident in the ratings that the world leaders have also accorded the new president. So, we have no reason to doubt his capacity to effect the change. The only problem is the other arms and tiers of government because he cannot act alone and that is why we are worried that those who are leading the National Assembly are people of questionable pedigree. Some of them still have baggage of corruption charges they have not discharged them of and those people are not likely to be cooperative when any law is being considered to strengthen the anti-graft agencies or increasing the punishment to be meted out to corruption convicts. President Buhari needs to develop thick skin to mischievous criticism; he needs to become a revolutionary, he needs to acquire serious political will with which he is going to tackle his colleagues in the political class so that nepotism will not be allowed to govern his mind.

If he is a revolutionary radical, he would be able to scale through all the hurdles and the landmines that the National Assembly and other corrupt elements that could find their way into his government would plant on his way. There are a number of things he could do without consulting with the National Assembly especially when it comes to fighting corruption. He doesn’t need approval from the National Assembly to get somebody prosecuted. What he needs is to amend the laws and the laws are there and he could get the cooperation of the judiciary to apply the law to its fullest and this would help in curbing corruption to a large extent. Buhari should determine that this is a revolution that has happened and the revolution must be taken beyond rhetoric. It should be taken up to the level of historical accomplishment that will change Nigeria to the Singapore of our own time. We want Nigeria to turn out to be a Dubai of Africa.

Source: New Telegraph.

July 25, 2015

Limiting Buhari’s Probe To Jonathan’s Administration Is In Order Says CACOL

By admin / Friday, 24 Jul 2015 07:12PM / Leave a Comment / Tags: Buhari, News /

President Buhari, we must recall, has been consistent in his declaration to limit his probe of activities of past government to that of his immediate predecessor. Even before being sworn into power, President Buhari had maintained that, he would not waste his administration’s precious time on probing every past administration before his as doing so would only amount to sheer distraction which, at the end of the day, would have left the very core of governance unattended to.

Former President Jonathan, on the eve of his leaving office had once stated that limiting such probe to his administration would be a witch-hunting exercise; a position his party, the PDP, has also taken. The PDP, through its spokesman, Olisa Metuh, though expressed its support for the anti-corruption stance of the president, has urged him not to limit the probe to only the immediate past president but to all others before his.

CACOL, in its own contribution to series of reactions that had so far greeted President Buhari’s stand on this issue, lends support to the president’s position. Commenting through its executive chairman, Debo Adeniran, sees the stance of those calling for the extension of the probe to other past administrations as self-defeatist, self-condemning and an obvious product of a guilty conscience. According to him, “these people seemed to now being haunted by their past and it’s like the case of a drowning man looking for others to drag along”. He questioned the rationale behind such call and asked, “from where and how does he begin; from Balewa’s government or that of Shagari? He then went ahead to enumerate the following factors to counter such postulations which he described as unreasonable and shallow:

Since President Buhari has just taken over directly from Jonathan, all facts, be it documented, oral or circumstantial, could be more easily accessible than having to begin to dissipate energy into digging into the far past which would no doubt be so time-consuming that little or no time at all would be left for actual governance, all through his tenure.
There is certainly the possibility that many of the sources of probe may have either been deliberately altered or obliterated outright to cover the tracks of perpetrators of many corrupt acts in time past.
Indisputably, a good number of the very relevant actors in corrupt cases and whose evidences would prove to be vital to the exercise may have died thus truncating its progression in the process.
And worse-still, such process, obviously, would prove to be so complex and cumbersome that, at a point, members of the public, quite naturally, would begin to lose interest and consequently render the entire exercise unpopular.

Debo Adeniran concluded by imploring President Buhari to disregard such distractions and concentrate on pursuing his anti-corruption crusade with all his vigor and ensuring that the thieves of our common wealth are exposed and punished. “Nigerians expect no less from him”, he stressed. He reminded the president that the generality of Nigerians, having identified the monster called corruption as the arch-enemy that has overtime being warring against the progress of this nation, are impatiently waiting for him to wrestle it to submission as promised by him. He expressed his confidence in the common people of this nation giving their unalloyed support in every way they can, to the president, in the onerous task of sanitizing the polity through this crusade. “He just must deliver; no excuse will be good enough”, he concluded.

Source: Universal Reporters.

July 25, 2015

CACOL: LIMITING BUHARI’S PROBE TO JONATHAN’S ADMINISTRATION; IN ORDER

July 24, 2015

…Recovery of stolen funds… Adeniran: Buhari should prosecute looters

Jul 24, 2015TEMITOPE OGUNBANKEPolitics0 Comments

…Recovery of stolen funds… Adeniran: Buhari should prosecute looters

Comrade Debo Adeniran is an anti-corruption crusader and chairman, Campaign Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL)

It is a good start that President Muhammadu Buhari has decided to trace the looted money to all the countries where they are domiciled and requesting or working with authorities of those countries with a view to repatriating such stolen funds to Nigeria. The president should not waste time in probing the looters as long as he knows the looters already.

What he should do is to hand them over to anti corruption agencies which should do diligent investigations on it and ensure that the anti-corruption agencies have the materials with which they will conduct the investigations, prepare quality charges against them and ensure that they are convicted.

The punishment for the convicted looters should go beyond slap-on-the wrist. It should be deterrent enough that every civil and public servant would be afraid to conspire with anybody to steal state funds and what we are recommending is not actually death penalty but life jail for anybody that stole up to N10 million.

All their properties and everything they must have possessed should be deemed to have been acquired through fraudulent practices, corruption, stealing, embezzlement, extortion, kick-back etc. and should be confiscated by the state.

I will also suggest that instead of wasting more money and time; since the report of the probe would still be sent to the anti-graft agencies, the agencies should rather be strengthened with men, material and money to execute their task without leaving any stone unturned.

President Buhari should also prevail on the governments of the countries where the public funds are stashed to assist Nigeria to expose those behind the practice.

Property acquired in those countries must also be investigated and if it is discovered that the property were procured through proceeds of corruption, they should be confiscated on behalf of Nigeria, sell them and repatriate the money to Nigeria. The anti-corruption institutions also need to be further strengthened with human and material resources that can enable them to deliver on their mandate for the anti-graft war to bear good fruits.

Source: New Telegraph Newspaper.

July 20, 2015

Prosecute Fashola Now, Anti Corruption Group Writes Buhari

Posted on July 19, 2015

An Anti-Corruption group known as Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari, against former Lagos State Governor, asking him to prosecute Fashola rather than elevating him, Universal Reporters Reports.

According to CACOL in its letter they wrote; “We are constrained at this point in time to bring to your attention our critical reaction to the unbridled speculation making the rounds for some time now, from the members of the public as well as the media, as to the fact that the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, is being considered by the presidency for higher national responsibility. Feelers have it that his name is prominent on the list of the president’s nominees for key offices in your administration.”

CACOL further wrote thus saying; “Your Excellency Sir, it’s gratifying that you have promised at various fora that, having recognized the need to ensure that square pegs are put in square holes, your appointments were going to be purely on merit and that tested technocrats, with impeccable records, would be given their rightful places in your administration, as a way of ensuring good governance to the people of Nigeria. It is against this background that our organisation is appealing to you to please take the pains to dig deep into Mr. Babatunde Fashola’s record of overall performance as well as that of financial propriety on the part of his government while in office.”

Read The full details of the petition Below:

16th July, 2015

His Excellency

President Muhammadu Buhari

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Aso Rock Villa,

Abuja.

Your Excellency,

PROSECUTE MR. BABATUNDE FASHOLA; DON’T ELEVATE HIM – AN

APPEAL FOR PRESIDENT TO PREVAIL ON ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCIES TO DO THE NEEDFUL ON OUR EVIDENCE-BASED PETITIONS

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), is a group of civil-society, community-based and other non-governmental organizations with the objective of fighting corruption and corrupt persons by any means possible at all levels in Nigeria.

We are constrained at this point in time to bring to your attention our critical reaction to the unbridled speculation making the rounds for some time now, from the members of the public as well as the media, as to the fact that the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, is being considered by the presidency for higher national responsibility. Feelers have it that his name is prominent on the list of the president’s nominees for key offices in your administration.

Whilst recognizing the president’s constitutional prerogative and right to make appointments as deemed fit, we, just like any other Nigerian, consider it a service to the nation, by providing information that might be helpful to your decision in that regard.

Your Excellency Sir, it’s gratifying that you have promised at various fora that, having recognized the need to ensure that square pegs are put in square holes, your appointments were going to be purely on merit and that tested technocrats, with impeccable records, would be given their rightful places in your administration, as a way of ensuring good governance to the people of Nigeria. It is against this background that our organisation is appealing to you to please take the pains to dig deep into Mr. Babatunde Fashola’s record of overall performance as well as that of financial propriety on the part of his government while in office.

Going by our corporate policy, we ordinarily do not react to speculations but given the grave implication of having to keep quiet, only to speak up after such appointment must have been made, would only amount to crying over spilt milk, we deem it necessary to use this medium to sensitize you on this development.

As could be seen from the attached copies of our previous petitions to both the EFCC and the ICPC over which no meaningful action has so far been taken, as well as books published by us on this subject-matter, it would be noted that our organisation never shirked its basic responsibility of blowing the whistle on issues centering on corruption in whatever form or guise in governance.

For ease of reference, please see as detailed below the afore-mentioned petitions:

February 3, 2010: To the EFCC and February 15, 2010 To the ICPC titled ALLEGATION OF CORRUPTION AGAINST LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT: ICPC SHOULD INVESTIGATE – our reaction to THE PUNCH newspaper advertorial of January 28, 2010, under the title “The True Face of Lagos” on allegations of corrupt practices, signed by certain Mr. Kasali Martins and Dr. Tunde George who are Lagos residents, against the state government, which catalogued on a number of questionable claims of expenditure incurred by it.

January 20, 2011: To the ICPC titled RE: ALLEGATION OF CORRUPTION AGAINST LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT: THE ICPC SHOULD INVESTIGATE – REMINDER AND FURTHER ALLEGATIONS – our follow-up action to the above and a fresh reaction to the INSIDER WEEKLY newsmagazine edition of November 15, 2010 which alleged series of fresh allegations of financial impropriety against the state government.

August 6, 2013: To the EFCC titled RE: ALLEGATION OF CORRUPTION AGAINST LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT: EFCC SHOULD INVESTIGATE – REMINDER to the original petition of February 3, 2010 in which we made reference to the agency’s earlier invitation to us to come and adopt the said petition; an invitation we duly honoured, and expressed our displeasure at what appeared petition be the utter neglect or slow pace at which the anti-corruption agency had handled the matter and urged it to prevail on its personnel to speed up actions on our request to thoroughly investigate the allegations raised in the petition, make its report public and subsequently prosecute those indicted accordingly.

September 9, 2013: To the EFCC titled FURTHER REMINDER ON ALLEGATION OF CORRUPTION AGAINST LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT: EFCC SHOULD INVESTIGATE: CACOL complained as it did earlier over the apparent inaction of the agency and reiterated its expectations as regard its request for expediency on the part of the latter.

February 25, 2014: To the EFCC titled FURTHER REMINDER ON ALLEGATION OF CORRUPTION AGAINST LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT: EFCC SHOULD INVESTIGATE: We once again expressed our dissatisfaction at the apparent non-challant attitude of the agency so far on the matter.

May 29, 2015: To the ICPC and EFCC titled IMMUNITY IS NO LONGER AN EXCUSE FOR NOT QUESTIONING FASHOLA. RE; CALL FOR COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION INTO THE ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPT ACTIVITIES AGAINST THE LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT – FURTHER REMINDER: CACOL in its reminder, had detailed the series of its previous petitions to the agencies and had reminded both agencies that they owed it a duty to the nation and its people from whom the government derived its authority to governance, to expedite actions on the petitions as a way of acknowledging the people’s right to accountability from those they elected to govern them. It further reminded the agencies that since the then governor of the state in person of Mr. Babatunde Fashola automatically loses the immunity privilege from the 29th May, 2015, they (the agencies) no longer have any excuse for withholding actions regarding investigation and prosecution as demanded.

Finally, Your Excellency, we, like the majority of Nigerians, repose much confidence in your ability, going by your track record, and your promise to maintain and sustain a zero-tolerance stance to corruption and other related vices, in every facet. This is why we are hereby imploring you to give the necessary push to these aforementioned agencies to speed up actions towards establishing Mr. Babatunde Fashola’s culpability or otherwise and possibly follow it up with the necessary investigation and prosecution. It’s noteworthy too that Mr. Babatunde Fashola may have enjoyed so much of accolades from the media for exemplary performance as governor during his tenure, we make bold to say that all the media hype was a mere publicity gimmicks as they do not reflect the reality on ground. In the area of infrastructural development, for instance, especially as it concerns road networks, we implore you not to rely solely on media reports but make further efforts at using the machinery at your disposal to make on-the-spot findings and assessment of the true state of things in the state.

We must state here that we are not out to witch-hunt anyone; rather we are only serving as the voice of the voiceless and of course, the whistle-blower.

We also would like to sensitize you to the spill-over impact that mass protests and petitions from relevant quarters that might trail such appointment if eventually made, may have on your esteemed administration; this is why we consider it pertinent for you to do the needful by engaging in the necessary in-house cleaning ahead of the exercise.

We and other well-meaning Nigerians wish you success in your quest to bring about that comprehensive change that we have all this while been yearning for.

Source: Universal Reporters

July 8, 2015

Sidelining Official Anti-Graft Agencies Not The Solution To Loot Recovery – CACOL

By admin / Tuesday, 07 Jul 2015.

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders CACOL, has expressed it disagreement with the Federal Government’s attempt to sideline the official anti-graft agencies in recovering stolen loot.

This came on the heels on the statement that President Muhammadu Buhari may not involve the anti-graft agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ICPC in his effort to recover the looted funds.

According to media reports, a top government official, who is familiar with the Buhari’s effort at recovering looted funds, said that the President might rely more on people outside the system to achieve good results.

The official said, “The President’s body language as far as the anti-corruption agencies are concerned suggests that he does not have so much confidence in them. Most of the recovery job may be done by people outside the system, like consultants.” He added that the Buhari’s reliance on outsiders had started yielding positive results.

Reacting to the news, the Executive Chairman of the Coalition, Mr. Debo Adeniran averred that the seeming lacklustre performance of the agencies could be responsible for the president’s decision.

He said, “We know that it has been a different political party that has been ruling Nigeria since 1999 and the last regime of Goodluck Jonathan has been seen as a regime that protected corrupt leaders rather than prosecuting them. That could have been the reason why the present system lost confidence in any structure that the past administration left behind.

“We need to also realize that the past regime used some of their agencies to intimidate the present ruling class before and during the election and there had been several public exposed persons that had been let-off the hook because the anti-graft agencies are not well equipped to fight corruption in Nigeria and because these anti-graft agencies do not have the requisite training, equipment, the necessary personnel and protection, they have not been able to achieve much.

“That could have informed the loss of confidence in them by the President Muhammadu Buhari and you can’t blame him because most of the cases of the public exposed persons in Nigeria had been lost by the EFCC and ICPC; although not totally lost, most of the cases were dismissed which means that the anti-graft agencies can still re-file them and the people would be prosecuted.

However, the President could have strengthened the anti-graft agencies to be able to do exactly what he wants them to do rather than spend more money on consultants or private debt-recovery firms.

“It will amount to double expenditure on the same cause because as long as the anti-graft agencies are still there, allocations will be going to them and if we hire consultants, they are likely to take even more than what the official agencies would take.

Basically, rather than go out and look for private persons or private firms to recover these loot, the anti-graft agencies should be strengthened; they should be given more funds, more personnel and if there are bad eggs among them, those bad ones should be weeded-out and if it is the entirety of the personnel of the agencies that are untrustworthy they can be changed; not that they should be rendered impotent because by the time they lose confidence in them, members of the public will also lose confidence in them.

“As a matter of fact, most of the problems that faced these anti-graft agencies are not caused by the agencies themselves they are caused by the regime that puts them in place and who are supposed to fund and oversee their functions.

We should remember that there was a time the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, went round the courts to withdraw several anti-corruption cases against the wishes of the anti-graft agencies; we should also remember also that he came up with a gazette that actually paralyzed their capacity to prosecute any criminal that has stolen more than 50 million naira or those criminals that have international dimensions. That means that there is hardly any case they could prosecute on their own without the hand of the AGF.

All of these combined to paralyze the nation’s anti-graft agencies and if these impediments are removed by President Muhammadu Buhari, we are sure the anti-graft agencies would be up to the task. With our own study of the anti-graft agencies, we are sure they have qualified and committed personnel that are very patriotic, and those that could not be corrupted.

Also, there is nowhere in the world that the EFCC and ICPC cannot contact for the purpose of recovering the looted funds, there is mutual legal assistant treaty with many of the countries where these monies are kept. Is it the United Kingdom, United States, Switzerland and other European countries? Nigeria has mutual assistant treaty with them and that is what they could have exploited. We should remember when the former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori’s case was being pursued by the EFCC, several times they have to make contacts with the US and the UK including Switzerland to get information about where the looted money was being kept and they were successful and that was the basis on which they crafted the 170 charges that was levelled against him in Asaba Federal High Court. What impeded their progress was inadequate funding; they could not sustain their men who had to travel outside the country, they could not hire qualify lawyers while the criminal was able to hire many Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

So, it is really not so much of a problem for them to get in touch with other anti-graft agencies outside the country with a view to recovery this looted funds; they have links with FBI, British Police and several others. We have held some programmes with them with all of these foreign investigators and anti-corruption agencies.

We believe that with more capacity in terms of training, in terms of funding, in terms of equipping and protection even to the investigators themselves they are likely to do better than what they are doing. There is no reason why we should hire foreign investigators because some of these foreigners are also collaborative with these public exposed persons who have looted this country’ funds

So basically, it is the change of tactics not actually strategies that the present regime needs to prosecute its anti-corruption war. The strategies can still work, it is the tactics that should be amended such that everyone that is suspicious of having soiled his hand or having had a mind of being corrupted should be weeded-out and should be sidelined in the effort to recover the looted fund, not the EFCC and ICPC as a whole; even the Code of Conduct Bureau has a role to play if it is well strengthened.

SOURCE: Universal Reporters.

July 6, 2015

Approval Of N39.4bn World Bank Loan For Lagos State Unwarranted-CACOL

Posted by: Newsdiaryonline Posted date: July 03, 2015 In: Business, News

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL has described the World Bank N39.4bn loan approval for Lagos state as unwarranted.

This came on the heels of the recent release that the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank has approved $200m (about N39.4bn) credit to Lagos State to support a range of reforms relating to fiscal sustainability, budget planning, budget execution and the investment climate in the state.

According to a statement issued by the World Bank, the facility is to help sustain the state’s recent economic growth and poverty reduction, while helping to continue to deliver social services to the expanding population.

Reacting to this on behalf of the Coalition, its Executive Chairman, Comrade Debo Adeniran expressed his total disagreement on the loan approval based on the reasons advanced by the World Bank as basis for the approval.

“The World Bank, unlike the contemporary commercial banks, essentially, neither out to make profit, nor to just satisfy its obligations as bankers, but basically has, as the centerpiece of its prerogatives, to ensure that in giving financial support to the needy government and states, the interest of the generality of the people should be paramount. Since governance itself is all about the people, the World Bank, as the citadel of financial back-up as well as the economic bedrock of the whole world, it is thus so expected that criteria for loan consideration should go beyond just the ability of such loan applicant to repay but more of what the loan is to be utilized for and of course, the record of performance of the applicant as regards its sincerity in strictly applying the fund for the original purpose.

“ far has Lagos State government gone to provide the needed social services to the people that would justify the unending borrowing? On poverty reduction, building of developmental projects, what is the positive impact of their programmes on the lives of the average citizen of Lagos State?

“In the area of infrastructure, it is an open fact that the unmotorable roads are more in number than the motorable ones. Even most of the roads that could be regarded as motorable have become a big hype of traffic jams on daily basis just because the flyovers, pedestrian bridges are lacking. All the measures that could make way for free traffic are not available and these are to be provided by the state. Public transportation is still in short supply.

On housing, how many civil servants could boast of having houses of their own even after having put in decades of services to the state. Even where some are provided, the price tag is too high and beyond the reach of the average civil servant.

When we talk of providing social amenities, we know that health institutions have been under-provided and it is not able to meet half the need of the people. On portable water, except for individual landlords, having to rely on making boreholes for occupiers of houses; the government has rendered that virtually to the background as over 80 percent of its citizens have no access to portable drinking water; they do not even talk about it anymore as if it does not fall within its priority. One would not be asking for too much for a state government like Lagos’s, with an annual average IGR of over N400bn, to have in place social security schemes like the National Insurance Scheme for its citizens or civil servants, to take care of the un-foreseen?

’The Debt Management Office DMO’s external debt figures (without adding domestic debts) show Lagos as Nigeria’s most indebted state with $1.17 billion debt. The Coalition queries the justification for additional loans approved by the World Bank and we challenge the state to justify how appropriately previous loans had been utilized and its impact on Lagosians. We also challenge the state to come out and defend its present state of insolvency.

“The state is owing so much and it could get to a point that no matter how much they earn i.e from their Internally Generated Revenue IGR, it may not be able to meet up with the repayment schedule and by the time a sizeable percentage of the earnings go to servicing loans, little would be left to address the core issues of governance which of course should be pro-people in every way.”

”Looking at it from the angle of what happened at the Federal level which depended so much on oil, the fall in oil price almost collapsed the country’s economy. A similar thing could happen to any state that depends so much on its IGR. There could be a sharp drop in the IGR and that may lead to such government’s inability to meet its obligations especially in the area of debt servicing. We want to express the fear that, should the trend continue, it might get to a point whereby the greater bulk of earnings would go into loan servicing thus leaving so little for developing both the people and the state itself.

“It must be realized that when loans are obtained, the servicing of then repayment generally is done from this same common-wealth which is said to belong to the people now the people are not enjoying from the borrowing but they are to bear the pains of repayment. Today the state is groaning under the burden of the existing loan. An addition loan means additional pains and suffering.

Speaking further, Adeniran said “it must be realized that when such loans are given, the borrower premises it reasons for borrowing on its constitutional responsibility for making life better for the people. Therefore, consideration for gratifying such loans should as well be premised on its end implication on the same people.

The World Bank should begin to look beyond the ability of the borrowers to pay back but the general implication of such deals on the lives of people; this is what informs the sharp difference between its corporate status and that of the other commercial banks.

SOURCE: News Dairy.