The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has faulted the Council of States’ decision to grant state pardon to the former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye and ex-Governor Jolly Nyame of Taraba State, who were both imprisoned for stealing public funds entrusted in their care to the tune of N1.16bn and N1.6bn respectively and other sundry offences bordering on corruption.
The recent announcement by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, that the Council of States has endorsed the granting of clemency, pardon and prerogative of mercy to 159 out of 162 applications presented to it for consideration among whom are the former governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, and former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, came as a surprise to us. We have always used these two convicted ex-Governors as a reference point for the seriousness of this administration’s war against corruption but since they have now been left off the hook, the whole anti-corruption stance of this administration has been messed up, botched and turned into a huge joke.
We are also conversant with the recent corruption cases that were determined by various courts of competent jurisdiction whose judgments we find amusing considering the humongous amount of money involved and the punishments imposed on these offenders. In some cases, part of the money they were accused of stealing was returned to them while some were handed minimum jail terms even with the option of fines.
We can mention the case of John Yakubu, a former Federal Director of Pensions, who was sentenced to six years imprisonment. Yakubu was imprisoned in 2018 by the Abuja Court of Appeal for defrauding the Federal Government of N22.9bn Police Pension Fund. Recently, The Supreme Court of Nigeria upheld the 2018 decision of the Court of Appeal which sentenced him and also ordered him to refund N22.9bn to the Federal Government. Going by the huge amount of money involved in this case we would have thought he would bag a longer jail term but he was lucky to bag just six years.
The case of Abdulrasheed Maina, a former chairperson of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), is another interesting one. The Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced Maina, to eight years’ imprisonment for money laundering offences involving N2billion in pension funds. The judge, Okon Abang, jailed Mr Maina after convicting him and his company, Common Input Property and Investment Ltd, on all the 12 counts filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The judge sentenced Mr Maina to various jail terms ranging from three to eight years, which are to run concurrently. It implies that Mr Maina will spend the longest sentence which is eight years in jail. Justice Abang stressed that though the law made provision for a maximum sentence of 14 years, he said he was moved by Maina’s plea for mercy. This is another case of a criminal that deserves maximum sentencing but was lucky to bag eight years.
The case involving Andrew Yakubu, a former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is another one that must be mentioned. The Federal High Court in Abuja, recently discharged and acquitted Andrew Yakubu of fraud relating to $9.8 million seized from his home in 2017. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), acting on a tip-off in 2017, stormed Mr Yakubu’s residence at the Sabon Tasha area of Kaduna State and found $9,772, 800 and £74,000 in a safe.
The commission arraigned him before Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on March 16, 2017, on six counts of money laundering and other offences. The trial court struck out two of the counts. Dissatisfied with the refusal of the court to dismiss all the counts, Mr Yakubu had further appealed at the Court of Appeal. But the Court of Appeal, ruling on a no-case submission filed by the former NNPC boss, struck down the charges to counts 3 and 4, which border on money laundering offences.
The judge agreed with Mr Yakubu’s defence that the funds were received as gifts in aggregate form and not as a “whole” that could have offended the Money Laundering Prohibition Act of 2011. Mr Mohammed dismissed the EFCC’s argument that the funds were proceeds of crime because they did not go through a financial institution. As a result, the judge ordered the immediate refund of the confiscated sum of $9,772, 800 and £74, 000 to Mr Yakubu. Although, this case may have been lost by the EFCC due to lack of diligent prosecution, the trajectory of most of the high profile corruption cases shows that they are either lost at the courts, or the accused bagging minimum sentencing, lost due to technicalities or granted state pardon even after being found guilty and convicted.
All these are very sad developments for the anti-corruption war, our nation cannot make progress with situations like these. If indeed the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy saddled with the responsibility of visiting the country’s correctional facilities and making recommendations to the President on the exercise of his power of mercy and compassion, to either grant pardon to those that had been convicted, clemency, or some other form of concessions by way of reduction in sentence and term recommended these sets of corrupt politicians for state pardon, we would have expected the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption (PACAC) established in August 2015, with the mandate to promote the reform agenda of the government on the anti-corruption effort, and to advise the present administration in the prosecution of the war against corruption, to counter that move and advise the president against such move.
Prior to this, we were thinking that the sentencing of Cecilia Ibru, Lucky Igbinedion, Tafa Balogun and the rest of them were too little and a mere slap on the wrist, the present one is like a reward for committing corruption crime and a disincentive for the fight against corruption by civil society organizations who are using their hard earned personal money to struggle to expose corruption, report corruption and advocate for the prosecution of corrupt elements and after that is done, somebody somewhere will just recommend them for forgiveness and they would be told to “go and sin no more”. That means that others that are presently serving different jail terms should also be looking forward to state pardon. It is even better for the federal government to throw open the gates of the Correctional Centres because there is no point in detaining petty thieves while mega thieves are being left off the hook. Moreover, these are people that will go to the field, contest elections and win since they already have the wherewithal to buy their way through and once somebody is corrupt, he’s always corrupt and will want to corrupt anything and anybody s/he may come across. It is disservice to the socio-political development of the country. As CACOL, our main concern remains a total commitment and unrepentant avowal to find, name, nail, shame and shun corrupt leaders anywhere, everywhere! Merciless corruption criminals don’t deserve states’ mercy. Anyone who shows mercy to confirmed criminals is complicit in criminality. Whoever is good enough to commit crimes must be good enough to serve the term.
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has condemned the recent attack on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line.
In a press release, issued by the anti-graft organization’s Director of Administration and Programmes, Tola Oresanwo, the Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran said, “It will be recalled that eight passengers have died after gunmen attacked a busy train between the Nation’s capital, Abuja, and Kaduna city. The gang mined the track forcing the train, carrying 970 passengers, to a stop on Monday evening. Gunmen subsequently surrounded the carriages and opened fire. An unknown number of passengers were abducted from the train, considered the safest way to get between the cities”.
The Abuja-Kaduna highway is one of the most dangerous roads in the country as kidnappers have been known to have ambushed vehicles at several points along the expressway. Over the last few years this has pushed many to avoid the 150km (93-mile) journey by road instead opting for the rail link, which opened in 2016. It is more expensive but considered safer as the trains have armed guards on board.
The recent attack on the rail line underscores the level of insecurity in the country. We cannot forget in a hurry how the security of the Kaduna Airport was also breached and an attempt was made to attack the Airport. The recent happenings are new dimensions being added to the already battered security system in the country, and has raised so many questions looking for answers.
We at CACOL would like to know “What has happened to the security votes of the states along that railway corridor? Nigerians would want to know how the governors of those states have applied the money allocated for security to security in their respective states. Have they set up local intelligence-gathering system to work with local vigilance groups with the view to supplying usable information to the security agencies to abort sinister plans of terrorists before they become emergency? The Governor of Kaduna State is supposed to be the Chief Security Officer of the State, and as long as he cannot guarantee the security of lives and properties of the people, it means he could not be entrusted with the security and welfare of citizens of the state. That means that people’s lives and livelihoods have been exposed to jeopardy ab initio. And if we have to take Mr. El-Rufai by his words before becoming the governor, it means he, like many other governors in the country, has demonstrated crass incompetence in administering the state. As long as Gov El-Rufai has confessed to know where the terrorists were camping he should route them out by any means possible, including hiring mercenaries as he has threatened. Nigerians will stand by him and against anyone, agency or institution that tries to constitute a clog in the wheel of his progress. But if he merely keeps lamenting, engaging in self-pity and does nothing about the debilitating situation, Nigerians will not pity him. It only shows he is unable to carry out his statutory duties and he didn’t raise the alarm long before the tragedy happened, the next honourable thing he would have to do is throw in the towel”.
“The situation also throws up the question: What happened to the annual huge budgetary allocation for military, paramilitary and other security and defence agencies at the federal levels? if Kaduna state that’s the repository of national security and defence headquarters could easily be placed under siege by rag-tag army of terrorists The President, being the Commander-in-Chief of armed forces should justify his continued stay in office or be legally dealt with if he should fail to account for the humongous amount that such sectors have consumed and nobody has been punished for its misappropriation, misapplication or mismanagement. At a point like this, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum should let Nigerians know how much security of life and property they apply the unaccounted, monstrous ‘Security Votes’ they allocate to themselves is able to take care of and what gaps need to be filled by the federal government. They should take responsibility for the duties they swore to carry out as the chief security officers in charge of their respective states. The governors cannot continue to claim that they are not in charge of their state’s security but collect so much money that makes no impact on the lives of the citizens. The joint security and defence system should be more pro-active than reactive in their operations. They should take the battle to the bases of the terrorists rather than waiting for them to cause irreparable damage before making usually futile efforts towards tracking them down. Also, Nigerians would want to see those arrested in connection with terrorist activities maximally punished for their crimes to deter others”.
“The Minister of transportation also needs to tell the good people of this country at what point did he make the request for the security gadgets needed for the rail line security. Was it made part of the original plan for the rail lines or mere afterthought? He should also tell us who disapproved or unnecessarily delayed or prevented the requisition from scaling through before the tragedy struck. Otherwise, he should apologize to Nigerians for lacking foresight and courage to perform the duties entrusted to him or resign from the cabinet”.
The practice of allocating a humongous chunk of state resources to security votes or whatever name they choose to call it, by federal, states and local governments in the country is an open day robbery and a carry-over effect of military incursion into power. We have always maintained that any money not appropriated for by the National Assembly, states’ legislature or local governments’ equivalent of it, or appropriated for but not judiciously accounted for by the respective Administrative arm of government is simply misappropriation of public funds.
The CACOL Boss adds, “As much as we agree that security matters of any nation or its component states are a very sensitive and strategic issue that should be handled with tact and panache, we urge all stakeholders within the security apparatai to take necessary steps to find a lasting solution to this needles waste of life. We cannot continue to expose people to this unending carnage and still be allocating billions of Naira to defence and security. This is completely outrageous, insensitive and alien to the letter and spirit of democracy and its kernel of social contract theme that presupposes that those in government only serve as custodians of power bestowed by the electorate, who ultimately, remain the custodians of this sacred sovereignty. We therefore, call on the government to bring the perpetrators of this dastardly act to book while not sparing those who have been doing a thankless job of collecting money to provide security for the entire country with very little or nothing to show for the humongous amount of money collected over the years.”
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL has condemned in strong terms the attack by some assailants of the Chairman of Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) , Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju and his wife at their Lagos home.
In a release issued by CACOL and signed by Tola Oresanwo, the anti-corruption organization’s Director, Administration and Programmes on behalf of its Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he stated, “We received the sad news of the attack of the Chairman of HEDA, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju and his wife by gunmen numbering five with great shock. The fact that the gunmen at about 2:15am on Monday invaded only Suraju’s residence out of other 220 buildings in the estate is suspicious and a pointer to the fact that they may not be ordinary armed robber but may have been sent to carry out the dastardly act by some group of people who are enemies of truth”.
“We learnt that the assailants who were heavily armed with guns, knives, and other dangerous weapons also threatened to kill Mr. Suraju, physically hit him and his wife both of whom had to be hospitalised.
The assailants who were caught on CCTV camera invaded Mr. Suraju’s home in Lagos at around 2:15 am on Monday, 28th March 2022, breached the Estate’s Security and burgled the security features in his house with sophisticated tools. Currently, both the intent and the extent of the damage cannot be fully estimated yet”.
“This underscores the height that insecurity has reached in the country especially when this can happen in an estate with adequate security apparatus. We therefore condemn this attack in its entirety; we consider it as an attack on the truth, a major blow on whistleblowing endeavours in Nigeria and an irreparable loss to the anti-corruption activism in the country which is capable of reducing the rating of Nigeria’s seriousness in terms of anti-corruption within the comity of nations”.
The Chairman further remarked, “We are still amazed at the manner of desperation that could warrant this kind of attack on the personality of someone who has been on the forefront of anticorruption and whistle blowing in the country. It only goes to show how shameless and conscienceless many have fallen in their nefarious acts. We believe the Police will rise to the occasion by investigating this case and bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to book and hope such elements would desist from their evil ways before they inevitably meet with their nemesis.”
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has hailed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for arresting former Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos. He was reportedly on his way out of the country to Houston, Texas in the United States after handing over to his successor, Governor Charles Soludo. It was reported last November that the EFCC had placed Mr Obiano on a watchlist. The EFCC had requested the Nigeria Immigration Service to inform it anytime the Governor is travelling out of the country from any of the international airports, as well as other points of entry and exit.
In a release issued by the organization’s Director of Administration and Programmes Tola Oresanwo on behalf of its Chairman, Comrade Debo Adeniran, he noted, “Corruption allegations are weighty issues that must never be handled with kid’s gloves or trivialized at any rate, especially when it involves people we have placed in trust of our commonwealth, for administrative, economic and security of lives and properties of the citizenry. If you look at this particular matter that involves Mr. Willie Obiano, you will notice that he had been under EFCC watchlist for some time and it was not a surprise to hear that immediately after the swearing in of the new governor, he made his way towards the Airport with a view to jet out of the country.”
“We would like to commend the EFCC for this intuitive action carried out to prevent the Ex-Governor from evading justice as we believe this singular action will deter others with transient immunity from committing or engaging in corruption while in office knowing fully well that they shall be called upon to give account of their stewardship whenever their tenure expires”.
“Without prejudice to the investigation and prosecution that will eventually follow this episode, CACOL wishes to reiterate the popular adage within legal circle that, ‘he who comes to equity must come with clean hands’, we expect the EFCC not to leave any stone unturned in couching charges against the former governor since it is presumed that his investigation would have been concluded before the end of his tenure. The least we expect is that since he cannot be charged this weekend, we expect that first thing Monday morning he would find himself face to face with the law and we expect EFCC to expedite action in ensuring that there is diligent prosecution with a view to getting an adequate penalty on conviction.”
“If tracking and averting corruption is usually better than detecting and applying necessary sanction as a deterrent, anywhere in the world, the situation is actually truer here; this is why we have appealed to the federal government to set up special courts for trial of Corruption cases, especially the ones involving Government officials, strengthening of existing laws towards ensuring that no corrupt official gets away with looting or misapplication of our collective wealth, under any technicalities or manipulations”.
The CACOL Boss added “based on all our past experiences, only very few governors have been exonerated or have come out without corruption baggages after their tenure of office. On this note, we believe that it is not out of place to presume any outgoing governor corrupt until he is able to prove otherwise, without prejudice to all evidence and witnesses that EFCC could have gathered against him before he was arrested”.
“We would also suggest that anti-corruption agencies should set up a full-fledged investigative unit that would oversee the activities of all elected officials that are enjoying immunity while their tenure lasts and this includes President, Vice President and their families, Governors, deputy governors and their families etc. There should be a particular unit that will follow up every step they take that involves expenditure. That would help them to make prompt arrest and quick prosecution of such officials when their tenure lapses.”
“It is therefore incumbent on the anti-graft agencies to intensify their commendable efforts in tracking, investigation, arraignment and effective prosecution of all corrupt officials to avert a situation whereby the court would be left with no other choice than to order the release of a known corrupt public official for lack of diligent prosecution or perpetual detention without trial”.
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has taken a swipe at the members of the National Assembly for voting against gender bills in the constitutional amendment process.
In a release issued by CACOL and signed by Tola Oresanwo, the anti-corruption organization’s Director of administration and programmes on behalf of its Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he stated, “CACOL as an anti-corruption and transparency in leadership organization received with rude shock and embarrassment, the news that members of the National Assembly voted against gender bills in the constitutional amendment process. We found it funny that the national assembly voted against bills seeking to give women more opportunities in leadership and governance at this age of our national life. Their action has sparked a protest by some women at the national assembly, who accused the lawmakers of bias. Similarly, Pauline Tallen, Minister of women affairs, said the male lawmakers who voted against the gender bills have no respect for women.”
“We are aware that when it comes to voting, more women vote than men and we believe that the quality of leadership in the country will not change if the scope of selection is not widened to accommodate more youths and women. We believed that setting aside 35 percent of the elective positions for women would have made a lot of sense because right now, the level of underrepresentation of women in key positions and decision making is alarming. Even at political party level, women should not be given only the position of women leader while all other positions are occupied by men”.
Although at our own level we believe that the bill would have been differently couched so that it will not give unintended meaning to the user either today or in future. Instead of ‘Gender parity’ or ‘Gender equality’ gender equity would have been more appropriate because it may be very difficult to achieve gender parity or gender equality but if we use ‘gender equity’ it will make a lot of sense to several people. Also, instead of ‘Gender balancing’, ‘Gender justice’ ought to have been used.
“We are of the opinion that affirmative actions should be limited to appointive positions rather than elective. The polity should not insist on affirmative actions for elective positions because if there are no candidates of a particular gender contesting, you can’t force people of that gender to contest elections but it is easier to apply it for appointive positions. We must also encourage political parties generally to encourage gender affirmative actions, meaning that there should be significant motivations for all genders to contest elections just like the different demography that exist within the parties. It will not be right to insist that if a political party does not have 30 percent or does not succeed in having the percentage stipulated for different gender the party cannot contest election.”
“It is against this background that CACOL has come out to seriously frown at the action of those lawmakers who threw the gender bills overboard without considering the effects on the psyche of our womenfolk in particular and the nation in general. The contributions of some notable women like Dr. Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, late Prof. Dora Akunyili to mention a few to the development of the country cannot be easily overlooked. By voting against this bill, these set of lawmakers are inadvertently denying the country of more capable hands of womenfolk who can contribute positively to the greatness of our nation”.
“Clearly, Nigerians would be shortchanged and greater harm would be done to the country by denying us the opportunity of allowing more competent and capable womenfolk to serve their fatherland in various capacities. We have reduced women only to the role of the voters, who are only relevant for the purposes of election. It is quite unfortunate that this is coming at a time when many other countries, even in the African region, are opening up their political space for more women participation”.
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has thrown its weight behind the Nigerian Senate bid to investigate the abandoned N400 billion naira National Primary Health Centre Project initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo across the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria.
In a release issued by CACOL and signed by Tola Oresanwo, the anti-corruption organization’s Director of Administration and Programmes, on behalf of its Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he stated, “We welcome the decision by the Senate of the Nigerian legislature to investigate the abandoned National Primary Health Centre project initiated by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo”.
The resolution was reached on Wednesday during plenary by the Senate after it considered a motion to that effect. The motion, “Need to investigate the abandoned Four Hundred Billion Naira National Primary Health Center Project”, was sponsored by Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe (Kwara Central).
Senator Oloriegbe, in his presentation, noted that the National Primary Health Center project was initiated by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006. According to the lawmaker, the project was to build in each of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, a sixty (60) bed Primary Health Center to be complemented with a three-bedroom flat, doctor’s quarters, an ambulance, all basic hospital equipment and drugs.
The CACOL Boss stated that “It is a known fact that primary health care, as important as it is, is lacking in most parts of the country, especially the rural areas. According to UNICEF, over the past five years, infant and under-five mortality rates have remained steady in Nigeria, at 74 and 117 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively. At these mortality levels, one Nigerian child of every 13 born dies before reaching age 1, and one in every eight does not survive to their fifth birthday. This is an alarming statistics that could have been remedied if these Primary Health Care Centres were functioning in all the 774 local government areas in the country”.
“This action by the Senate is no doubt in line with our previous calls for a probe of all abandoned projects that litter the nooks and crannies of the country. The irony of this situation is that the contract for the project was awarded during the administration of Former President Olusegun Obasanjo whose administration coincidentally created most of the anti-corruption agencies in the country.
The CACOL Boss further enthused, “we at CACOL commend the Senate for this bold step. It is indeed a step in the right direction and we want them to make the report of their findings public so that every Nigerian will know what went wrong with the money allocated for this project and anyone found wanton in the award, implementation and execution of the project should be made to face the full wrath of the law to serve as deterrent to others. We also use this medium to call for stronger legislation, strategies and mechanisms that will ensure efficient project monitoring and implementation across the country”.
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has commended the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for extending a hand of support for two out-of-school girls in the state. The organization however implore him to put all machinery in motion to give effect to the Child Right Act that the state has domesticated more than a decade ago, noting that if it had been earlier implemented there wouldn’t be any need for him to stop his convoy to appraise out-of-school children that he found by the road side.
In a release issued by CACOL’s Director of Administration and Programmes, Tola Oresanwo, on behalf of the Chairman of the Centre, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he noted, “We observed the interest shown by the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the plight of two out-of-school girls in the state”
“It would be recalled that the media reported that on his way to an official function recently, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu momentarily halted his convoy to attend to a disturbing situation. It was a sight of two underage girls on an errand for a bean cake vendor during school hours. The girls were expected to be in school. But, both Amarachi Chinedu, 9, and Suwebat Husseini, 12, were forced to skip school by their parents in order to serve some domestic assistance”.
The girls were going to deliver buckets of peeled beans and pepper to a grinder when the Governor sighted them at Anthony Village area. It was a glance that presented a discomforting image for Sanwo-Olu, who revved his convoy to a stop to find out the reason the girls were not in school.
Amarachi’s story left the Governor to shudder throughout the encounter. Her mother is a teacher, but the nine-year-old was not allowed to go to school because her parents could not afford the current session’s tuition fees. Amarachi would have to miss a school year because of this reason.
Suwebat’s mother is the bean cake seller for whom the girls were running an errand. Her parents, who are Jigawa State indigenes, relocated to Lagos months back. Suwebat’s four male siblings were all in school at the time she was stopped on the road by the Governor. But her parents preferred she stayed back home to help with some domestic chores.
The decisions taken by these girls’ parents, Sanwo-Olu said, “could rob the little ones of their innocence, their future and put them at a disadvantage among their peers”. The Governor stressed that his encounter with the girls left his heart bleeding.
Salvaging the situation, Sanwo-Olu, at the scene, told the girls he would personally take up the responsibility for their education and upbringing, promising to enrol them in school to continue with their education.
The anti-corruption Czar said “We will like to commend Governor Sanwo-Olu for taking this bold step aimed at returning these out-of-school girls to school. We believe there are many Amarachis and Suwebats out there who are not that lucky to encounter the Governor. To this set of children something drastic ought to be done to save them from the scourge of illiteracy.”
We also believe that if the Child Rights Acts which Lagos state has domesticated since more than a decade ago is fully implemented there wouldn’t have been any out-of-school child in the state because it would have been an offence for parents to engage their children in economic activities or for any child to roam the streets during school hours.
The CACOL Boss added, “.Section 15 sub section 1 of the Act stated that Every child has the right to free, compulsory and universal basic education and it shall be the duty of the Government in Nigeria to provide such education. Subsection (2) stated that every parent or guardian shall ensure that his child or ward attends and completes his primary and junior secondary education. Subsection (6) of the Act stipulated appropriate punishments for a parent, guardian or person who has care and custody of a child and fails in the duty imposed on him under subsection (2) of this section.
“We hope the state government would look into the implementation of this Act and all the needed financial, human and material resources would be put in place in order for the dictates of the Act to be fully implemented and thereby sow a good seed in the educational sector of the state by reducing the population of out-of-school children to the barest minimum”.
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has commended the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for extending a hand of support for two out-of-school girls in the state. The organization however implore him to put all machinery in motion to give effect to the Child Right Act that the state has domesticated more than a decade ago, noting that if it had been earlier implemented there wouldn’t be any need for him to stop his convoy to appraise out-of-school children that he found by the road side.
In a release issued by CACOL’s Director of Administration and Programmes, Tola Oresanwo, on behalf of the Chairman of the Centre, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he noted, “We observed the interest shown by the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the plight of two out-of-school girls in the state”
“It would be recalled that the media reported that on his way to an official function recently, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu momentarily halted his convoy to attend to a disturbing situation. It was a sight of two underage girls on an errand for a bean cake vendor during school hours. The girls were expected to be in school. But, both Amarachi Chinedu, 9, and Suwebat Husseini, 12, were forced to skip school by their parents in order to serve some domestic assistance”.
The girls were going to deliver buckets of peeled beans and pepper to a grinder when the Governor sighted them at Anthony Village area. It was a glance that presented a discomforting image for Sanwo-Olu, who revved his convoy to a stop to find out the reason the girls were not in school.
Amarachi’s story left the Governor to shudder throughout the encounter. Her mother is a teacher, but the nine-year-old was not allowed to go to school because her parents could not afford the current session’s tuition fees. Amarachi would have to miss a school year because of this reason.
Suwebat’s mother is the bean cake seller for whom the girls were running an errand. Her parents, who are Jigawa State indigenes, relocated to Lagos months back. Suwebat’s four male siblings were all in school at the time she was stopped on the road by the Governor. But her parents preferred she stayed back home to help with some domestic chores.
The decisions taken by these girls’ parents, Sanwo-Olu said, “could rob the little ones of their innocence, their future and put them at a disadvantage among their peers”. The Governor stressed that his encounter with the girls left his heart bleeding.
Salvaging the situation, Sanwo-Olu, at the scene, told the girls he would personally take up the responsibility for their education and upbringing, promising to enrol them in school to continue with their education.
The anti-corruption Czar said “We will like to commend Governor Sanwo-Olu for taking this bold step aimed at returning these out-of-school girls to school. We believe there are many Amarachis and Suwebats out there who are not that lucky to encounter the Governor. To this set of children something drastic ought to be done to save them from the scourge of illiteracy.”
We also believe that if the Child Rights Acts which Lagos state has domesticated since more than a decade ago is fully implemented there wouldn’t have been any out-of-school child in the state because it would have been an offence for parents to engage their children in economic activities or for any child to roam the streets during school hours.
The CACOL Boss added, “.Section 15 sub section 1 of the Act stated that Every child has the right to free, compulsory and universal basic education and it shall be the duty of the Government in Nigeria to provide such education. Subsection (2) stated that every parent or guardian shall ensure that his child or ward attends and completes his primary and junior secondary education. Subsection (6) of the Act stipulated appropriate punishments for a parent, guardian or person who has care and custody of a child and fails in the duty imposed on him under subsection (2) of this section.
“We hope the state government would look into the implementation of this Act and all the needed financial, human and material resources would be put in place in order for the dictates of the Act to be fully implemented and thereby sow a good seed in the educational sector of the state by reducing the population of out-of-school children to the barest minimum”.
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has thrown its weight behind the move by the House of Representative to investigate the alleged failure of the Nigeria Police Force to account for firearms totalling 178,459 as of January 2020.
In a release, issued by the Director of Administration and Programmes of the anti-graft organization, Tola Oresanwo on behalf of the Chairman, Comrade Debo Adeniran, noted, “It would be recalled that The House of Representatives has mandated its Ad hoc Committee on Arms to investigate alleged 178,459 arms reported to be missing by the Auditor-General of the Federation, Adolphus Aghughu”.
According to the 2019 audit report, the arms which include AK-47 rifles and other assorted rifles and pistols from different Police formations nationwide could not be accounted for by the Nigeria Police. The House resolved to probe the missing arms following a motion moved by the Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu), on Thursday, during plenary. Leading the debate, Mr Okechukwu lamented the poor record-keeping of the police on arms and ammunition. He said the missing arms could be connected with the spike in insecurity across the country.
Speaking in support of the motion, the Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), said the investigation will reveal a lot. He, however, argued that there is no need to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the matter, rather an existing committee investigating arms should be charged with the probe. Consequently, the committee investigating arms procurement chaired by Abubakar Fulata (APC, Jigawa), was charged with the investigation.
The Chairman of CACOL opined that “It is very unfortunate that the Nigeria Police Force has become a shadow of its former self as a result of maladministration of various funds budgeted for firearms, welfare, logistics and capacity building of the rank and file of the force over the years but which vanished into thin air This is a classic example of how much damage corruption and mismanagement of scarce resources have caused us as a nation and has made law enforcement a herculean task for the Force.”.
The issue of alleged missing firearms is just a tip of the iceberg, considering the monumental misappropriation going on in the circle of those saddled with the responsibility of carrying out various procurements for the Force. It is a known fact that the Police Force has been permanently incapacitated, disabled and rendered helpless majorly by the non-availability of firearms and the use of superior firearms by various enemies of the State which has deprived the Police of carrying out its primary duty of maintaining law and order within the country and also made the use of the Armed Forces inevitable even for internal security.
Concluding, Mr. Adeniran commended the House of Representative’s effort geared towards unraveling the whereabouts of the missing firearms and urged the Committee Members to carry out their duties without fear or favour and those found wanton should be made to face the full wrath of the law.
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has thrown its weight behind the Nigerian Senate in its bid to unravel the mystery surrounding the alleged N14.7bn proceeds of privatization of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) allegedly hidden in commercial banks by the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE).
In a release issued by CACOL and signed by Tola Oresanwo, the anti-corruption organization’s Director, Administration and Programmes on behalf of its Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he stated, “We received the news that the Senate Committee on Public Accounts has begun investigation of N14.7bn proceeds of privatization of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria allegedly hidden in commercial banks by the Bureau of Public Enterprise”.
It will be recalled that the committee acting on an audit query in the ‘Auditor-General for the Federation’s Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses Issues in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria for the Year Ended 31st December, 2019.’
The Acting Auditor-General of the Federation, Adolphus Aghughu, had presented the report to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Ojo Amos, on September 15, 2021, while the Senate and House Committees on Public Accounts began investigation of the queries.
The defunct government-owned National Electric Power Authority was privatized and renamed PHCN, which was later unbundled to become the present generation and distribution companies.
The query stated that the funds were still in the banks as of December 31, 2016, whereas the privatization of the PHCN had been concluded since 2013.
The query read in part, “Audit verification and reconciliation revealed that the sum of N14,720,396,432.43, being proceeds from the privatization exercise of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria was reported in the bureau’s trial balance to be in commercial bank accounts as at 31st December 2016. Whereas, the privatization of the PHCN was concluded in 2013, the proceeds are yet to be remitted to the Central Bank of Nigeria Privatization Proceeds Accounts”.
The anti-corruption Czar opined that “It is very funny that the money generated as far back as 2013 when the Privatization of PHCN was concluded is still hidden in some accounts in commercial banks despite government directive that all money generated by Ministries and MDAs should be deposited in the Treasury Single Account. This is an affront to the laid down rules as this could lead to revenue leakages and open the door for grand corruption with the said amount of money”.
The CACOL Boss further enthused, “We want to commend the Senate Public Accounts Committee for questioning the award of these contracts. The 1999 constitution of Nigeria generally vests the legislature with the power to make laws, although this responsibility is not limited to making laws as a lot of additional responsibility including that of oversight has also been placed upon the legislature. Oversight functions serve a variety of purposes among which are to keep the executive establishment responsible and accountable, to promote rationality and efficiency in the formulation and administration of public policy, among others. We want to believe that if the current trend by the senate committee is intensified and sustained with the cooperation of the various anti-corruption agencies in the country, stemming the tide of corruption in the various agencies and parastatals of government will not be a herculean task”.
You must be logged in to post a comment.