AMID the political crisis rocking Rivers, five more Commissioners have resigned after the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Zacchaeus Adangor tendered his resignation on Thursday, December 14.
The others include Commissioner for Works Des George-Kelly, Commissioner for Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Inime Aguma, Commissioner for Special Duties Emeka Woke, Commissioner for Education Chinedu Mmom and Commissioner for Finance Isaac Kamalu.
In his resignation letter dated December 14, Mmom said his resignation was due to personal reasons.
“I hereby resign my appointment as the Honourable Commissioner for Education, Rivers State, for personal reasons. I wish to express my sincere appreciation for the opportunity given to me to serve in your administration and wish you the best as you carry on with the governance of the state,” The letter read.
According to a report, George-Kelly said he resigned because “my conscience will not allow me to stay,” while Aguma disclosed that she had other commitments.
The ICIRreported that Adangor cited “personal principles” as the reason for leaving Fubara’s cabinet.
There has been political tension in Rivers State following news of a rift between Fubara and his predecessor, Wike, the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
As tension between both leaders heightened, impeachment actions were initiated against Fubara on Monday, October 30, by some members of the state House of Assembly believed to be loyal to Wike.
The impeachment process failed, and in November, President Bola Tinubu waded into the issue, after which Fubara issued a public apology to the people of the state, assuring them of peace and stability.
Fubara had thanked Tinubu for his intervention, which he said opened a channel for crisis resolution.
However, on Monday, December 11, 27 out of 32 state House of Assembly members defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Two days later, the government under Fubara ordered the demolition of the state House of Assembly Complex.
The governor attributed the demolition exercise to structural defects from a fire incident that affected the building in October.
On Wednesday, December 13, the governor presented the state’s 2024 budget to five members of the House of Assembly who appear to be loyal to him.
Fubara signed the N800 billion budget into law 24 hours after presenting it to the five lawmakers.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL and Commissioner for Justice in Rivers Zacchaeus Adangor has resigned amidst the political crisis rocking the state.
Adangor, who served under the immediate past government led by Nyesom Wike and was reappointed by his successor, Siminalayi Fubara, communicated his resignation in a letter addressed to the state governor.
He cited “personal principles” as the reason for leaving Fubara’s cabinet.
“I hereby give Your excellency notice of my resignation as the honourable Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Rivers State, with effect from the date of this letter. For the avoidance of doubt, my resignation from the said office is based on personal principles.
“I wish to thank your excellency for the opportunity and privilege granted me to serve in your administration as a member of the cabinet,” Adangor noted.
There has been political tension in Rivers state following news of a rift between Fubara and his predecessor, Wike, the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
As tension between both leaders heightened, impeachment actions were initiated against Fubara on Monday, October 30, by some members of the state House of Assembly believed to be loyal to Wike.
The impeachment process failed, and in November, President Bola Tinubu waded into the issue, after which Fubara issued a public apology to the people of the state, assuring them of peace and stability.
Fubara had thanked Tinubu for his intervention, which he said opened a channel for crisis resolution.
However, on Monday, December 11, 27 out of 32 state House of Assembly members defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Two days later, the government under Fubara ordered the demolition of the state House of Assembly Complex.
The governor attributed the demolition exercise to structural defects from a fire incident that affected the building in October.
On Wednesday, December 13, the governor presented the state’s 2024 budget to five members of the House of Assembly who appear to be loyal to him.
Sitting under the tree that has served as shade to him for the past two years, Waheed Adebayo, an auto technician at WAEC Area of Awosuru, Osogbo Osun state, was preparing to pray at the remnant of his private mosque, which was destroyed.
The auto technician shared the pathetic experience of his demolished workshop and the eventual crashing of his business.
“I won’t lie to you; after the demolition, everything changed, no more customers or money to even raise to feed the home properly or even to raise another shop. I am just living in God’s grace,” he said.
After his shop was demolished, Waheed did not cease coming there and praying at the spot he had used since he built the shop over 10 years ago. The spot now had only a few weak blocks standing. His business had also crashed, bringing despair, misery, hopelessness and above all, pushing the 46-year-old panel beater to extreme poverty.
In 2023, the World Poverty Clock indicated that Nigeria has the awful distinction of being the world’s poverty capital, with 71 million people living in extreme poverty and a total of 133 million people classified as multidimensionally poor, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The Skill Acquisition Center in Awosuru
Waheed Adebayo is one of the frustrated Nigerians who has been pushed to extreme poverty because of the demolition of his shop to pave the way for the construction of a skills acquisition centre, a constituency project sponsored by Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, who represented Osun Central Senatorial District at the Senate between 2019 and 2023. He is also a former Attorney General of Osun state.
Across the street in Awosuru in Alekuwodo area of Osogbo Local Government, Osun State, Is the abandoned Agriculture Entrepreneurship Centre, the pet project facilitated by Basiru, the former lawmaker representing Osun Central and current National Secretary of the All Progressive Congress, APC. This structure, once filled with dreams and aspirations, now remains in desolation, yearning for a purpose.
Just like yesterday, the lawmaker came to the people with cameras and a praise-singing crowd, to announce his pet project. Shop owners were asked to evacuate the space they had been using for over 15 years without a legal notice.
The panel beater is not the only one suddenly plunged into poverty after his shop was demolished to pave the way for a constituency project promoted by the Senator Basiru. However, despite the net negative impacts of the project on the community and businesses like Azeez, the project is not functioning, an example of waste associated with the constituency projects in Nigeria.
Waheed Adebayo preparing to pray in Awosuru , Osogbo
According to the people, their shops were demolished without a proper quit or eviction notice, which would have allowed them to look for another location. They told this reporter that the people who came to demolish their shops came to them a few days after the demolition and told them verbally that the government wanted to take over.
“A man from this school over there just came that month and told us the government needed their land. And the government came in the second month. We were not given notice but we were told and it was short. By the time they came, it was too late for us. And you know we also know it is government land.”
This is contrary to the provision of the Land Use Act of 1978, which stipulated that a legal process which includes serving a quit notice containing the date of evacuation in Nigeria. The governor also has the right to revoke land but in the state’s interest.
Section 44 of the Land Use Act 1978 also stipulates that a well-structured notice must be sent to the occupier or owner before further demolition. This Act also spells out that unless the Act is followed properly a revocation of the land by the governor can not occur.
Waheed wishes to own a new shop and make his business work again, but his only source of income has crashed. The sound in his voice depicts despair, as it continues to faint as he struggles to convince himself that he can have his business and good life again.
“I only made money from this business and since this happened, it has affected my business, lost so many customers, and nothing to take home or save again, I just keep praying to God, because I don’t even know,” he said as he was washing his feet with water in preparation to pray.
Section 44 of the Nigeria Constitution 1999 also provides that: “No moveable property or any interest in an immovable property shall be taken possession of compulsorily and no right over or interest in any such property shall be acquired compulsorily in any part of Nigeria except in the manner and for the purposes prescribed by a law.”
Residents, youth and young farmers who are also supposed to be the prime beneficiaries of this project hardly know the building, its purpose or benefited from this project.
Over four months, The Jurist visited the WAEC area of Awosuru in Osogbo, interviewed over 7 people whose businesses were removed and 15 people affected by the project, and reviewed documents showing how the project was awarded, initiated and its eventual abandonment.
Background
According to govspend.com, a 30 per cent mobilisation fee of ₦52. 3 million was released for the establishment of the entrepreneurship centre on October 16, 2021.Govspend.com is a platform that makes available timely information about government spending.
About six months later, on March 28, 2022, the balance 70 per cent of ₦113.4 million was released for the project, while the sum of ₦8.7 Million retention fee (retention is holding up of a certain amount by the government till work is fully done as specified during the contract agreement and award) was also released on November 2, 2022.
In total, the sum of ₦174,486,152.71 (One hundred and seventy-four million, four hundred and eighty-six thousand, one hundred and fifty-two naira, seventy-one kobo) was paid for the construction of the centre.
The project was awarded to J2 Standard Investment LTD, according to the document.
J2 Standard Investment Ltd was registered in ABUJA, Nigeria with Registration Number 891556 on June 8, 2010, and maintains an active status. The company, located at PLOT 96, MABUSHI, ABUJA, FCT, is under the directorship of Alade Jimoh (malam) and Misitura Alade.
Signage at the Agriculture Entrepreneurship Center in Awosuru, Osogbo Photo by Popoola Ademola The Jurist
The company is said to be actively engaging in “general merchandise, general contractors, suppliers, traders, marketers and wholesales, distribution of general goods, commission agents, manufacturers’ representatives, importers, exporters, to buy, sell, manufacture and deal in all articles, substances, products, commodities, appliances and things used or in connection with the company’s business” copy of the company’s description of activities on b2bhint.com.
The project was awarded through the Federal College of Agriculture, Moore Plantation, Ibadan and placed under the Ministry of Agriculture And Food Security in Osun State.
Awarding a construction contract to a contractor who doesn’t clearly state construction as part of his activities is a violation of the PP Act section 6, which necessitates the need to award contracts to only competent contractors with prior experience of the particular goods or services.
Section 16 (6) reads: All bidders in addition to requirements contained in any solicitation documents shall (a) possess the necessary (i) professional and technical qualifications to carry out particular procurements (ii) financial capability (iii) equipment and other relevant infrastructure (iv) shall have adequate personnel to perform the obligations of the procurement contracts.
However, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agricultural and Food Security in Osun State, Gbemisola Fayoyin, told The Jurist that the project was not handed over to the ministry.
Unfortunately, the multi-million naira project that was meant to help promote literacy in modern agricultural farming in the state has not been put to use since its completion.
The centre has now been covered with thick bushes that leave the surrounding area under threat of wide animals. Members of the community had to take up the responsibility of clearing the surroundings of the building in order to prevent it from breeding dangerous animals.
According to residents, it was constructed in 2022 within three to four months, but since completion remained locked up for over a year now.
The surroundings of the building did not only harbour bushes, but a brief peep inside it showed overgrown bushes occupying every space, standing all over like the humans that are meant to acquire skills at the centre.
The core benefit of the centre is to train youth and farmers in agricultural skills, ranging from livestock farming to organic farming, and from there, participants can be allowed to start their farming businesses. Unfortunately, no such activities have been conducted in the centre since completion, instead, it was locked and abandoned amidst the city.
This establishment is also meant to help sustain and improve the livelihood of youth and farmers in Osun State. That is to provide them with the opportunity to learn new skills in order to bring food to their table.
Another important benefit of the construction is to serve as a skill acquisition centre for the training of youth and farmers associations in Osun State and the immediate community.
Residents also believe that such a building with a modern structure would help them register and receive lectures comfortably without having to travel miles for such benefits. Unfortunately, their hope has been covered by bushes.
Inside the Skill Acquisition Center
Inappropriate location of the project
It would make sense to establish such a skills acquisition facility in an agrarian community, where the people are predominantly farmers, but the politician moved it to a residential area where it would be hard to find a farmer.
Remnant of Waheed Adebayo’s demolished workshop
The majority around these areas are traders and entrepreneurs. WACE junction, as the area is popularly called, is also known for offices of some government agencies, which includes the West African Examination Council (WAEC). Also found in the area are automobile mechanics and panel beaters like Waheed, whose shops or workshops were all destroyed because of the multi-million naira project.
When our reporter spoke with the traders, they all lamented the damages it has caused them and how their businesses have been affected. One of the mechanics, whose shop was also demolished, Ogundare Theophilus, said it was an unfair situation, but they had no power to question the government.
“All we know is that it is Government land but yet we think we should have had a proper notice and at least compensation or another recommendation or provision. But instead, they told us they are still coming back to even send us away from here too” Mr Theophilus said
Since their workshops were destroyed, for fear of losing their customers, those who could not get other means decided to settle beside the acquisition centre. But the fear that they might still be sent away crippled them. They all claimed that the contractor said they should not stand or settle where they are currently using because it is government property.
Needs assessments under the Nigeria Public Procurement Law
Additionally, the community said they were not consulted or knew anything in the process of establishing the centre in their area.
The Secretary to the community chairman of Isokan community, WAEC Office area, Awosuru, Tunde Fabode and a few other community members who spoke to this reporter said they don’t even know the purpose of the building, not to talk of being mindful of it.
“It just sprang up all of a sudden, no one was consulted or even knew anything about it, all we saw was that he (the lawmaker) came with people singing and dancing and later we saw the building. We don’t even know what it was for. It is just there.”
He further promised that the community would write a report to their local government since the reporter had brought it to their notice.
“ Thank you so much for this, we will write to our local governments about this and let them know that we were not consulted and don’t know anything about it, this will be done in our next meeting,” he concluded
“All we heard was that the government wanted to use it, but no one told us it is for this or that, if our leaders were consulted they know this will affect us and it is not even what we need around here,” said Anthony Adeagbo one of the affected tenant in the area of WAEC.
This can be regarded as evidence of poor needs assessments which justify the need to ensure that procurement of public utility goes in line with the interest of the public. This is solely to establish that public facilities are in the best interest and needs of the people and also to avoid such a case of abandonment witnessed in this story.
Under Nigeria’s Public Procurement Act 2007, needs assessments play a crucial role in the procurement process.
Section 18 of the Act reads: “Subject to regulations as may from time to time be made by the Bureau Under the direction of the Council, a procuring entity shall plan its procurement by :
(a) preparing the needs assessment and evaluation ;
(b) identifying the goods, works or services required ;
(c) carrying appropriate market and statistical surveys and on that basis prepare
an analysis of the cost implications of the proposed procurement ;
(d) aggregating its requirements whenever possible, both within the procuring
entity and between procuring entities, to obtain economy of scale and reduce
procurement cost ;
(e) integrating its procurement expenditure into its yearly budget ;
(f) prescribing any method for effecting the procurement subject to the
necessary approval under this Act; and
(g) ensuring that the procurement entity functions stipulated in this Section
shall be carried out by the Procurement Planning Committee
This section of the Public Procurement Act 2007 outlines the importance of conducting a needs assessment before embarking on any procurement process. It emphasises the need for government agencies and entities to thoroughly evaluate and establish their requirements before initiating the procurement of goods, services, or works.
Overall, Section 18 of the Nigeria Public Procurement Act 2007 emphasises the significance of a thorough needs assessment to ensure transparency, efficiency, and value for money in public procurement processes. This helps prevent the wastage of public funds and promotes fair competition among suppliers and contractors.
What the law says about demolition of property
According to Nigeria’s Land Use Act, 1978, or Regional Planning Laws, occupants are entitled to a legal notice prior to the time of demolition, whether the land was acquired legally or not. A demolition can only occur without notice when the property has become a public threat.
Part IV of the Land Use Act deals with existing interests in land before the coming into force of the Land Use Act. This deals with citizens who also processed land without proper documents. It gives them the right to a fair hearing at the court and ensures fairness in the adjudication of such.
This should include the right process of revocation.“The process of revocation of prior vested rights (customary, statutory, or even equitable rights) in the land” report.
This simply established that a court should declare the revocation and subsequent demolition.
The law allows affected individuals the time to make representations about any legal or equitable interest they have in the property in the principle of fair hearing and also gives them the appropriate time to look for alternatives.
Victims must be given opportunities to be notified appropriately with a court order for the demolition.
This has also been established in a recent report and comment by Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and some stakeholders in the construction industry. Mr Falana said the government should cease demolition of properties until it has followed the due process.
The SAN at the recent advocacy programme tagged “Building Collapse and Application for Punitive Law in Lagos State” said, “Unless a building is going to collapse the next morning, and so you need an emergency situation, then demolition can occur.”
According to these businessmen, they were leased the land by a government school around the premises over 15 years ago and have been paying their due to the school since then.
Waheed said he had built a fortune on his portion of land. He had a shop, a store and a private mosque where he used to pray.
After the demolition, most of the shop owners left while a few who could not get money to rent a new shop had to move their things just beside the building.
But for over a year now, no one has heard anything from the building. The residents said they guessed that the lawmaker was busy running around for his re-election and forgot the construction there.
Unutilised projects discouraging youth from farming
In 2022, the unemployment rate in Nigeria was estimated at 33 per cent. This figure was projected to be at 32.5 per cent in the preceding year.
Chronological data show that the unemployment rate in Nigeria has risen constantly in the past years. In the fourth quarter of 2020, over 33 per cent of the labour force was unemployed, according to the Nigerian methodology
Bhadmus Opeyemi is a graduate of the University of Ilorin. After his mandatory one-year postgraduate National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, and his unsuccessful efforts to get a good job in the country.
He decided to go into snail farming, but sadly he could not raise money to start the business.
Opeyemi said his burning passion and ambition for farming had died before, as he does not think there was any focus on the state agricultural sector. The graduate said he had not heard of any skill acquisition or benefit or empowerment program for the youth in farming or the adult farmers.
“Since I can’t get money to do it properly and I don’t want to be idle, I love farming. There was a time I wanted to start poultry farming but could not even raise money to get a penthouse for them and no benefit from the state, so I had to quit that ambition.”
“I am currently picking local snails around and rearing them, I get their food from things around, I learnt they have special food but I am incapacitated to even get them. The last time I even tried to see the AFAN chairman he was not around in his office”
“I just hope the state governments can see light in empowering the youth on agriculture”
Another young farmer in Ile Ife, Gilbert Adefisan who has been a poultry farmer for over 5 years recounted his loss which he estimated was over N1 million last year. The money he said he borrowed to enlarge his poultry business.
He blamed the government for not taking the farmers seriously despite the zeal and struggle of the young farmer.
“My prayer for you is that Nigeria should not happen to you, I just realized that no matter how you try to survive in this country, systems are willing to put you down, gathering wealth in this country is like sleeping on a lake of fire” Gilbert, the young farmer lamented.
Agricultural sector suffers in the state
Recently during a competition on the Agricultural Education Training Programme (AETP) organised for selected schools across Osun State, the Chairman of Osun SUBEB, Hon. Ibukun Fadipe emphasised the need to foster agricultural practices among the youth and students in order to encourage the best practices and participation.
The representative of UBEC at the programme, Mr Mustapha Omotoso, also stated that “it has become sacrosanct for all stakeholders to come together and work for the upliftment of agriculture”
But a more promising infrastructure (the abandoned skill acquisition centre) has rendered this prospect a retard achievement, as many youths that are in farming are already frustrated with the discouraging events that surround their farming business in Osun state.
Forty-three-year-old Olaoye Joshua started farming for the past seven years. Several times, he had applied to skill acquisition programs and similar opportunities to boost his only source of income, farming. Sadly, all opportunities seemed like a dream. He said he had to stop even attending the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) meeting when he realised it was futile.
“When I got here I decided to join them, and I used to go for the meeting at Biket, I don’t even know that building has been there because it had been closed up since then (talking about the skill acquisition centre). One thing I noticed was that they were not serious at the meeting and this was what stopped me from going there. I have not benefited from anything despite applying for many opportunities”.
The young farmer also explained his challenges in the farming business in which he said the government should help the young farmers as they Are recounting losses.
“There are a lot but just to mention a few, thefts, diseases outbreak, marketing and capital”
He said farmers also need to be empowered, which includes financial capacity, skill and mechanical.
“We need empowerment program, loans, grants and a market for our product”
Many of these farmers are unaware of the skill acquisition building in Awosuru or the benefit of such a project. When asked and told about it they were surprised. They all lamented that they need an empowerment program and mostly financial support to encourage them.
Mr. Egbedele Stephen said he sponsored his school with a farming business. He farmed for over 20 years before he finally stopped because of a lack of empowerment and finances.
“That’s why I said farming is a business that has to do with great faith, without having great faith you can not achieve anything in farming. I planted over five acres of maize and was destroyed by pests and weeds which I can’t get anything out of it”.
“And I think the government should empower real farmers, not paperwork farmers. Also, they should not use farming to do politics” he concluded.
All attempts to speak with the AFAN chairman, Kayode Afolabi, were denied. He refused to pick up calls, reply to text messages or attend to the journalist at his office, as his secretary insisted that he was not around.
Agency reaction
In a phone conversation, a man identified as Abimbade Abass, who spoke on behalf of the agency, Federal College of Agriculture Moore Plantation Ibadan, Oyo state, said the agency is a college but used to receive construction projects from the government and the exact project in this story was only placed under the school.
He further said the lawmaker is in charge of ensuring the utility of the project and not the agency.
“Yes we construct, we have a workshop, we have an engineering department and we fabricate for farmers. Like I said earlier, it is a constituency project. The senator that is in charge is supposed to know why the project has not been used,” Abimbade explained
“It is a constituency project and not a college project, the federal government just put it under the school, the only thing we can do now, the senator that is in charge, we can only invite him and ask him why, because they are calling us about it,” he concluded.
Ministry reaction
Speaking to the reporter in her office, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in Osun State, Mrs Gbemisola Fayoyin, said the multi-million naira skill acquisition centre is yet to be handed to the ministry and it has not been equipped for use.
“The project has not been handed over to the ministry properly, the project has not been equipped but by the time the government is settled we will equip it”
She further explained that the ministry also gets retarded because of lack of funds, because there is not enough for the State. She said there are plans to revive the sector but the limited resources hinder their plans.
“Agricultural ministry cuts across a lot of sections, but because of the paucity of funds, we have to plan and know what to do. There is a lot of planning currently going on in the state to boost the agricultural sector, the current governor gave the sector priority to, we are number four in the line of importance in this regime” Mrs Fayoyin said
“Agric is cut across so many parts, the youth, children, mother and the adult farmers. The rate at which things are inflated is also affecting us” she continues.
Stressing on the state’s planning, she said the ministry will be helping farmers in the off-season to plant vegetables and also sell them cheaply for the comfort of the people of the state.
“We are heading to the off-season, the state governments through the Nigerian women program are also trying to get some benefit for the women and mothers. It is a World Bank project and they are given projects and machines to use in farming. So for the off-season, we are trying to see what we can do for the vegetable farmers. But they are still in the planning stage” she said
“In the next couple of weeks, we will see what we can do to the vegetables so that they can be sold cheaply and produce good ones. These are part of the plan on the ground for now,” the PS concluded.
Project rots away because government fails to complete and equipit
A researcher in transparency and accountability in public procurement, Mr Charles Mbah, who spoke to The Jurist also lamented on the state of infrastructural projects in the state and Nigeria at large. He emphasised on delay in releasing funds for projects and its discouragement to the citizens.
“What we have seen in your story so far is one of the developing procurement concerns at the sub-national level where budget allocation/release of funds is made for, for instance, the construction of a facility in a certain fiscal year and citizens have to wait for another fiscal year before another allocation/release of funds is made for equipping the completed facility.”
He said it spread across projects taken up in the country.
“The issue is not just with zonal intervention projects attracted by lawmakers but also with projects included in the state budget. We have seen this a lot in the uptake of health facilities to provide health care services in states.” he continued. This issue is a very serious one that needs a lot of advocacy” he said
Mr Mbah further expressed that the situation led to a loss of the value of money which is the core benefit or importance of any procurement.
“The issue leads to huge loss in the value for money for the period when citizens have to wait before they utilise a facility that has been constructed because they are waiting for another fiscal year for monies to be allocated for the supply of equipment to furnish a facility that was completed in the previous year or years back”
He said abandonment of a project or waiting for funds to complete or equip a project should be discouraged as such has damaged a lost project while some projects became totally dead because of the situation.
“But this practice should be totally discouraged as it does not ensure value for money and could also contribute to the abandonment of projects,” he also concluded.
Lawmaker fails to respond
At the time of filing this report, the former lawmaker refused to respond to several calls, messages and chats. The reporter sent him SMS messages and another on his WhatsApp number in October which later indicated that it was read by the appearance of blue of the marked lines in the body of the message. Yet, the user refused to respond nor did the reporter get feedback from him.
Messages were also sent to his Twitter account while calls were put through but they all got no response.
The Jurist Newapaper also visited the office of the lawmaker in Ayetoro area of Osogbo but was told to come back in two weeks, even as the man who attended to the reporter said the National Secretary of the APC does not stay in Osogbo anymore but in Abuja.
This Investigation republished from The Jurist is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting.
Nine players from Nigerian senior women’s and men’s football teams – Super Falcons and Super Eagles – have won the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) overall best player award 19 times since the late Rashidi Yekini clinched it for the country in 1993, The ICIR reports.
The CAF launched the men’s awards in 1992 and the female awards in 2001.
Since 1992, the men’s category award has been held 29 times. It didn’t hold in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Similarly, the women’s category has taken place 21 times. It didn’t hold in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.
Since they were launched, the awards have been held 50 times.
A breakdown of the 19 awards won by Nigeria showed that four women won 13 while five men clinched six.
The four players who won the women’s category are Mercy Akide, who picked the first CAF overall best player award in 2001, followed by Perpetua Nkwocha, who won it four times in 2004, 2005, 2011 and 2012.
Also, Cynthia Uwak won it twice, in 2006 and 2007, while Asisat Oshoala claimed it six times in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2023.
In the men’s category, the late Rasheed Yekini emerged as the first Nigerian to win the CAF Best Player of the Year award in 1993, followed by Emmanuel Amuneke, who got it in 1994.
Two years later, in 1996, Kanu Nwankwo emerged as the winner. He stole the show again in 1999, which shows that within six years – 1993-1996, four of Nigeria’s senior men’s football players won the award.
Until Napoli striker Victor Osimhen won the award in Marrakech, Morocco, on Monday, December 11, Nigeria had never won the award in the male category since 1999. Osimhen was barely a year old when the country last won it.
Former Chelsea player Mikel Obi came close to picking the award in 2013 but finished second, losing to Cote d’Ivoire player Yaya Toure.
Trailing Nigeria on the awards haul is Cote D’Ivoire. The country’s men’s football teams have won seven of CAF’s best player awards but have not won in the women’s category.
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has approved the sacking and replacement of chief executive officers (CEOs) of agencies under the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, on Wednesday, December 13, the sack is consistent with the President’s resolve to establish international standards for consumer protection and the advancement of the welfare of Nigerian travellers and other industry players in Nigerian civil aviation.
According to Ngelale, the managing director (MD) of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Kabir Yusuf Mohammed, has been removed from office and replaced with Olubunmi Oluwaseun Kuku.
Also, the director-general of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Akinola Olateru, has been replaced with Alex Badeh Jr.
Tinubu appointed Umar Ahmed Farouk as the acting managing director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), succeeding Tayib Adetunji Odunowo, who was fired.
The sack also affects Mansur Bako Matazu, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) director-general, whom Charles Anosike has replaced as the substantive director-general.
Similarly, the rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Alkali Mahmud Modibbo, was removed and replaced by Joseph Shaka Imalighwe as the acting rector until a substantive rector is appointed.
Meanwhile, the director-general of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Musa Nuhu, was suspended from office to enable the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conduct an unfettered investigation into his activities and other senior officials of the agency.
Chris Najomo will assume office as the acting director-general of the NCAA immediately, according to the President.
Besides, Tinubu authorised the minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development to begin a thorough recruitment process for a substantive vice-chancellor and other key officials of the African Aviation and Aerospace University (AAAU).
The statement said the President expected the newly-appointed leaders to prioritise the well-being, security and convenience of Nigerians in line with his administration’s agenda.
DESPITE withdrawal limits on cash policy enforced by most commercial banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said N3.4 trillion in cash was in circulation in the country.
The CBN’s acting director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali, said this in a statement she issued in Abuja on Wednesday, December 13.
Sidi-Ali said: “There is indeed an increase in currency in circulation. From N1 trillion in February 2023, we have seen a rise to over N3.4 trillion as of December 11, 2023. This demonstrates that enough cash is available, but unfortunately, it’s not circulating due to apprehension among some individuals.”
“We empathise with the recent and past experiences of Nigerians. The CBN assures everyone that we have adequate cash to meet daily transaction needs, even during the upcoming festive season.”
She attributed the current cash crunch to some persons’ hoarding the naira due to challenges experienced during the naira redesign policy earlier in 2023.
She added that the CBN was monitoring the situation and had released sufficient cash to its branches nationwide for onward distribution to deposit money banks (DMBs).
Checks by The ICIR showed some point of sale (PoS) operators have resorted to sourcing cash from filling station pump attendants and market people as cash scarcity bites.
“Most of the commercial banks don’t give us the requested amount. They don’t give more than N50,000 even when we need up to N1,000,000 for our transactions. I have negotiated with some fuel pump attendants to buy cash for my business,” said Emeka Ekwenugo, a PoS operator in Kubwa, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Another PoS operator, Bassey Bissong, in Dutse, Bwari Area Council of the FCT, told The ICIR that he had resorted to charging higher for his transactions since commercial banks were rationing cash to consumers.
“I previously charged N200 for N10,000. Now I charge N400 for N10 000. For N20,000, I charge N700. We don’t get money easily. Sometimes, the automated teller machine (ATM) doesn’t pay you what you request. It’s a difficult time for us,” he said.
On November 27, The ICIRreported that the CBN was mopping up currency through its recent open market operations to control inflation. This could be linked to the current cash scarcity across the country.
THE Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions have demanded the dissolution of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) over its failure to recover the agency’s liabilities totalling N5 trillion.
The federal lawmakers made the demand when AMCON’s managing director, Ahmed Kuru, appeared before the committee on Wednesday, December 13, to defend the agency’s budget for the 2024 fiscal year.
At the budget defence in Abuja, Kuru told the lawmakers that AMCON recovered about N648 billion out of the agency’s total liabilities of N5 trillion as of September 20, 2023.
Some of the panel members thereafter expressed concern over the commission’s financial statements since the beginning of the year.
The lawmakers called for the dissolution of the asset-recovery organisation because its management was not proactive in recovering liabilities.
Some of the committee members who called for the commission’s dissolution are Sani Musa (APC Niger East), Jimoh Ibrahim (APC, Ondo South), Adamu Aliero (PDP, Kebbi Central) and Ifeanyi Ubah (APC, Anambra South).
In his remarks, the Senate Committee on Finance chairman, Sani Musa, expressed dissatisfaction with the commission’s performance.
“Most of the loans were owed by individual companies which were never sanctioned. At the end of the day, the same company would go back to buy back their assets that AMCON had hitherto taken over. Are we going to continue like this?
“It is not only about defending the budget; it is about seeing the effect of the appropriation. We need to know whether it is working. Or are we just creating a job for those we can’t protect?
He queried why AMCON should not be scrapped since it appeared to have lost its statutory mandate.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Tokunbo Abiru, further said AMCON must have a timeline to recover all the outstanding liabilities.
“The only challenge that we have today is that we need to have a definite time that all the obligations hanging on the throat of AMCON must be redeemed,” he said.
AMCON was set up by an Act of the National Assembly in July 2010 in the wake of the global financial meltdown of 2008-2010 and the systemic stress that swept through Nigeria’s financial system, with an initial intended lifespan of 10 years to buy the bad loans of the banks and avert bank failures.
THE Federal Executive Council (FEC) has exempted universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and other tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) payment platform.
The FEC also granted permission to the institutions to embark on recruitment without recourse to the Head of Service of the Federation.
Minister of Education Tahir Maman disclosed these on Wednesday, December 13, after the FEC meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Maman noted that the council had relieved the management of tertiary institutions of the burden of obtaining approval and waiver from the Office of the Head of Service for recruitment.
He said the decision was taken after appropriate consideration by the President and the council regarding the universities’ management efficiency.
“”he President cannot understand why vice-chancellors should leave their duty post and run to Abuja to get staff enlisted on IPPIS when they get recruited.
“The basic concern is that laws govern universities. And those laws give them autonomy in certain respects and most respects, and the IPPIS has sort of eroded that autonomy granted universities in accordance with their act,” the minister added.
The ICIRreports that enrolment on the IPPIS is one of the reasons the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had often been at daggers drawn and in perennial conflict with the Federal Government, leading to several strikes under the past administrations of former President Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.
The ASUU went on strike for 669 days during the Buhari administration, the highest number of days the lecturers had downed tools under any president since the nation returned to democracy in 1999.
The lecturers were demanding the implementation of an agreement the Federal government signed with them in 2009, which included the funding for infrastructure and research in the universities, use of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) in place of IPPIS, payment of outstanding arrears of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA).
Although the number of times the polytechnic lecturers embarked on strike during Buhari’s administration was lower than that of ASUU, The ICIR can confirm that ASUP went on strike in 2017, 2018/19, 2021, and 2022.
Meanwhile, in his reaction to the development, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammed Idris, said: “Today, the universities and other tertiary institutions have gotten a very big relief from the integrated personnel payroll and information system. You will recall that the university authorities and the others have been clamouring for the exemption of the universities and other tertiary institutions from this system.
“Today, the council has graciously approved that. What that means is that going forward, the universities like the Honorable Minister of Education has said, and other tertiary institutions, the polytechnics and colleges of education will be taken off the IPPIS.”
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared the former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, wanted over an alleged $6 billion fraud.
The anti-graft agency announced this on Wednesday, December 13, on its official website in a statement signed by its spokesman, Dele Oyewale.
In the statement, EFCC appealed to Nigerians with useful information about the former minister’s whereabouts to report to the nearest Police station or the anti-graft agency’s zonal office.
“Anybody with useful information as to his whereabouts should please contact the commission in its Benin, Kaduna, Ibadan, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Mardi, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Uyo, Port Harcourt, and Abuja offices or contact 08093322644 or email info@efcc.gov.ng or the nearest Police station and any other security agencies,” it declared.
EFCC’s statement declaring Agunloye wanted on Wednesday, December 2023.
Agunloye, who served under the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2003, had earlier been quizzed by the EFCC.
In September this year, Obasanjo accused the former minister of mismanaging the Mambilla power project during his tenure and alleged that Agunloye fraudulently awarded the project contract without the approval of the Federal Executive Council.
Initially awarded in 2003 to Sunrise Power and Transmission Limited, the proposed 3,050-megawatt plant in Mambilla, Taraba State, is expected to be the largest power-generating installation in Nigeria and one of Africa’s largest hydroelectric power stations.
However, the project has been the subject of decades of legal dispute between the company and the Nigerian government.
In 2008, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who succeeded Obasanjo, terminated the project.
In November 2022, The ICIR, in one of its reports, stated that the EFCC launched an investigation into the project.
In his defence, Agunloye described Obasanjo’s accusation as baseless, false, and malicious, arguing that the former president was incorrect when he referred to the award to Sunrise simply as a $6 billion contract (about N800 billion in 2003).
Agunloye said the project was a build, operate and transfer (BOT) contract in which the Federal Government did not need to pay any amount to the contractor, Messrs Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (Sunrise).
“As a matter of fact, Sunrise has not been paid a single naira or dollar by the FGN (Federal Government of Nigeria) from 2000 till date (14/9/23),” Agunloye was quoted to have argued.
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has sworn in the chairmen of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Musa Aliyu and Tunji Olaopa, respectively.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Ajuri Ngelale said this in a statement on Wednesday, December 13.
The ICIR reports that Aliyu served as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Jigawa state from 2019 to 2023. He holds Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees in Law.
Tinubu appointed him as ICPC chairman on October 16, 2023, but the appointment was subject to confirmation by the Senate.
“The new chairman of the ICPC is nominated for confirmation by the Nigerian Senate, following the President’s approval of the outgoing chairman’s request to proceed on pre-end of tenure leave beginning on November 4, 2023, ahead of the expiration of his tenure on February 3, 2024,” a statement by Ngelale on Aliyu’s appointment had read.
The FCSC chairman, Olaopa, is a professor and former federal permanent secretary who served as permanent secretary across five ministries.
The swearing-in was carried out in the Council Chambers of the State House in Abuja shortly before Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
Eleven other members of the FCSC, representing various states across Nigeria, were also sworn in during the event.
They include Dauda Jalo representing Adamawa, Gombe, and Taraba, Obong Eyoma, Akwa-Ibom and Cross River; Chamberlain Nwele, Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu; Sarah Sosan representing Lagos and Ogun and Festus Oyebade for Osun and Oyo.
Others are Adamu Hussein representing Niger and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Aminu Nabegu, Jigawa and Kano; Rufus Godwins, for Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa; Odekunle Aduke, Kogi and Kwara; Shehu Aliyu, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara and Hindatu Abdullahi representing Kaduna and Katsina.
