Jonathan asks panel to probe N2.19tr subsidy claims

By Vincent Ikuomola and Kamarudeen Ogundele Abuja 

 

 Dr. Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday set up a committee to verify and reconcile the findings of the Technical Committee which reviewed subsidy claims and payment in 2011.
The 15-man committee is headed by Access Bank Managing Director  Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, who also headed the Technical Committee, which the Federal Ministry of Finance set up.
Aig-Imoukhuede last month submitted the Technical Committee’s report, which is to be reviewed.
The Federal Government paid N2.19trillion to subsidise the petrol consumed by Nigerians last year.
Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said the government paid the money in two tranches. 
She told the Senator Magnus Abe-led Joint Committee of the Senate on Monday that the government paid oil marketers N1.7trillion as at December, last year. This is in addition to paying N451 billion in arrears this year.
She said she did not know exactly how much will be paid as subsidy this year, adding that it is the responsibility of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
The Committee, which has one week to do its job, was set up to ensure that no organisation found culpable, is spared, according to presidential spokesman Reuben Abati, in a statement yesterday.
The statement reads: 
“In a further move towards the fulfillment of his pledge to Nigerians that no person or organisation guilty of fuel subsidy fraud or corruption will escape justice, President Goodluck Jonathan today (yesterday) established a Committee to verify and reconcile the findings of the Technical Committee set up by the Federal Ministry of Finance to conduct a detailed review of all subsidy claims and payments made in 2011. 
“President Jonathan has directed the 15-member committee headed by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede to begin work immediately and conclude its assignment by 1700 hours on Friday, July 13, 2012 as a prelude to immediate action on all identified cases of fraud.
“On receiving the Verification and Reconciliation Committee’s report, President Jonathan will order whatever action he deems necessary to ensure justice and the full recovery of all fuel subsidy funds that may have been illegally paid.” 
The committee is to:  
• further verify and reconcile all claims made in the report of the Technical Committee on Fuel Subsidy Payments;  
• properly  identify all cases of overpayment and/or irregular payment; 
•accurately identify all likely fraudulent cases for criminal investigation; and
• review any other pertinent issues that may arise from its work and make appropriate recommendations.
Other members of the committee are: Dr. Abraham Nwankwo (DG Debt Management Office (DMO), Mr. Bernard Otti (GED Finance & Accounts, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mrs. Oyinye Ahuchogu Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Sola David-Borha (MD Stanbic/IBTC, representing the banking community), Mr. Mike Osatuyi (National Secretary, IPMAN), Mr. Obafemi Olawore, Mr. Jonah Otunla (Accountant-General of the Federation), Mr. Bright Okogwu (DG, Budget Office), Mr. Reginald Stanley (Executive Secretary, PPPRA), Mrs. Aisha Waziri-Umar and Mr. Jalal Arabi.The Attorney-General of the Federation, the Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of the State Security Service will also be represented on the Committee.
Also yesterday, Attorney General of the Federation Mohammed Adoke said indicted fuel marketers be prosecuted.
He spoke in Abuja through his counsel, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN). The minister said the report of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy is useful and the government will act on it.
He, however, explained that the government can only do so after relevant agencies have considered the facts contained in the report.
Awomolo explained that the office of the AGF will still work on the report before prosecuting anybody indicted, adding that “the House Committee is just a fact-finding one”.
“The fundamental rule of law is that a report of any fact-finding committee is not conclusive of the commission of a crime; hence, the honourable attorney general in his counter affidavit dated 3rd of July, 2012, deposed to by Ayotunde Ogunleye of counsel, stated clearly that:
*The 3rd respondent (AGF) was not part of the exercise of the legislative powers but as the chief law officer to the government of the federation and in response to public reactions to the publication of the report and resolution of the 1st and 2nd respondents made a public statement.
• The public statement is to the effect that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who is the chief executive officer of the federation and the commander- in-chief of the armed forces of the federation will consider the report and resolution and will take appropriate action within the law
•The report of the committee, which is a fact-finding committee, will be studied and given to relevant agencies of government but will not prosecute or take legal action against person or persons indicted by the report.”
Awomolo added: “The Attorney General stands by the principle of rule of law, which is a strong pillar upon which this government operates and that means that where parties have turned their case to a court of law, parties will not take laws into their hands but stay action till the final determination of the case by the court.
“The order of the court in the case of Integrated Oil and Gas Limited against the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and 5 ors, binds parties to the suit only and not general marketers as erroneously reported in the newspapers,” he said.

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Plane crash lands in Benin airport

By The Nation: Kelvin Osa- Okunbor 

 

Minister of Aviation, Stella Odua Ogiemwonyi

The Accident Investigation Bureau on Thursday confirmed the belly landing of a small aircraft at the Benin Airport, the Edo State capital.

In a short message service, the Spokesperson of AIB, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, said, “A Diamond DA 2 MPP aircraft marked with 5N-BKS, belonging to PICOMMS   today around 11 am was involved in a serious incident of belly-landing at Benin Airport. No casualty was recorded." 

Oketunbi added that the aircraft belongs to the Federal Government.

According to a maritime source, PICOMMS means presidential committee on maritime.

An industry source also confirmed that the pilot and a colleague in training were the only occupants of the aircraft, which was forced to belly land following the failure of the nose wheel or landing gear to retract.

After the incident, personnel on ground reportedly cleared the aircraft from the runway, so as not to disrupt operation at the airport.

The aircraft has been towed to the hangar belonging to Okada Air, near the Nigeria Air Force facility at the Benin Airport.

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‘I’ll never allow my children serve in trouble spots’

By The Nation: iegbe Okoeki, DELE ANOFI and Bukola Amusan, Abuja 

 

 •2012 Batch 'B' Corps members returning from parade rehearsal at the FCT Orientation Camp, Kubwa, Abuja ....yesterday

•Reps support protesters •NYSC: no cause for alarm The outrage over the postings of graduates to volatile states by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) continued yesterday, with the House of Representatives, Lagos lawmakers, students of the Lagos State University and prominent Nigerians kicking against the move, report Oziegbe Okoeki, DELE ANOFI and Bukola Amusan, Abuja

Is the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) not concerned about the safety of graduates posted to trouble spots for the mandatory one-year service? This was the concern of many Nigerians yesterday as the commission insisted the Corps members posted to the North are safe.
The NYSC, in a statement by its media manager, Mrs. Abosede Aderibigbe, said necessary security  measures have been put in place.
Mrs. Abosede said: “This is to inform all 2012 Batch ‘B’ Corps Members and the general public that state governments and the NYSC operators have put in place measures to guarantee the security to lives and properties of corps members deployed to camps for the on-going orientation course. 
“Prospective Corps members should therefore proceed to their respective camps for induction into the noble scheme.
  “However, those who have genuine reasons to seek for relocation out of their states of posting, should register first in their states of deployment and then submit application there for consideration.
 “The two grounds for consideration remain marital (for those who are married) and health (for those with extreme medical ailments).”
The statement informend that the coordinators have been empowered to attend to relocation requests. 
The House of Representatives said it was wrong of NYSC to insist graduates must serve in trouble spots.
The decision of the lawmakers followed the adoption of a motion by Peter Edeh (ANPP, Ebonyi) , who said the NYSC should be directed against deploying Corps members to the crisis-ridden states.
Eden said: "It would be callous to allow innocent children to be posted to places where they don't know what to do in times of trouble.
"Let us do what is practical. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) says security and welfare should be the primary concern of government.
"Local extremist Islamic sect, Boko Haram has been largely responsible for sustained terror campaigns in many parts of Northern Nigeria, including the country's capital, Abuja."
Bitrus Kaze (PDP, Plateau) noted that 2011 post election violence in some parts of the North led to  loss of lives of scores of Corps members that were drafted  by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as ad-hoc staff to man polling centres.
The Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila (ACN, Lagos), said the government might not be able to stand the traffic of litigations, if it decided to pursue NYSC postings to violence prone states.
He said: "If some states are temporarily left out in view of their security challenges, it does not affect the objectives of the NYSC Act."
Those who argued against the motion said it would set a negative precedence for future postings.
It was agreed that Corps members willing to serve in troubled states should be allowed.
Constitutional lawyer, Mr Fred Agbaje and Chief Maxi Okwu yesterday urged the Federal Government to intervene in the deployment of NYSC members to troubled states.
Agbaje told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)  in Lagos that he was in support of Corps members refusing their postings to the trouble spots.
He said: “If I was a young graduate, I will do the same. As a parent, I will never allow my children to serve in such areas where it is obvious that the security of the Corps members cannot be guaranteed.
“In America, the citizens are ready to die for their country because America can go to any length to make the required sacrifice to protect one of its own.’’ 
He said families of Corps members that were victims of the insecurity in North during the political crisis of 2011 were yet to be adequately compensated.
According to him, the protesting Corps members should be re-deployed to other parts of the country where there is relative peace, rather than be forced to areas that had claimed so many lives.
Okwu, who is also the national coordinator of the Patriotic Alliance of Nigeria (PAN), said the NYSC decision could not be final.
He said: “The Federal Government should direct the Minister of Education to overrule the NYSC on the matter. It is heartless and insensitive to insist that these innocent youths go and serve in trouble spots in disregard of the current continued killings in those states.” 
The KOWA Party has called on the Federal Government to stop the deployment of the Corps members to the troubled states, pending when the security situation in those areas improved. 
Its national public relations officer, Prof. Oluremi Sonaiya, said the lives of Corps members could not be guaranteed in the midst of the atrocities of the Boko Haram Sect in some Northern states.
She said: “The Federal Government should post these corps members to other states in the federation where there is peace, or let them stay back in their respective home states-states.’’ 
The Lagos State House of Assembly also protested the posting of Corps members from the South to the North. It has written a letter to NYSC management to rescind the decision. The lawmakers, in a resolution at the plenary on Monday, condemned the posting. 
The House urged the NYSC management “to post all graduates meant for the NYSC scheme out of the troublesome states in Nigeria where there is violence and threat to life.”
 The House yesterday hosted graduates of Lagos State University (LASU) who staged a peaceful protest  over their posting to the North. 
One of the students posted to Taraba State, Lai Adebayo, said it is unfortunate that NYSC management could post students from Southwest to crisis-prone areas, considering large number of Corps members that were killed recently. 
He said: "We are the future of tomorrow.  So, we don't want to die before our time and that is why we protested to the Assembly. Members of the House and Governor Babatunde Fashola should as a matter of urgency intervene for us to be redeployed back to our state."
Adebayo said many lives were lost in Taraba State, where he is posted to. 
Chairman of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), LASU chapter, Comrade Sessi Funmi who accompanied the students, appealed to members of the House not to allow youths from the Southwest to be posted to  the  North. 
She said: "Most of them are not familiar with that area and in the process they can get into trouble with Boko Haram crisis. Our youths must not be sacrificed and that is why we reject the posting. Let them post the students to Abuja or other areas that are free from crisis."
She presented a letter of protest to the chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon. Alawiye King representing Lagos Island 2. 
Responding, Alawiye-King assured them that the House would ensure they were not forced to serve in the North. 
One of the parents, Isaiah Odiurho, appealed to the Lagos State government to assist them. 
He said: "My son was posted to Taraba and I don't want him to die now, so government should assist us. We are not saying they should not serve but we don't want them sent to crisis prone areas."
The protesters carried placards with different inscriptions, such as: "Do we look like soldiers? Many graduates were killed" and  "LASU says no posting to Northern states among others."

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CBN operates secret account, says NNPC

By Onyedi Ojiabor 

 

CBN Governor Lamido

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday disowned the controversial secret account at J.P. Morgan.
NNPC Group Executive Director (Finance) Mr. Bernard Otti told the joint Senate Committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Appropriation and Finance investigating the management of the fuel subsidy scheme that J. P. Morgan Account was opened by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on its behalf in 2002. 
The CBN had earlier told the committee that the secret account was opened and solely managed by the NNPC.
But Otti told the committee that the CBN is the sole signatory to the account. 
Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Monday said distanced her ministry had no hand in the account. 
Though Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala told the committee that she is aware of the account, she denied knowledge of its details, including the number.
NNPC Group Managing Director Andrew Yakubu told the committee that the CBN owns the account. 
Committee chair Senator Magnus Abe compelled Otti to appear before the committee to clarify the status of the account. 
Otti claimed that the CBN operates the account on behalf of NNPC “right from the outset when the account was opened in the United States”.
He said: “The NNPC has no direct contact with the J.P. Morgan account. The account was opened by the CBN on behalf of the NNPC. It was opened in the last quarter of 2002 by the CBN for NNPC.
“The account is operated by NNPC in the CBN. CBN has its correspondent banks to which NNPC isn’t a party. NNPC doesn’t operate that account; NNPC operates domiciliary account with CBN.”
Asked to be definite if the NNPC or the CBN  operates the account and whose money is paid into it, Otti said: 
“The money paid into the account is crude (oil) money of Nigeria . We are not party to that transaction. Our relationship with the CBN accounts begins and terminates with that account.”
Otti said  the CBN is the only signatory, such that the NNPC is not even on the account mandate.
He insisted: “The CBN is the signatory to that account. We have no relationship with J. P. Morgan whatsoever. We are not in the mandate.” 
The committee vowed to ensure that accounts not known to the Constitution are closed and all monies paid directly into the Federation Account. 

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Keep it secret, Lawan tells Otedola in $3m bribe tape

By The Nation: Yusuf Alli, Abuja 

 

Otedola AND Lawan

Lawan: my voice animated Panel, Otedola trade insults

THERE were more revelations yesterday in the $620,000 bribe-for-clearance scandal involving Representative Farouk Lawan and businessman Femi Otedola.
A Lagos television station, which aired on Monday what it described as a purported conversation between the duo, followed up with another yesterday.
The audio tape aired by Channels indicated that the former chair of the House Committee on subsidy management was seeking to collect $2.5 million bribe to get Otedola’s Zenon Oil off the list of companies which got foreign exchange but imported no petrol. But Lawan dismissed the tape as “infantile’’, saying his voice was “doctored”.
In yesterday’s tape, Lawan’s purported voice was heard demanding secrecy in the agreement. Besides, he told Otedola of the strategy to be adopted by the committee to exclude the businessman’s company from the list of indicted companies.
He said he learnt that Otedola had told somebody that he (the Zeon Oil boss) had found a way round the probe problem.
He purportedly pledged to “spring a surprise on the floor” of the House of Representatives.
The businessman kept saying “God bless you” in response to the statement made by the lawmaker in the conversation.
Below is the text of the said conversation as aired on television:
Lawan: When I saw your text; it makes me feel bad. I said… You know the effort I am making?
Otedola: I know, I know 
Lawan: No, no, no, no. When you said I’m… That didn’t. Please, this thing we are doing. Keep it to yourself. Otherwise, you will make things difficult for us.
Otedola: Ok. I am, now.
Lawan: You will make it difficult for us because somebody called me now and said that we said we are going to address it.
Otedola: Address what?
Lawan: It is already out that we are going to do something. But when we do it people will think we are doing it because we have promised. If my colleagues get to hear about it, I won’t be able to convince such. So, keep it to yourself. Let it be a top secret. Let it not be like anybody is aware of what is happening. If anybody asks you… Somebody is saying that… They said you know from your record…, they have all your record and you have made a case to the committee. 
Otedola: God bless you; God bless you.
Lawan: It is left for the committee to decide what to do. Please keep it that way. But the moment it goes out, when we are going to correct it…
Otedola: Ok, ok.
Lawan: Whether it seems we have already a… So, let it be. I want to spring a surprise on the floor and that is the only credible way to do it. You know your sector is hot so much.
Otedola: God bless you, God bless you, my brother. I’ve been trying…. Anytime I hear your voice….
Lawan: You know your sector is a hot one. You are even hot enough and people are even saying… They said… Somebody just called and said what happened, that Femi has gotten his way round. He has already…. No, no. I am saying it because this is what I hear.
Otedola: But let me tell you one thing. You know me as a person.
Lawan: I know. Don’t make things difficult. Whoever asks, say no. I didn’t do this. I am trying to clear myself from the committee. But I have sent a letter to set the record right. That’s all; yah.
Otedola: Ok, brother. Thank you. Alright.
Time of Recording 1005 hours – 1012 hours 
Date of Recording24th April, 2012 

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