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Reps: ‘Almighty’ Fashola angry with us because we didn’t grant him N20bn for unspecified projects

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Reps: ‘Almighty’ Fashola angry with us because we didn’t grant him N20bn for unspecified projects

The House of Representatives has accused Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, of nursing anger against the legislature because it turned down his request for a lump sum of N20billion without specifying the projects on which the money would be expended.

In a statement released on Saturday by Abdulrazak Namdas, Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, the green chamber also challenged Fashola’s claim that the National Assembly lacks the right to introduce new projects to the budget.

It said that in the 2016 budget, N12 billion was appropriated for the 2nd Niger Bridge but not a kobo was spent by the ministry. It said the money was returned because the ministry could not provide the committees of the National Assembly with evidence of an agreement on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) or a contract for the 2nd Niger Bridge.

The statement added that in its wisdom, the legislature decided to fund other projects from the south-east, leaving N7 billion for the 2nd Niger Bridge that may yet be UNSPENT.

The projects were listed as: N2.5 billion extra for Enugu/Onitsha Road, N1 billion more for 9th Mile/Nsukka/Makurdi Road, additional N500m for Oturkpa-Makurdi to take care of evacuation of agricultural produce up to Maiduguri and N1 billion more for Ikot Ekpene-Aba-Owerri Road.

THE FULL STATEMENT

MR. FASHOLA’S MISLEADING STATEMENTS AND FALLACIES ON 2017 BUDGET

The House of Representatives have noticed the pattern adopted by elements in the executive arm of government to delegitimize the 2017 Appropriation Act signed into law by Ag. President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON on June 12, 2017.

2. It started with the statement by the Ag President on Monday, June 12, 2017 during the signing ceremony, and followed by his address to MDA’s on Tuesday, June 13, 2017, where he claimed that the National Assembly has no power to introduce new items into the budget or alter same. These statements have been adequately addressed by His Excellency, the Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara during the House plenary on Thursday, June 15, 2017 where the Speaker made it clear that the National Assembly is not a rubberstamp of the Executive as it has undoubted power of the purse which is the position in most presidential systems of government. The President of the Senate also echoed a similar viewpoint.

3. We would have ignored the recent press briefing by the Hon Minister of Works, Power and Housing (HMWP&H), Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, on the 2017 Budget, but for the need to set the records straight and correct fundamental inaccuracies contained therein.

4. Mr. Fashola claimed that the National Assembly included many projects that were not agreed on during the Budget defence before the Committees; that the Budget Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was reduced from N31 billion to N10 billion; that 2nd Niger Bridge budget was reduced from N15b to N10b(actually N12b to N7b); that about N3 billion or so was removed from Okene-Lokoja-Abuja Road; that the Budget for Mambila Power Project was also cut.

5. He further claimed that some of the roads introduced into the budget had no designs and that items like primary healthcare and boreholes were introduced into the budget of the Ministry which are State matters. Mr. Fashola further said that the National Assembly has no powers to increase or tinker with the budget.

6. We make the following clarifications in answer to the obvious attempt to blackmail the National Assembly, paint it as an irresponsible institution not concerned with the welfare of the people, and set the Executive and Legislature on an unnecessary collision course on matters of power rather than issues that benefit the Nigerian people.

7. On the issue of power of appropriation, apart from the constitutional provisions in Section, 4, 59, 80 and 81, we wish to bring to public notice, the most recent judicial pronouncement on this issue in the case of FEMI FALANA V the President FRN & 3 Others, Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/259/2014 delivered on 9th March, 2016. In this suit, the Federal High Court was asked by Chief Falana, who was described as a meddlesome interloper in the judgement to make a declaration:

“Whether by virtue of S. 81 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the 3rd Defendant (National Assembly) is competent to increase or review upward any aspect of the estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the Federation for the next financial year prepared and laid before it by the 1st Defendant”.

Justice G.O. Kolawole answered the question in the negative and declared that:
“The 3rd Defendant was not created by the drafters of the Constitution and imbued with the powers to receive “budget estimates” which the 1st Defendant is constitutionally empowered to prepare and lay before it as a “rubber stamp” parliament, The whole essence of the “budget estimates” being required to be laid before the 3 Defendant, is to enable the 3rd Defendant as the assembly of the representatives of the people, to debate the said “budget proposals” and to make its own well informed legislative inputs into it. …… It will be reading into the provisions of Section 81 of the Constitution what the drafters never put into it to say that the 3rd Defendant “is not competent to increase or review upward any aspect of the estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the federation for the next financial year prepared and laid before it by the Defendant”.

8. To the specific issues raised, it is very misleading and calculated mischief to simply say that N5 billion was taken from the Budget for 2nd Niger Bridge. The truth is that in the 2016 Budget, N12 billion was appropriated for the 2nd Niger Bridge and not a kobo was spent by the Ministry. Not a kobo. The money was returned. The Ministry could not provide the Committees of the National Assembly with evidence of an agreement on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) or a contract for the 2nd Niger Bridge. The National Assembly, in its wisdom decided to fund other projects from the South East leaving N7 billion for the 2nd Niger Bridge that may yet be UNSPENT. The projects include – N2.5 billion extra for Enugu/Onitsha Road, N1 billion more for 9th Mile/Nsukka/Makurdi Road; additional N500m for Oturkpa- Makurdi to take care of evacuation of agricultural produce up to Maiduguri ; N1 billion more for Ikot Ekpene-Aba-Owerri Road etc. These are strategic Roads in the South-East and North Central parts of Nigeria that had inadequate allocations.

9. The National Assembly had to intervene to fund some other critical roads that were totally neglected in the Executive Budget proposal. Example is the Abuja- Kaduna – Zaria – Kano Road that had Zero allocation from the President’s proposal and no contract even in spite of due process certification. N5 billion was provided in the 2016 Budget. It was not utilised. In 2017 Budget, the National Assembly again provided N3 billion for this very critical road that connects many states and where incidents of kidnapping are rife because of bad roads, as we believe that all parts of Nigeria deserve attention or would the Minister also claim that this road has no design?

10. On the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, leadership meetings of both the Executive and Legislature were held where it was clarified that alternative funding exists for the Road through PPP arrangement and the concessionaires had enough money to fund the project. That informed the decision to move some funds to other areas of need and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing is fully aware of this but chose to ignore it. Why spend government money if there is a clear existing funding framework in place and so many ongoing road projects are unfunded?

11. On the Mambila Power Project, the Minister proposed a whopping N17 Billion for only Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). N17 Billion Naira! The National Assembly felt that N17 Billion for EIA was misplaced and patently unjustifiable! The Minister himself even wrote to the National Assembly to move some funds from this sub-heads to others!

12. On a general note, we need to remind the Honourable Minister that the Budget of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing is NOT his PERSONAL BUDGET; it is part of the Budget of the Federation. The National Assembly and others are also stakeholders in this country, imbued with patriotism to fix Nigeria’s problems. There are certain matters which the National Assembly Committees discover during oversight activities that are corrected during the budget process. There are so many omissions which the National Assembly makes effort to correct on behalf of Nigerians. Even the Ministries also disown allocations contained in their budgets! Should the National Assembly keep quiet and moot and allow infractions patently exposed in the Executive proposals? We think that the Constitution did not design the National Assembly as a “rubber stamp” as eloquently stated by His Excellency Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker, House of Representatives.

13. Also contained in the budget of the FMWP&H is an omnibus allocation of N20 Billion. The details were not provided by the Minister. The National Assembly would be irresponsible to appropriate funds that are not tied to specific projects. Mr. Fashola pushed hard to have the lump sum of N20 billion approved for him without specifying which project it will be spent on. He wanted the details to be left only to him to decide at his discretion. The National Assembly refused to do this and incurred the wrath of the almighty Minister.

14. He claimed that the National Assembly cannot increase the 2017 Budget. He conveniently forgot that the MTEF had a $2 increase per Barrel that was not applied or part of the 2017 Appropriation Bill proposed by Mr. President. How was this to be applied? If applied would that not amount to an increase? Did the Executive not propose new projects and increases in the budget figures of about N41.7 Billion after Mr. President presented the Budget?

15. It is true that Fashola is a SAN, an eminent lawyer and former Governor, but does that warrant his repeated insults hauled at the National Assembly? He claims that certain matters are State or even Local Government matters. He mentions Primary Health Care as an example. If one may ask why has he not led effort to abolish the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, a federal government agency? As a Senior Lawyer, he should be aware of what is called CONCURENT LIST, and the provisions of S.4(4)(a) and S.4(5) of the Constitution .

S.4 – “In addition and without prejudice to the powers conferred by subsection (2) of this section, the National Assembly shall have power to make laws with respect to the following matters, that is to say:-
(a) any matter in the Concurrent Legislative List set out in the first column of Part II of the Second Schedule to this Constitution to the extent prescribed in the second column opposite thereto”;
S.5 – “If any Law enacted by the House of Assembly of a State is inconsistent with any law validly made by the National Assembly, the law made by the National Assembly shall prevail, and that other Law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void”.

16. Furthermore, Mr. Fashola should be told that his Ministry includes Housing and Urban Development that traditionally takes care of other small projects like water in Housing Estates and so on and should not be surprised if he sees such projects in his Ministry. Some of the projects are designed in furtherance of meeting the SDG goals. It is certainly disingenuous for him to pretend that some urban development projects found in his Ministry’s Budget was meant for Roads and Power!

17. We need to remind Mr. Fashola that the National Assembly is a national institution made up of members from all geo-political zones, they represent all tendencies, interests and ethnic nationalities. It has a responsibility also to ensure balance in the distribution of Road Projects and other developmental facilities. It cannot watch our national patrimony unfairly skewed to one region or a few regions to the detriment of other states and geo-political zones. The proposal from Mr. President on the 2017 Budget of the Ministry of Works, Power and Housing did not pass this test! This partly informed the intervention of National Assembly so that every region can be carried along in project allocation.

18. Finally, we need to restate that the National Assembly leadership entered into certain understandings with the Executive arm on the 2017 Budget in good faith. It is a clear breach of these understandings for the Executive to make public statements calculated to undermine and distort them. Nigerians deserve a total concentration of all government officials, arms of government and MDA’s to grow the economy as we exit the recession. We in the House of Representatives are so passionately committed.

QUESTION: How much in total will the sacked Hembe return to FG?

YEKEEN Akinwale
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QUESTION: How much in total will the sacked Hembe return to FG?

 

Herman Hembe’s removal from the House of Representatives by the Supreme Court comes with added baggage: he is to refund, within 90 days, “all the salaries/allowances and or emoluments he collected while occupying the seat”.

So how much has he received in salaries and allowances since the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly on June 9, 2015.

According to a report published by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), which was obtained by Economic Confidential magazine, a member of House of Representatives earns N1, 985,212 as basic salary annually. This is beside annual allowance of N9,740,310, which includes motor vehicle fueling and costs of maintenance, constituency, domestic staff, a personal assistant, entertainment, recess, utilities, newspapers/periodicals, house maintenance and wardrobe.

Also, all members of the House are entitled to N23, 822,000 as allowance for accommodation, furniture; severance and car loan are paid once in four years.

HEMBE INFOGRAPHICS

Therefore, Hembe, having spent two years in the lower chamber is expected, by the order of the Supreme Court, to return N3,970,424, being his basic salary for two years, and N9, 740,310, his annual allowance.

He will also return N23, 822,000, allowance for accommodation furniture, severance and car loan paid once in four years, plus N198,521.25 as annual leave allowance.

In all, Herman Hembe will return the sum of N47,670,086 to the Federal Government within 90 days.

PROFILE: Fashion designer, farmer’s daughter… the grass-to-grace story of Mato, Hembe’s successor

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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PROFILE: Fashion designer, farmer’s daughter… the grass-to-grace story of Mato, Hembe’s successor

Dorothy Mato is surely on cloud nine right now, but don’t you dare think it’s permanent territory for her. About this time two years ago, she was in opposite mood.

In June 2015, Mato was suspended by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for “anti-party activities”. But in June 2017, the Supreme Court willed her a mandate she may have thought was forever lost. Now, Mato must be marveling at the irony of this thing called life: one minute it lets you down, the next it lifts you up.

On Friday, the Supreme Court sacked Herman Hembe, the lawmaker who had been representing Vandeikya/ Konshisha Federal Constituency of Benue State at the House of Representatives since 2007. It ruled that Hembe was not the valid APC candidate, but Dorathy Mato. INEC is to award her a certificate of return as soon as possible, and Hembe is to immediately vacate the seat.

FASHION DESIGNER, DAUGHTER OF A FARMER

Born on September 16, 1968, Dorathy Kpentomun Mato hails from Mbatyough Kindred, Mbaduku in Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State. Her parents were farmers but they understood the value of education, hence they enrolled her at R.C.M. Primary School, Chenge, from where she obtained her First School Leaving Certificate in 1979.

Ostensibly due to a lack of funds to prosecute secondary-school education, she was sent to Lagos, where she trained as a fashion designer at the Nikky African Fashion Institute, in 1987, and subsequently got married to her husband, Ahura Mato, with whom she now has three children.

KPENTOMUN — KEEP WISHING

The meaning of her name “Kpentomun” is “keep wishing”, but Dorothy did more than just kept wishing. Despite the challenges of being a housewife, she enrolled into the secondary school — Mbagba High School, Mbamngu — and obtained the West African Senior School Certificate (WASCE) in 2002.

By 2006, Mato had obtained a Diploma in Public Administration at the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, and in 2010 she graduated with a Higher National Diploma Certificate in Business Administration from Fidei Polytechnic, Gboko — the first privately-owned Polytechnic in Northern Nigeria. She would later become a member of the school’s Board of Trustees.

POLITICAL CAREER

Mato’s foray into politics began in 2007 when she was appointed Deputy Chairman, Vandeikya Local Government Council. She was later named Special Assistant to Governor Gabriel Suswam on Women Affairs between 2008 and 2010.

She then joined the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), on which platform she ran and won a seat into the Benue State house of Assembly on April 26, 2011, to represent Kyan constituency.

At the House, she served as House Committee Chairman on Science and Technology as well as member of the committees on Housing and Urban Development and that of MDGs and donor Agencies.

AN ENEMY OF THE PARTY

On June 15, 2015, shortly after the general election, the Benue State APC announced the suspension of Dorothy Mato and some other members of the party for alleged “anti-party” activities.

Mato’s crime was that she challenged the victory of Hembe, who was declared winner of the Vandeikya/Konshisha Federal Constituency at the House of Reps.

The suspension was short-lived, though; it was lifted after a few days, following the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari; George Akume, a Senator and former Governor of the state; and Samuel Ortom, the Governor.

Mato
A copy of the letter recalling Mato and the other suspended Benue APC members

ALUTA CONTINUA, VICTORIA ACERTA

A dogged fighter, Mato maintained that she won the primary and ought to have been the APC’s flag-bearer in the election.

The case would have terminated at the appeal court but being a pre-election case, it got to the Supreme Court. And on Friday, after more than two years of legal battle, Mato got her wish, with the court judging that she was the rightful winner of the APC ticket.

Mato has waited more than two years to reclaim her mandate; that’s long enough. But the five-day wait from now till Wednesday when she officially becomes a rep will surely be longer in her eyes than the two-year-legal battle. In moments of delirium, five days is longer than 730 days!

DIARY: Hembe, Benue university ‘cultist’, Obasanjo’s ‘son’, brother of ‘4th most powerful Nigerian’

'Fisayo Soyombo
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DIARY: Hembe, Benue university ‘cultist’, Obasanjo’s ‘son’, brother of ‘4th most powerful Nigerian’

There is something perennially controversial about Herman Iorwase Hembe. You won’t find him in the news all the time; but whenever you do, it’s mostly for the wrong reasons. And whenever it is for the good reasons, they’re usually quickly overtaken by bad news. Let’s see a few examples.

YOUNG CHAIRMAN, BRIBERY ALLEGATION

Hembe was still 36 years old in 2011 when he became Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and other Financial Institutions. A ‘youngie’ chairing a strategic economic committee of the lower chamber! Great news, right? Hembe ruined it all, and soon found himself at the heart of a mighty bribery allegation.

His committee had picked an unusual interest in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and decided to probe it. The committee accused Arunma Oteh, Director-General of the agency, of squandering a princely N30 million on hotel accommodation in just eight months, expending N850,000 (later clarified as N85,000 for a meal eaten by a team of experts) on just a meal. In a matter of days, the committee claimed to have unearthed documents proving underhand dealings in the handling of the DG’s accommodation and official cars.

Not one to go down alone, Oteh fought back, alleging that the committee had demanded a combined bribe of N44million from her

“You had implied that as a regulator, having people on secondment from the private sector could undermine the capacity of the regulatory functions of the commission. [Do] you think that Honourable Ihedioha, the deputy speaker of this House, being the nephew to Professor Ndi-Okereke Onyuike and having his wife work in the Abuja office of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, will be compromising his capacity carry out his duties?” she had queried.

“In asking SEC to contribute N39 million for this public hearing, [do] you think that you are not undermining your capacity to carry out your duties? I will like Nigerians to know that I do not think that I am being given a fair hearing. I do not think that in 2012, after the efforts that the forefathers of this country have made with respect to ensuring that we have a democracy, we will have Kangaroo courts that are worse than what Idi Amin had in Uganda.”

Hembe denied ever demanding or receiving bribe, claiming that it was Oteh who offered him a bribe and that he “rather fought hard to resist such temptation”. He resigned his position as Chairman of the committee; and although nothing came out of the lower chamber’s probe of the matter or the court dates, neither SEC nor the committee could extricate itself from the scandal. Hembe had missed a golden opportunity to make a case for the offering of selective leadership positions to the young.

RECORD BREAKER BUT ‘CULTIST’S BROTHER’

Herman hembe 5
He “rocks”: Hembe’s 40th birthday cake… in 2015

In 2007, when Hembe first entered the political space, he was about to do something that very few before him had managed. He was a greenhorn, entirely unknown, and he was going to get the backing of Olusegun Obasanjo, President at the time.

It all seemed a joke to many but right before their eyes, the greenhorn nicked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket, before going on to defeat the candidates of all other parties to book a slot at the House of Reps. He was just 31 at the time. And it was a feat that ranked as highly as Iyiola Omisore’s senatorial victory in an election that held while he was in prison!

Quickly, though, facts about Hembe began to emerge. They were very unpalatable.

It became public knowledge that at the Benue State University, where Hembe studied Law, his records were splotched by allegations of active involvement in cultism. His father, a professor at the same university, was known to have publicly expressed helplessness in curtailing the truancy of both Hembe and his other brother, Orkuma, who attended but never graduated from the University of Agriculture, Markurdi, also in Benue State.

So, how did an alleged cultist find his way to the National Assembly? Hembe’s brother, Orkuma, had been President of the once-cerebral but since-decrepit National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), in 2005, earning himself notoriety for attempting to perpetuate himself in office beyond the limit of his term. Orkuma was Obasanjo’s anointed candidate for the NANS presidency. When Orkuma reluctantly vacated his office, the alliance blossomed. Once during Obasanjo’s tenure, Orkuma was reported to have told the Vice Chancellor of his university that after the president of the country, his vice, and the senate president, he was the next most powerful Nigerian!

Such was the might of young Orkuma’s presidential connections that his brother, a relatively unknown Herman Hembe, would easily become the president’s preference when he showed up from nowhere to contest the 2007 PDP primary for the right to represent the Jechira Federal Constituency — a fusion of Vandeikya and Konshisha — at the house of reps.

Orkuma reportedly stormed the venue of the congress with a car stuffed with cash (having reportedly received a donation from Obasanjo in the region of N10 million), and the least paid voter earned N10,000. The slogan on the day of the congress then was, “Vote for Hembe because you will have ‘transport money’ to return home”. By April 2011, Hembe was all too familiar with the best means of returning to the House! It was the same in 2015 — no one had found a way to unseat him at the polls.

A SECOND CHANCE, A SECOND BRIBERY ALLEGATION

Herman Hembe 1
Dogara dinningswith Hembe on his birthday

In 2016, Hembe was made chairman — again? — of a house committee to probe the $18 billion Centenary City project of the Goodluck Jonathan administration. Forgetful Nigerians, they didn’t remember the bribery saga of 2012. Perhaps Nigerians are forgiving; they expected a changed Hembe.

Hem said there were several violations of the agreement signed between the office of the SGF and management of the Centenary City Company Plc, including lack of evidence that the company paid the 15 percent of $18billion allocated for the development of the city.

But Anyim Pius Anyim, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), who supervised the project under that era, claimed that Hembe wanted some officials to see him “privately”. Anyim also accused him of vendetta, having refused to sack Oteh as the reps wanted in 2012.

“Mr chairman, I said, one, you have told everybody who cared to listen that when the former DG of SEC accused you of demanding bribe from her, you pushed for her to be sacked and I refused to sack her while I was SGF and this is an opportunity to pay me back,” Anyim alleged.

“Mr chairman I will not allow you to use the National Assembly platform to pursue personal vendetta. It is unacceptable and I will not submit to it. All I am asking for is fair hearing.

“You have been threatening to conduct this public hearing for over a year now; in fact you ended last year with it, and this year you started with it. You scheduled it for January 27, but later moved it to February 1, and now moved it to February 3.

“Mr chairman, we only discovered your game plan for all the postponement when you started sending message to the managing director of the project to see you privately, and it was after all your efforts to get the managing director to see you privately failed, that you confirmed this date. I want you know that nobody will see you privately, and we are here for the hearing, and we will have the hearing.”

Again, Hembe denied the allegation. Two bribery allegations in two years? Must be a clean record in a legislature that Obasanjo once labelled “the den of corruption”.

A SAD ENDING

Herman Hembe 6Ten years of Hembe at the National Assembly was brought to an abrupt end on Friday, when the Supreme Court sacked him, declaring that he did not win the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket.

Instead, Dorothy Mato was declared the rightful winner; she is to immediately receive a certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while Hembe is to pay her N700,000 and cough up (within 90 days) all salaries and benefits he received while in office.

How are the mighty fallen! Hembe, the man who emerged from nowhere and made the Jechira constituency his birthright, suddenly finds himself home and dry. Orkuma and Heman must both be wondering what might have been, were Obasanjo and the PDP still in power. Just that “old things have passed away [and] all things have become new”!

Supreme court sacks Hembe, asks him to pay back all salaries

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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Supreme court sacks Hembe, asks him to pay back all salaries

The Supreme Court has sacked Herman Hembe, the lawmaker representing Vandeikya/ Konshisha federal constituency of Benue State at the House of Representatives.

The court ruled that Hembe was not the valid candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2015 National Assembly election.

Also, the Apex court also ordered that the ousted lawmaker be replaced by Dorathy Mato, who was declared the right winner of the APC primaries.

Hembe was also ordered to return all the salaries and allowances he received as lawmaker since he was sworn in in 2015.

Refugees… Footprints of Boko Haram havoc in Benin

iCiR
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Refugees… Footprints of Boko Haram havoc in Benin

By Chinedu Ekeja and Henry Onovweghware

Eighteen-year-old Beatrice Lami fled Chibok, Borno State, like Lot’s family, in the middle of the night for safety. Unlike the Biblical Lot’s wife, Beatrice never looked back even though her most precious possessions – siblings, parents, relatives and a whole way of life – were being left behind. Beatrice’s steps were further hastened by the awareness that her elder sister was among those abducted from the Chibok Girls School by Boko Haram.

As most parts of Borno State got engulfed by activities of the Boko Haram, Zainab (not her real name), a 36-year-old widow, flowed with the sea of those seeking refuge in other states away from the one that had hitherto being their home. Zainab, a mother of four, is physically challenged.

Different heartrending versions of such stories of real people left displaced from their communities abound and because most are still within the country, they are not termed refugees but Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the world is now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record. An unprecedented 65.6 million people around the world have been forced from their home. Among them, nearly 22.5 million are refugees; 40.3 million are displaced in their own country.

Figures from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) reveal that more than 3 million Nigerians are internally displaced. twelve percent of this figure is displaced by communal clash, 2.4% by natural disaster and 85% by Boko Haram insurgents. On a global scale, Nigeria is only ranked behind war-torn Syria with 6.5 million IDPs.

idp population

With 3.3 million, Nigeria has the highest IDP population in Africa. Putting it in perspective, the number of IDPs in Nigeria is more than all the citizens of two African countries — Gambia and Mauritius — combined!

These displaced persons live in IDPs camps scattered across Nigeria. In such camps, persons like Beatrice now have a semblance of home where basic human needs of food, clothing and shelter are met, albeit not completely.

A great majority of displaced persons however do not live in any of these camps; it is in this group that Zainab and her four children belong. They must devise other means of daily survival and forge ahead in the journey of life even while being exploited or neglected by a system that glosses over their plight; a system that sometimes brands them as nuisance as if they were the ones who wished insurgency on the country.

At the crack of dawn, Zainab wakes her children and they walk a distance of about 1km to Dawson junction in Benin City, Edo State capital, to strategically position them where traffic is busiest and motorists must stop for 90 seconds waiting for the light to slowly change from red to amber and finally green.

Within these periodic breaks of 90 seconds, from sunrise to sunset, Zainab’s children, armed with liquid soap and “mop”, hustle as squeegee merchants to wipe windshields. Often, they are chased away by irritant vehicle owners with a scowl and shake of angry fist or sometimes calmly by turning on their wipers.

The eldest of them, 17-years-old Ibrahim, explained that on a typical day, the trickles of N10 and N20 from tolerant motorists amount to between N500 and N1,500; money dutifully remitted to his mother, who herself sits beside an electric pole with her infant child asking for alms from passersby.

Less than two hours’ drive away from Dawson junction, where Zainab’s family ekes out a living, is the International Christian Centre (ICC), Ughogua in Ovia North East Local Government council — Beatrice’s newfound home. With a structured shelter just close by, one wonders why this family of four and others like them has not relocated to take advantage of regular meals, school and medical facilities.

Surprisingly, this family knows nothing about the ICC, which has been a place of refuge for thousands like them fleeing from Boko Haram. They however are willing to move if told how. While the prospect of formal education sounds good, Ibrahim insists government should keep him engaged with skilled job after school hours.

LIFE IN THE STREETS

While Ibrahim and his siblings wonder where, when and how the next meal ticket will come, Beatrice, at the ICC, has moved past such worries. She is now part of a new family – united by tragedy – where communal living is way of life as they work towards the same goal.

Beatrice and her fellow residents at the camp are flourishing in the midst of their travails, as she now receives formal education.

ICC, established in 1992 as a home for the needy, got a large expanse of land. This property would later become the permanent site to serve as the present-day camp caring for over 2,500 persons. Population explosion at the camp occurred in late 2012 and early 2013 when Boko Haram insurgents held sway. Today, over 75% of residents at the camp are victims of insurgency.

The man at the helm of the camp, Pastor Solomon Folorunso, is not easily distinguished from the crowd, as most evenings he blends in with the youngsters in a game of football.

Such was the case when he spoke of some modest accomplishments of the ICC in bridging the gap for those in dire need for the past 25 years. Interestingly, a beneficiary now serves as legal adviser, having graduated as a lawyer.

Pastor Folorunso made an honest appeal to all in the society to help the needy through voluntary donations of clothes, bedding, books, toiletries, food, etc. The lady in charge of supervising cooking in the camp, Pastor Evelyn Omigie, said when rice was on the menu, 10 bags were needed to ensure everyone gets something.

With three square meals a day assured, the camp residents have one less thing to worry about. Thus, Rifkatu Ali (20), Shedrack Yakubu (15), Gideon Haruna (19) and Mary Ayuba (17) all have similar stories to that of Beatrice. For them, lost hope has been found again; grief has turned gratitude.

LIFE IN THE CAMP

The story of other victims of insurgency in the North East who have been forced to take refuge in other parts of the country could also change if action is taken now to address their needs through structured programmes to equip them with education or skills that would make them self-sustaining.

Failure to reintegrate them into society would bring to pass the observation of Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, that “having 10 million children out of school is literally a ticking time bomb for our nation.

“An uneducated population will be locked in a cycle of poverty for their entire lives. Additionally, these children could constitute the next generation of suicide bombers and militant terrorists.”

It would seem the foundation block for such is already been laid. Along Mission Road, Benin City, there is a building bordering the Holy Cross Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church.

There are allegations that a certain cartel goes to the North and transports vulnerable children; victims and none victims of insurgents and uses them to beg for alms. Whatever is made by these children is collected by the leader for their accommodation and only a fraction given to them as reward.

At an inter-religious forum, the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, had requested Christian and Muslim leaders to help tackle the challenge of street children. That appeal is still awaiting proper attention. At another occasion, Governor Obaseki stated government would need to think through long-term solutions as regards issues of resettling the IDPs and ensuring their reintegration into the society.

It is hoped that urgent actions would be rolled out in all states where the footprints of Boko Haram can be seen.

20 rights groups sue FG over ‘secret’ concession of PH refinery

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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20 rights groups sue FG over ‘secret’ concession of PH refinery

Festus Keyamo, human rights lawyer, has asked the federal high court, Abuja, to stop the federal government’s plans to concession the Pot-Harcourt refinery to two international oil companies, AGIP and Oando, saying it is “an attempt to secretly allocate a national asset to private concerns”.

In the suit, filed on behalf of 20 civil society organizations, Keyamo argued that the agreement between the ministry of petroleum resources and the oil companies to “repair, operate and maintain” the refinery did not comply with the provisions of sections 4(1) and (2), 5(a) and (b) of the Infrastructural Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, (Establishment, Etc) Act, 2005.

The minister of state for petroleum resources, attorney general of the federation, AGIP and Oando, were named as first, second, third and fourth respondents respectively.

The human rights lawyer had earlier written to the petroleum ministry, under the Freedom of Information, FOI, Act, demanding that details of the so-called concession agreement be made public. He also wrote to the ICRC to know whether the commission was part of the agreement.

“The Director General of the Infrastructural Concession Regulatory Commission … confirmed the agreement between the Defendants (ministry of petroleum resources and the oil companies) but stated that the Infrastructural Concession Regulatory Commission only read about the action of the Defendants in ThisDay Newspaper of 21st May, 2017 and the Commission is not part of the said action as it was not consulted,” read an affidavit deposed to by Yohanna Shankuk, a litigation officer in Festus Keyamo chambers.

The ICRC Act provides that before any concession agreement is reached, the government must publish it in at least three national newspapers having wide circulation in Nigeria and invite open competitive public bid for such project or contract approved under the Act.

“…in the purported concession of the Port-Harcourt Refinery there was no advertisement, no public invitation to bid, no stated criteria for selecting Agip Oil Company Ltd /ENI and Oando Plc,” the affidavit read in part.

Keyamo on behalf of his clients wants the court to hold “that the decision by the first and second defendants to enter into an agreement with the third and fourth defendants to repair, operate and maintain the Port Harcourt refinery without recourse to the Infrastructural Concession Regulatory Commission is illegal, null and void in view of the provisions of sections 4(1) and (2), 5(a) and (b) of the Infrastructural Concession Regulatory Commission (Establishment, Etc) Act.”

The plaintiffs also prayed the court to grant “an order of injunction restraining the 1st and 2nd Defendants, their agents, privies, assigns howsoever called from Concessioning the Port-Harcourt Refinery without recourse to the provisions of the Infrastructural Concession Regulatory Commission (Establishment, Etc) Act, 2005.”

Nobody is above ICPC investigation, court rules

YEKEEN Akinwale
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Nobody is above ICPC investigation, court rules

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has the powers to investigate allegations of corrupt practices made against any person or authority in the country, even if the allegations arose in civil disputes, a  Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ruled.

Justice Rilwan Aikawa gave this ruling in a suit filed by seven persons against the ICPC and the Attorney General of the Federation.

The plaintiffs challenged their invitation by the Commission during an investigation into a matter between them and a lawyer. But Aikawa held that ICPC had a statutory duty to investigate allegations of corrupt practices made against any person or authority in Nigeria.

He added that neither the claimants nor the court has the discretion to stop a statutory agency of government from performing its duties.

In the suit, with number FHC/L/CS/1315/2015 between Waheed Gbadamosi Eletu, S.B. Joseph, SAN, A. A. Agbojuaje,  Ashimi and four others vs ICPC and Attorney General of the Federation, filed by Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa, the claimants — four members of the Eletu Family of Lagos, two lawyers and a surveyor — had sued to challenge their invitation, the freezing of bank accounts and investigation by ICPC over an alleged dispute with  Afe Babalola, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on payment of professional fees of $10m in respect of his legal services which led to the recovery of a vast expanse of land for the Eletu family in Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos State at the Supreme Court.

They were claiming a total of N600m damages for alleged breach of their fundamental rights.

The judge’s rule followed the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Attorney General of Ondo State vs Attorney General of the Federation and 36 Others (2002).

Aikawa noted that the submission of ICPC’s counsel, E. A. Shogunle, that the first respondent, ICPC, had established that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that certain high-ranking public officials and lawyers acted in abuse of their offices to facilitate a breach of contract with Afe Babalola in order to confer corrupt advantage upon themselves in violation of sections 19 and 25 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.

He further held that Paragraph 10 of the counter affidavit of the 1st respondent established that there were reasonable grounds to invite the applicants to assist in the investigation, noting also that ICPC was not at liberty to disclose the identity of the petitioner and suspects until investigation was completed. He however cautioned that the investigation “should not last till eternity”.

Police ‘release’ employee who betrayed his master to Evans

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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Police ‘release’ employee who betrayed his master to Evans

Donatus Duru, the pharmacist whose escape from detention led to the arrest of Chukwudumeje Onwuamadike aka Evans, says the Lagos State Police command has released the insider who gave him away.

Speaking on a AIT’s ‘Focus Nigeria’, Duru also said that no police security had been provided for him since his escape from detention.

When asked to confirm the report that the suspect had been released, he said: “Yes, he has been released. He called one of my workers yesterday; that was how I confirmed he had been released.”

He further said: “Since I escaped, I have been in hiding. I have applied to the police for protection, but since then, nothing has been done.”

Duru said that his escape was miraculous because the kidnappers were becoming impatient and had concluded plans to take him to the “canal” probably to kill him.

“I overheard them talking with Emeka one day and he said: ‘You don’t want to kill him? Kill him; in fact, kill him.'”

“So that night one of them from Ebonyi State – from his dialect – brought me noodles and said I should eat so as to have strength to face the boys at the canal.”

Duru said Emeka was his employee for five years. After his arrest by the police, he made useful statements that led to the arrest of Evans and his gang members.

Jimoh Moshood, the Police Force Public Relations Officer and Joseph Offor, the Lagos State (PPRO), could not be reached to comment on the issue. While the former did not answer calls to his phone and did not reply a text message sent to him, the latter’s phone number was switched off.

INEC ready to start processing Melaye’s recall petition

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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INEC ready to start processing Melaye’s recall petition

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has formally acknowledged receipt of the petition to recall Dino Melaye.

This was made known in a letter issued by the commission on Thursday and signed by Muhammed Haruna, an INEC National Commissioner and member of its information and voter education committee.

“In accordance with the INEC guidelines for the recall of members of the National Assembly, the commission has formally acknowledged the receipt of the petition to the petitioners’ representatives and has conveyed a letter notifying Senator Melaye of the receipt of the petition,” the letter read in part.

“The next step is to verify that the petitioners are registered voters in the Kogi West Senatorial District.

“INEC will, on the 3rd of July, 2017, issue a public notice stating the day(s), time, location and other details for the verification.”

Six ‘Ghana-must-go’ bags containing the signatures of more than 188,000 of registered voters in Kogi West Senatorial district were submitted at the INEC headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

But Melaye said he was not losing sleep over the moves to recall him as he was confident the verification exercise would reveal the fraud behind the petition.

According to him, names of people that had died long ago appeared mysteriously appeared as signatories to the the petition.

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