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Twitter unfreezes BBOG campaigner’s account over suspected violations

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Twitter unfreezes BBOG campaigner’s account over suspected violations

THE Twitter Handle of Aisha Yesufu, Co-founder of #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG), campaign @AishaYesufu was on Thursday frozen by the social media firm but released a few hours later.

“Caution: this account is temporarily restricted. You are seeing this warning because there has been some unusual activity from this account,” the statement from Twitter read.

The account was, however, restored shortly at about 12:27 pm with details of why it was suspended.

In a direct response to her personal email, with reference number 0122675480, Twitter explained it suspected it as an automated spam twitter account, thus flagged. But the tech firm later apologised to Yesufu for the inconveniences.

“We are writing to let you know that your account is now unlocked. We are sorry for the inconvenience,” Twitter stated.

“A little background: We have systems that find and remove automated spam twitter accounts, and it looks like yours was flagged as spam by mistake. This can happen if an account exhibits automated behaviour in violation of our rules.

“We apologize for the mixup, and hope to see you back on Twitter soon.”

Response from the social media platform further excited Yesufu, as she extended her gratitude to her more than 100, 000 followers for lending their voices.

“….I have gotten a mail from Twitter and I am back,” she stated. “I will continue to be a voice. My voice is not for myself alone but for so many others who unfortunately did not get that education that so many of us take for granted to have a voice. Thank you.”

Within a short period, the response from twitter had garnered over 1400 likes and 445 retweets with 221 comments as at the time of filing this report.

However, Yesufu’s handle was not the first to be suspended by Twitter. The account of  Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s Vice President, was unverified a couple of weeks ago.

It was suspended based on false claims that he was tactically using the account to lure votes through the TraderMoni scheme, months away to the Bayelsa State governorship poll.

EXCLUSIVE: ICPC sacks four officials for compromising investigation, insubordination, others

YEKEEN Akinwale
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EXCLUSIVE: ICPC sacks four officials for compromising investigation, insubordination, others

AT least four officials of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have been dismissed by the management of the Commission for various disciplinary offences ranging from insubordination to compromise of investigation, The ICIR can report.

Eighteen officials of the Commission in a document sighted by our correspondent had been sanctioned by the antigraft agency.

The document dated August 20, 2019, was issued by Lodam S, DC (Human Resources Management) at the ICPC and was titled “Decision of the Commission on Disciplinary Cases”.

The cases for which disciplinary actions were taken against the erring officials included, immoral and unruly behaviour, violation of oath of secrecy, refusal to take or carry out lawful instruction from superior officer, negligence, deliberate delay in treating official document, receipt of unlawful allowance, compromising investigation, dishonesty and refusal to go on transfer.

While the document said some of the affected officials were investigated and exonerated of the misconduct brought against them, five of them were either dismissed or have their appointments terminated.

The affected officials were either demoted, suspended without pay, warned or exonerated.

Some of those dismissed included Celsus Ukpong whose misconducts were refusal to proceed on transfer or to accept posting, absence from duty without leave and other conducts unbecoming of a public officer.

Recall that Ukpong, a former staff of the Commission was re-deployed to the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for Recovery of Public Property (SPIP) on an ad-hoc basis.

According to the Commission, Ukpong who had been re-deployed alongside five other ICPC staff to serve with the SPIP in 2017, and was dismissed after due disciplinary procedure had been adhered to.

The ICPC internal memo showed that he had had a history of committing official misdemeanours – one of which was that he was recalled along with other officers from the SPIP but only he did not comply.

Ukpong was later posted to one ICPC state office in an administrative exercise that involved many other officers in December 2018 and was paid his due relocation allowance which he collected but still did not report to the headquarters nor to the new location of posting.

Also, Gloria Elit was dismissed by the Commission for compromising investigation and other act unbecoming of a public officer, while Ayobami Adepoju’s appointment with the Commission was terminated for insubordination, false claim against a government official, unauthorised disclosure of official information.

Saidu Ali was also dismissed for dishonesty and other act unbecoming of a public officer. The document said Ali whose dismissal was from July 2, 2019, would be handed over to the police for investigation and prosecution.

Iroha Kalu Collins was demoted from Grade Level 15 to Grade Level 13 with effect from June 10, 2019, for dishonesty and refusal to carry out lawful instruction from superior officers. In his case, S.P Binga was sanctioned with the reduction in salary step to the first step for compromising investigation.

Ugly Lagos and the Urgent need for Redemption

Editorial
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Ugly Lagos and the Urgent need for Redemption

By Anthony Akaeze

AS is typically the case, United States President, Donald Trump, was again in the news recently for what he wrote about Baltimore, Maryland’s main city. Following Congressman Elijah Cummings’ reprimand of American immigration officials for the living conditions in some of the country’s holding centres for migrants seeking refuge in the US, as reported in electronic and print media, Trump slammed Cummings in a tweet where he questioned the sense of decency of people and residents of Baltimore which Cummings represents in America’s law making body.

“Rep. Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA…,” Trump said, adding “As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place,” he declared, further stating that “no human being would want to live” in Baltimore.

Refuse by the roadside along Igando-Ikotun way, Lagos
CREDIT: The ICIR

As shocked or disgusted as many may have been with Trump’s views, coming from a president about his own people, the man was not without his supporters. One of them, replying Trump’s tweet, said “Once again POTUS (President of the United States) is right whether you want to hear it or not. I lived in Baltimore for three years. It’s a series of row houses where if you make one wrong turn for two blocks you’re dead. And God forbid you have to go to Johns Hopkins. It may as well be in the middle of Ramadi.”

A bully himself, Trump’s tweets, to me, are usually neither exciting nor inspiring but this one struck a chord and got me thinking. My first impulse was to google Baltimore, a city I had never visited, to learn more about the place, and as I did, I wondered to what extent – given Trump’s penchant for exaggeration and misinformation, he was right.

Days after my first search, I did a follow up check, and the search revealed something interesting that probably lends credence to Trump’s taunts. It is that some sanitation volunteers from some American states had stormed Baltimore to help clean up the city and make it more appealing.

Thinking about Baltimore thereafter, I did wonder to what extent it compares to Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous city and one of the world’s mega centres with an estimated 21 million population. Is Baltimore similar, worse or less than Lagos in filthiness?

I had lived in Lagos since 2005 and during which time I traversed its nooks and crannies as a resident and reporter and became familiar with its landscape. I had often wondered about the city and how many of its residents live but what I saw in my tour of many of the municipalities in Lagos late last year to early this year for a reporting project funded by International Centre for Investigative Reporting and MacArthur Foundation, will live with me forever. Filth, stench and degradation of the worst kind. Nowhere, in all my years of travelling around Nigeria – and I boast substantial knowledge of the country – have I beheld such sight. The only place that comes close is Okpoko area of Onitsha, Anambra State, where, in some parts of the town six I visited years ago, I saw humans and pigs literally competing for space with heaps of refuse and putrid smell from soggy land, in what was supposed to be human habitat. In fact, so massive was one of the refuse heaps in Okpoko that it spilt over and damaged a fence and sections of a primary school close to a market with no one doing anything about it in a state that supposedly had a commissioner for education and active governor in Peter Obi. But Okpoko is just one district compared to countless Lagos municipalities. A ride around Lagos, a city that officials of the state hail as Nigeria’s centre of excellence, could end up troubling one, given the state of the environment. And so, following Trump’s tweet about Baltimore, I wondered what he would say about Lagos were he to visit it today. What would he say about Ketu, Oshodi, Lagos Island, Surulere, Ajegunle, Ebute-Metta, Oworonshoki, Victoria Island, Bariga, Somolu, Ikoyi, Ikeja, Ogba, Yaba, Iyana Ipaja, Agege, Apapa, Mushin – everywhere? What would he say about the many slums in the city, about makeshift structures in waterfront settlements littered with refuse, with no drains and toilet facility for inhabitants; about stagnant drainages all over the city choked with debris, where bulgy rats, rodents, cockroaches, mosquitoes and snakes, to talk of just these, dwell? What would he say about the diseased waters in this aquatic state, from where fishermen make a living and the public get served their products daily? What would he say about unpaved roads all around the city that turn messy during rainy seasons? What would he say about open defecation and excreta that litter the environment? What would he say about a city without a clean, reliable mass transport system for residents?

A 2016 article by the UK Independent newspaper, reveals that Lagos placed third among the 9 worst cities in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit report, which ranks the best and worst cities to live in the world.

According to the report, “The EIU’s Global Liveability Ranking provides scores out of 100 for lifestyle challenges in 140 cities worldwide. It looks at which cities have the best living and worst living conditions. The ranking takes into account healthcare, education, infrastructure, safety, and the threat of terrorism. It then gives an overall mark out of 100.”

Without a doubt, the state of Lagos today is such that would make Sir William Macgregor, Governor of the Lagos colony between 1899 and 1902 to wonder, were the dead able to, what became of his darling city. Macgregor, according to a 2018 book titled, Urban Planning Processes in Lagos, “introduced a number of very significant drainage and sanitation measures” when Lagos “population was around 40, 000.” His effort was evidently not followed through by successive administrations which explains the environmental disaster that the state is today.

The rot didn’t happen overnight but it’s amazing that successive administrations in the state since the return to civil rule in 1999 particularly, consider the state so clean as not to declare an emergency for it. The combined efforts of successive APC governments in Lagos amounts to no more than scratching the surface. Getting people to sweep major roads in the state, as one gets to see here and there without reaching adjoining streets and having a vision of clearing choked drains makes no sense and amounts to nothing.

During my reporting trip last year, ahead of the gubernatorial election in Lagos, I saw campaign posters of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, then governorship aspirant of APC, lavishly displayed in some squalid neighbourhoods in Lagos Island. The man went on to win the election and is now the governor of the state. My question for him then is: what can you do to change the face of Lagos?

What different strategy do you have? What can you do to overhaul the system, a system that has continually failed the people? There’s something about the Lagos system that just won’t deliver a clean environment. Given the extent of rot in the state, it would require huge manpower, a change of attitude by both the government and people to turn things around, and work has to start immediately.

Here’s my modest proposal on how to begin to turn things around: recruit as many willing hands from every Lagos neighbourhood – and this won’t pose a challenge given the high level of joblessness in the state and Nigeria generally – for a monthly fee, to help collect, dispose and manage waste. Prior to the 2016 American election, and as his own strategy to check migration to the US, Trump talked of building a wall along the border with Mexico and get Mexicans to pay for it, an idea that has remained a pipe dream as the man now seems to have run out of ideas on how to realise it, but engaging Lagosians to take charge of their environment is one idea that residents of the state may be willing to pay for if they see and feel government’s sincerity of purpose. It will be different from merely creating jobs for political thugs as top politicians in the state and elsewhere, including governors are renowned for, something that at times makes nonsense of even good intentions. Such initiative as getting people involved in cleaning and safeguarding their environment should be a continuous process that could checkmate the rot and stench avalanche in the state, give it the uplift it deserves and place it among the world’s most liveable cities in no distant time.

Anthony Akaeze is an award-winning freelance investigative journalist

 

 

 

 

Greater investments in good journalism’ll check fake news – CDD

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Greater investments in good journalism’ll check fake news – CDD

AS part of the efforts to check the spread of misinformation and disinformation Idayat Hassan, the Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) on Wednesday has advocated greater investment in good journalism practice.

“We need to increase support for good journalism. We have spoken on different initiatives but left out support for the journalists. So, there is so much need to invest in good journalism – print, radio and television,” says Hassan.

“It is still well trusted, then digital literacy, civic education and training for journalists, not only on fact-checking but critical thinking, disinformation and misinformation.”

She made this call at Day-2 of the conference on fake news held in Abuja, themed: “How to Combat the Threat of Fake News to the Democracy in Nigeria.”   

Fake news has become an issue of serious concerns to stakeholders who are worried that misinformation and disinformation could incite hatred, disharmony and, thus threaten Nigeria’s democracy.

CDD recommends new strategies to discourage dissemination of fake news, stressing the need for information resilience against the menace.

Citing Finland and the United Kingdom as instances where children from the stage of infants were reportedly taught how to decipher fake news, Hassan called for a system that could promote better civic education against the consumption of false information.

She said there is a need to design a system of fact-checking in local languages for people in various communities, in addition to the efforts of newsrooms such as  The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Cable and Premium Times.   

“Fact-Check should not just be done by civic groups but maybe in more partnerships with journalists who are already in it. We have to start calling out names, which is something that doesn’t quite happen…”

She said investing in fact-checking initiatives in the local language is very key because most of those fact checks done in English are not accessible to people in local communities.

“We have to start thinking of how to do that in local and state government level with more languages.”

In a report released at the conference, titled: ‘Sorting Facts From Fiction: Nigeria’s 2019 Election’, CDD recommended more study on the direct impact of fake news in Nigeria.

It identified need to promote digital literacy at all tiers of government and need for greater commitment from technology companies such as Facebook to help in the fight against false news.

Reciprocity Policy: FG slashes visa fees for Americans

Abeeb ALAWIYE
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Reciprocity Policy: FG slashes visa fees for Americans

THE Federal Government on Wednesday has approved the reduction of visa charges payable by US citizens travelling to Nigeria.

The announcement comes after the United States increased the cost of visa application for Nigerians.

According to the earlier report by the  consulate, Nigerians will be required to pay for all applications for nonimmigrant visas in B, F, H1B, I, L, and R visa classifications. However, the issuance or reciprocity fee is different from the application fees as this will be charged in addition to the nonimmigrant visa application fee.

However, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola in a statement by the Director Press and  Public Relations, Mohammed Manga, said that “the Ministry acknowledges that there were engagements with the United States Embassy on the issue and in the aftermath, a Committee was set up to conduct due diligence in line with the Ministry’s extant policy on reciprocity of Visa fees.

The attached file

“The attention of the Ministry of Interior has been drawn to the introduction of reciprocity of Visa Fees by the United States of America.

“Accordingly, the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, has been directed to implement the decrease in Nigeria’s Visa charges to US Citizens to USD 150 with effect from Thursday, 29th August, 2019,” the statement concluded.

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Buhari to Béninois president: We can’t allow smuggling to continue

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Buhari to Béninois president: We can’t allow smuggling to continue

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday told his colleague, Patrice Talon from the Benin Republic that Nigeria can no longer allow smuggling of agricultural commodities such as rice into the country.

He explained that the Nigeria-Benin border was partially shut due to the persistent smuggling activities.

Buhari disclosed this on the sideline of the Seventh Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD7), held in Yokohama, Japan.

“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,” says Buhari in a statement issued by Femi Adesina, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.

He said the smuggling activity is threatening the self-sufficiency efforts of the Federal Government, especially in rice production, which his administration committed to checking through the Agricultural Promotion Policy (APP).

According to him, the limited closure of the country’s western border was to allow Nigeria’s security forces develop a strategy on how to stem the dangerous trend and its wider ramifications.

The Nigerian government though did not make a formal announcement on partial border closure until Nigerian citizens and other individuals complained about the situation.

Porous borders lead to an influx of substandard farm produce, illegal immigrants and weapons, a source told The Nigerian Tribune.

 

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However, Buhari said he had considered concerns of the Beninoise President and as such the border would soon be opened. It also disclosed plans to meet both presidents of Benin and Niger to further discuss sustainable ways to check illegal imports across the borders.

 

 

This man stole from Nigeria. Today, he’s minister in Buhari’s cabinet

Editorial
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This man stole from Nigeria. Today, he’s minister in Buhari’s cabinet

The PREMIUM TIMES has reported that retired Major General Bashir Magashi who has just been appointed as the minister of defence by President Muhammadu Buhari was once caught in a corruption scandal involving deals worth $550,00(about N200million -at N362 to a dollar). But he was let off the hook after negotiating to forfeit part of his loot to the state. 

Years after, Mr. Magashi has found his way back into a government that swore to fight corruption as part of its cardinal goal. 

Read the report below: 

AS a top army officer holding command position, he abused public trust and was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Realising that he had been boxed into a tight corner, with clear evidence of guilt laid bare before him, the officer sang like a canary as he confessed his thievery of public fund.

Sullen and distraught, he begged authorities, offering to forfeit more than two-thirds of his loot hidden in a secret bank account offshore, those familiar with the matter told PREMIUM TIMES.

He did not want to be prosecuted or publicly humiliated over the matter. His traducers empathised with him, accepted his offer, secretly reprimanded him and allowed him the freedom to enjoy the remainder of his loot in peace.

But that man — Bashir Magashi, a retired army major general — who got away with a slap on the wrist after stealing and shipping abroad not less than $550,000 while in service, has now bounced back, emerging one of the country’s most powerful ministers.

Last Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him to take charge of the nation’s defence ministry, a government department with the third-highest budgetary spending for 2019 –N159.13 billion.

Mr Magashi, 74, was a former military governor of Sokoto State (1990–1992) and was appointed the commander of the strategic Brigade of Guards in September 1993 ahead of Sani Abacha’s coup in November of that year.

The officer soon became a prominent and trusted member of Mr Abacha’s inner caucus. Members of that administration’s kitchen cabinet were from time to time arbitrarily allowed access to the nation’s coffers. At times, they were illegally allocated crude oil which they sold for hefty amounts of money. Mr Magashi benefitted generously from that arrangement.

After Mr Abacha died in 1998, the officer was appointed commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy, a position he held till 1999 when the new Olusegun Obasanjo administration compulsorily retired all military officers who had served for six or more months in government. Mr Magashi was among those affected by the policy.

Bashir Magashi

Uncovering Mr. Magashi’s loot

Shortly after coming to power, the Obasanjo administration rolled out an ambitious anti-corruption programme. Apart from setting up anti-corruption agencies, that government also hired Swiss lawyer, Enrico Monfrini, to help it track and repatriate funds stolen and stashed abroad by Mr. Abacha and his collaborators.

Olusegun Obasanjo

PREMIUM TIMES investigation shows that one of the accounts uncovered by Mr. Monfrini was a nominee (secret) one held for Mr. Magashi at the Jessey, UK, branch of Bank PNP Paribus. The account had $550,000 (about N200million -at N362 to a dollar).

Those familiar with the matter said immediately Mr. Obasanjo was briefed by the Swiss lawyer, he directed the then National Security Adviser, Abdullahi Mukhtar, to contact Mr. Magashi and other past and serving officials who abused their offices and stashed public funds in foreign banks. They must be compelled to surrender their loots, the then president ordered.

On October 26, 2006, the NSA, via memo NSA/A/225/I/C, updated Mr. Obasanjo on the cases of Mr. Magashi and four others. “The account (held for Mr. Magashi) has a total deposit of $550,000 and it remained intact until it was frozen in 2001,” Mr. Mukhtar wrote in his memo.

The then NSA said when confronted, Mr. Magashi admitted wrongdoing, saying the money was a proceed of illegal crude oil allocation Mr. Abacha made to members of the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) under his government. The officer was not a registered oil trader at the time. And being a public servant, it was illegal for him to directly engage in private businesses.

President Obasanjo then directed that the entire sum be recovered from the retired general, the then NSA said.

However, “General Magashi pleaded for a concession and Mr. President left for him $150,000 from the said sum and to remit $400,000 to FGN which he has complied with as evidenced at Annex A, hereby attached,” Mr. Mukhtar said.

Mr. Magashi was granted that concession, and no charges were brought against him. It remains unclear why that approach was adopted in handling the matter. Both Messrs Mukhtar and Obasanjo could not be reached to comment for this story. Their known mobile telephone lines were reported switched off for most of Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

The minister declined to comment for this report. He did not respond to multiple calls, text messages, WhatsApp messages and emails requesting his comment.

Is Buhari aware?

It remains unclear Wednesday morning if President Muhammadu Buhari was aware of Mr Magashi’s involvement in the looting of Nigeria during the Abacha regime. Spokesperson Garba Shehu did not answer or return multiple calls from one of our reporters.

But a presidency official, who asked not to be named because he has no permission to grant media interviews, said, “I can tell you that there is no way the president would have ignored that kind of matter to appoint him if he were made aware.”

Senate President, Ahmed Lawan

If true that the president had no knowledge that Mr. Magashi once forfeited looted funds, it means the State Security Service, charged with vetting appointees to top government positions, again failed to do its job well.

The SSS had also failed in 2015 to detect that the NYSC certificate presented by former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, was fake.

It also means that the Nigerian Senate, which holds confirmation hearings for ministerial nominees, did a shoddy job, failing to detect Mr. Magashi’s corrupt past.

Inside story of the botched P & ID gas agreement

Amos ABBA
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Inside story of the botched P & ID gas agreement

FOLLOWING a United Kingdom court judgement granting Irish owned firm Process and Industrial Developments Ltd, P & ID, rights to claim $9 billion worth of assets, the Nigerian government is likely to suffer great loss amounting to one-fifth of its foreign reserves.

The failed Gas Supply and Production Agreement, GSPA deal between P & ID and the Nigerian government which is currently the subject of civil litigation in London has raised concern among Nigerians who shudder at how such gaff could happen.

According to a court document accessed by The ICIR, late Michael Quinn, the co-founder of P & ID, in his witness statement tagged “Exhibit 5” in 2014 revealed the details surrounding the gas project and key figures involved in the build-up to signing the final agreement.

The ICIR takes a look at major actors who were at the centre of the controversial deal, as well as the level of involvement of Nigerian officials in the botched gas project.

Background

In 2006, former President Olusegun Obasanjo conceived the idea of building gas facilities that would supply gas to power stations across the country to improve power supply as part of his National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, NEED.

P & ID, an engineering firm registered in a tax haven in British Virgin Island, BVI,  boasting a 30-year experience in managing engineering projects in Nigeria formally approached the Federal government with a proposal on August 7, 2008, submitted to the late President Umaru Yar’adua to build a proposed gas plant in Calabar.

The gas processing plant was to refine associated natural gas into non-associated natural gas to supply gas to power stations which would increase the generating capacity of the national electric grid.

On 21 July 2006, P &ID (Nigeria) Ltd was registered to serve as its operating company within the country, which was an affiliate to P & ID.

In Michael’s statement, he admitted that his company’s affiliation to a tax haven was not a source of concern to the government, rather it was viewed as beneficial to its interest according to clause 8(e) of the GSPA deal.

“Following the initial transfer of five percent 5 per cent Equity to the Government or its nominee as provided for at Article 8 (e) above no new shares whether ordinary, preference or otherwise may be issued without the written agreement of the Government such agreement not to be unreasonably withheld and the Government shall be entitled to representation on the Board of P&ID in proportion to the equity held by the Government at any given time.” it reads.

In the build-up to submitting the proposal, P & ID limited had carried out an extensive two-year scale of feasibility studies from 2006, involving the purchase of licenses for the technology required to operate the gas stripping plant, propylene plant, the production of detailed engineering drawings and its internal project management costs.

P & ID hired several engineering firms to provide procurement and construction, which comprised about 100 volumes of documentation, a 3-D software model of the plant which was necessary to implement the project on the ground.

The firms include CB & I Lummus Technology Group in New Jersey, KRAN Developments in Johannesburg and ABB Limited in the UK which it claimed to have spent $29 million for their services during the feasibility stage.

In October 2008, P & ID made its presentation at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources with the Minister of State(Gas), Emmanuel Odusina at the instruction of the former President, late Umaru Yar’ Adua.

In his statement in court, he admitted that the late Rilwan Lukman who was a Special Adviser to the President at the time played a significant role to ensure P & ID get the deal.

“I believe that he, and therefore the Government, were confident in our abilities to undertake and complete complex natural gas-related projects,” he said.

In December 2008, Lukman was appointed as Minister of Petroleum Resources after a cabinet reshuffle after which he called for a review of the P & ID proposal.

He put his special technical adviser, Taofiq Tijani, in charge of the process who engaged P & ID in conducting several presentations, before a copy of the presentations was forwarded to Lukman in a letter on February 2009.

The proposal detailed the execution of the gas plant project which would be in two phases with the first phase focused on constructing a gas stripping plant to refine associated natural gas into non-associated natural gas.

The natural gas would be supplied to the power generating stations free of charge, while the proceeds from the by-products would go to P & ID’s account.

The timeline for the execution of the first phase of the project was two years after obtaining the required government approvals.

While the second phase would involve the construction of a polymer grade propylene plant that would make use of propane from the stripping plant to produce polymer grade propylene for sale on international markets.

The proceeds from its sale would also be used by P & ID to take care of its own costs, while the execution of the project was expected to take 15 months.

A half-done deal

The Minister of  Petroleum Resources, Lukman set up a technical working committee to assess the proposal submitted by P & ID with the firm invited for its meeting to ensure the feasibility of the project.

The committee made several adjustments to the proposal which includes the construction of a stripping gas plant instead of two plants to speed up the project, the construction of 2 process trains in two phases supplying 150 MMSCuFD for phase one and 250 MMSCuFD for phase two.

Cross River State was the accepted choice for phase one of the project, considering Addax Oil was flaring wet gas in OML 123 which was suitable for actualising the project.

In July 2009, a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, was signed between P & ID and Lukman on behalf of Nigeria.

It was agreed that both parties would establish a framework and set out the principles under which they intend to enter into a definitive agreement to carry out their desired objectives.

However, a Joint Operating Committee was set up by Lukman to hasten the execution of the project, among those selected for the committee, includes Mohammed Kuchazi, Michael Quinn, represented P & ID, M. M Ibrahim who was then Head of Policy, Grace Tiaga from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, was also represented on the committee.

On 11 September 2009, after a series of meetings were held, Addax Petroleum, was invited to participate as a stakeholder in the meeting.

In a letter, to P & ID on 13, November 2009, Taofiq Tijani, technical adviser to Minister Lukman invited P & ID, Addax Oil and the government to a stakeholder meeting to fast track the project.

At the meeting, Jones Ogwu representing the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Grace Taiga, sat in for the Petroleum ministry, Debo Spaine attended on behalf of Addax, and Neil Hitchcock, Michael Quinn represented P & ID.

Addax Petroleum confirmed it would deliver 100 MMSCuFD of natural gas from the 168 MMSCuFD of wet gas they were currently flaring to the P&ID site in Calabar via pipeline which was been constructed offshore from Adanga (in OML 123) to comply with the Federal government obligations.

At the meeting, a copy of the GSPA draft was handed to Addax Petroleum to show the specifications of wet gas that should be supplied to P & ID and Addax agreed to the terms.

Prior, to the execution of the final agreement, Michael claimed P & ID could not secure data on the precise composition of wet gas being flared at OML 123.

He stated that after several attempts through correspondence they did not receive a specific composition data which would have helped to fast track the process.

Before the GSPA contract was sealed, there were changes to the initial draft which includes the swapping of P & ID, Nigeria Ltd with the BVI affiliate without objections from the Nigerian officials.

Also, the federal government started the construction of a 24-inch pipeline from OML 123 to supply wet gas to P & ID for the first phase of the project, while P & ID agreed to build a pipeline of 70 km in length free of charge to facilitate the delivery of 250 MMSCuFD of wet gas for the second phase.

It was agreed that the first phase would commence on or before the last quarter of 2011, while the second phase was likely to kick start on or before the third quarter of 2013.

On 11 January 2010, P & ID finalised a 20 years agreement plan with the federal government signed on by Rilwan Lukman to build a gas processing plant in the country.

Road to a botched deal

Immediately, after P & ID sealed the GSPA contract the firm requested in a letter dated 12 January 2010, that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Lukman put measures in place to speed up the project.

“To put in place all necessary modalities as soon as possible, with both Addax Petroleum and Exxon Mobil, in order to ensure the timely delivery of the currently flared Wet Gas for the project,” a section of the letter reads.

On 1 February 2010, P & ID formally requested for allocation of land from the then Governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke upon which the plant would be constructed. Fifteen days later, a 50.662 hectares of land, was approved for the firm’s industrial use at Adiabo in Odukpani Local Government Area.

The then NNPC Managing Director, Shehu Ladan issued a standing instruction to the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS, to provide engineering logistics to ensure Addax Petroleum and P & ID meet their targets for the project.

After a series of meetings with failure to reach a final conclusion, Goni Sheikh, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, requested that a letter of undertaking be signed by P & ID and Addax Petroleum which was not carried out, Michael claimed.

In a letter, dated 10 March 2011, NAPIMS informed P & ID that Addax Petroleum was unable to supply the required amount of 150 MMSCuFD of wet gas from OML 123 for Phase 1 of the project because they required 50 MMSCuFD of lean gas for reinjection in OML 123.

P & ID argued it was a breach of the GSPA, but they proffered another solution stating that they would produce lean gas by stripping wet gas from offshore OML 123 to meet the needed quantity for Addax Petroleum.

David Ige, then General Executive Director, Power and Gas, NNPC didn’t agree to the proposal but suggested a “gas gathering” proposal which P & ID willingly considered though it was not in the initial agreement.

On 16 May 2012, Neil Hitchcock of P&ID, senior NNPC management headed by Dr David Ige, and the senior management of Addax Petroleum agreed to the amended project and promised to work together to ensure phase 1 of the project becomes a reality.

In June 2012, Addax Petroleum withdrew its cooperation stating it wished to “undertake the development of the non-associated gas themselves”.

Several attempts to get the then Minister of Petroleum Resources, Alison Madueke, to intervene in the matter was to no avail. In July 2012, P & ID wrote to the Federal Government placing a time limit for the federal government to wade in or P & ID would consider an alternative solution.

“Therefore, P&ID’s offer in principle to enter into an amendment [to the GSPA] will be regretfully withdrawn on 10 August 2012 if, by that time and date, no formal amendment has been agreed
and executed between the Government and P&ID,” a section of the letter reads.

After failing to get a definite intervention from the federal government, on 20, March 2013, Michael on behalf of P&ID wrote a letter to the federal government, to terminate the GSPA before proceeding to the arbitration tribunal in London on 22, August 2012 to seek redress.

N1.7bn Fraud: ICPC asks Court to remand head of Disability Cooperative Society in Prison Custody

Editorial
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N1.7bn Fraud: ICPC asks Court to remand head of Disability Cooperative Society in Prison Custody

THE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has requested a Senior Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, to grant an order for the remand of the National Coordinator, Federal Civil Service Staff with Disabilities Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Alhaji Iliasu Olarewaju Abdul-Rauf in prison custody over his alleged involvement in N1.7 billion fraud.

Abdul-Rauf, currently under arrest by the Commission is alleged to have been involved in multi-million naira corruption scandal bordering on bribery, breach of trust, criminal misappropriation of funds and other fraudulent activities.

After his arrest, a search of his house by operatives of the Commission revealed 14 females aged between 11 and 33 years, locked up in one of the rooms.

The victims have all been evacuated and were handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

The suspect who also is facing multiple charges imposed by ICPC was said to have been a fugitive of the law, having escaped arrest by other security agencies in Nigeria.

He is alleged to have used his position as the National Coordinator of Persons with Disabilities Cooperative Society to hoodwink contractors into donating cash and items such as wheelchairs, crutches as Corporate Social Responsibility for non-existent contracts.

Some of the contractors are said to have paid as much as N50 million as the CSR, while others delivered large numbers of items to him.

The Commission, in the motion filed before the court, stated that Abdul-Rauf allegedly failed to rehabilitate ‘disability centres” across the country after collecting N1.7 billion from various contractors under the guise of awarding contracts for the project.

ICPC further noted that Abdul-Rauf had a history of running from the law, having absconded after an earlier charge had been filed against him by the Commission. The motion, therefore, added that the remand would prevent his escape a second time pending the completion of investigation.

 

Court adjourns motion countering IMN ban as terrorist group

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Court adjourns motion countering IMN ban as terrorist group

THE Federal High Court (FHC) on Wednesday adjourned motion filed by Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), seeking to counter the proscription of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) as a terrorist group to September 11.  

The court made the decision when the Department of State Security (DSS) sought additional time to better prepare for the case.

Justice Evelyn Maha, the presiding judge, adjourned the case after listening to the submissions of both counsels – Falana and Mr. Ayo Apata, (SAN), Solicitor General of the Federation.

On August, the IMN, through his counsel had earlier filed a court motion challenging the action of the federal government on the proscription and restriction of its members’ activities.

The group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation last month via an ex parte order granted by Justice Maha.

However, the IMN insists action of the federal government was illegal, immoral and as such breached the fundamental human rights of its members, thus would be resisted.

Falana also maintained the same argument on the purported illegality of the proscription. Also, Mike Ozekhome described the action as illegal and unconstitutional.

They urged the court to vacate the ex-parte order.

“This Honorable Court on the 26th day of July, 2019 pursuant to an ex parte application brought by the Applicant/Respondent, made an order, inter alia, proscribing the existence and activities of the Respondent/Applicant (Islamic Movement in Nigeria) in any part of Nigeria under whatever form, either in groups or as individuals by whatever names they are called or referred to without affording the Respondent/Applicant the right of fair hearing,” the court has ordered.

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