PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign in Nasarawa State to campaign for its candidate, Bola Tinubu.
Buhari, addressing the crowd, assured them that the APC would win the presidency, as the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, would win his second term bid.
The president said, “I assure you that God willing, we are going to win through and through. I will continue to campaign for Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He is a committed Nigerian. I believe he will give all he has to this country.”
Earlier, Tinubu had expressed delight that the president attended the campaign. He said those thinking there could be cracks in his friendship with Buhari would continue to be disappointed.
“Ours is not about individuals; it is about nation-building. It is about honesty, integrity and character,” he quipped.
The former Lagos State governor described Buhari as “a great man of political credentials.”
He said the president’s administration had been turbulent because of the crisis in the country.
According to him, no one ever thought a former military general like Buhari would be democratic.
He likened Buhari to a former United States President, Abraham Lincoln, whom he said endured civil war and other unrests and yet built infrastructures.
“There are only very few leaders who faced dissidents, civil disobedience and civil war and at the same time continued to build infrastructure. One of them in that class is Abraham Lincoln.
“You will join the history of those men. Great men. Courageous men who can stay focussed in the midst of distractions and enemies,” Tinubu told Buhari.
The APC candidate promised to invest in agriculture and create wealth by exploring the nation’s resources more if elected president.
Describing Nigeria as a great nation, he said the country would recover from its challenges.
Tinubu faces candidates of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s Peter Obi and New Nigeria Peoples Party’s Rabiu Kwankwaso, among others in the presidential election coming up on February 25 this year.
BORNO State Governor Babagana Zulum has threatened to revoke the land of any bank that starves people in the state of the new naira notes.
Zulum issued the threat on Friday after visiting 10 automated teller machines (ATMs) in the state and observing they had no cash to dispense, as hundreds of people queued for the money.
The governor said his government would spare only banks with genuine reason(s) for not dispensing the notes.
A large crowd of Borno residents queuing for money at the ATM of a new generation bank in the state when Governor Babagana Zulum visited on February 3, 2023.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced the new N200, N500 and N1000 notes into circulation on December 15, 2022, and announced that the old notes would cease to be legal tender from January 31, 2023.
Following pleas and protests by Nigerians, the apex bank extended the deadline till February 10 and said people with the old notes could take them to the bank to exchange for new ones or save them after the deadline.
Despite the deadline extension, the currency swap has caused multi-dimensional harm to businesses, households and individuals, with the 2023 general elections three weeks away.
Many banks could only issue one N1,000 at their counters. Some gave out bundles of N5 notes.
Many ATMs had no cash, while people queued for hours, hoping they would get some money.
Point-of-sale (POS) operators have been charging as high as ten-fold what they used to charge their customers – a development that has worsened the crisis.
The ICIR reports that many people had hurriedly taken all the old notes on them to the bank before the initial deadline. But getting a fraction of what they saved in new notes has been impossible.
Network failure and a complete shutdown of internet banking services are commonplace across the country, leaving most of the nation’s nearly 220 million people in a desperate search for cash.
Zulum, in a statement on his social media page Saturday afternoon, expressed sadness seeing hundreds of people queuing at a bank’s branch, with only one out of 10 ATMs dispensing cash.
Governor Babagana Zulum sympathised with Borno residents who had waited for hours at a new generation bank in the state on Friday, February 3, 2023
“As you can see here, only less privileged people are queued up. I didn’t see rich people here. Many people are said to be here since 3am. Some could not even eat anything. The new naira note and even the old ones are not available, and that is adversely affecting commercial activities in the state. People are suffering,” Zulum decried.
He added, “We just released salaries of about N5 billion, and the banks don’t have money. Some of the ATMs are not working. We don’t have any problem with the CBN policy or the withdrawal limit. They said individuals could only withdraw N20,000, but why can’t everyone have access to that N20,000?”
According to him, he was in Gubio, a community he said had over 70,000 people, but it was impossible to source N100,000 in the entire local government.
The governor was sad that neither the new notes nor the old notes was available for people to collect.
He explained that a ram worth N100,000 was being sold for N35,000 because people were desperate for cash, “and some wicked rich people are going to rural areas to exploit poor people.”
The governor urged the CBN to ensure the availability of new notes at commercial banks for people to access their money.
When the federal government commenced the Zauro polder irrigation project in 2007, the hope of the farmers in the community was that the project would ease irrigation farming. However, over 15 years after, the project is yet to see the light of day, exposing farmers in the community to more difficulty. The ICIR’s Nurudeen Akewushola reports.
Zauro Polder irrigation project is a joint venture project between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Kebbi State which was targeted at developing an irrigation scheme within the Fadama area of Argungu and Birnin Kebbi covering about 10,572 hectares of farmland.
The project is expected to ease farming in Kebbi communities and generate employment opportunities and increase the country’s food production.
According to a 2017 verification report by the fiscal responsibility commission, a body saddled with promoting transparency and accountability in the government’s financial management, the project has been abandoned despite multi-million naira spent on it.
According to the report, the project contract was signed between the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and CGC Nig. Ltd. at the contract figure of N18,585,949,298.53 on May 22 2007, and an advance payment of ₦3,975,586,275.00 was paid to the contractor.
In 2016, N207,585,600.00 was appropriated for the project, but only ₦157,000,000.00 was released and utilised according to the report.
However, despite the budgetary allocations, the investigation by The ICIR shows that the project has not been completed in over 15 years despite the immense benefits it could have been for the people of the community.
The project site of Zauro Polder Irrigation Project
When The ICIR visited the site of the project in Birnin Kebbi in November 2022, there was no visible infrastructure on the ground, and there was no signage indicating that the project has been executed or is still ongoing.
Peasant farmers frustrated
Peasant farmers who spoke with The ICIR in Zauro town narrated how they struggle to facilitate farmland irrigation despite billions of naira spent by the Federal Government on the construction and provision of the irrigation system.
The farmers in Zauro cultivate rice, millet, watermelon and other Agricultural product. They narrated how they spend a large chunk of their income on manual irrigation systems and boreholes despite the scarcity and high cost of fuel in the country.
A section of the river gradually drying as dry season approached in November, 2022
Expressing his frustration, Umar Bawa, a peasant farmer in Zauro said the failure of the government to complete the project is creating a crisis for the farmers as the river dries faster than before.
Umar Bawa
“What they told us is that they would build a dam that will help farmers to do irrigation, but yet the project remains incomplete for reasons not known to us, and our expectation is that the project is meant to reserve water to help us to do irrigation farming.
“Before they brought this project, water can last long within the Fadama during the rainy season, but now there’s rapid drying of water. This is because the project remains abandoned.
“If the Federal Government can intervene to complete this big project, many irrigation farmers will be happy, for example, places like Mafara of Zamfara and Kano State have similar issues, but their governments build a dam to enable irrigation farming where they create mutual benefits between the farmers and the government whereby the farmers are paying taxes to the government for the maintenance of the dam, and if our government can do so, we can feed ourselves, state and neighboring state,” he said.
Fifty-six-year-old Muhammad Sani Sardauna explained that before the project was initiated, people normally travel to nearby villages such as Gulma, Birnin lafiya, Sawwa, among others, with the aid of boats but that cannot happen anymore due to rapid drying of the river.
Sardauna
Sardauna added that if the government completes the project it will help irrigation farming as farmers will be using the dam as a source of water for their farms.
One of the leaders of the farmers in the community, Bagudu Bahillace, 60, explained that the project has been long planned, and it was revived by the former senator in the state, Adamu Aliero, but it was unfortunately stopped.
Bagudu also explained that he relied on watering machines and local boreholes as a source of water as the uncompleted project now causes rapid drying of the Fadama area.
Bagudu
Bugudu reflected on several attempts to reach the government, which proved abortive. With a voice that reflects loss of hope, he said:
“I don’t have any call to the government because, we tried several times, but it proved very abortive. We don’t have trust in government’s interventions because they do not fulfil their promises.
Nigerian government and failed interventions
Irrigation practices enable year-round farming, but several Nigerian farming communities still lack quality irrigation.
Farmers find it difficult to access water for dry season farming even as the federal government spends billions of Naira on dams and irrigation projects.
Nigeria is endowed with vast Arable land. A total of 3.4 million hectares of land has irrigation potential in Nigeria. A large part of it is in the North. However, only 169, 718 hectares currently benefit from the irrigation practice despite acute food insecurity in the country.
In most rural communities in Nigeria such as Zauro town, farmers are often jobless during the dry season due to a lack of access to water.
Zauro irrigation project joined the list of several abandoned government dams and irrigation projects which are not beneficial for the residents.
A 2018 investigative series by The ICIR detailed how farmers struggle to access water for dry season in several parts of the country despite billions spent on dams and irrigation projects. Similarly, a 2021 investigation exposed how irrigation project wastes away in Bauchi, Jigawa and Kano states,
In 2022, The ICIR investigation exposed how the abandoned Katanga dam in Nasarawa threatened livelihood and how the uncompleted Shagari dam causes trouble for residents of Sokoto.
Contractor evades scrutiny
As earlier stated, Zauro polder Irrigation project was awarded to CGC Nigeria Limited in 2007 at a contract sum of N18 billion.
The CGC Nigeria Limited is a Chinese company headquartered in Abuja. A search on the website of the Corporate Affairs Commission shows that the company is inactive. Though it was not certain whether the company was active when it was awarded the project in 2007.
A further search on NG Check shows that it’s a company registered on December 8, 1992, with a registration number RC 210299. It was incorporated in Kaduna.
CGC Nigeria Limited office
The company specialises in Borehole Drilling and Water Works with its registered office address located in Plot 3016 Katampe Hill, Kubwa Road, Abuja.
Information on its LinkedIn says it specialises in the construction of Roads and Bridges, Agriculture, Mining, Water Supply, Irrigation, Drilling, Real Estate, Manufacturing and Trade and it has about 1000 employees.
The Directors of the company are Ji Weimin, Ye Shuijiin and Li Xuhui.
This reporter visited the office of the company in Abuja to submit an FOI request about the details of the project and to speak with the contractor on how the company spent N3bn it received and why the project failed, but this reporter was denied access to the company despite valid proof of being a journalist which was provided upon request.
Copy of FOI request sent to CGC Nigeria Limited
A security man who identified himself as Musa Aliyu confirmed the reception of the letter on January 9, 2022 and told this reporter contractors said they would contact The ICIR, but there is no response as of press time.
The FOI Act (FOIA) 2011 states that response to information requests should be made available promptly, but in any event, not later than seven days from the date of receipt of the request.
Section 2(7) of the act provides that the act is applicable to private companies such as CGC Nigeria Limited utilizing public funds or providing public services or public function.
On November 17, 2022, The ICIR wrote a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to establish the details of the projects and two other projects that were facilitated by the ministry.
The required information includes the contract description, the date of advertisement and media organisation the notice was placed, the approved threshold, procurement method, the bid opening date, name of the contractor, and the date the contract was awarded.
Others are the contract period, contract value, budgetary provision, amount paid for the contract, and the level of completion of the projects.
The letter was acknowledged but it’s only the details of one project in the letter that was acknowledged; the remaining two were not responded including details of Zauro polder Irrigation project.
This reporter visited the ministry of water resources five times to follow up with the request, and it was confirmed that the letter has been delivered to the office of the Director of Irrigation. However, this reporter was always asked to check back again anytime he visits the ministry.
File showing the reception of The ICIR letter by ministry of water of resources on November, 22.
On January, 23 this reporter visited again, but the officials in the office again said he should check back as one Engineer Usman who was supposed to provide the details was not on the seat. This reporter asked for his contact details, but the officers refused to disclose it.
The ICIR has earlier reported how Nigerian government agencies flout the FOI Act despite annual budgetary provisions and how it could hamper accountability governance in Nigeria.
Copy of the FOI request sent by The ICIR to the Federal Ministry of Health
The FOI Act provides that a response to the request of an applicant should be submitted within seven days, with a reminder of an additional seven days. Otherwise, such agency of government is considered to have breached the law.
Section 2 Subsection 4 of the Act states that such public information as requested by The ICIR should be “widely disseminated and made readily available to members of the public through various means, including print, electronic and online sources, and at the offices of such public institutions.”
Section 4(b) of the act states that in a case where a public institution such as the ministry of water resources considers that the application should be denied, the institution shall give written notice to the applicant that access to all or part of the information will not be granted, stating reasons for the denial, and the section of this Act under which the denial is made. However, the ministry do not provide any justification.
The FOI Act was signed into law on 28 May 2011 to make available, more freely, public information, and protect such information in order to promote accountability in government and aid the decision-making process but public institutions such as the ministry of water resources have continued to disregard the provisions of the law.
THE presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has said many Nigerians across the country would vote for him in the forthcoming presidential election.
Adebayo said this at a Twitter space organised by The ICIR on Friday while responding to questions on the visibility of his party among other political parties in the country.
“I can’t tell those people (people who believe SDP is not visible) to educate themselves. They should go around the country and not assume what they are discussing in their house or in their group is what’s going on all around the country.
“Today, I have attended up to 1,810 events that have taken place today. People marching on the street, people canvassing around and all of that. So, I’m aware that everybody knows. I have more than three meetings today as a presidential candidate and my VP has gone round the country,” he said.
Adebayo accused other political parties of paying for publicity and followers.
“I believe people who are going to the ballot know how to find the white horse and you will see how they will vote for us,” he said.
THE presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has outlined security, education and eradication of poverty as his main priorities if he emerged the president of Nigeria.
Adebayo said this while responding to questions at a Twitter space organised by The ICIR on Friday.
He said Nigeria’s problem was easy to solve but successive Nigerian governments lacked the right approach to tackle them.
“I would work towards eradication and not alleviation of poverty. Nigeria is rich enough not to have poor people around. If you have 133 million people of your citizens in poverty, there is no greater agenda. You can’t look away,” he said.
He further pledged to make education affordable, bridge infrastructural gaps in schools and create jobs for young people.
On insecurity, he said, “I would make everyone safe. Nobody would be running away from bandits and terrorists,” he said.
THE presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adebayo Adewole, has described his unwillingness to address the Chatham House in the United Kingdom as a move towards responsible leadership.
To Adewole, travelling to western countries to speak on issues affecting Nigeria cannot pass a message that would resonate with the citizens.
The candidate, who spoke in a Twitter space organised by The ICIR, said the policies and ideas of those seeking to hold political positions should be discussed in Nigerian institutions.
He said, “Chatham House is the British Royal Institute of International Affairs. I am not trying to be a member of the British parliament. Instead, I am trying to be the president of Nigeria.
“Let’s be responsible for how we aspire to leadership; our message will resonate with Nigerians.
“I won’t go to a foreign land to discuss poverty in Nigeria and corruption in Nigeria. The British people did not come here during their election.”
Adewole said one of his leadership roles is to stir the people in the right direction.
“I have been to the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs and the Nigeria Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies to speak to Nigerians.
“Those are where our ideas and policies are to be studied, and that is where I am going,” he said.
THE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arrested officials of some commercial banks for alleged sabotage.
The ICPC, in a statement signed by its spokesperson Azuka Ogugua on Friday, February 3, said the arrest was in continuation of its clampdown on elements frustrating the efforts in making the redesigned naira notes available to members of the public.
According to the ICPC, one of the bank officials, said to be the Service Head of Stanbic IBTC, Deidei branch, Abuja, was taken into custody for her deliberate refusal to upload cash into the branch’s automated teller machines (ATM) even when the cash was available, and people were queuing at the ATMs.
“When the ICPC monitoring team stormed the bank at about 1:30pm to ensure compliance and demanded an explanation as to why all the ATMs were not dispensing cash, it was informed by the branch’s Head of Operations that the bank just got delivery of the cash.
“However, facts available to the ICPC operatives indicated that the branch took delivery of the cash around 11:58am and either wilfully or maliciously refused to feed the ATMs with the cash.
“Against this backdrop, the ICPC team compelled the bank to load the ATMs with the redesigned Naira notes and ensured that they were all dispensing before arresting the culprit,” the statement said.
The Commission said investigations were ongoing, and the ICPC would take appropriate action as soon as they are concluded.
In a related development, the ICPC said its Compliance Team in Oshogbo has busted an FCMB branch in Osogbo, Osun State, where some ATMs were loaded with cash with their wrappers unremoved, thus preventing the cash from being dispensed.
The anti-graft agency said the team directed that the wrappers be removed and the cash appropriately loaded.
“However, when a follow-up visit was undertaken the following day to ascertain the level of compliance, the Team discovered that one of the ATMs was still loaded with the wrappers unremoved.
“The Operation Manager of the bank was arrested and taken in for questioning,” the ICPC added.
The ICPC said that in a similar event, seven point-of-sale (POS) operators and a security guard were arrested in Osun State for charging exorbitant commissions for cash.
The Commission’s investigations revealed that the suspects got the money from filling stations that collected new notes from fuel buyers and resold the cash to the public at exorbitant rates.
The agency said the arrested persons were helping the Commission with information to assist in investigation and bust syndicates involved in the hoarding or sale of the redesigned notes.
PROTESTS have erupted in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, amid the growing frustration and anger among the population over the scarcity of cash and petrol, which is affecting daily life and business operations in the country.
The ICIR understands that the unrest began at Agodi gate and spread to other parts of the state capital, including Iwo road, Gate bus stop, and Idi Ape, on Friday, February 2023.
Some of the protesters were seen attacking banks, specifically Access and Wema banks’ branches in the Dugbe and Queen Cinema areas of the city.
The state police spokesperson, Adewale Osifeso, who confirmed the incidents, said that police were able to prevent the vandalization of a Wema Bank automated teller machine (ATM).
Osifeso had warned about a potential for violence during the protests.
He stated that an intelligence report had suggested that certain unscrupulous elements were planning to escalate the situation into chaos by shutting down and attacking various places of interest, including banks, media houses, schools, correctional centres, facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and other critical infrastructure in the state.
He assured that the police command was fully prepared to mobilize and prevent criminal elements from turning the state into their playground, especially as the 2023 general elections approach.
He advised the public, particularly the youth, to avoid being used by agents of violence seeking to enrich themselves through criminal means.
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has asked for seven days to tackle problems arising from the naira redesign, especially scarcity of the new notes which has become a major problem across the country.
Buhari made this known to the public through an official Twitter handle after meeting with the incumbent state governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja.
The President maintained that the currency redesign would enhance sustainable growth and boost the nation’s economy.
“The currency redesign will give a boost to the economy and provide long-term benefits,” he said.
Expressing doubts about the commitment of banks to the success of the policy, Buhari said some banks were inefficient and avaricious in the way they had handled the situation.
He said, “Some banks are inefficient and only concerned about themselves. Even if a year is added, problems associated with selfishness and greed won’t go away.”
He admitted that he had seen television reports about cash shortages and hardship to local businesses and the ordinary people.
The president, however, gave assurances that the balance of seven days of the 10-day extension would be used to address whatever could be hindering the successful implementation of the policy.
“I will revert to the CBN and the Minting Company. There will be a decision one way or the other in the remaining seven days of the 10-day extension,” the president stated.
The governors, expressing their concerns on the issue of cash scarcity, acknowledged the decision of the president on the redesign of some naira notes, but pointed out that the execution had caused a lot of uproar in their various states.
“They told the President that as leaders of the government and party in their different states, they were becoming anxious about a slump in the economy and the series of elections that are coming.
“They requested the President to use his powers to direct the concurrent flourish of the new and old notes till the end of the year,” the tweet said.
Buhari explained that when he considered giving approval to the policy, he demanded an undertaking from the CBN that no new notes would be printed in a foreign country, and they in turn gave him assurances that there was enough capacity, manpower and equipment to print the currency for local needs. He said he needed to go back to find out what was actually happening.
NIGERIANS on Twitter have been expressing their feelings over the recent clash between students of the University of Benin and men of the Nigerian Army.
The incident, according to a viral video, started when a soldier was manhandled and beaten by angry students and school security personnel on Thursday, February 2.
The students had been provoked when the military officers refused to queue, and they forcefully withdrew money from an ATM machine in the school premises.
According to a tweep who shared the video of the incident, the soldier was alleged to have asked his female colleague to beat a female student for video-recording them.
“Soldiers came into Uniben to withdraw (money) from ATM. They forcefully used the machines and at one point asked a female soldier to beat up a female student because they thought she was recording them. The students did not take the harassment lightly as they retaliated.”
However, in an alleged reprisal, the soldier stormed the school in the early hours of today and injured scores of school security guards, students and passers-by.
According to a viral video, the military men also damaged cars and some other school properties during the attack.
Meanwhile, students of the university have blocked the Benin-Lagos expressway over the alleged oppression by military personnel.
“The conflict between UNIBEN students & the Nigerian Army is alarming, both sides were wrong, but the soldiers retaliating by assaulting people while vandalising properties is beyond shameful. This is an abuse of power. @HQNigerianArmy address this issue, & punish the culprits.”
Another tweep with user handle @iSlimfit also wrote,
“Imagine the fact that it’s ATM withdrawal that caused the whole UNIBEN chaos. Most of the problems in Nigeria are avoidable if we had sane people in government and of course if the Nigerian Army started behaving like humans and not animals.”
UNIBEN management reacts
The university’s Vice Chancellor Professor Lilian Salami, in a statement released earlier today, said the management was in discussion with the hierarchy of the Nigerian Army for an amicable resolution.
“The Management acknowledges that these are challenging times for everyone and enjoins all to remain calm while efforts are being made to avert a re-occurrence,” Salami said.
She called on the students to engage dialogue in resolving issues that concern them rather than taking to protests at any provocation, “thereby causing more injury and damage to themselves and other citizens.”
The ICIR efforts to confirm and get an update of the situation from the Edo State police public relations officer proved abortive as calls were not picked and an message was not returned.
Also, the Nigerian Army has not released any press statement on the incident as of the time of filing this report.
