THE Senate, on Wednesday in Abuja, confirmed Modibbo Hamman Tukur as the director of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU)
Tukur will be serving as the first director of the NFIU since the unit was granted independence through legislation by the National Assembly.
The approval came after the adoption of the report of the committee on anti-corruption and financial crimes led by Chukwuka Utazi, senator representing Enugu- North constituency.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in a statement signed by Femi Adesina, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity has appointed Tukur the NFIU director.
The statement read, “In accordance with the provision of Section 5(1) of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit Act 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated Moddibbo Hamman-Tukur as a Director of the Unit.
“This was contained in a letter dated January 7, 2019, to the Senate President seeking the confirmation of the nominee by the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly.”
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has congrtaulated Tukur who hails from Adamawa State in the north-eastern part of Nigeria.
Sararki also urged the new director to be professional in carrying out his duties.
WARIPAMO-Owei Dudafa, a former Senior Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to the former president, Goodluck Jonathan, has closed his defence in his ongoing trial over a 23-count charge bordering on conspiracy and concealment to the tune of N1.6bn.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission instituted the case against him.
At the resumed hearing before Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, the defendant maintained his earlier statements of not conspiring with Joseph Iwejoe, the second defendant in the charge, to conceal the sum of N1.6 billion.
They allegedly conspired and laundered the said money through the accounts of A.B. Wise Resources Limited, Seagate Property Development and Investment Limited, Avalon Global Property Development Company Limited, Rotato Interlink Service Limited, Pluto Property and Services Limited, and De-jakes fast food and Restaurant Limited.
Led in evidence by his counsel, Gboyega Oyewale, SAN, Dudafa told the court that the said money for which he is standing trial belonged to the Anglican Communion of Otuoke community in Bayelsa State, which was realized from a fundraiser organized by the Church, where Jonathan was a member and a Grand Patron.
Dudafa, who opened his defence on September 3, 2018, told the court that a businessman, Prince Arthur Eze, had pledged the sum of $10 million during the fundraiser, and he still maintained his position today.
When his counsel asked him if the said amount was concealed as recorded in the charges, Dudafa answered in the negative and said no money was concealed as the money did not belong to him.
He also stated that the source of the money was not unlawful as stated in the charge.
Dudafa also reiterated that the accounts listed in counts two to nine of the charge were not his and that he was not a signatory to any of the accounts.
He said that the accounts belonged to Somprei Omiebi, a friend of his and a family friend to Jonathan.
He also told the court that he was only carrying out instructions from the then president, and all the monies sent out were done through financial institutions on the orders of Jonathan.
Dudafa denied all the allegations in the charges and urged the court to dismiss them.
He also pleaded with the court to discharge and acquit him.
However, during his cross-examination, the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, confronted him with his statement on Exhibit F, which he had earlier denied, stating that he used Avalon Global Property Development company to acquire a property located opposite Chevron, Lekki, Lagos.
Dudafa admitted that the Dollars received on behalf of the former president were paid in cash to Bashir, a Bureau De Change operator, and the Naira equivalents were paid through financial institutions to the beneficiaries.
He also admitted that N30million was paid into De Jakes Fast Food Account, a company in which he is the highest shareholder and a signatory to the account.
He said money was invested.
He also confirmed that no single withdrawal was made in the name of the church, despite the source being a fundraiser organized by the Anglican Communion.
Justice Idris adjourned the matter to February 25, 2019, for the adoption of final written addresses.
FOLLOWING series of reported and confirmed cases of Lassa fever in various states in the country, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) concludes that there is an eruption of Lassa fever in Nigeria.
The situation report published by the NCDC showed that up to 172 suspected cases of Lassa fever were reported within the period of January 1 to January 13 this year. Out of the 172 reported cases, 60 were confirmed positive while 112 were found not be cases of Lassa fever.
From the confirmed 60 cases, 16 deaths have been recorded. This equals to 26.7% case fatality rate of Lassa fever so far in the year 2019. The affected states are Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Plateau, Taraba and FCT, recording at least one death.
It is on this note that the NCDC has announced that there is an outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria, not failing to however mention the measures they have taken to put a handle on the situation.
Through Chikwe Ihekweazu its Chief Executive Officer in Abuja, NCDC said that part of its response has been assisting states by providing emergency supplies and deployment of Rapid Response Teams to the affected states.
NCDC has also made available the national guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control, as well as Lassa fever case management which it developed to states, apart from uploading it on their website for public use.
According to Ihekweazu, ‘’the Rapid Response Teams will handle response coordination, contact tracing, case management, risk communication and boost infection prevention and control practices, in collaboration with the states’’.
He also reeled out some important information to health workers which are: be cautious of the fact that Lassa fever can be mistaken for any other fever-inducing illness at its early stage; maintain a high index of suspicion and practice standard precaution at all times; run a Rapid Diagnostic Test on all suspected cases of malaria, then check for other causes of febrile illness including Lassa fever if negative; accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment will increase the chances of survival.
THE opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Nigeria is paying an American lobbyist, Brian D. Ballard, over a million dollars to advocate for the party’s interest in the United States.
Documents obtained by The ICIR show that the party signed a one-year contract with Ballard, President of Ballard Partners, a popular lobbying firm in the US, on September 21, 2018, ostensibly to lobby the American government in advancing its interests.
Ballard, acclaimed to be the most powerful lobbyist in the Donald Trump administration, is compelled under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to disclose the details of such contracts. The contract was signed by former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka, in his capacity as special advisor to the PDP, and it states that the party will be provided “advocacy services relative to US-Nigeria bilateral relations”.
It is explained that the services will further include “advising, counseling, and assisting the foreign principal in communication with U.S. government officials, U.S. business entities, and non-governmental audiences.”
Providing greater detail, the agreement’s recitals states that “it shall be the Firm’s duty to consult with the Client and advocate on its behalf those issues the Client deems necessary and appropriate before the US federal government.”
“Issues and objectives may include, but not be limited to, enhancement of US-Nigerian relations, strengthening and advancing democratic values and the rule of law in Nigeria, with a special focus in the coming months on maintaining political and security conditions free of intimidation and interference in order to ensure the success and fairness of Nigeria’s national election for president in 2019,” it adds.
“It shall further be the Firm’s duty to inform the Client of developments in legislation and policy relevant to the Client’s issues and objectives.”
For this string of services, the PDP has agreed to pay $90,000 every month. The first and second quarterly instalments summing up to $540,000, going by the contract’s terms, have already been paid, and the last two will be due on March 21 and June 21, 2019, respectively. Altogether, the contract price is $1,080,000 (N331 million), but this does not include the costs for certain expenses such as registration fees, travel and lodging expenses, and so on.
How powerful is Ballard?
Ballard, one of the top fundraisers for the Trump presidential and reelection campaigns, in 2016 shaped the US president’s campaign operation “in his biggest must-win state”: Florida. He has since gained renown as one of the closest lobbyists to the Trump, his administration, as well as other key figures in the Republican party.
His relationship with Trump however predates the last presidential campaign period and election. Both of them have known each other for nearly thirty years. According to Theodoric Meyer, who covers lobbying and the influence industry for Politico Magazine, Ballard met Trump after reading a copy of The Art of the Deal, in the 1980s, and writing to Trump to express his delight.
“Ballard won’t talk about what he does for his clients, for the most part,” Meyer wrote in April, 2018.
“He made an exception for his work on behalf of Katumbi, the exiled Congolese opposition leader. Katumbi, who fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2016 to avoid being thrown in prison by President Joseph Kabila, hired Ballard to help persuade the Trump administration to pressure Kabila to allow him to return.
“Ballard, Lukis and Katumbi met with a deputy to Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, in October before Haley traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haley forcefully called for the country to hold elections this year on her trip.”
Among Ballard’s other foreign clients include the governments of Turkey, Maldives, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, and the Republic of Kosovo. He has also signed a long list of high-profile corporate clients, including Amazon, Uber, and the University of Florida.
Atiku Abubakar at a town hall meeting with PDP members in Washington DC, United States
Did Ballard assist Atiku in his US trip?
Between Thursday and Saturday, January 20, 2019, PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was in the United States, where he lodged at the Trump International Hotel, had a meeting with Nigerians, met with Congressman Chris Smith, and spoke at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Atiku had not stepped foot into the US in the twelve years preceding this visit, following corruption allegations detailed in a 2010 bipartisan report of the U.S. Senate. Based on this backdrop, it has been alleged, especially by members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, that the PDP candidate lobbied and paid his way through the restriction.
An American journalist and publisher of Popular Information, a political newsletter, Judd Legum, has also alleged that the PDP and its presidential candidate paid lobbyists who got the American government to allow Atiku travel to the country, waiving the criminal allegations against him.
Documents obtained from the United States Department of justice do not, however, establish that Atiku paid to pave the way for his recent visit. The contract with Ballard Partners had PDP, not Atiku, as the client, and it was signed over two weeks before his victory at the party’s primaries.
During his stay in the US, Atiku in an interview granted to VOA Hausa Service described reports about his ban as “misinformation”. But Legum disagrees. He writes in his newsletter that “a former government official who has seen the documentation confirmed to Popular Information that Abubakar, until very recently, was banned from obtaining a U.S. visa under Proclamation 7750”. The Proclamation was signed in 2004 by then President George W. Bush. It is also Legum’s view that Atiku was a party to the Ballard contract through his political party.
The ICIR has not been able to verify whether persons banned from entering into the US may, given certain circumstances, be offered temporary “diplomatic waivers”. Sarah Breen, the communications director at the Office of the Inspector General, replied to say she is not available “because of the furlough resulting from the lapse in U.S. Government appropriations”.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) forwarded our enquiry to A similar enquiry to the USCIS office in Accra, Ghana, which has jurisdiction over Nigeria, but no response has been received from the office. Similar enquiries sent to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State have yet to be replied.
A call placed to Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, for his party’s position on the allegations, was not answered. Texts sent to his phone have also not been responded to at the time of filing this report.
A growing romance between Nigerian politicians and foreign lobbyists
It is not the first time Nigerian politicians have been caught in bed with foreign lobbyists and political consultants. This latest revelation only adds to a growing list.
Months to the general elections of 2015, the PDP government paid $1.2 million to a Washington DC-based firm, run by Richard Levick, to help improve its image, tarnished by growing insecurity. The All Progressives Congress also hired AKPD, a political media firm based in Chicago and founded by David Axelrod, former presidential adviser to Barack Obama, in preparation for the 2015 elections.
Then again, last year, the clandestine activities of Cambridge Analytica towards influencing votes in 2015 were revealed by The Guardian. The company was paid an estimated £2 million ($2.8 million) by an undisclosed Nigerian oil billionaire “to orchestrate a ferocious campaign” against Muhammadu Buhari, who was at the time the leading opposition candidate. According to the report, it attempted to secretly deploy hacked personal emails of Buhari, through the help of Israeli hackers.
A TEAm of 11 election analysts and 40 observers from the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU- EOM) has arrived Nigeria ahead of the 2019 general election.
Led by Maria Arena, a Belgian and member of the European Parliament, the team addressed a press conference on Tuesday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
Arena said the 2019 election is very important for Nigeria to build on the successes recorded in 2015.
She added, however, that the observer mission has no interest in seeing any particular candidates win. “We are completely independent of EU delegations and we will assess Nigeria’s commitment to electoral laws and international best practices,” she said
Arena also added that another delegation of seven members of the European Parliament will join the mission as the election draws nearer. Diplomatic staffs from EU member state embassies, as well as those from Norway, Switzerland, and Canada, are also expected to join the monitoring team.
“While the 11 election specialists are in Abuja, the 40 long-term observers will observe in all the six geopolitical zones, meeting with as many people as possible,” she added.
The team has held several meetings with stakeholders since arriving the country, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties, religious organisations, and security agencies.
It is the sixth time the European Union will be sending an observer team to monitor Nigeria’s elections. Observations and recommendations on the elections are usually contained in a report published after the elections.
CAN said it recognized Nigeria as a multi-religious and multicultural composition and is not in denial of these realities.
CAN indicated that its candidate for the presidential position is one who exhibits godliness, trustworthiness, the sincerity of purpose, decency, patriotism, true commitment to national service, and who has shown care for the Christian community over the years.
The religious group said the Christian community is deeply concerned about the misfortunes that have befallen the Nigerian state in the recent year
CAN thereby urged all Christians to ensure they were in possession of their permanent voter cards (PVCs). It called the members to make a sound judgement in voting, shunning all sentiments before making a decision on the ballot paper.
It read: “Think about the greater good of Nigeria, and not primordial sentiments.”
It enjoined Christians to remain vigilant during the voting exercise and promptly report any suspicious undertaking at voting centres. The group also advised members to stay away from any violent act or mob action, whatsoever, no matter the provocation.
The association urged all the candidates to show maturity, leadership, sportsmanship and eschew electoral malpractice and violence in whatever form.
CAN frowns against Voter intimidation and vote-buying which it described as an “anathema to democratic governance.”
“The peaceful elections and smooth transition of power witnessed in 2015 should be re-enacted in 2019 if new leaders are elected at any level,” CAN concluded.
FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo has said Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s presidential candidate is two times better than President Muhammadu Buhari, All Progressives Congress’ candidate.
Obasanjo gave this fresh criticism in an interviewwith BBC which was published on BBC pidgin website on Tuesday.
The elder statesman attacked Buhari of his total weakness in body and mind.
“I believe Atiku will perform two times better than Buhari,” he said.
Obasanjo said the PDP’s presidential candidate though was not a messiah or a saint but he had repented. He said Atiku has not claimed “a fake sanctimoniousness” and had shown remorse, acknowledging his past misdeeds.
Though he had severally accused Atiku of corruption in the past, he said his former vice has been forgiven.
“…The teaching of God in my own religion is to forgive so that you can be forgiven. In fact, it goes further that if you do not forgive, you have no right to expect God’s forgiveness.
“I’m a sinner and I want God to forgive my sins. So, if anybody who has offended me comes to ask for forgiveness, I must forgive him.”
The former president said Buhari government supports corruption which contradicts what the administration had claimed. President Buhari has claimed to be a corruption fighter.
In the video, Obasanjo accused the government of using anti-corruption agencies such as Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic Financial and Crimes Commission (EFCC) to hunt down opponents or critics.
“…From what I know of Buhari and what you know, what he has done and shown is utter incompetence, nepotism, condones evil and misconduct, including corruption,” Obasanjo said.
“Now, you can steal the whole of Nigeria and if you belong to APC, you are safe. Corruption is not only stealing money; nepotism is a form of corruption.”
THE National Council of States has approved N27,000 as the new minimum wage for state and private sectors workers while federal workers are to earn N30,000.
The decision was reached at the first meeting of the council in 2019 which held at the AsoRock Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said that a bill recommending a national minimum wage of N27,000 will be sent to the national assembly before the close of business on Wednesday. He also said the council has approved the frequency of five years for the review of the minimum wage.
Present at the council meeting today were former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan; former head of Nigeria’s Interim National Government,Ernest Shonekan; former Military Head of State, Abdulsalam Abubakar; Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo, and Senate President Bukola Saraki.
In November 2018, a tripartite committee made up of representatives from the federal government, the organised labour, and the organised private sector had recommendedthe sum of N30,000 as the new minimum wage, but the Nigerian Governor’s Forum said the amount was impracticable.
The tripartite committee, headed by Ama Pepple, had also submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari a draft bill on the new minimum wage to be forwarded to the National Assembly for passage into law.
However, following FG’s reluctance to transmit the bill to the National Assembly, the Nigeria Labour Congress threatened to embark on a nationwide strike if the bill was not sent to the lawmakers on or before December 31, 2018.
The Presidency is expected to announcethat the bill will be sent to the National Assembly on Wednesday, January 23.
THE federal government has asked the Code of Conduct Tribunal to issue an interim order for the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, to step aside, pending the determination of the case of false assets declaration against him.
Aliu Umar, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who is the FG prosecutor in Onnoghen’s ongoing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, made this known on Tuesday.
Onnoghen did not appear before the CCT on the first day of trial (January 14) and his defence team argued that he was not properly served. The matter was adjourned till Tuesday, January 22, so that the clerk of the CJN could be served the court summons appropriately.
But when the trial resumed on Tuesday, Onnoghen was again not in court. His defence team, led by Wole Olanipekun (SAN), told the court that the CJN’s absence was due to the cases that were instituted against the tribunal’s proceeding.
In his opening address, FG prosecutor, Aliu Umar, asked the tribunal to issue a temporary order directing the CJN to step aside pending the determination of the suit. Umar also informed the tribunal that the federal government had written to Onnoghen requesting him to step aside, but said he was not sure whether he received the letter or not.
In response, Olanipekun pointed out that the CCT does not have the jurisdiction to make such an order. Besides, “we have an application challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal to hear this case, and that application has not been heard”.
The defence counsel urged the tribunal to adjourn the case indefinitely until the other court cases had been completed.
A federal high court had restrained the CCT from going ahead with the trial, but some say such an order can only be issued by the court of appeal because the CCT has parallel powers with the high courts. The Court of Appeal fixed January 24 for hearing on the matter.
Already, the bank accounts which the FG accused Onnoghen of not disclosing in his asset declaration form have been frozen. Onnoghen was reported to have explained that he forgot to include those bank accounts while filling out the asset declaration form.
There have been several arguments for and against Onnoghen’s ongoing corruption scandal. While many say the CJN is not above the law and should be made to face trial and punished accordingly if found guilty, others are of the opinion that the issue should first be referred to the National Judicial Council (NJC) before being taken to the courts.
The third school of thought believes that the whole corruption allegation against Onnoghen is politically motivated and is aimed at getting him out of the office ahead of the general elections.
FOR the second time, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, shunned the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) and failed to answer questions on a case of false assets declaration brought against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
Onnoghen was expected to appear before the three-man tribunal panel today Tuesday 22nd January, in Abuja to stand trial.
CCB Chairman, Danladi Umar had previously adjourned the hearing following arguments from the prosecuting lawyer representing the Federal Government, Umar Aliyu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and the defence counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN).
Olanipekun during the last hearing had argued that his client was not personally served and that the CJN must not necessarily appear before the tribunal.
However, the Federal Government’s lawyer at today’s hearing asked the CJN to step aside pending the time the case at the tribunal would be resolved.
Aliyu urged the court to proceed with the hearing and ignore all the restraining orders by the High Courts, stressing that the High Courts lack jurisdiction over the CCT but Olanipekun insisted on the need for the tribunal to honour the restraining orders made by the High Courts.
According to Olanipekun, this became imperative to respect judicial hierarchy, adding that the Appeal Court had already appointed a date for the hearing.
The tribunal panel eventually suspended the hearing for an hour in order for both lawyers to present their arguments and for the panel to consider their individual positions.
Despite the perceived persecution, the CJN appeared alongside President Muhammadu Buhari and other prominent Nigerians to honour the deceased military officers at the Armed Forces Remembrance Day held last Tuesday, January 15.
