At least 13 per cent of Nigerian children risk growing up with mental deformity unless proper iodine is part of their nutrition, according to professor emeritus, Babatunde Oguntona, who calls on government to pay greater attention to public health.
L-R: Project Manager Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria, Mr. Okoronkwo Sunday; Junior Associate, Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network, Nigeria, Miss Ibiso Ivy King-Harry; Chairman of Occasion, Board of Trustee Member, Media Centre Against Child Malnutrition (MeCAM)/Past President Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Prof. Babatunde Oguntona; National Coordinator, MeCAM, Mr. Remmy Nweke; and Board Member MeCAM, Dr. Aminu Magashi Garba, during the One-Day Nutrition Symposium on Malnutrition, Child Development and the Media in Lagos
“If we don’t keep iodine level properly, we’ll have 13 per cent of Nigerian children mentally deformed,” Prof. Oguntona said at the weekend in Lagos at a one-day Nutrition Symposium on “Malnutrition, Child Development and the Media” organised by the Media Centre Against Child Malnutrition (MeCAM).
“Imagine 13 percent of parliamentarians mentally deformed. Inadequate iodine in our food is a serious threat. You can’t talk of development when you ignore the issue of nutrition status of your people,” he added, rapping the Nigerian authorities for their poor response to the threats of malnutrition.
Oguntona, a former president of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, said that between 13 and 18 Nigerians children die of malnutrition and related diseases every hour and called on the media to step up advocacy on the issue.
Ivy Ibiso KingHarry, an official of the Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network / Global Alliance on Improved Nutrition (GAIN), said the media have a duty to promote messages on nutrition as influencers and change agents. She added however that such media efforts must flow from proper understanding of the science of nutrition and effective delivery of messages in language understood by common people.
She urged reporters to always fact-check and scrutinise official data on malnutrition, be consistent and build trust in their duty as gatekeeper.
A media advocacy group against child malnutrition and well-being, MeCAM aims to strengthen the agro-nutrition capacity and interest of its members professionally in contribution to nation-building, especially in Nigeria and across the continent of Africa among developing countries of the world.
According to the promoters, MeCAM is committed to showcasing successful and development efforts in the area of agro-nutrition for the benefit of mankind and for Africa emancipation from extreme hunger especially in children, women and society, centred on Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Federal Government on Tuesday, August 8, 2017 applied to withdraw the case it instituted against seven commercial banks in the country, which were accused of violating the government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.
The Federal High Court in Lagos
Government had alleged that the banks connived with some government agencies to illegally hide in their coffers a total of $793,200,000, which was meant to have been transmitted to the TSA account domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The concerned banks are United Bank for Africa, Diamond Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, First Bank Limited, Fidelity Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Limited, and Sterling Bank Plc.
Justice Chuka Obiozor of the Federal High Court in Lagos had on July 20, 2017 granted an interim order in favour of the Federal Government, directing the seven banks to temporarily remit the funds to the TSA.
The court had then adjourned till Tuesday for the banks to appear before him to show cause why the interim order should not be made permanent.
But, at the resumed proceedings on Tuesday, counsel for the Federal Government, Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George (SAN), said he had been instructed by the Attorney General of the Federation to discontinue the case in the overall interest of the public.
“It is not out of weakness that the Federal Government is withdrawing this case. The banks are corporate citizens and we are interested in the well-being of everybody,” Akinseye-George said, urging Justice Obiozor to strike out the suit.
But the banks, which claimed that the Federation Government’s allegation against them was false and that they had already been unjustly disparaged, urged the judge not to merely strike out the suit but to dismiss it and award N20 million cost against the Federal Government.
They noted that any case struck out could be re-filed while a case that is dismissed could no longer be re-filed.
Counsel for the banks, including Mr. Seyi Sowemimo (SAN) and Mrs. Abimbola Akeredolu (SAN), took turn to argue that the proper order that the court ought to make in the circumstances of the case was to dismiss the suit and not strike it out.
Akeredolu, who represented Sterling Bank Plc, argued that, just like the rest of the counsel, the Federal Government decided to withdraw the case having realised that it was filed in error.
“My Lord should not allow the instrumentation of the law to be used as a vehicle of mischief. And nobody is above the law, even the Federal Government of Nigeria…We are praying the court make an order for a meagre cost of N10 million against the plaintiffs,” Akeredolu said.
Counsel for Keystone Bank Limited, Mr. Babatunde Ogungbamila, however, insisted on a cost of N20 million against the Federal Government, saying his client had suffered a substantial damage to its reputation.
“They have destroyed the reputation of our banking industry and they did this recklessly because the fundamental economic underpinning of this country was actually targeted,” Ogungbamila said.
But the Federal Government’s lawyer, Akinseye-George, countered them, arguing that the parties had yet to join issues because the Federal Government had yet to respond to the court processes filed by the banks.
He added that the Federal Government came to court early enough before the maturation of time for the court to arguments on the substantive suit.
Akinseye-George also argued that the banks were not entitled to any cost because they did not file any affidavit to particlurise the nature of the damage they claimed to have suffered.
He urged the court to discontenance their arguments and strike out the suit as prayed by the Federal Government, rather than dismiss it.
He said the suit was not being withdrawn because it lacked substance or was baseless but because it was in the overriding interest of the public to withdraw it.
After taking arguments from the parties, Justice Obiozor adjourned till August 9, 2017 for ruling on whether the case would be struck out or dismissed.
The Federal Government had in the suit alleged that total of $367.4 million was illegally hidden by three government agencies in UBA, while a sum of $41 million was illegally kept in a NAPIMS fixed deposit account with Skye Bank.
The court papers stated that $277.9 million was hidden in Diamond Bank; $18.9 million in First Bank; $24.5 million in Fidelity Bank; $17 million in Keystone Bank; and $46.5 million in Sterling Bank.
A lawyer from Akinseye-George’s law firm, Vincent Adodo, who deposed to a 15-paragraph affidavit in support of an ex parte application filed by the AGF, stated that seven banks colluded with Federal Government officials to hide the funds in breach of the government’s TSA policy.
The funds, he said, were revenues, donations, transfers, refunds, grants, taxes, fees, dues, tariffs etc accruable to the Federal Government from different ministries, departments, parastals and agencies.
Adodo said the banks had failed to remit the funds to the TSA domiciled in the CBN in violation of the guidelines issued by the Accountant General of the Federation which fixed September 15, 2015 as the deadline for such funds to be moved.
The Police on Tuesday, August 8, 2017 arraigned three men before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly defrauding the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, off the sum of N9.188 million.
Mr Mudashiru Obasa, Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly
The three men, Frank Nwokobia, 27, Ezeoke Kanayochukwu, 25, and Godwin Essien, 28, were arraign before Justice Chuka Obiozor, on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, impersonation, identity theft and fraud.
The three defendants, who were arrested at different locations in Delta State, according to the prosecutor, William Olu Ologun, had sometime in May 2017, hacked the Facebook account of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly and retrieved several information which they used in withdrawing the sum of N9.188 million from his account domiciled with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc.
He informed the court that the three defendants were arrested after the complainant petitioned the police that his Facebook account had been hacked and that the sum of N9.188 million had been withdrawn from his account by unknown individuals.
He also stated that, upon the arrest of the defendants, they voluntary made statement to the offence.
The offences, according to the prosecutor, are contrary to sections 27(1)(b) and 22(2)(b)(ii) of Cybercrimes Prohibition and Prevention Act, 2015.
The three defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Upon their not guilty pleas, their counsel, Mr. Ali Abba, pleaded the court to admit his clients bail in liberal terms.
Ali told the court that his clients have credible sureties, and that they will always attend court for their trial.
Ruling on the bail application, Justice Obiozor admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N5 million with one surety each.
The judge ordered that the surety who must be recommended by the defendants’ counsel must be resident of Lagos State, with landed property and three-year tax payment evidence.
The judge also stated that the court’s Deputy Chief Registrar (DCR) must verify the landed property title documents and tax papers.
Justice Obiozor also ordered that the three defendants be remanded in Ikoyi Prison pending the perfection of their bail conditions.
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) have agreed to work together in the areas of oil revenue savings and promotion of better attitude to public office.
Executive Secretary of NEITI, Waziri Adio
The agencies reached the agreement at separate meetings with NEITI Executive Secretary, Waziri Adio. The meetings focused on exploring areas of inter-agency mutual cooperation. Mr Adio explained that while the NSIA manages the Sovereign Wealth Fund derived from extractive revenues, the NOA leads national campaign for attitudinal change and ethical values in the country.
At the meeting with the management of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, the NEITI Executive Secretary expressed regrets that “our paltry oil savings defeat the rationale for having such savings in the first place. Nigeria does not have enough oil savings to finance even the fifth of a year’s budget at the federal level, not to talk of having enough for investments or for the future generation”.
The Occasional Paper recently released by NEITI, largely focused on the “Case for a Robust Oil Savings Fund for Nigeria”. In the publication, NEITI drew public attention to the fact that Nigeria failed to save enough oil revenues to sustain economic activities when oil prices were quite high.
According to the paper, “also problematic is the level of consumption relative to non-oil exports. Nigeria typically responds to high oil prices with equally high but manifestly unsustainable level of consumption. The absence of sufficient savings left Nigeria severely exposed when the price of oil, Nigeria’s main source of government revenues and foreign exchange, started to plunge in 2014”.
The researched publication largely touched on the work of NSIA, the managers of Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund. The Executive Secretary however explained to the management of NSIA that NEITI’s decision to alert the nation on the need to save for the rainy day through that publication was informed by the need for the country to prepare adequately for frequent price volatility, depletion of non-renewable resources and for the future of the next generation. It was also NEITI’s intention to table the issue of oil revenue savings as a national agenda for purposes of prudent management of the country’s oil and gas revenues for national development and the next generation.
The Executive Secretary reiterated that the Occasional Paper released recently by NEITI was within its legitimate mandate as an agency charged with the responsibility of ensuring prudent management of revenues derived from natural resources. He clarified that in carrying out this function, NEITI focused mainly on Nigeria’s strategic interest and not necessarily on the work of any agency including the NSIA. He however commended the NSIA for finding the publication valuable which perhaps influenced the visit to NEITI.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of NSIA, Dr Uche Orji, commended the NEITI for taking the initiative to produce the Occasional Paper. He said the paper has helped the NSIA to tell its own story in an independent manner. According to Dr. Uche Orji, “NEITI has a voice that resonates with policy makers and its other stakeholders. We found the publication exceptional and commendable”.
The NSIA boss applauded the fact that the report was produced without the inputs of his agency. He described the recommendations in the publication as very succinct and apt. “We are here to ask for closer collaboration between the NSIA and NEITI in the discharge of our individual mandates while working together for the common good of our country,” Uche Orji added.
The NSIA Managing Director used the opportunity to brief the NEITI management on what his agency has achieved so far, the prospects of on-going projects and unfolding challenges. In his words “the Authority was set up to receive, manage and invest in a diversified portfolio of medium and long term revenue yielding projects. NSIA only invests on projects with huge potentials for direct positive impacts to the development of critical infrastructure in Nigeria, inflow of foreign investment, economic diversification, growth and job creation,” he remarked.
Dr. Orji further explained that the NSIA established frameworks for good corporate governance, risk management, transparency and accountability adding that the solid governance structure has attracted credible partners, notable investors and private equity funds.
The NSIA Managing Director disclosed that Nigeria Governors’ Forum that was initially opposed to its mandate is one of its greatest supporters at the moment. “The $250 million we invested in 2016 came from the state governments’ share of the NLNG dividend.”
Meanwhile, NEITI and the NOA are to establish effective platform for collaboration especially in the areas of information sharing, public education and enlightenment. The Director General, Dr Garba Abari, gave the assurance while receiving the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Waziri Adio. He announced that 813 offices of NOA woud be made available to NEITI as a platform for dissemination of NEITI reports to all nooks and crannies of Nigeria.
Dr. Abari described NEITI as an island of excellence among government agencies in terms of reputation and focus. He commended the Executive Secretary for his leadership.
According to the NOA Director General, “NOA has a mandate to re-orientate Nigerians, our value orientation and attitude needs to change especially towards public finance and resource management.” He added: “We will help you mobilize all the platform at NOA’s disposal including the Local Government Assembly to disseminate NEITI reports and get the necessary feedback.”
Earlier, Adio explained that his decision to visit NOA was to explore areas of mutual cooperation. He identified several NEITI reports such as the Audit Reports, Policy Briefs, Occasional Papers and other researched publications as instruments which NOA can use to advance its grassroots advocacy and mass orientation messages.
Mr. Adio welcomed the emerging relationship with NOA especially in the NEITI Audit Report dissemination and appealed to all federal government agencies to work together to rescue Nigeria from resource curse.
He lamented that revenue from the country’s oil, gas and mining sector have over the years failed to translate to good roads, electricity, jobs, and health facilities for the citizens.
The NEITI Executive Secretary however stated that it was not too late to redeem the country, if all the agencies including NOA join NEITI to rescue Nigeria from the syndrome of resource curse, fight corruption, and promote better citizen’s attitudinal changes on prudent management of extractive revenues.
Lagos State Government has refused to fix the problem in the water sector because it sees water as a business, and not as human right in the state, Deputy Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Akinbode Oluwafemi, has said.
L-R: Achike Chude of the Joint Action Front (JAF), Vickie Onyekuru of Africa Women Water Sanitation and Hygiene Network (AWASHNET) and Akinbode Oluwafemi of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), during the briefing
He spoke at a news conference in Lagos on Monday, August 6, 2017 to update the media on the current happenings in the Lagos water sector.
To mark the 2017 World Water Day on March 22, the non-governmental organisation had led Lagos residents on a march from the Ikeja Local Government Secretariat to Alausa, the seat of Lagos government, to protest “privatisation of water” in the state with the theme “Our Water Our Right”.
For Oluwafemi, that rally seems like a watershed, as the group was able to make government to shed “its arrogance” and respond overnight to some of the group’s demands on the water issue.
“It will be a mistake on the part of the Lagos State Government to think that we have gone to sleep over the issue,” he added.
All PPP (Public-Private Partnership) arrangements in Nigeria, according to Achike Chude of the Joint Action Front (JAF), who was at the Monday briefing, ended up putting more money in the pockets of the rich, to the detriment of the poor masses.
He added that when it comes to the water issue, Lagos government is sincere, but sincerely wrong.
On the argument that government has no money to fund public water, Chude, who is also a member of the Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), wondered where the N40 billion said to have been reserved for the rehabilitation of Airport Road came from.
“If the government does not have money, is it the people that have?” he wondered. “If we must privatise everything, why do we have ministries? We better do away with the ministries and replace them with regulatory agencies.”
However, it was gathered from ERA that Lagos currently rakes in over N50 billion monthly (N600 billion yearly) from internally-generated revenue (IGR) alone.
Representing the women, Vickie Onyekuru of Africa Women Water Sanitation and Hygiene Network (AWASHNET) said that women do not want privatisation of water. “We want water to be controlled by government,” she demanded.
According to ERA, the idea of privatisation of even basic necessities like water is promoted by the Breton Woods institutions to further enrich the elite.
“The idea comes from the West where basic needs are given. People must be conscious of that,” ERA said, adding that water is different from telecommunications and other items people can do without. “So, there should be no comparison.”
Invasion of multinationals
ERA said: “In recent months, we have learnt that the Lagos government has penciled Veolia, Metito and the Spanish company, Abengoa, to take control of Adiyan II – which will supply water to millions of Lagosians, despite their track record of abuse around the world. We continue to wonder how the state got to its decision, whether there is no due diligence of the companies involved.”
Veolia, a French multinational corporation adjudged the largest water privatiser around the world, allegedly mismanaged several water systems across the globe.
Also, Metito and Abengoa were said to have issues in their operations in some parts of the world.
“With companies with such track records in deals with the Lagos Government, it is evident that the government is deliberately walking into a trap that will enslave Lagos citizens for generations,” ERA added.
Specific demands
The Our Water Our Right coalition demands that the Lagos government listens to the people. It specifically asks that:
It stops any deal with the World Bank and corporations allied to it directly or remotely, including Veolia, Metito and Abengoa.
It makes public and revokes agreements or MoUs entered into with corporations hell-bent on foisting PPP on water provision on Lagos citizens.
It increases budgetary allocation to the water sector within the framework of public and democratically-controlled systems.
It allows transparency and meaningful civil society engagement in the water reform process.
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has said it will continue to support the clean-up process of Ogoni communities in Rivers State.
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli.He describes the academics research programme as key aspect of Shell’s effort to contribute to the development of higher education in the country
It equally said it had released $10 million take-off fund to the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Agency.
The firm’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, revealed this at the weekend in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during an interactive session with the media on the Ogoni clean-up project.
Weli said the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recommendation encouraged multi-stakeholder efforts driven by the Federal Government.
He added that the oil company would continue to play its role alongside other stakeholders under a transparent governance framework.
He said that 15 SPDC JV sites, specifically mentioned in the report that needed attention, had been remediated in the communities and certified by government, adding that the firm had also raised its standard on remediation approaches in line with industry best practices.
Weli said: “SPDC JV remains fully committed to continue supporting and contributing its share within the appropriate framework and governance structures.
“We encourage all relevant stakeholders to also remain committed to contributing their share.”
Communication and the messages conveyed to the general public play a critical role in the implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative.
L-R: A representative of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Regional Director for Central and West Africa, Mr. Jacques Somda; representative the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Niger Republic, Colonel Major Bila Maina; and Coordinator of the Community Action Programme (PAC3), Mr. Ali Moha, during the opening of the “Regional Workshop on communicating project results to different audiences” held recently in Niamey, Niger
This was the submission of Mr. Ali Moha, Coordinator of the Community Action Programme (PAC3), at the opening of the “Regional Workshop on communicating project results to different audiences” held recently in Niamey, Niger Republic.
In his welcome remarks, Moha stated that the Great Green Wall Initiative has positively evolved over time in its design and implementation strategy by adapting to an ever changing physical, social and institutional environment.
“And it clearly appears that communication and the messages already conveyed or those to be conveyed to the general public in both our cities and country side have played and will still play a critical role,” he stressed, describing the workshop as being of paramount importance for countries in terms of development and sound natural resource management communication.
According to him, the workshop would enable communication experts of the 12 SAWAP (Sahel and West Africa Programme in support of the Great Green Wall) projects and journalists to continue raising public awareness on the vision and challenges to be taken up as part of the Great Green Wall Initiative.
The Great Green Wall Programme is a pan-African initiative conceived to address land degradation and desertification, boost food security and support communities to adapt to climate change in the Sahel-Sahara region of Africa. It was conceived as a 7,700-kilometre tree belt stretching the length of the Sahara Desert.
A representative the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Niger, Colonel Major Bila Maina, in a welcome address, disclosed that the objective set for the BRICKS (Building Resilience through Innovation, Communication and Knowledge Services) Project is to bring an effective contribution to the implementation of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel.
Maina, who is Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, stated that the workshop would enable the BRICKS Project communicators and journalists to be equipped with strategic communication and story telling techniques so as to better share best practices, inform and raise the awareness of decision-makers.
He added that awareness of the general public will also be raised with respect to the achievements recorded in the implementation of the SAWAP projects and of the Great Green Wall Initiative.
A representative of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Regional Director for Central and West Africa, Mr. Jacques Somda, in an address, expressed confidence in the competencies and expertise of the participants as well as their commitment towards improving natural resource, as well as land and water management.
He thanked the World Bank for supporting to the 12 African countries involved in the scheme to increase their resilience capacity in view of combating poverty.
Organised by the IUCN in collaboration with the Permanent Inter-States Committee on Drought Control (CILSS), the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) and World Bank, the workshop held from July 17 to 21, 2017 and was facilitated by Mr. Peter Paul Van Kempen for the IUCN‘s Commission on Education and Communication (CEC), assisted by Mr. Christophe Hien and Madam Félicité Mangang.
The workshop is part of the implementation of the SAWAP BRICKS Project. It aimed at contributing to communicating to key audiences the way SAWAP Projects’ results are supporting the implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative, by producing success stories for decision-makers within governments, the private sector and civil society that give evidence of the value added of the various country projects of the Great Green Wall.
About 50 participants came from 12 SAWAP countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Chad and Togo) and Guinea. They were made up of communication experts, journalists, representatives of the three BRICKS executing agencies (IUCN, CILSS, OSS), the Focal Points of TerrAfrica, of the Great Green Wall national agency and of ReSAD in Niger.
The workshop entailed presentations, group work and discussions, as well as a field trip.
The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered that a $37.5 million mansion on Banana Island in Lagos linked to a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
Diezani Alison-Madueke. Photo credit: TODAY.ng
The court also ordered that the sums of sums of $2,740,197.96 and N84,537,840.70 realised as rents on the property should equally be forfeited to the Federal Government.
The orders were made on Monday, August 4, 2017 by Justice Chuka Obiozor, following a motion on notice argued before him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The anti-graft agency had on July 19, 2017 obtained a court order to temporarily seize the property designated as Building 3, Block B, Bella Vista Plot 1, Zone N, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island Foreshore Estate, which is said to have 24 apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses.
The court had directed that the temporary forfeiture order be published in a newspaper and then adjourned till Monday for anyone interested in the property and funds to appear to convince the court why they should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
At the Monday’s proceedings, the EFCC lawyer, Mr. Anselem Ozioko, told Justice Obiozor that the publication order had been complied with.
He, however, noted that despite going the extra length to personally serve the second and third respondent in the case, Afamefuna Nwokedi, and a company, Rusimpex Limited, they did not show up in court to contest the forfeiture order.
“In summary, it appears as if they are not willing to contest this application,” Ozioko said, urging Justice Obiozor to go ahead and order the permanent forfeiture of the property and the funds.
In a short ruling, Justice Obiozor granted the orders.
The judge held, “In the face of the publication, which I find in Exhibit B of the affidavit of compliance before me, and there being no responses from any interested party, I have no other option but to grant the orders as prayed.”
The EFCC had earlier told the judge that the Banana Island manson was reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities by Diezani.
The anti-graft agency said its investigations revealed that Diezani purchased the property sometime in 2013 at the price of $37.5 million, which she paid in cash.
According to the EFCC, the $37.5m was moved straight from Diezani’s house in Abuja and paid into the selller’s First Bank account in Abuja.
“Nothing could be more suspicious than someone keeping such huge amounts in her apartment. Why was she doing that? To avoid attention.
“We are convinced beyond reasonable doubt because as of the time this happened, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke was still in public service as the Minister of Petroleum Resources,” the EFCC lawyer, Ozioko, had told Justice Obiozor.
Listed as respondents in the forfeiture application were Diezani, a legal practitioner, Afamefuna Nwokedi, and a company, Rusimpex Limited.
In a 41-paragraph affidavit attached to the application, an investigative officer with the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, explained that Nwokedi, in connivance with Diezani, purposely incorporated the company, Rusimpex Limited, on September 11, 2013 to facilitate the alleged fraud scheme.
According to Bawa, when Nwokedi was questioned by the EFCC, the lawyer explained that he had approached Diezani for opportunities in the Oil and Gas industry but the ex-minister told him that being a lawyer, she did not have any such opportunity for him and asked him whether he could in the alternative manage landed properties, an offer which Nwokedi accepted.
Bawa said Nwokedi later registered Rusimpex Limited at the Corporate Affairs Commission, wherein a lawyer in his law firm, Adetula Ayokunle, and a Russian, Vladmir Jourauleu, were listed as the directors of the company, while the address of Nwokedi’s law firm in Ikoyi, Lagos was registered as the business address of Rusimpex Limited.
The investigator added that when Ayokunle was questioned by the EFCC, he explained that he only appended his signature on the CAC documents at his boss’ instruction, while Jourauleu denied knowledge of the company.
The investigator explained, “Sometime in 2013, the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, invited Barrister Afamefuna Nwokedi, the Principal Counsel of Stillwaters Law Firm, to her house in Abuja for a meeting where she informed the said Barrister Afamefuna Nwokedi to incorporate a company and use same as a front to manage landed properties on her behalf without using her name in any of the incorporation documents.
“She further directed Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi to meet with Mr. Bisi Onasanya, the Group Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc for that purpose.
“Mr. Stephen Onasanya was invited by the commission and he came and volunteered an extrajudicial statement wherein he stated that he marketed a property at Bella Vista, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, belonging to Mr. Youseff Fattau of Ibatex Nigeria Limited to Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke later bought the property from Mr. Youseff Fattau, through her lawyer, Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi (who she introduced to him) and that payment for the said property was made through the Abuja office of First Bank of Nigeria Plc.
“First Bank of Nigeria Plc, through Mr. Barau Muazu, wrote to the commission and also volunteered an extrajudicial statement in writing that they made the payments totalling US37,500,000 to Ibatex Nigeria Limited & YF Construction Development and Real Estate Limited on behalf of Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and that they collected the entire cash from Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke at her residence of No. 10, Fredrick Chiluba Close of Jose Marti Street, Asokor, Abuja and paid into the First Bank of Nigeria Plc accounts of Ibatex and YF Construction Development and Real Estate Limited on her instruction.”
The Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), a group for the highest strata of Nigerian media professionals in online publishing, has secured firm assurances of the presence of eminent Nigerians at its conference.
President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, will grace the occasion
Themed: “Sustaining Growth through Diversification of the Economy,” the conference will hold on Thursday, August 10, 2017 at Renaissance Hotel, Isaac John Street, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.
A statement by GOCOP Publicity Secretary, Olumide Iyanda, disclosed that Governors Nyesom Wike, Abdulafatah Ahmed and Darius Ishaku of Rivers, Kwara and Taraba states respectively have confirmed their presence at the conference as Special Guests.
Others are the Minister for Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar; the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas; the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris; and Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi.
Also confirmed are the President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; the Group Chairman, Mutual Assurance Plc, Chief Akin Ogunbiyi; the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria LNG, Tony Attah; the Chairman, Zinox Technologies Limited, Leo Stan Ekeh; the Director, United Nations Information Centre in Nigeria, Ronald Kayanja; and the Founder, Oodua People’s Congress, Dr. Frederick Fasehun.
Keynote Speakers at the conference are university teacher, Prof. Akin Onigbinde; the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Bayo Onanuga; and a former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi.
Former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Sun Newspapers and now the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina; and the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of New Telegraph Newspapers and also the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Funke Egbemode, will participate in the discussion.
A new GOCOP executive council will be inaugurated at the conference.
The Conservator-General of Nigeria National Park Service, Mr. Ibrahim Musa Goni, has appreciated the selfless efforts of rangers across the country ensuring the protection of Nigeria’s biodiversity within the National Parks and other protected areas.
A team of Nigeria National Park rangers
He made the submission recently as Nigeria joined in the celebration of the World Ranger Day on July 31, 2017 at an event held at the organisation’s headquarters in Abuja.
Besides the National Park Service’s members of staff, led by Goni; in attendance were the Director General of the Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF) Mr. ‘Niyi Karunwi, represented by Mr. Mohammed Garba Boyi; the Director of Forestry, Federal Ministry of Environment, Mr. S. O. Tiyamiyu, S.O; and the Director General of National Bio-safety Management Agency (NABMA), Dr. Rufus Egbegba.
The Conservator-General urged Nigerians to show support to rangers across the country, even as he underlined some of the challenges rangers face in ensuring the protection of Nigeria’s wild resources – both fauna and flora.
Mr. Goni further pleaded with relevant organisations and individuals, especially in rural areas to support the cause of rangers across the country towards conserving the nation’s biodiversity.
According to International Ranger Federation, 105 rangers were killed worldwide in the past year. In Nigeria, it was disclosed that that 28 rangers have died in active service across the country.
Nigeria has seven National Parks: Old Oyo National Park in Oyo State, Okomu National Park in Edo State, Kamuku National Park in Kaduna State, Kainji Lake National Park in Niger and Kwara State, Gashaka Gumti National Park in Taraba and Adamawa State, Cross River National Park in Cross River State, as well as Chad Basin National Park in Borno and Yobe State.
The Conservator-General hailed the supports made by individuals and organisations towards the families of rangers who died in service, calling on well-meaning Nigerians to join in raising awareness of poaching activities within the National Parks and protected areas across Nigeria.
The first World Ranger Day was observed on July 31st, 2007. Annually, July 31 is celebrated as World Ranger Day, a day to memorialise rangers killed or injured on the field. It is also a day to commend the critical work Rangers do to protect the world’s natural and cultural treasures/biodiversity.
