KINGSLEY Moghalu, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Presidential Candidate of the Youth Progressive Party during the 2019 presidential election has resigned from his political party, calling for electoral reformation that would strengthen the country’s democracy.
The professor of International Business and Public Policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University in Massachusetts of USA, made this known on his Twitter handle on Monday.
He said Nigeria should embark on electoral reform, voter education for an informed electorate and constitutional restructuring to fix the loopholes in the electoral processes.
“If we can agree on these, all else can follow.
“Nigeria today is approaching its moment of reckoning. We need to focus on solving our problems at their root causes,” said the former United Nations staff.
Also, he noted that electronic voting should be considered in Nigeria to make subsequent elections strong.
Without electoral reform, our democracy will remain weak- Moghalu.
If the democracy were given real meaning, according to him, Nigerian youth would have no excuse not to vote.
Young people should lead the charge for electoral reform, he added. “With nearly 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population, Nigeria’s future is young.”
Moghalu urged people to join a non-partisan movement tagged “To Build A Nation” as he said partisan politics would not fix Nigerian’s problem.
Moghalu during the recently concluded election had a total vote of 21,866 of the more than 27 million votes. He had not secured up to 0.1 per cent of the votes in the election.
AFTER the Federal Government’s decision to partially close the western border, and the Nigeria -Niger entry point, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Monday disclosed that the nation has so far saved N1.4 billion as a result of the policy.
Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd), the Controller General of Customs, disclosed this at a briefing in Abuja. He also announced that 317 suspected smugglers and 146 illegal migrants have been arrested within the period.
In a report by Channels, Ali had insisted on the partial border closure adding that the federal government decision has so far yielded anticipated outcomes, despite its effect on the price of imported rice which had significantly increased from N15, 000 to N21, 000 within two months.
He noted that the nation’s consumption of petroleum products has also dropped by 10.2 million litres.
The border was suddenly shut on 19th August after several reported cases of smuggling of agricultural commodities such as rice, tomatoes and livestock.
As a result, the Beninois as well as the regional body, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has continued to lament effect of the border closure.
Patrice Talon, the President of Benin had in August, during the side-line of the Seventh Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD7), in Yokohama, Japan, pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari over the border closure.
But Buhari has remained resolute in his decision. Rather, he explained that the nation has already invested so much in reviving its agriculture sector, yet arbitrary importation continued.
“Now that our people in the rural areas are going back to their farms, and the country has saved huge sums of money which would otherwise have been expended on importing rice using our scarce foreign reserves.
“We cannot allow smuggling of the product at such alarming proportions to continue,” Buhari stated.
AMNESTY International, a global human rights non-governmental organisation in a 2019 report tagged “ENDANGERED VOICES” which was released on Monday, announced that journalists in Nigeria are increasingly becoming exposed to escalated attacks from Nigerian authorities.
The report also chronicled several incidents involving Nigerian journalists where they were intimidated, harassed and arbitrarily arrested by Nigerian authorities for expressing critical views on issues of governance.
In a statement, Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International in Nigeria said government’s continued intimidation of the press has created a climate of fear in the Nigerian journalism space.
“Increasingly, the human rights cost of receiving and sharing information for journalists, bloggers and activists come with dangerous consequences, forcing journalists, bloggers, and activists to operate in a climate of fear.
“Journalists, bloggers and activists are facing increased risks simply for publishing articles and demanding accountability from the authorities. This is totally unacceptable. The authorities must immediately put an end to this hostility towards human rights,” she said.
The global rights group examined the cases of journalists who had been detained or threatened in the past five years in the report. It also unearthed a disturbing trend of increased attacks on Nigerian journalists by security agencies.
The security agencies who topped the list in the nefarious include the Nigeria Police Force, the military and officials of the Department of State Services, DSS.
The report highlighted high profile cases of journalists who have been victimised by security agencies for expressing critical views which could influence public opinion on issues of national security, elections or high-profile corruption.
The report which contains damning evidence revealed that at least 19 journalists were detained at various times this year in what it termed a clampdown on freedom of expression and media freedom in Nigeria.
On 23 July 2016, Abiri Jones, publisher of Weekly Source, was arrested by members of the DSS and held in seclusion without access to his family or lawyers for two years. He was released on 15 August 2018 before he was rearrested on 20 May 2018 before being arraigned on charges for terrorism and cybercrimes.
Ja’afar Ja’afar, a journalist at the Daily Nigerian received several death threats against himself and family after publishing videos of a serving governor allegedly receiving kickbacks.
Kofi Bartels, a broadcast journalist with Nigeria Info 92.3 FM, based in Port Harcourt, was assaulted in June by police officers from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS after he was arrested, detained and tortured for attempting to film police beating up a teenager.
Mary Ekere, Saifullah Mika’ilu also had a fair share of the excesses of the Nigerian police when they were physically assaulted and detained for carrying out their jobs.
Amnesty International also outlined media houses that have been targeted by security forces for being critical of the government in their reportage.
In January, two reporters from the Daily Trust newspaper had their computers and mobile phones confiscated by the military. Also the facilities of Breeze FM in Lafia, Nassarawa State and Fresh FM in Ibadan, Oyo State were demolished by state authorities for non-compliance with land administration laws.
Osai Ojigho urged the Nigerian government to fulfill its obligatory role of providing an atmosphere devoid of fear for its citizens.
“Nigerian authorities pay lip service to the right to freedom of expression and media freedom by intimidating, harassing journalists and media organizations. This must stop, and the government must respect, protect, promote and fulfill the right of people to share information and end the climate of fear and repression across the country,” she said.
HUMPHRY Nkonde, a 42-year-old Zambian investigative reporter who has been writing on sensitive political issues, has been found dead afloat a lake, 10 days after he went missing.
Before his demise, Nkonde was the assistant editor at the Catholic-run Mission Press in the northern town of Ndola.
He went missing on 22 September, a day before his departure to Germany for the 2019 11th Global Investigative Journalism Conference held in Hamburg.
Reports by the police claimed the award-winning journalist dead body was found afloat in a lake in the rural district of Masaiti, Zambia. Upon retrieving the body on the 26, the police also buried Nkonde without the knowledge or consent of his family members or employers.
The quick action of the Police in the burial of the London School of Journalism scholar has been criticised by different bodies including the North Regional Media Club of which Nkonde was a member.
“How did the Police bury without anyone witnessing? Why did the Police claim it was an unidentified body when they themselves revealed that he had his passport in his pocket? The Police must answer these questions,” said Clinton Masumba, the Secretary for the Northern Region Media Club.
His last stories are said to torchlight the escalating mealie meal and fuel prices in Zambia.
“The Police must come out clean on this matter, we want conclusive investigations into the death of our colleague. His death is a big blow to the Ndola Press Club,” said Ndola Press Club President Chishala Musonda.
A public outcry and criticism mounts on the sudden death and burial of Nkonde, a post-mortem was conducted by the police on 5 October on the exhumed body of the journalist–results on the examination are yet to be announced.
However, Nkonde had worked for the Times of Zambia, Zambia Daily Mail and also supposed to take a three weeks course in Investigative Journalism at the Radio Netherlands Training Centre in November.
His family members- who had refused a post- mortem, claimed he was led by a demon to commit suicide after they failed to report his disappearance for the 10 days to the police.
Fr. Ferena Lambe, Nkonde employer at the Mission Press, has countered the family opinion and called for a conclusive investigation.
“On the evening of 22 September, he came home to say bye because the following day he was scheduled to fly to Germany for a journalism conference. He was in a good mood, he wasn’t confused as his family is claiming. I even suggested to him that when he is back, we will hold a workshop for Zambian journalists to learn from his investigatory skills,” said Mission Press Human Resources Manager Honorius Chilufya.
Some claim Nkonde’s death might not be unrelated to previous “too sensitive” political issues he had earlier written.
Joan Chirwa, the Free Pree Initiative founder and coordinator, has also called on the police in Zambia to solve the puzzles surrounding the death of the journalist.
FOLLOWING an investigation by The International Centre for Investigative Reporting on skewed procurement process regarding a multi-billion Naira afforestation project in 11 northern States, the National Agency for The Great Green Wall (NAGGW) has organised a 2-day workshop on procurement process for the staff of the agency.
The agency which operated as a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) under the Federal Ministry of Environment is responsible for executing the environment projects
The investigation has revealed how shoddy project execution, fake companies including Information Communication Technology firms were awarded contracts for environment projects. Further findings in the report had shown the companies either used fake addresses or never existed.
However, in a statement issued by Pauline Sule, Head of Press and Public Relations Unit, at the weekend, Hassan said, “proper procurement process and procedures is essential for transparency and accountability of any responsible government or private entity”.
According to him, the public procurement was a creation of government by an act of parliament in 2007 which led to the establishment of the Procurement Department in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government, stressing, procurement has become one of the innovative ways of handling government business as its importance to government and the country cannot be overemphasized.
At the training held in Keffi, Nassarawa State, he said the training was to keep the staff abreast of the dynamics of the Procurement Act, Bye-Laws and Executive Orders that constantly guide expenditures of Contracts, Consultancies, Works, Goods and Services.
The statement says the training was designed for all the Directors of Departments and Units and Members of Parastatals Tenders Board (PTB) in the agency while topics such as procurement planning for Successful Budget Implementation, Procurement of Works, Goods, Consultancy of Technical Services, Overview of Public Procurement amongst others were well treated by the resource persons.
Represented by Lawrence Oyadoye, Director of Procurement, Hassan had earlier said Staff of the ministry would travel to Senegal and few other African countries to adopt their methods and replicate the success stories.
The GGW is to plant a wall of trees across nations in the Sahel region from Senegal to Djibouti as part of regional efforts by the African States to check desert encroachment and improve rural livelihoods.
Benefitting states include Katsina, Kano, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Yobe, Sokoto, Borno, Zamfara, Jigawa and Kebbi.
This was contained in a statement shared on EFFC twitter handle on Monday which led to the arrest of 94 suspects and confiscation of 19 exotic cars, laptops, scores of sophisticated mobile phones and other items.
According to the Nigerian law enforcement agency, the club was popularly known as ‘Club Secret Underground’, and is located on the Ibadan-Iwo Expressway of the Osun State capital.
Scores of sophisticated mobile phones and other items recovered by EFCC Source: EFCC TwitterA picture showing part of the 19 exotic cars recovered by EFCC Source: EFCC Twitter
“The wee-hour operation was sequel to an intelligence report hinting that the suspected internet fraudsters were organising a night party for Sunday, October 13, during which some of them intended to celebrate their loots.
“A discreet operation on the club had earlier been carried out to ascertain the authenticity of the intelligence. The confirmation led to the mega raid effected on Monday,”EFCC tweeted.
Picture of 94 suspected internet fraudsters by EFCC Source: EFCC Twitter
It will be recalled that EFCC according to The Punch report a few days ago, arrested 17 suspected internet fraudsters in Ado Ekiti which five of them claimed to be students of federal polytechnic from the state.
However, the suspects are currently undergoing further interrogation and would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.
Nigerian Government, between 1999 and 2010, reportedly spent over N4.7 trillion on power, but the country remained in darkness. Eight years later, Jonathan and Buhari administrations invested another N1.164 trillion into the sinkhole through capital releases, yet homes and factories in Nigeria are yet to be provided with constant electricity supply.
Olugbenga ADANIKIN, in this investigation, reports about the investments and wastages in the sector.
Beatrice Ogbor, a six-year-old basic one girl with her two-year-old sibling, was born into darkness and has never shared in the joy of the popular exclamation “Up NEPA” that follows power restoration in Nigeria.
“We gave birth to her here in 2014,” her father, John Ogbor (45) says. “You will be surprised; they have never seen electricity since birth”.
Six-year-old Beatrice Ogbor and her sibling Eliesar (behind) who has never witnessed electricity since birth Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin, The ICIR
Ogbor is originally from Igede in Obi Local Government of Benue State. For the past 14 years, he has been living in Moro, a community along Sagamu – Ikorodu Expressway in Ogun State, after he left his original birthplace. But for almost seven years, his adopted community has been without electricity.
“We tried the little we can. As individual landlords, we contributed N40, 000 to try make this electricity of a thing a reality. They said we should pay the money to process this and that to give us a transformer, and we paid to Itesiwaju Area Community Council but in the end, nothing positive came out of it.”
For Ogbor, it has become almost hopeless waiting to access electricity in Moro, a community situated near the Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in, Mosimi. Aside from its energy need, the community lacks access to healthcare, potable water, road and schools, an indication of total neglect by the government.
“God can still send help though, we believe,” says John. He paused for a moment, took a deep breath while gazing at his two young children. “During campaign periods, we told them we don’t need rice, we don’t need money but electricity. That has been our only request.”
Similarly, Alasia, Iraye, Oremuti, Oponua, Likorodu, Imede and five other communities in Ogun State visited by The ICIR, shared the same fate or worse. For eight years, Oremuti community struggled to access power. Oponua has never been connected to the national grid for 10 years. These conditions are not peculiar to Ogun State but also other states across the country.
Erected poles since 1994 still stands but never connected to grid
Rasheed Alimi Iraye Community Head who had waited for 25 years to be connected to the national grid Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin, The ICIR
In Iraye community, Sagamu Local Government Area, the first set of electricity poles, according to Rasheed Alimi, the community head was erected in 1994. To date, residents still live in darkness. A huge concrete platform constructed for the electrification project still lies adjacent the residence of Alimi when this reporter visited. It has neither transformer nor electricity cables except for about three electricity concrete poles sighted in the area.
Nearby is a multimillion Naira 10-bed health care facility built by the NNPC, but it is off-the-grid. Neglected and taken over by bush eight months after commissioning, the oil firm had installed a giant Mikano generator to service the clinic whenever it becomes operational but weeds also already have covered the generator.
Findings, however, revealed that the State Assembly under the administration of Sen. Ibikunle Amosun approved in the 2013 budget, the electrification of 32 communities, including Iraye. Closer look shows that the State Ministry of Rural Development and Rural Electrification in Annexure-II (B) listed the proposed benefitting communities but no such project exists today in Iraye.
Power generating set provided for Iraye Primary Health Care Centre by the NNPC due to no power supply Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin, The ICIR
Over N1 trillion invested in power in eight years
Nigeria generates its power via four main sources – hydro, gas, coal and natural gas. But for almost 20 years, huge unverified money has been expended into the sector. Specifically, The ICIR can authoritatively report that N1.164 trillion has been released to the power sector as capital budgets from 2011 to 2018, yet the power sector has not measured up – darkness still prevails. This figure was obtained from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
Electrical power often generated is literally not commensurate with the huge investments. And returns on investments have largely been discouraging as the Federal Government continued to pump in more resources in terms of budgetary allocations, loans among other interventions to ensure the nation meet its energy need.
The Energy Business report (April 2016 vol. 15 no 160), shows that N6.52 trillion has been spent on Nigeria’s power sector in 16 years with no significant improvement.
For example, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, the report says, allegedly spent N3.52 trillion ($16 billion) during his tenure, though this figure has been contested. Also, late President Umar Yar’adua was said to have spent N1.183 trillion, while the former President Goodluck Jonathan during his administration reportedly expended N1.817 trillion and President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly spent N1.5 trillion in two years, as at September.
Infograph of Capital Releases to Power Sector 2011 to 2018 Source: Damilola Ojetunde, The ICIR
Meanwhile, findings by The ICIR revealed that between 2011 and 2018, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation had released capital sum of N1, 164,278,006,846 for power projects in the country.
These huge sums, however, excludes capital releases to six agencies between 2016 and 2018 namely, Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation, Federal School of Survey, Oyo, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Surveyor Council of Nigeria and Regional Centre for Training in Aerospace Survey when Buhari-led administration merged the power ministry with works and housing.
World Bank, AfDB, other loans/ grants to boost transmission capacity
In 2018, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) secured a total grant of $1.6billion from international donors-World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), among others for its Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Program(TREP). Likewise, the French Development Agency committed $170 million for the Abuja Transmission Ring Scheme.
The World Bank gave $486 million to upgrade most of the transmission substations through its Nigeria Electricity Transmission Access Project (NETAP), Ogun-Lagos Transmission Project supported by JICA with $238 million, AfDB $300 million and 25 million Euros for the Northern Corridor Transmission Project, another $410 million AfDB Nigeria Transmission Expansion Project among other non-lending supports. Most of these projects are either being implemented or at procurement stage, thus, not fully completed. For instance, the contract for the screening of 132KV lines NETAP project has been signed while the consultant is billed for mobilisation before end of the year. The $170m Abuja transmission ring project is being implemented.
In terms of grants, TCN got 25 million Euro non-lending supports from the EU as part of funds to realise Northern Corridor Solar project, $13 million grant from the Japanese government through JICA for capacitor bank installation in Apo and Keffi, while the other $21 million grant also from JICA is to rehabilitate and upgrade Apapa road 132KV substation and 330KV Akungba substation. “TCN is in discussion with JICA on more grant support from Japan,” the document from TCN read. It cannot, however, be established if these funds are part of the N1.5 trillion the current administration claimed it has spent on power in two years.
But reports also have it that while Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole was Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2,500 containers laden with imported power equipment allegedly worth $5 billion were left to rot at the Lagos Port with demurrage of N4 billion. “The containers were abandoned by incompetent contractors that were awarded projects beyond their capacities…some of the equipment were in demurrage for over 10 years,” TCN TREP document as at 31st August affirmed this, but put the figure of the containers at 800.
In a 2017 report by The Guardian, the Senate disclosed plan to probe alleged $1.35 billion power sector fraud in the country. The same report claimed $1 billion Eurobond was raised in 2013 to fund key power projects nationwide.
Comrade Princewill Okorie, APPA National President, in his speech delivered in July, in Abuja and obtained by The ICIR, further disclosed that about $35 million was set aside for the Afam East Power Projects and the sum was allegedly spent by Federal Ministry of Power officials without any undertaking any feasibility study.
“Out of the $1 billion Eurobond, $350 million was given to Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company in 2014. $29 million was purportedly paid to General Electric for turbines while $6 million was paid to others.”
However, in June, the EFCC announced the possibility of probing the power projects, especially those awarded during Obasanjo administration. This ultimately is to unravel the complexity and alleged corruption that has enmeshed the sector.
Despite the estimated sums so far invested in the sector, stable, uninterrupted power supply to Nigerians remains difficult to realise. Experts, as well as other stakeholders, have blamed this on poor investments, capacity and regulatory issues among others. While Nigeria can conveniently generate up to 20,000 Mega Watts (MWs), transmission has the capacity for about 8,000MW and distribution is still struggling between 2,000 and 4,000MW.
Epileptic power crippling rural economies, small businesses
The importance of stable power as driver of any country’s economy cannot be overemphasised as it is capable of transiting Nigeria from an under-developed to the much desired developed status, especially when industries, Small and Medium Business Enterprises (SMEs) are supported. But, as at date, 90 million Nigerians still lack access to power, a situation that has crippled SMEs and industries.
Mrs. Apansile Ade, for instance, is an entrepreneur who operates water and paint factories. She had run the business for over five years but at a loss. She is currently operating the water factory because the paint business has gone under.
“We just stopped producing because the generator developed a fault,” she told The ICIR. “Last week I spent almost N75, 000 repairing generator. I had to stop my son from resuming school on Monday because the little money I would have given to buy books, beverages was no longer there”.
Unfortunately, the community she resides since 2010 has never been connected to the grid. As a result, she bought six generators to power her house and the water factory. The last power generating set just collapsed when The ICIR visited.
Mrs. Apansile Ade in her sachet water factory pleads for help to restore her business after spending fortunes on power generating sets including its maintenance and fuelling. Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin, The ICIR
“Let me say we have been struggling. As I’m speaking, we have generators that have packed up. We bought another generator recently since there is no electricity to run the business”.
She barely could account for profits made from the business, as effort was solely to satisfy her customers who, already, were tired of her inconsistent supply. “There is really nothing I can do since there is no electricity to boost the businesses,” she said.
“…just that we don’t want to lose customers. One was telling me yesterday that we don’t know how to run a business.”
The entrepreneur had bought four generators in five years of business. She listed unit costs of each as N500, 000, N300, 000, N400, 000 and N250, 000 summed to N1.450 million. She also spends N95, 000 monthly on fuel and N80, 000 on maintenance. This, however, implies that in five years, she had spent N10.5 million getting fuel for the generator as well as its maintenance.
Two streets from her house is a POS business point and computer business centre, both under lock in the normal business hours. Opposite the shop is another beauty salon opened but appeared less operational.
At the main street to Apansile’s residence is Engr. Abayomi Olusada’s welding workshop, situated opposite a tailor’s shop and divided by erosion threatened road. Apparently, the 56-years-old man was home when the reporter visited – there was no sign to show he had been in the workshop for days. He started welding business 35 years ago in Lagos, but since 2009 when he moved to Oponua community, it has been sad tales.
“Electricity has been a serious challenge for us in this community. Unfortunately, there is no one to finance us to get connected,” says Olusada. Apparently, the community resolved to facilitate and procure whatever material needed to get connected to the grid after years of waiting on government and power officials.
Shut welding shop of Engr. Abayomi Olusada a resident of Oponua community along Ikorodu Shagamu Expressway Photo Credit: Olugenga Adanikin, The ICIR
“A lot of people have left this community; even landlords had to relocate leaving their homes. So, it’s really a big problem affecting my business. Though I may make use of generator when there is power outage, but electricity is vital,” Olusada added hitting his right fist at his left palm to drive home his point. “Even when I get contracts, I spend 50 percent of the money on fuel. In the process, the generator develops a fault and I had to start looking for money to fix it.”
Regrettably, beyond travails of small businesses, Nigeria is said to spend an estimated $13 billion to purchase generators annually, all to fix industrial, commercial and domestic energy needs. As of 2016, Energy Business says over N796.4 billion is spent on fuel to power those generators.
One of the foremost telecommunications companies in the country, MTN also claimed it spends N660 billion monthly to fuel 6,000 power generating sets which run daily for 19 hours. Likewise, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) revealed in 2017 that its members spent N213.77 billion on alternative power sources just in two years – 2014 and 2016.
Government hoards information
In order to ascertain the exact amount sunk into the power sector, FOI request was sent to the Federal Ministry of Power. The ministry acknowledged the receipt of the request and promised to respond. Weeks after, the ministry is yet to send a reply.
Freedom of Information (FOI) Response from Federal Ministry of Power. Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin, The ICIR
Efforts, through FOI requests from The ICIR to access a copy of the power sector share purchase agreement, which the federal government signed with the unbundled companies, failed. The power ministry acknowledged the same letter but referred to the National Electricity Regulatory Agency (NERC) and the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE). But, up till date, the document was not provided. BPE claimed one of the power agreements is being investigated by the EFCC. However, the EFCC has remained numb on the claim after several attempts of verify.
Failed, abandoned power projects limit Nigeria’s power ambition
In 2000, the Federal Government initiated the process of unbundling the electricity sector. National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) becomes partly privatised with the appellation – Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) under chairmanship of Atiku Abubakar eventually led a 23-member Electric Power Sector Reform Implementation Committee (EPIC) that developed the National Electric Power Policy direction for a private-sector driven power development in the country.
“By our choice of privatisation, the framework for resolving the crisis that constituted a serious bottleneck in the past is being put in place,” says Olusegun Agagu, former Minister of Power and Steel in October 2000. “We are, through this policy document extending invitations to investors and other stakeholders in the power sector, the world over, to avail themselves of the abundant opportunities that the reform, restructuring, and privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity industry offer”.
However, in 2013, the privatisation takes effect with the federal government having a 40 percent stake in power distribution companies. NEPA unbundling led to Generation Companies (GenCos), 11 Distribution Companies (DisCos), Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) National Independent Power Projects (NIPP) – owned by the Federal, State and Local Government, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Nigerian Bulk Electricity Company (NBET) and the recent metering companies.
It is believed that upon privatisation, power generation, transmission, and distribution would significantly improve, but that has not happened. Rather, findings showed that majority of the power infrastructure inherited by investors is obsolete. More so, they are either partially operational or left in ruins. For instance, Omoku and the second unit of Gbarain NIPP, as well as Egbema, have not been fully completed since 2005.
Abandoned NDPHC NIPP Power Plant in Omoku Community, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State. Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin, The ICIR
A source at the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC) who pleaded anonymity, however, said Olorunsogo II, Geregu II, Calabar, and Alaoji have been completed and functional. But noted how four others – Omotosho, Benin, Ogorode, and Egbema were mostly shut down due to power rejection to the national grid. This, he said, puts the NDPHC at huge losses considering the cost of generating those powers including gas to power the NIPPs plants.
“Since NERC and TCN had issues a couple of years back on load transmission, the National Control Centre, at times does not pick the power generated because they want to avoid the blame game,” says the source. “Some of the DisCos also have their shortcomings which largely depend on their distribution capacities. For instance, if a substation is 33 KVA, the DisCos cannot definitely take anything above the 33KVA”.
Major hydropower projects such as the Mambilla and Kashimbilla remain uncompleted years after commencement.
Ironically, while the federal government strives to achieve significant fete on the outstanding power contracts, it is considering nuclear technology as a new power source.
Site visit: Armed soldiers guarding derelict project
During the investigation, The ICIR visited Omoku Generation Company Limited 264.7MW and 225MW power project awarded to Rockson Engineering Company Limited, which is located in Omoku community, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The military and private security officials guarded the uncompleted facility, which was awarded 14 years ago. In November 2017, the NDPHC promised Omoku and three other plants – 750MW Alaoji, 338MW Egbema and 225MW in Bayelsa would be completed before the third quarter of 2018 but that’s not entirely the case.
The ICIR’s visit to Omoku project site which also accommodates a state-owned power project revealed that the facility had since 2018 been taken over by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON).
Apparently, there are two power projects on the site. While one is operational, the other is not. At the main entrance is a giant blue gate manned by military personnel and private security. Opposite the gate, is green scenery beautifying the well-planned layout. But this reporter was not allowed access into the facility by the security men on duty. However, few workers retained by AMCON, who spoke anonymously, said the power project was taken over due to the inability of the contractor to deliver. “It’s been long they have been on the project and AMCON has taken it over,” a source said.
Meanwhile, earlier findings by the reporter revealed there is Omoku I and II gas-powered project. While the first 150 MW plant was listed as completed and ‘operational’, 225MW Omoku II power project is non-operational and uncompleted. But, the source insists, “This one is state, and the other which is on-going, is federal” stressing that the active project does not belong to the FG.
“As far as I’m concerned and what I know, it is only this one,” pointing at the state-owned project, “that is operational. The one of federal – nothing has been done there. Look, you will only see that building and some installations”.
“Nothing has been done,” expressing surprise at the reporter’s unawareness. “Except there is another but if it is this one, all they are saying is fallacy.”
The reporter made another attempt to persuade the source to allow him gain entrance into the premises but to no avail. “…The people in the camp are old Rockson staff like mechanics, drivers, and their internal security,” the source said. “Most times, they only visit and go back. AMCON officials too just come for inspection and go back…they took over early this year because of the lackadaisical work of the company. It appears they have not awarded it to a new company.” The source added and drove off.
Entrance to Omoku NDPHC power project Omoku community in Rivers State Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin, The ICIR
“I must say that the ones that have not been completed have been under one contractor, Rockson Engineering due to contractor delay. But we have found a way around the contractor issue now,” Chiedu Ugbo, NDPHC Managing Director had said in 2018.
According to him, NDPHC is working with AMCON, which has taken over the contractor under a receivership, to complete the projects.
“I cannot tell you details about the place but all I know is work has not started. The work is not yet completed. I cannot take you inside. I don’t have that mandate because I have my limit,” a retired police officer told The ICIR.
However, a look at the facility from the fence behind revealed rusty giant iron pipes and equipment. The NIPP project cannot be seen from the main entrance, except for the state-owned which Wisdom; a private security guard said was sold to First Independent Power Limited (FIPL).
Sustainable solutions to right the wrongs
In the face of these challenges various experts have argued the need for the government to embrace renewable energy. Some also called for the rehabilitation of obsolete power equipment. “To address the problems, stakeholders including the Federal Government must try and invest in key infrastructure such as gas pipelines, equipment used in the distribution, generation and transmission of electricity, and other facilities,” says Marcel Hochet, President Green Elect in an interview with The Nation newspaper.
“Of note is the use of obsolete equipment such as transformers, feeders, sub-stations and others that need to be replaced with new ones by power distribution companies (DisCos) to adequately supply power to the consumers. Since the operators are not having enough money to play around with, they need to bring in more investors into the industry to provide the fund needed to move the sector forward.”
The ICIR visited NDPHC headquarters to verify why some of the NIPP projects are not fully operational and others uncompleted but Yakubu Lawal, the firm’s General Manager Communication and Public Relations, was absent. Calls to his phone rang but were later put on voice mail. Text messages sent to him also were not returned.
However, two top sources in the NDPHC acknowledged the failed status of the Omoku Power project. One of them told The ICIR that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are currently investigating the contractor – Rockson Engineering Company Limited for its inability to successfully complete the project, years after it was awarded. He noted that the legal department of the company had filed a suit against the contractor, saying all projects handled by Rockson, the only local contractor, are poorly executed.
“AMCON is only trying to rescue the plant for us,” the source said, adding, “So far, NDPHC is working with AMCON. We are also following the case instituted by the EFCC against the contractor”.
President Muhammadu Buhari, had on September, instructed the anti-graft agency to probe and prosecute those involved in the failed project. As such, the EFCC officials picked two officers of the NDPHC while the alleged $16 billion is being probed. But several probes conducted by the National Assembly or the anti-graft agency have not produced any sanction. As a result, Civil Society Organisations challenged the EFCC to expedite action on the prosecution process.
However, as of 4th October, the source put the combined electricity generated from the eight NIPPS at 468.7MW but noted that only 200 to 300MW finally gets to the consumers.
At the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria office in Abuja, a top staff who preferred not to be mentioned said members of the association currently spends N93.1 billion annually on alternative power generation.
This, he said, discourages investors from venturing into businesses in the country. In a sane clime, manufacturers have no business generating power except to import machines and start production, he noted.
“When you are on power, equipment must not stop otherwise, it could damage the raw materials and the equipment itself,” the source said. “That is why most manufacturing companies run on alternative power source which cost them N93.1 billion annually.” Despite, all the concerns, MAN insists genuine privatisation remains the answer to addressing the nation’s power problem. “Foreigners with financial strength and good expertise should be allowed to manage the sector, not like the previous privatisation we had.”
In conclusion, there is need to have a paradigm change in approaches to the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in the country.
This report is part of a collaborative investigative series by Daily Trust, The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Premium Times and The Cable, facilitated by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under its Regulators Monitoring Programme (REMOP) for the Electricity Sector, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Investigative journalist ‘FISAYO SOYOMBO spent two weeks in detention — five days in a Police cell and eight as an inmate in Ikoyi Prison — to track corruption in Nigeria’s criminal justice system, beginning from the moment of arrest by the Police to the point of release from prison. To experience the workings of the system in its raw state, Soyombo — adopting the pseudonym Ojo Olajumoke — feigned an offence for which he was arrested and detained in police custody, arraigned in court and eventually remanded in Prison. In the first of this three- part series, he uncovers how the Police pervert the course of justice in their quest for ill-gotten money.
It cost only N500 for a policeman to arrest me, and N1,000 for another to hurl me into a cell. Of course they didn’t know I was a journalist; I had assumed a pseudonym and grown my hair long enough — for 10 months — to blend with artificial dreads. My locks were tinted in gold and almost all my facial hair removed. I cut the profile of the kind of youth the Police indiscriminately railroad into their notoriously ramshackle vans for no reason, for onward transfer to their cells. One look at me and the typical policeman would have mistaken me for a compulsive hemp smoker, an incorrigible internet fraudster or a serial drug abuser.
The Police in Nigeria have a history of illegitimate arrests and extrajudicial killings. In July, Chinedu Obi, a musician better known as Zinquest, was accosted for spotting tattoosand shot in Sango, Ogun State. Only two months ago, policemen in Lagos shot two unarmed civilians— they died instantly — suspected of phone theft. In April, anti-cultism policemen killed KoladeJohnson, a civilian, at a football viewing centre in the Onipetesi, Mangoro area of Lagos. One bus driver in Ayobo, Lagos, was even shot deadby a policeman in May for refusing to part with his money. In Ifo, Ogun State, in April, a policeman shot a motorcycle rider during an argument over N100 bribe. All five incidents happened within the last six months; all six victims died in the end.
Therefore, it didn’t take too long after my arrest for me to begin to see the Police in their true elements. My supposed offence was that someone had sold me a car worth N2.8million in November 2018; however, after paying N300,000 cash, I began to avoid him — until I was eventually apprehended on Monday July 8. Once I was arrested and whisked into an innocuously passing danfo, I imagined I would be immediately taken to the cell of Pedro Police Station, Shomolu, Lagos. But it wasn’t that straightforward. I was first shoved behind the counter; and after half-an-hour, the Crime Officer (CO), Inspector Badmus, fetched me into a back office where I was grilled for close to two hours, culminating in a written statement from me that represented his thoughts more than mine. He asked me questions but only allowed me to write the answers that suited him; if the answers didn’t, he cut me short halfway. Afterwards, I was led to the expansive office of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), a tall, dark, rotund, middle-aged man who pronounced me guilty in a matter of minutes. “This is one of the many criminals destroying this city,” he yelled after a long, menacing glance all over me. “Please hold him well!”
Armed with this new order, the CO, who had been relatively civil all along, groped for my trousers then grabbed me by the waist as we made the short return trip to the counter. It was a walk of no more than 50 metres, but by the way he held me, anyone would have thought we were walking over a thousand kilometres and there was the potential for escape.
The complainant was already registering the case with a policewoman by the time we returned, and soon after they were haggling over the fees. Chigozie Odo, the policewoman, had rejected his offer of N500. After some five minutes of talking, he handed her a N1,000 note. Immediately the money touched her hand, Odo turned on me: “Look at you. Fine boy like you; just look at yourself. Instead make you go find better work, you dey defraud people. Oya, come here!”
The suspects in the cell had gathered by the iron barricade, hungering for an entrant, clinging to the bars and chillingly rolling their eyes from the policewoman to me and then to the complainant. My heart began to pound: Are they going to pummel me? Would they accept it if I offered some cash in exchange for beating?
Odo stripped me of my shirt, singlet, belt, wristwatch, shoes and cash. “Look at his hair; na you gangan be Ruggedy Baba,” she said as she unlocked the cell and bundled me in.
A MINOR IN THE CELL
The gate of the main cell
As I take my first steps into the cell gate, I immediately attempt to ingratiate myself with my ‘new friends’ by asking what they want — food or drink? It endears me to them, and the policewoman immediately proclaims me the new “leader”. It didn’t take quite long for the food to arrive; it was around 3pm or thereabouts and they apparently hadn’t been fed that day yet. As they guzzle their food — rice for some, bread for others — I embark on a quick, surreptitious survey of the cell.
To the right is a small opening housing a bathroom and a latrine oozing with thick fecal stench, one I very quickly resolved my buttocks would never near. To achieve this, I would eat only once daily — bread with a bottle of water or soft drink — throughout my stay. Opposite it is the smallest of the inner cells. Lying awkwardly on the floor is a mat too small to contain even one person; but every night, five or six cross-breathing inmates share it. Being the warmest inner cell, it proved the popular cell of choice — particularly at nighttime. Further ahead are two bigger cells, dingy and often damp, each measuring roughly 16 by 16 metres, with fading, defaced blue walls. Holding my head in my hands, I slump into one of the cells, enveloping myself with thoughts of the hardship to come.
“Do not disturb; the leader is in a very bad mood,” a faint voice arrests my thoughts. “Let’s come back to see him later,” adds another — that of a boy who, by his mien and slender build, couldn’t possibly be more than 15. What‘s a minor doing in detention? I motion them over.
“Wetin happen?” asks Austin, the fair-skinned, slim-figured, natural dreads-donning leader I inadvertently deposed minutes earlier. In the prison and in police cells, “wetin happen” is the lingo for asking an inmate or prisoner how they landed in prison or detention. I give them my prepared line and hand them the baton.
Austin, a gate keeper at a small company in Lagos, was accused of illegal gun possession by his boss after an unlicensed pistol was reportedly found inside the gate house. He vehemently denied knowledge of the act, but his claims of innocence had been ruined by his previous backdoor sale of the company’s 50 litres of diesel for N8,000. Determined to let him rot in the police cell, the accuser left with Austin’s phone, obliterating any chance of phoning a friend or family to process his bail.
With Austin is Loris, the minor whose arrest and detention was masterminded by her sister. Loris had electronically withdrawn the sum of N23,500 from his sister’s account, without her knowledge, to pay for the General Certificate Examination (GCE) of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). Since the exam actually costs N13,950, it is either Loris stole more than he needed or he registered at a special centre. The boy claims his sister declined his initial requests for the funds when he asked. Asked how he pulled off the funds transfer, unnoticed, he replies: “I know where she keeps her ATM; I also know the password.”
Also in the cell is Buchi, a young man accused — and he didn’t deny it — of stealing a phone. Small matter it may have been; but after the Police tracked him to his house with the same phone he allegedly stole, his accuser claimed N100,000 had also gone missing from the car where the phone was ‘moved’. Like Buchi, the fourth suspect is also accused of stealing a phone worth N17,000; too bad for him because the Police then went on to set his bail at N50,000.
The Police have always insisted bail is free, but this has got to be the most barefaced lie of the century! In 2015, and again in 2017, the Police embarked on a nationwide bail-is-free campaign; apparently, it has been a futile experiment. Coincidentally, while I was in that cell, Zubairu Muazu, the Lagos State Police Commissioner, was busy saying“any policeman who collects money for bail is not different from a kidnapper; the only difference is that everyone knows where you keep the suspects”.
AN INNOCENT MAN IN POLICE CELL
An inner cell
We continue our chit-chat without the knowledge that two young men, one imminently, are primed to join us. The first, Uchenna, was accused of attempting to dispossess a motorcycle rider of his property. But he fiercely denies, insisting a quarrel only broke out between the duo because the rider could not provide the balance of his fare for the ride. “How can anyone say I tried to snatch a motorcycle in broad daylight yet no weapon was found on me?” he argues, to the bemusement of all. “I had no knife, no gun, no spade. No cutlass or machete. Do you rob in daylight without any weapon?”
Much later, sometime between 8pm and 9pm, another young man joins us. The accusation against him was that he stole a phone from a barbing salon. By his own admission, the CCTV had reportedly identified him as the culprit. Yet he denies any wrongdoing. “I swear I didn’t steal the phone,” he murmurs. “I swear!” Who’s this one fooling? The CCTV fingered you as the thief yet you say no? You think everyone here is a criminal? There’s a journalist here, you know?
“Wait a minute,” I ask. “Didn’t they show you the CCTV footage? Didn’t the Police watch it before arresting you?”
“I didn’t watch it, neither did the Police,” he answers. “The Police arrested me because the phone owner said I was the thief. They didn’t watch any CCTV footage.”
I still do not believe him until the rest of us rouse from sleep the following morning to find out he was gone. The CCTV footage had finally been watched, and it turned out the wrong man had been arrested! An innocent man had spent a night in jail over a crime he knew nothing about.
N50,000 BAIL FOR FIVE HEMP SMOKERS
A second inner cell
Five for the worth of one; that was the scenario on Tuesday when the phone-theft suspect was freed. Shortly before midday, five new suspects — one male, the others female — join us. The quintet — two of them are sisters — had been arrested at a hemp-smoking joint in Gbagada. On arrival, they all look subdued, their faces sunken, their hairs dishevelled. Off they are marched to the female cell, situated adjacent the male cell but close enough for communication and exchange of items with their man, Maxwell. Unlike the male’s, the female cell is less punishing
— just one room, bare but cemented, dry and generally habitable.
Maxwell makes no claim at sanctimony. “They caught the girls in the act, but me, they should never have arrested me,” he laments. “I f**ked up big time.”
Tall, fair and stunningly handsome, Maxwell had learnt of the arrest of his girls, and had sped to the scene only for residents to clandestinely signal the Police that he was one of them, in fact their ring leader. Maxwell was bullish in maintaining innocence as the Police tried to arrest him, but he would earn himself a succession of slaps after a strand of hemp was found in his wallet. “I no know say I get one tiny claro for my wallet,” he says. “I f**ked up, mehn.”
When observed at close quarters, Maxwell cuts the picture of a man of two extremes. One minute he is mouthing obscenities, the next he is speaking with impeccable courtesy. Asked which of the girls is his girlfriend, he mutters: “None of them is my girlfriend but I f**k them all.” However, when any of the girls calls for his attention, his answers range from “yes, please” to “yes, darling” or “one minute, love.” And, usually, when he asks anything of anyone in the cell, it is hardly for himself but for one of his girls.
From time to time, Maxwell would dip his right hand into his crotch, and scratch away the poor thing with mind-blowing absentmindedness. Then he would run the same hand over his tinted hair, down through the thin threads of his hairy chest and back to his crotch. He was impulsive, too, once declaring, without prompting, “It’s been a long time I had measles like right now”, and abruptly informing us another time: “The Police have set our bail at N10,000 each.”
The father of the two girls shows up much later, upset, disappointed and threatening to let them rot in detention. He didn’t mean half of those things, though; the following day, he returns to settle the Police, and all five regain their freedom. It is unclear exactly how much he paid, but the Police had demanded N50,000 for all five.
HOW THE POLICE COOK UP CRIMES AGAINST SUSPECTS
The Police say no bath for me because I “stole” and “hijacked” a car. Meanwhile, the documented offence was that I didn’t complete payment for the car.
On Wednesday, I discover, in the crudest of ways, how the Police often exaggerate the allegations against suspects — to drive up their bail. It is evening and I have not had a bath all day, so I politely ask a policewoman, fresh from assuming duties, to open the cell so I can draw water from the tap servicing the cells.
“What is your name?” she first asks me, before shifting her gaze to a whiteboard detailing the offences of each suspect in the cell. “Ojo Olajumoke? Your offence doesn’t warrant you having a bath. Cell no be for enjoyment, abeg.”
Crestfallen and unable to read the board from afar, I beckon a cellmate over for help. “Your offence reads ‘stealing and hijacking of car,’” he tells me. “Did you actually hijack a car?”
I hadn’t. The original complaint against me was that I’d bought a car worth N2.8million, paid only N300,000 and defaulted on the balance. Car hijacking? Stealing? By framing me, the Police violated Section 340 (f) of the Police Act 2004, which compels them to exhibit “strict truthfulness in the handling of investigations, and in the giving of evidence”.
Maxwell and the girls were framed up, too. On the whiteboard, they were designated as “cultists”, but their real offence was that they smoked hemp. They were picked up smoking hemp, not while engaging in cultism-related activities. Are all hemp smokers cultists?
“It’s the Police’s well-known way of bargaining for hefty bail sums from suspects,” Oto Omena, a lawyer with long-standing experience of dealing with policemen, would later tell me in late August. “They typically make suspected crimes bigger than they originally are; you know, the bigger the crime, the bigger the bail sum.”
INNOCENT DESTITUTE, DRUNKARD ARRESTED ON TRUMPED-UP CHARGES
A second inner cell
In the evening of Wednesday, Haruna joins us. He tells no lies about his offence: he and his brother were involved in a nasty fight during which he slashed his opponent’s neck with a knife. Brother landed in the hospital, Haruna ended up in the cell. Deserved maybe, but not for the next two suspects.
In the wee small hours of Thursday, Japheth and Sunday arrive, both having been picked up while sleeping at unauthorised locations in Gbagada. The Police accused them of lurking around to break into shops. It’s a robbery-prone location, they insisted. But we all know it’s a false claim.
It turns out Sunday is very known to many officers at the station. A chronic, foul-smelling, gibberish-spilling drunkard, this isn’t his first arrest and probably won’t be the last. Spirits and dry gins are his specialisation. His wife would show up at the break of dawn, cursing her luck at ending up with a man contributing no more than his manhood to the marriage, always disappearing for days on a drinking spree and reappearing, bearing no cash for her or the children.
Japheth, meanwhile, is a destitute. He had naively relocated from Benue to Lagos weeks back in search of greener pasture, with no real plans for feeding, housing and accommodation. In daytime, he roamed the streets hunting for odd jobs; at night, he slept wherever the call of nature found him. The Police knew he was harmless. Not one weapon was found on him, much like his co-suspect. With neither Japheth nor Sunday able to afford the N10,000 bail set by the Police, night falls on them in the cell.
Sunday’s innocence would become clear in the morning when a new batch of police officers takes over duty. “Mr. Sunday, they’ve picked you again!” one of them exclaims on sighting him. “What was your offence this time?”
Apparently, the Police know Sunday as someone who lives in the neighbourhood; they know him as a harmless but indiscriminate drunkard; not the robber they had lebelled him as. His arrest and detention was nothing more than a fundraising expedition.
POLICEWOMAN DEFRAUDS HER BOSS
Policewoman Angelina Abubakar… collected N1,000 bribe but declared only N500 to her boss
In a matter of days, it becomes clear that all policewomen on duty at the counter are perpetually on the lookout for brisk business. Every visit to a suspect, even if it lasts no more than two minutes, is impossible without the payment of a N500 bribe. Charging one’s phones also costs N500 per time. Since roughly two people visit me daily, the policewomen can sometimes make a minimum of N1,500 off me in a day.
On Thursday morning, something interesting happens. Policewoman Angelina Abubakar’s voice rouses me from sleep. “Jumokeeeeeeeeee,” she bellows. “Do you have N500? I want to use it.”
Does she really think I have an option? I let her have it: a deduction from the sum of money seized from me at point of detention and deposited at the counter. Few hours later, with my phone out of battery charge, I request her attention, expecting her to for once grant me a free favour. “You’ll have to drop something,” she affirms. I decline, which means no phone for the rest of the night. How can I give you N500 in the morning and you can’t charge my phone for me in the afternoon for free?
Less than half-an-hour later, her greed returns to haunt her. When Senami Kojah and Zainab Sodiq, my two visitors, brought breakfast in the morning, Angelina had collected N1,000 bribe from them. Apparently, she had lied to her boss she got only N500. Somehow suspicious that her boss doubted her and could ask my friends next morning, she begs me to appeal to them to insist they received N500 balance after parting with N1,000.
Well! Well!! Well!! Your sins have found you out. “My phone is not charged, so no way I can reach them,” I tell her. She speedily charges the phone and fetches it for me afterwards. Without a dime. Angelina’s boss is just as guilty, though; Section 355 of the Police Act 2004 prohibits an officer from receiving “any token from a subordinate in rank…”
THE EARLY-MORNING BAIL RITUAL
Friday morning, neither the Crime Officer nor any other policeman asks me if I want to call anyone to process my bail — clear indication I probably will be arraigned in court. By then, I’d become all too familiar with the Police’s early-morning bail shenanigans. In each of the previous days, at least one police officer asked almost every inmate first thing in the morning if there was someone they wanted to phone — a relative, friend — just anyone who could potentially show up at the station with cash for bail. Those mornings were the only times every suspect had the immediate attention of the officers at the counter. Every other time was a struggle — but not that early-morning call. Meanwhile, in all those days, repeated pleas by one of my lawyers for bail were flatly rejected by the Police.
The previous day, the CO had called out early in the morning to ask if I wanted to phone anyone. “Since you came here, we have not seen anyone mature come for your bail. Just those two small girls,” he had noted. Do you have any mature person you can phone? [Turning to the policewoman at the counter], please get him his phone so he can call anyone he wants to.”
Sometime just before 10am, a policewoman unlocks the main cell and asks me to step out. “The DPO said you should go and meet your IPO. You must leave this cell today anyhow; [it’s] either they arraign you or they let you go,” she informs me with glee in a thank-me-for-the-information manner. Actually, it was a big relief — because, by then, all my regular cell mates had been released, and I had become the longest-serving suspect. Austin was released on Thursday.
Taofeek, a man who joined us on Tuesday after his involvement in a scuffle over land, had regained his freedom since Wednesday after parting with N5,000 for bail. The same day, Austin and his four ‘wives’ were freed. Only four of us — Uche, Japheth, Sunday and I — were left.
For all of us, our detention for more than a day was illegal. Section 35 (5)(a) and (b) of the 1999Constitutionof the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) are explicit: detention should be for a period of one day “in the case of an arrest or detention in any place where there is a court of competent jurisdiction within a radius of 40km”; and “in any other case, a period of two days”.
Detention can only be for a longer period if a court so decides. Meanwhile, a magistrate court is less than 15km from Pedro Police Station.
Soon, I would find out how much the complainant paid the Police to get me to court: N2,000 for typing, N2,000 for fuel, N1,000 for photocopying. So, either bail or court, and at the very worst scenario, the Police have devised a means of collecting at least N5,000 from every suspect and another N5,000 from the complainant at the point of leaving the cell.
Before long, a police van pulls over in the sweltering afternoon heat. The IPO handcuffs my hands and leads me into the van while the CO wheels it away, leaving behind a hail of dust, a station brimming with police officers filled with hate and a cell housing their preys.
This investigation was published with collaborative support from Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.
You may read the other part through the following link:
HUMAN rights activist, Chidi Odinkalu, has questioned the legal process in the case filed against him by the Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai at the Magistrate court in Kaduna, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case which has been held behind closed chambers since March.
El-Rufai has disagreed with Odinkalu, a former head of the National Human Rights Commission in February over the number of people killed in an attack in Kajuru, Kaduna State, and therefore instituted a criminal charge bordering on incitement and falsehood against the rights activist.
At the hearing on August 9, counsel to the defendant Gloria Mbaeiam Bellason had argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because the case had no file record which means the conditions for filing the suit against Odinkalu did not follow legal procedure
“It is our submission, that the present case in which orders have been made in a case without a number is quite clearly incompetent and this Honourable court has been led into acting without jurisdiction,” she told the court.
She also countered the ex – parte motion filed by the Kaduna State government requesting the Police to investigate of the allegations levelled against Odinkalu by filing a preliminary objection to that effect alluding to the fact that the procedure was illegal.
The State government had filed an application to the court, on March 22, directing the Kaduna State command of the Nigeria Police Force to carry out an investigation on Odinkalu.
In a letter dated March 28, the Kaduna State judiciary wrote the deputy commissioner of police in charge of criminal investigation and intelligence department to affect the investigation.
In a phone conversation with The ICIR counsel to the defendant, Gloria Mbaeiam reiterated that the jurisdiction of the court was on a faulty premise with regards to hearing the case since the case has no file number.
“Without a case number assigned to a lawsuit it’s like saying there is no record of a court proceeding ever been held on that issue,” she said.
On October 11, Chief Magistrate of the State Magistrate Court, Ibrahim Musa had ruled that the state, had filed a counter – affidavit, had a right to respond on points of law.
Before the ruling, counsel to Odinkalu had drawn the Chief Magistrate’s attention to the fact that the case was not listed on the case list to be heard by the court. The magistrate, nonetheless, insisted that it wasn’t going to be a problem because his ruling was ready.
The case was therefore adjourned to October 16 for further hearing.
However, the direct criminal complaint filed by the Ministry of Justice, ex – parte motion, affidavits filed by the state and court orders by the magistrate had no case numbers apart from the complaint to the police where the case curiously developed a suit number out of the blues.
Abdul Mahmud, a lawyer said Kaduna State government is using its political power to bulldoze the judiciary in an attempt to override the judicial process.
“The court process numbers on cases indicate the jurisdiction of the court that is supposed to hear a particular matter but in a situation where the case number is not given to a case then no court has a legal right to hear that case,” he said.
El-Rufai in February had disclosed that about 66 Fulani residents were killed in the attack, but Odinkalu, and many other Nigerians have contested that claim.
Guterres Antonio, United Nations secretary has warned that the UN may not have enough money to pay for staff salaries in the coming month if member states do not pay up what they owe.
Guterres said to make sure the General Assembly was held last month, several cut-backs on expenditures were made.
“This month, we will reach the deepest deficit of the decade. We risk … entering November without enough cash to cover payrolls,” said Guterres. “Our work and our reforms are at risk.”
The United States is the largest contributor – responsible for 22 per cent of the $2.85 billion regular budget for 2019, which pays for work including political, humanitarian, disarmament, economic and social affairs and communications.
Washington owes some $381 million for prior regular budgets and $674 million for the 2019 regular budget.
“The United States will be providing the vast majority of what we owe to the regular budget this fall, as we have in past years.”
“Overall the United States, as the largest contributor to the U.N., contributes roughly $10 billion annually in assessed and voluntary contributions across the United Nations system,” a US official from the U.S. mission said
Previously, Donald Trump, President of the United States has said Washington is shouldering an unfair burden of the cost of the United Nations and has pushed for reforms of the world body.
The US is responsible for nearly 28 per cent of the peacekeeping budget. However, Washington currently owes some $2.4 billion for peacekeeping.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said 129 countries had paid their dues for 2019 so far, which amounted to almost $2 billion.
The top contributing countries are Ethiopia, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Rwanda. They pay their troops according to their national salary scales and are reimbursed by the United Nations. As of July 2019, the United Nations paid $1,428 a month per soldier.
With the new financial set back the organisation might experience, Guterres said only essential travel is allowed, and some meetings may have to be cancelled or deferred.
U.N. operations in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi and at regional commissions will be affected.
U.N. peacekeeping missions are funded by a separate budget, which was $6.7 billion for 2019, and $6.51 billion for 2020 fiscal year which ended in June 30.
