Editors decry non-payment of workers’ salaries

The Nigerian Guild of Editors has decried the non-payment of workers’ salaries by some state governments, advising those concerned to explore available avenues to alleviate the plights of the workers. The association, which made the call at the weekend at its 2nd quarter standing committee meeting held in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, also commended the Federal Government for the relocation of the Command and Control Centre of the Armed Forces to Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital.

In the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the association’s Acting President and the General Secretary, Garba Deen Muhammad and Victoria Ibanga respectively, the body of editors also urged the relevant agencies to intensify efforts at resettling internally displaced persons, while ensuring proper protection and care to ameliorate their sufferings.

The statement reads in part; “The Guild further called for the diversification of the economy by Federal and State Governments as well as cutting cost of governance and blocking leakages in the system. It, however, welcomed the efforts of some state governments that have taken steps to cut cost of governance and encourage others to emulate them.”

Scramble for posts, PIB top agenda as N’Assembly resumes

• As NASS resumes tomorrow, debates legislative agenda

Members of the National Assembly will reconvene tomorrow after a two-week recess and commence debate on its legislative agenda. This is as the scramble for principal offices of the House of Representatives between the supporters of Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his opponent, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has heightened.

New Telegraph gathered that while the All Progressives Congress (APC) hierarchy has chosen Gbajabiamila who lost the speakership to Dogara as the Majority Leader, supporters of the speaker are kicking against the choice. One of the few lawmakers from the North-West, who supported Dogara told New Telegraph on condition of anonymity that the party has chosen Gbajabiamila as the Majority Leader but they (Dogara’s loyalists) are not comfortable with the choice. He posited that ceding the position of House Leader to Gbajabiamila from the South-West would amount to “injustice” to other geopolitical zones that are yet to get any key position in either of the chambers of the National Assembly. According to him, “we appreciate the position of the party to preferred Hon. Femi (Gbajabiamila) to any other candidate as House Leader.

We know it is for compensation but to us (Dogara’s camp) this is not about an individual but national interest. “The deputy speaker, Hon. Yusuff Lasun, is from the South-West, so how can the House Leader go to the South-West too? Now let’s look at it; the North-West has nothing so far both in the Senate and the House, yet it is the zone that gave our party (APC) the highest votes. Is that fair?” he asked. The two-time lawmaker argued that ordinarily, Gbajabiamila is a competent and good material to lead the APC but it is not politically expedient to “short-change” other zones in order to satisfy some individuals.

“To be sincere with you, Femi (Gbajabiamila) is a very competent lawmaker; he is a good material to be the face of our party in the House and he is hardworking. But the South- West where Femi comes from has already gotten deputy speaker. So, will it be morally right to again give them leader. “What we are saying is that the sharing of positions is not about individuals but about the people. So, the party too need to be guided.

But we are talking and I believe we will reach a compromise and the right thing will be done,” he disclosed. But a fresh member from one of the North Central states cautioned that the Speaker should avoid “politics of winner takes all” for such an arrangement will not augur well for his leadership. In a chat with New Telegraph, the lawmaker said it will be tantamount to confronting the party leader for the second time in a succession for Speaker Dogara to reject Gbajabiamila as leader. New Telegraph investigation, however, revealed that the scramble is not only for the position of House Leader but virtually all the principal positions.

In a related development, the House will tomorrow commence debate on the 8th Assembly Legislative Agenda. Meanwhile, as the Senate resumes plenary tomorrow from its twoweek break, issues such as the contentious Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), constitution review and the legislative agenda of the 8th Senate will top agenda. Senate President Bukola Saraki had, before the Senate embarked on recess, consistently told Nigerians that the PIB would be given priority attention by the 8th Senate under his leadership.

He also assured that the Fourth Alteration Bill to the 1999 Constitution, which was passed by the 7th Senate but did not receive the assent of former President Goodluck Jonathan would start receiving legislative attention in the Upper Chamber. Moreover, Saraki, who is yet to unfold the legislative agenda, which will guide and direct the activities of the Senate will likely do so on resumption, in accordance with his earlier promise before the Chamber went on the short break.

Banks, customers groan over forex squeeze

The illiquidity in the foreign exchange market occasioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) currency trading restrictions is giving correspondent banks sleepless nights and making it increasingly difficult for banks’ customers to meet their forex obligations through the official market, New Telegraph has learnt. A bank’s chief executive, who confirmed these developments, said at the weekend that the forex controls were also affecting the lenders. He added that the dearth of forex in the market has worsened since last February when the Central Bank scrapped the official bi-weekly forex market (Dutch Auction System – DAS) and adopted random interventions, which seldom meet all banks’ legitimate demands. In addition to this, he explained, is the reduction in forex inflow from the oil firms, which usually sell their dollar earn-ings to meet their naira obligations.

“It’s a real difficult situation because customers and banks are defaulting on their dollar obligations and the CBN is not helping matters as they have refused to sell forex because the reserves are going down,” the source said. As at last Thursday, the nation’s foreign reserves, with which the CBN uses to defend the naira, had been drawn down to $29 billion, which could barely meet five month’s imports.

A treasurer in one of the big banks that attended last Friday’s meeting with the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele in Lagos, however, said the forces of demand and supply in the forex market showed a need to further devalue the naira. He said: “From all indications, the current exchange rate does not make sense given the reality in the market. So, the market points to devaluation and the possibility of devaluation is 95.5 per cent, but the CBN governor is not disposed to this.” Explaining what transpired last Friday between the CBN governor with banks’ chief executives and treasurers in Abuja, he said the gathering, which lasted for about three hours, was in three batches.

The first was with CEOs of five banks, including a female CEO from one of the foreign lenders that elected to attend the meeting; the second was with five senior treasurers, while the third meeting, which lasted just 10 minutes, was with other treasurers. The treasurers were said to have made a presentation on how to improve liquidity in the forex market to Emefiele, who promised to get back to them. Among some of the recommendations made by the treasurers include the removal of restrictions on trading, as well as the increase in banks’ Open Position Limits (OPL). “We complained about the recent introduction of the Order-Based Two-Way Quote (OB2WQ) for forex, which demands that quotation for foreign exchange should be backed by evidence of need as against the previous Open-Ended policy, which had no restrictions,” one of the treasurers confided in New Telegraph.

New Telegraph had, two weeks ago, reported that the CBN governor might have taken personal charge of scrutinising banks’ foreign exchange demand as part of efforts to check speculation and arbitrage. Investigations revealed that although the apex bank’s Trade and Exchange Department is responsible for overseeing the lenders’ official foreign exchange demand and other authorised forex dealers. In recent times, the department has to wait for the CBN governor to approve banks’ requests before the lenders receive the forex.

This development had resulted in banks endur-ing costly delays in getting forex at the official rate from the regulator. One of the lenders had said his bank applied for foreign exchange to pay for the services of this consultant since January, but the request was not approved until May because of delay in approval from the CBN governor. But a top CBN official, who asked that his identity should not be revealed because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said the allegation “cannot be true and can’t be generic.”

He said lenders were being economical with the truth and were always looking for loose ends. “Please kindly ask the banks, were their documentations complete? We have had three Bankers’ Committee meetings since the beginning of this year, why didn’t they table the matter at the meeting? If you can give me the names of these banks, then we would be able to investigate,” he said. The dearth of liquidity in the forex market, caused by the apex bank’s forex trading restrictions last December, had compelled JP Morgan to threaten to kick Nigeria out of its emerging market bond indexes tracked by more than $200 billion of funds. JP Morgan, which is the largest bank in the United States, with total assets of $2.6 trillion, said the decision to remove Nigeria would be finalised by December.

Within this period, JP Morgan Chase & Co. said it expected the new government, headed by PresidentMuhammadu Buhari, to have eased trading conditions. Nigeria, according to the American multinational banking and financial services holding company, has a 1.8 percent weighting in the gauge. JP Morgan had placed Nigeria on “index watch negative” on January 16. But the CBN governor had assured jittery investors that the Central Bank was “doing everything possible” to ensure that the country remained on the JP Morgan Index in order to avoid the adverse consequences, which the country’s exclusion could cause. About $4 billion of Nigerian local-currency bonds could be impacted by JP Morgan’s decision, according to analysts. Emefiele, confronted with lower crude prices and a naira that has weakened 18 per cent against the dollar in the past 13 months, enforced trading restrictions to stabilise the currency. He has said the measures were designed to curb speculative demand for dollars.

Between June and last week, oil prices had fallen by over 40 per cent from $115 to below $68 per barrel. With oil accounting for over 90 per cent of the nation’s export earnings and over 70 per cent of government’s revenue, the developments have put enormous pressure on the CBN’s capacity to defend the naira as the external reserves plummeted. As part of efforts to stabilise the exchange rate, the CBN introduced several measures, including devaluing the naira twice, first in November 2014 and last February.

The CBN recently adjusted its exchange rate peg to N196.90 to a dollar at the interbank market, the same rate it closed last Friday. The naira has been stable at the interbank market. The Central Bank had, previously, made a tiny adjustment to the exchange rate peg, with analysts saying the move indicated that the CBN was beginning to think about how to loosen its currency regime.

A dealer said the Central Bank was trying to gauge the level at which it could defend the naira, but noted that the bank was running low on ammunition to do this. With the fall in price of crude oil at the international markets and Nigeria’s burgeoning import bill, Emefiele has limited options at his disposal in keeping the nation’s currency afloat.

Banks did not do enough to police FIFA transactions, says global agency

A global group of government anti-money-laundering agencies said that financial institutions have not done enough to police suspicious financial activity by officials at soccer’s global governing body FIFA, and cautioned banks to step up scrutiny.

The warning from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force came in the wake of last month’s indictment by the United States of nine current and former FIFA officials and five business executives on a series of corruption charges, including bribery, money laundering and wire fraud.

With the U.S. investigation continuing to widen, and a separate Swiss probe gearing up into whether there was corruption involved in FIFA’s awarding of the hosting rights to Russia and Qatar for the next soccer World Cups in 2018 and 2022, the warning will add to banks’ concern about handling certain soccer accounts for organizations and individuals.

Some European and U.S. banks had already stepped up scrutiny of FIFA-related accounts and at least one said it had stopped handling FIFA business for some time because of corruption allegations.

In a statement, that has now been removed from the agency’s website, FATF said “recent reports about alleged corruption and money laundering activities on a large scale by several high-ranking FIFA officials underscore how important it is that financial institutions identify and monitor high-risk customers.”

It said that financial institutions “do not appear to have given a sufficient amount of scrutiny to the financial activities of the officials concerned, as many of these allegedly corruption-related transfers passed through the international financial system undetected.”

FATF, whose members include the U.S., China, Brazil, Switzerland and many other European countries, said that an “ongoing public debate about the integrity of an entity should raise flags to financial institutions. As a result they should treat customers that are related to that entity as high risk customers.”

Reuters was told about the statement, which appears to be dated June 16, by a European official with knowledge of the FIFA case. It can be found through a Google search but is no longer accessible through the FATF website.

FATF President Roger Wilkins told Reuters that he had taken the decision to remove the statement from the agency’s website over concerns about its phrasing and a lack of concrete evidence to support the claims.

“We don’t want to interfere with ongoing investigations and the way it’s phrased could be misconstrued,” he said, speaking by telephone from Brisbane where FATF is meeting.

“We don’t have any direct evidence that financial institutions have done necessarily anything wrong or failed to do anything in relation to these things.”

While the indictments were only issued on May 27, for many years there has been widespread media coverage of alleged corruption at FIFA and its regional affiliates, including several books published on the question in the past nine years. There had also been news reports about the FBI probe.

One question being asked in U.S. banking circles is whether banks are acting quickly enough to flag activity once they have had subpoenas for information about an account from the authorities, said one source close to the industry.

Also in March, in a routine report on narcotics control that was little noticed at the time, the U.S. State Department expressed concern about how loopholes in Swiss law which affected FIFA had created potential for corruption and money laundering. The report is commonly used by U.S. banks to assess the risks associated with foreign customers and correspondent banks.

“Sports associations like the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) or the International Olympic Committee are not businesses but associations. They do not pay taxes and, as associations, are exempt from the Swiss anti-corruption legal framework,” the State Department said in the report. “The exception provided to these entities makes them more vulnerable to money laundering activity. The government should consider efforts to change applicable laws with respect to these organizations, many of which are suspected of corruption,” it said in reference to the Swiss government.

Despite all the warning signs, the indictment outlines dozens of questionable transactions that banks in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere allowed to go through, many of them in the past few years. In the indictment, U.S. prosecutors say that the defendants and their co-conspirators relied heavily on the U.S. banking system to promote and conceal their schemes.

The acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Kelly T. Currie, told a news conference when the indictments were announced on May 27 that bank actions would be reviewed to see if they knowingly facilitated bribes. The banks concerned have not been accused of wrongdoing.

Still, some bank officials said they were concerned about how much is being asked of them.

From the bank perspective, bribery and corruption payments “are hard to find and follow” because “they often, but not always look like legitimate business,” said a senior compliance officer at a large U.S. bank.

“We’re doing what we do with all matters like this, looking at the data we have — which is not complete in the context of a bribe — and working with law enforcement to try to sort it out,” the source said.

One compliance officer at a British bank asked: “What, am I supposed to research? Who the marketing guy is at each shoe company who makes decisions about promotions tied to players and then watch his account to see if he receives an extra $50,000? Where does it stop?”

Spokespeople for the four biggest U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citigroup all declined to comment on the FATF statement, as did HSBC Holdings in London.

FATF has expressed concern in the past about soccer being a vehicle for money laundering. In 2012, the group issued a warning that as the sport grew, “the investment of money into the sector has increased exponentially, and some of this has criminal connections.”

“Despite the rapid growth and high-visibility of the football sector, however, football’s regulatory structure has not yet caught up with these changes,” FATF warned then.

Earlier, in July 2009, FATF issued a 40-page paper entitled “Money Laundering through the Football Sector”. The document said that soccer faced numerous vulnerabilities to money laundering, including a lack of professional management at various levels.

FATF said that it would be discussing the issue at its meeting in Brisbane, including “whether any further standards or guidance are necessary or whether the current standards are adequate if properly applied.”

The involvement of anti-money-laundering monitors in current investigations of FIFA corruption was highlighted last week by Michael Lauber, attorney general of Switzerland.

Lauber, who announced his FIFA investigation on the same day that U.S. authorities revealed the indictments, told a news conference in Berne last week that his investigators were examining sets of suspicious transactions related to FIFA.

He said that these transactions included 104 banking relationships, some of which involved multiple accounts, as well as 53 suspicious transactions which had been flagged by Swiss financial institutions to Switzerland’s anti-money laundering agency, known as the financial intelligence unit.

Maradona to run for FIFA presidency

Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona has decided to stand as a candidate for the FIFA presidency to replace Sepp Blatter, Uruguayan journalist and author Victor Hugo Morales has said.

Morales said Maradona had told him of his intention when he called the former coach of the Argentina national team to check on the condition of his sick father on Sunday.

“He told me he was going to run for president of FIFA and authorised me to inform,” Morales posted in Spanish on his twitter feed (https://twitter.com/vh590).

“‘I am a candidate’ were the two words Diego Maradona used to answer me when I consulted him about the nomination for the presidency of FIFA,” he added in another tweet.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month suggested Maradona become the next FIFA president.

Maradona, 54, has long been a trenchant critic of Blatter and last month said he was “enjoying” the corruption scandal that led the Swiss to announce he would stand down at an extraordinary congress of soccer’s world governing body.

Like Brazilian Zico, another great former player who has announced his candidacy, Maradona might struggle to get the support of federations from five countries, as required under FIFA statutes.

Liberia Football Association Chairman Musa Bility is the other candidate announced so far for a ballot likely to take place later this year or in early 2016.

Morales is famous around Latin America for his passionate commentary of Maradona’s wonder goal against England at the 1986 World Cup. Maradona led Argentina to their second World Cup triumph in that tournament, reports Reuters.

The pair hosted a TV show together for Venezuelan station Telesur during last year’s World Cup in Brazil.

37 ships laden with petroleum products, foods, expected in Lagos

Thirty seven ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods are expected to arrive Lagos ports from June 22 to July 13, 2015.

This is contained in a daily publication – `Shipping Position’ – made available by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to newsmen on Monday in Lagos.

The publication indicated that the ships contained diesel, petrol, kerosene, crude palm oil, bulk wheat, ethanol, fresh fish and general cargo.

According to the publication, they also contain steel products, containers, bulk rice, bulk urea, bulk bauxite, bulk soya and butane gas.

The NPA said that eight other ships had arrived the ports, waiting to berth with petrol, aviation fuel, kerosene, bulk rice and fresh fish.

It said that 25 other ships were in the ports discharging bulk wheat, bulk sugar, bulk soya, fresh fish, rice, containers, petrol, butane, kerosene and steel products.

Trial without an end

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on April 28 re-visited the alleged N19.2 billion fraud case against a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva just as it re-arraigned the ex-governor on 42-count charge before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja. The re-arraignment was sequel to the retirement of Justice Adamu Bello who was handling the case. The retirement made the suit to be re-assigned to Justice A.R. Mohammed and the suit started de-novo. The anti-graft agency accused Sylva of using three companies to commit the offences between 2009 and 2012 as governor of the state.

Sylva was arraigned for the N19.2 billion charges in 2012 alongside Nide Francis Okonkwo, Gbenga Balogun and Samuel Ogbuku. They were alleged to have used three companies – Marlin Maritime Ltd, Eat Catering Services Ltd, and Haloween-Blue Construction and Logistics Ltd – to move the N19.2 billion from the treasury of Bayelsa State government between 2009 and 2012, under false pretence of using the withdrawn money to augment salaries of the state government workers. While the case before Justice Mohammed was still pending, the anti-graft agency also filed another six-count criminal charge bothering on N2.45 billion fraud before Justice Evoh Chukwu of the same court.

While Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) was prosecuting the matter before Justice Mohammed, Festus Keyamo was prosecuting the case before Justice Chukwu. During the pendency of the suit before Justice Chukwu, Keyamo withdrew as prosecuting counsel from the trial. Keyamo through a lawyer from his chamber, John Ainetor, appeared in court to inform the presiding judge of his decision to withdraw from further prosecuting the case. Ainetor did not give reason for Keyamo’s decision. Keyamo’s letter to the EFCC indicating his intention to withdraw from the suit did not also give any specific reason. Also, the application he filed to that effect did not give any details apart from stating that his decision was informed by “certain recent developments.” His application was granted and the matter was adjourned till June 1. Sylva had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges slammed on him when he was first arraigned before Justice Adamu Bello on June 5, 2012.

Few days after Keyamo withdrew from the suit as the prosecuting counsel, the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federal Ministry of Justice, M.S. Diri, however, withdrew the N2.45 billion fraud charges instituted against Sylva. But the EFCC, represented by its Assistant Director, Legal and Prosecution, J.O Ojogbane, said the anti-graft agency was not part of the decision to withdraw the charges. Following the withdrawal of Keyamo from the case on May 25, it was handed over to the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP). But instead of the DPP appearing in court for the commencement of trial, a fiat was issued to a private lawyer, O.J Nnadi (SAN), to continue prosecuting the case.

During one of the proceedings, Nnadi tendered the freshly issued fiat before the court and told the judge that the EFCC had instructed him to withdraw the suit. He then urged the court to strike out the case. But Ojogbane who appeared together with Nnadi and other lawyers for the prosecution, expressed surprise over the team leader’s claim that the EFCC gave the instruction for the withdrawal of the case. The EFCC counsel said: “I am a little bit surprised by the submission of the learned silk (Nnadi).

“The instruction from my own Director, Legal and Prosecution of the EFCC, Mr. Chime Okoroma, is for me to appear with the DPP of the Federation who he said would be coming to court this morning to withdraw this charge on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation. “When I got to the court this morning I did not see him (DPP) but I saw the name of the learned silk on the case list. I approached him and he confirmed to me that he had been briefed by the office of the AGF. He (Nnadi) told me he has the fiat of the AGF which is already admitted as exhibit in this court. “He (Nnadi) put a call through to the DPP of the Federation whom I had the privilege of speaking with on the learned silk’s telephone and he told me that the learned silk was going to withdraw the charge.

“It is not correct to say that EFCC asked him to withdraw the charge. EFCC did not instruct me to come and withdraw the charge.” Ojogbane explained that the reason given by the DPP for withdrawing the case was that Sylva had similar charges pending against him before Justice Mohammed of the same Federal High Court in Abuja. He said: “I can confirm that this charge is to be withdrawn this morning by the office of the DPP and the reason given was that there are two similar matters against the accused person in this court – one before your lordship and another one before Justice A.R Mohammed which has progressed more than the one before your lordship.” Sylva’s counsel, Israel Olorundare (SAN), did not oppose the application for the withdrawal of the suit.

He urged the court to strike it out as prayed by the prosecution but he also urged the court to order the release of his client’s passport which had been in the custody of the court since he was first arraigned in 2012. Olorundare also urged the court to restrain the EFCC from arresting Sylva based on the charges that were withdrawn. While Nnadi did not oppose the release of Sylva’s passport to him, the lawyer said the court could not possibly give any order in anticipation of his arrest. Justice Chukwu in his ruling struck out the case as he held that the Attorney-General of the Federation possessed the power under the constitution to delegate his power to issue a fiat as it was done in the case. The judge also ordered that Sylva’s passport be released to him with the striking out of his case before the court. Having withdrawn the case before Justice Chukwu, the parties went back to Justice Mohammed to argue their briefs.

In his ruling, the court dismissed the N19.2 billion fraud charge. This came nine days after the EFCC dropped the N2.45 billion fraud allegation against Sylva. Justice Mohammed’s ruling brought to an end all pending EFCC cases against the former governor. The judge held that the fresh charges instituted against Sylva by the EFCC were an abuse of court process since they were based on the same set of transactions involved in the N2.45 billion charges that were recently dropped against the accused person. The court also held that the EFCC attempted to interfere with the administration of justice by withdrawing the N2.45 billion charges after the court had heard and adjourned for ruling on Sylva’s notice of preliminary objection complaining of the multiplicity of the charges filed against him by the EFCC.

It also held that if EFCC was ready to prosecute the accused person, it ought to withdraw the charges that were before it since they were the ones filed after the one before Justice Chukwu. The earlier withdrawal of the N2.45 billion charges within nine days brought to an abrupt end, two cases that had been pending since 2012 and 2013 respectively. But without allowing Sylva to celebrate his discharge, the antigraft agency on June 12 filed a fresh corruption charges against Sylva before the same Federal High Court, Abuja.

The action of the anti-graft agency comes two days after Justice Mohammed of the Federal High Court dismissed the 42- count charge of stealing brought against Sylva and his co-accused by the EFCC, with the excuse that the prosecution’s application to consolidate the charges against the defendants amounted to an abuse of court process.

The commission faulted the ruling on the ground that it was premature as the accused persons had not taken any plea before the court. The anti-graft agency awaits the assignment of the case, to pave way for the arraignment of Sylva and others. All eyes are on the judiciary to see how the fresh suit will go.

Why EFCC can’t successfully prosecute ex-govs, by Sagay

The long delay in the prosecution of these former governors accused of corruption is certainly not the fault of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). That aspect is a conspiracy between the Senior Advocates who are representing these suspects and the courts before which the cases are being prosecuted. In fact, the Senior Advocates now have a specialisation of criminal defence in that area. The idea is to meet every charge with a preliminary objection against jurisdiction. The Senior Advocates who defend them bring obstacles to the case instead of defending them.

They introduce different obstacles by bringing in frivolous preliminary objections which they now followed tenaciously even up to the Supreme Court without going to the substance of the case and the judges allow them to do it. So, the judges too are colluding with them by allowing them to do it because a judge needs not allow them to do that.

The judges can insist that if you have a preliminary objection to raise, it must be raised and will be taken along with the substantive matter. But they don’t do that, they allowed them to take on preliminary matter to Supreme Court and come back again without the issue being touched. For us to see through these cases, the judges must use their discretion in insisting that if you raised a preliminary objection, they will hear it but they must also hear the substantive issue together with the preliminary objection. So, you state your preliminary objection, argue it and the other side will reply, then the other side will bring the criminal case, you will defend then I will give judgement on both at the same time.

So, when you finish and you are not happy, you go to the Court of Appeal, you are going with everything, nothing is left behind so that by the time they finish the series of appeal to the Supreme Court that will be the end of the case. But as it is now, after 12 years and we are still on preliminary objections, then what happen, there is prosecution fatigue.

The Ministry of Justice is tired, the EFCC is exhausted, the policeman who did the investigation has retired or dead, the evidence is scattered and everything becomes vague and remote, and quietly the case begins to die. So you can see why the first set of governors who were investigated and prosecuted are still walking free in the society. On whether the efforts of the EFCC is somewhat belated, I want to say that it can never be belated because there is no statutory time limit for crime cases, even in 100 years’ time from now except if those involved are dead, otherwise there is no statutory limit for the prosecution of crime. But as for motivation, the EFCC like many of these weak Nigerian institutions, dance to the body language of the government in power.

They knew that the Jonathan government, which was deeply weak against corruption, will not want any vigorous investigation and prosecution of any corrupt public officials because these are people actually representing, sponsoring or in partnership with that government. So, that is why the EFCC withdrew its fangs, lay low and do nothing so as not risk their own position.

But now that we have a government that is determined to pursue corruption out of this country and ready to support any institution set up to do that, that is why the EFCC is now coming out of its shell and doing the work for which they were appointed.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, President of the Court of Appeal, Chief Justice of the states and the Federal High Courts should lay down practice direction to state clearly that any issue of preliminary objection against any case of corruption should be tried along with a substantive issue and not just taken alone as an objection. I have personally written to the Chief Justice of Nigeria on this issue about six months ago and he has not acknowledged it. So, it seems that this thing is being tolerated all over the country at the highest level and it is such a tragedy.

It’s difficult to prosecute ex-governors – Adeniran

Why is it difficult for the anti-graft agencies to prosecute and convict ex-governors for corruption-related offences? Governors enjoyed immunity and therefore they were able to cover their tracks while in office. The anti-graft agencies are not allowed to investigate governors while in office and because of that a lot of things were swept under the carpet.

The anti-graft agencies must be given independence to investigate governors while in office and the reports should be made public. Even if the anti-graft agencies cannot prosecute them while in office because of immunity, we should have the result of their investigations with which the agencies can prosecute governors when they lose their immunity. Why is it easy for anti-graft agencies to prosecute and convict ‘small thieves’ unlike ex-governors? The ‘small flies’ don’t wield any influence because they don’t have enough money to buy their ways through when they are being prosecuted.

The ‘small flies’ are also open to intimidation, threat and they don’t have money to hire quality lawyers unlike the Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) who have the influence and resources to defend or protect themselves. Why do you think some of the exgovernors are not usually convicted by the judiciary?

The Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) usually rely on the judiciary to prevent them from being convicted. Each time the anti-graft agencies make attempt to prosecute some of the former governors, they run to the trial judges who will agree with them and rule that anti-graft agencies don’t have jurisdiction or the judges will give the PEPs opportunity to travel out of the country for medical attention.

The judge would also grant frivolous injunctions and orders after they might have been settled. The judiciary on many occasions have been compromised and we are just hoping that they would be better under the present administration.

No respite for Daniel, Turaki,Nnamani, Akala, Audu, others

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was established in 2003 via an Act of the National Assembly to, among other responsibilities, fight Advanced Fee Fraud (419), money laundering and economic crimes in Nigeria. It operates like the United Kingdom Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU), as well as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (Fin- CEN), a Bureau of the United States (US) Department of the Treasury. So far, the EFCC has successfully secured the convictions of former governors of Bayelsa and Edo states, Chiefs Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and Lucky Igbinedion, respectively.

While Alamieyeseigha, who has since been granted presidential pardon, pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering, Igbinedion, on the other hand, was convicted and given what many have called “a slap-on-thewrist” sentence. But a former Delta State governor, James Ibori, who was cleared of money laundering charges by a Nigerian court, now serves a jail term in the United Kingdom (UK), after being convicted of money laundering charges. Analysts have identified some factors as responsible for the noticeable delay in the pending trials of accused persons, especially Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

Concerns have been raised on the manner of long adjournments that often characterise some of the criminal cases pending before different courts. There are several instances where both parties will appear in court-either for continuation of trial or ruling on one interlocutory application or the other-only to be told that ‘the court is not sitting’; the Registrar then gives a long date for parties to return.

Most often than not, some criminal cases are stalled owing to interlocutory applications by way of preliminary objections, motions to quash charges, and appeals pending trials. Some prosecutors, it has been observed, bungle cases prosecuted by the anti-graft agency. It is difficult to reconcile the fact that, despite the unambiguous rules of court, which provide that leave must be sought before charges are preferred against suspects in court, cases abound where prosecutors filed charges without fulfilling this condition precedent. This lacuna leaves the court with only one option – dismissal of the cases.

Again, some cases have been dismissed or thrown out in the past for want of diligent prosecution. Notwithstanding, the commission said it has recorded some modest achievements. For instance, at a recent press conference addressed by the Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC said between 2012 and 2014, the commission recovered N65.3 billion.

Nnamani: N5bn yet to commence

The EFCC moved against a former governor of Enugu State, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, shortly after he served out his second term on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2007. Specifically, Nnamani was arraigned on a 105-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N5 billion.

He was first arraigned before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos in 2007, alongside one of his former aides, Sunday Anyaogu and six companies allegedly linked to them. The companies linked to them, according to the EFCC, are: Rainbownet Nigeria Limited, Hillgate Nigeria Limited, Cosmos FM, Capital City Automobile Nigeria Limited, Renaissance University Teaching Hospital and Mea Mater Elizabeth High School. In 2014, however, the anti-graft agency sought and obtained the nod of the court for separate trial, and on May 19 this year, the companies pleaded guilty to a 10-count (amended) charge.

Judgement is being awaited. Nnamani who, records say has been granted permission about three times to travel abroad on medical grounds, is also being accused alongside others, of conspiring to launder statutory allocations of five local governments when he was governor. Interestingly, proper trial of Nnamani is yet to commence since arraignment eight years ago, and the case has suffered several setbacks, owing to several interlocutory applications by the accused former governor, amid adjournments on other grounds.

Dariye: To face trial

Former Plateau State governor, Senator Joshua Dariye, is being prosecuted by the EFCC on a 23-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering and illegal diversion of public funds to the tune of N2 billion. Dariye governed Plateau State between 1999 and 2007.

Dariye’s interlocutory appeal challenging the competence of the charge pending before a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, was thrown out by the Supreme Court on February 27 by a five-man panel of Justices, who ordered him to go and stand trial before the trial court.

The EFCC believes that the former governor allegedly diverted the said amount from the state’s Ecological Fund. The nine property EFCC said it recovered from Dariye, are: Plot 1802 A04, No. 19 Frederick Chiuba Close, Asokoro, Abuja; Plot of land in the name of Jambo Holdings Nigeria Limited, Rayfied, Jos; House No. 11, Rest Road, Jos, and plot of land at Gada Village, off Adiko Buruku Road by Pharm Headquarters, Jos. Others are: plot of land at Liberty Boulevard, Jos; plot of land at Ibrahim Taiwo Avenue, Jos; two additional plots along Dogon Dutse Road, Jos; plot of land at Gold and Base Neighbourhood, Jos, and plot of land known as Yelwa Club, Bukuru, Jos.

Audu: Facing N11bn fraud allegation

Prince Abubakar Audu, a former governor of Kogi State, is standing trial over alleged money laundering to the tune of N11 billion. Audu, who governed Kogi between 1999 and 2003, is being prosecuted alongside a former Director-General of the state’s Directorate of Rural Development, Alfa Ibn Mustapha, for offences bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds.

Audu’s previous attempt at getting the court to quash the charge, had failed; a development, which paved the way for the EFCC to call witnesses to substantiate its claim that the ex-governor had abused his office between 1999 and 2003. The EFCC had issued a statement a few months ago, that Audu attacked an operative of the commission, for trying to take his photograph in court. The case is being tried by Justice Adeniyi Ademola.

Doma’s N15bn trial

A former Nasarawa State governor, Aliyu Akwe Doma, is facing a 17-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering and diversion of public funds estimated at N15 billion, before a Federal High Court in Lafia, the state capital. The former governor has been in and out of the court after he completed his one-term tenure in 2011.

Nyame battles N1.3bn fraud allegation

Rev. Jolly Nyame, former governor of Taraba State, is being prosecuted by the EFCC on a 41-count charge of money laundering, criminal breach of trust to the tune of N1.3 billion. Nyame was accused of converting N250 million meant for the purchase of stationeries by the Taraba State government for personal use between January and February 2005. The case is still in court.

Fayose’s trial temporarily halted

At its last briefing held in May, the EFCC maintained that “the case against Ayodele Fayose has only been temporarily halted by the fact of his re-election as Ekiti State Governor.” Before Fayose’s election last year, the EFCC had filed a 27-count charge of alleged diversion of about N860 million meant for the state poultry project during his first term in office between 2003 and 2006. Fayose’s tenure is expected to end in October 2018, when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is expected to conduct a fresh governorship election.By then, the governor would no longer enjoy immunity from prosecution and it is expected that trial of the fraud allegation will resume.

Turaki’s N36bn trial still on

Alhaji Saminu Turaki, who governed Jigawa State on the platform of the PDP between 1999 and 2007, is facing trial in connection with a case of criminal conspiracy, stealing, money laundering and misappropriation of public funds. Records show that Turaki was first arraigned before an FCT High Court in 2007 on 32-count charge of misappropriating N36 billion while in office as Jigawa governor. The former governor, however, succeeded in transferring the criminal matter to a Federal High Court in Dutse, the state capital, after challenging the territorial jurisdiction of the court. In 2013, Justice S. Yahuza, ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP), to arrest the former governor over his failure to appear before the court.

Ex-PDP chair, Mu’azu, still elusive

Alhaji Adamu Mu’ azu, former Bauchi State governor and former national chairman of the PDP, is still being investigated by the EFCC, in a case involving N19 billion alleged money laundering. Mu’azu governed Bauchi between 1999 and 2007. He recently resigned as PDP national chairman. It will be recalled that the commission had, in 2010, dispelled rumour that it had cleared Mu’azu of corruption allegations.

Saraki freed?

The chairman of the commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, had disclosed that the anti-graft commission was still investigating Senate President Bukola Saraki, over his alleged role in the collapse of Société Générale Bank of Nigeria (SGBN). Lamorde made the position known in Abuja on March 22. He said: “With regards to Bukola Saraki, some of the investigations around him are going on. Those that we have proven, which was not directly by him, but his associates, last week we took them to court in Kwara, although the court did not sit…So, that is as far as that investigation has gone.” Operatives of the commission had interrogated Saraki on the allegation. Saraki governed Kwara State between 2003 and 2011. A Federal High Court in Abuja recently cleared him of corruption charges.

Odili’s perpetual injunction

Available records show that former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, arguably, the first former public office holder in recent history, that succeeded in obtaining a perpetual injunction from a court of competent jurisdiction, restraining the EFCC and the Police from arresting or probing his eight-year tenure as governor. Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had, in 2008, made an order of perpetual injunction against moves by EFCC to probe Odili’s tenure. “The subsisting judgement of March 2007 by this court is binding on all parties… “Therefore, there is a perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC from arresting, detaining and arraigning Odili on the basis of his tenure as governor based on the purported investigation,” the judge had held.

Akala’s N11bn fraud debacle

Like others, Chief Adebayo Alao- Akala, erstwhile governor of Oyo State, is facing an 11-count charge bordering on alleged conspiracy, contract awards without budgetary provisions and obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N11 billion. Attempts by the former governor to quash the criminal charge had failed, as an Appeal Court in Ibadan, the state capital, on April 15, 2014, dismissed the appeal he lodged challenging the dismissal of his preliminary objection by the trial court sometime in 2012.

Akala is standing trial alongside Senator Hosea Agboola, and a businessman, Olufemi Babalola. The Ogbomosho-born politician’s attempt to return to Agodi House during the April 11 governorship election on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), did not yield the intended outcome.

Gbenga Daniel’s trial

Sometime in 2012, the EFCC re-arraigned a former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Olugbenga Daniel. Daniel was re-arraigned on a fresh 38-count charge of alleged fraudulent conversion of land, failure to declare assets, stealing and corruptly obtaining properties. The new charge was necessitated by the throwing out of the first 43-count criminal charge

Kalu takes on EFCC

The EFCC had on July 27, 2007 arraigned former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, before an Abuja High court on a 107-count charge of alleged money laundering, official corruption and diversion of public funds totalling over N5 billion. Kalu is, however, challenging the competence of the charge at the Supreme Court.

Ex-govs battle graft allegations

Arguably, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had until the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, been in near inertia. The development, to all intent and purposes, had made many to raise fundamental and probing questions regarding the capacity of the anti-graft commission and the political will of the immediate past government to prosecute high-profile individuals, many of whom were either still serving under the then administration or had left office.

For instance, the commission did not show substantial evidence that it was ready to prosecute former Aviation Minister and now senator, Stella Oduah, despite her sack from the cabinet in February 2014, over the purchase of two bulletproof BMW cars at N255 million by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). At a point, it seemed to many Nigerians that once the EFCC arraigned high profile Nigerians in court – such as former governors, suspects involved in alleged diversion of billions of fuel subsidy, and the celebrated pension fraud cases – it went back to sleep, literally. Many had accused–rightly or wrongly–the former administration of Goodluck Jonathan of allegedly shielding some persons from facing prosecution, even as they had called for the head of the commission’s leadership.

Not a few have criticised the antigraft agency for its perceived inability to secure high profile convictions, especially of Politically Exposed Persons PEPs). This is notwithstanding the fact that the anti-graft agency, to be sure, has cases of alleged money laundering and misappropriation of public funds pending against many former governors before different courts. It is against this backdrop that the surprise, though voluntary submissions of four former governors – who held the ace during their respective tenures – for grilling at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, have continued to elicit mixed reactions from the public.

As expected, tongues are wagging on the recent “frenzy” of activities at the commission, with the forced visits of Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako (Rtd), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, Chief Martin Elechi, and Alhaji Sule Lamido – former governors of Adamawa, Borno, Ebonyi and Jigawa states respectively.

It will be recalled that Nyako had been declared wanted, while the EFCC had threatened to also declare Sheriff wanted, following their alleged failure to honour invitations for questioning on their stewardship in their respective states. While Sheriff governed Borno State between 2003 and 2011, Nyako was not that lucky, as his second term, which would have ended on May 29, 2015, was terminated in July 2014, when members of the state Assembly impeached him on allegations of gross misconduct. On the other hand, Elechi kept a date with the EFCC on Tuesday, June 16, even as Lamido humbled himself two days afterwards.

Unfortunately, ex-Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State, may have chosen not to enjoy that “privilege”, as he allowed himself to be arrested by operatives of the EFCC. Answers to why Nyako, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who was considered by many, as one of former President Jonathan’s most virulent critics, Sheriff, Elechi and Lamido – members of the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – chose to turn in themselves to the commission, few days and weeks after the inauguration of President Buhari, will soon be found.

The case against Sheriff

The EFCC is investigating the ex-Borno helmsman over alleged misappropriation of an estimated N300 billion, being federal allocations that accrued to the state between 2003 and 2011 when he governed the state. The anti-graft agency, which was said to have begun the investigation in 2012, claimed the ex-governor, may not have strictly applied the funds to the development needs of his people, thereby allegedly abusing his office.

Accordingly, it summoned the politician for questioning on what he knows about the allegations levelled against him. He, however, failed to show up; a development, which made the commission to threaten to declare him wanted. At a well-attended press conference held on May 25 at the EFCC’s headquarters in Abuja, the commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, had, while responding to a question, said: “The latest about Sheriff is that we invited him for questioning, but as I speak to you, I am not sure he honoured that invitation.

“And, once the commission invites a suspect and he fails to honour the invitation, options are open to us; we might declare him wanted.” The ex-governor, perhaps having got the hint – as lawyers would say – surrendered himself to operatives of the EFCC last week. He was quizzed for many hours shortly after his arrival.

Nyako and son’s encounter

On June 1, the former Adamawa State governor was the guest of the EFCC. For about 10 hours, Nyako was grilled by the operatives of the antigraft agency over alleged mismanagement of N15 billion when he held sway as governor. Nyako had earlier been declared wanted by the anti-graft agency. Also declared wanted by the EFCC is the son of the ex-governor, Senator Abdul Aziz Murtala-Nyako, a retired naval officer. The N15 billion was alleged to have been laundered through Nyako’s son companies.

The companies, according to EFCC, are Blue Opal Nigeria Limited, Crust Energy Nigeria Limited, Blue Ribbon Multilinks Limited, Tower Assets Management Limited and Blue Ribbon Bureau De Change. While in office, the EFCC had frozen the accounts of the Nyako-led government in June last year, ostensibly to prevent looting of public funds, after its operatives discovered cases of alleged illegal withdrawals by government officials.

Shortly before Nyako’s impeachment, and consequent upon evidence of illegal withdrawals, operatives of the commission were said to have invited and quizzed the then Secretary to the State Government (SSG), the Commissioner for Finance, among other top officials of government.

The petition, which formed the basis of the ongoing probe, had alleged looting of state funds through a department of the state, which was said to have engaged in over-invoicing and inflation of contract. Alleged suspicious withdrawals were also said to have been made severally from the Joint State/Local Government account by some public officials.

The trouble with Elechi

Like others, the EFCC is investigating Elechi, who governed Ebonyi State from 2007 to 2015, over allegations of fraud and diversion of local government funds. The former governor was grilled by operatives of the anti-graft agencies on June 16. Elechi is being investigated for his alleged directive to 13 local government councils, to establish Asphalt Project at their respective headquarters.

The commission is interested in knowing why money was allegedly deducted at source from the affected councils’ accounts, even when seven of the councils reportedly did not comply with the directive. Operatives are further demanding detailed explanation on the alleged deduction of N1 million from each of the councils’ accounts.

The said deduction was said to have been made purportedly to fund the production of Tshirts for the past centenary celebration. The EFCC had, in January, quizzed Elechi’s Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Timothy Odaa, his counterpart at the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr. Celestine Nwali, and the State’s Accountant General, Mr. Edwin Igbele. The commission had also grilled Elechi’s son, Nnanna. He was said to have answered questions on allegations of money laundering through contracts that were allegedly awarded to him.

Lamido grilled for hours

Lamido, governor of Jigawa State (2007-2015) and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, was on Thursday June 18 subjected to many hours of interrogation in respect of alleged award of some contracts during his tenure, to companies that had links to his son and other cronies.

The former governor’s son, Aminu, was convicted by a Federal High Court sitting in Kano, in 2013. He was prosecuted by the anti-graft agency on charges of money laundering. Aminu was arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in 2012, over his failure to declare the entire $50,000 in his possession; he was said to have declared only $10,000 to the relevant authority in the airport. The trial judge, Justice Fatu Riman, ordered him to forfeit 25 per cent of $40, 000 being the undisclosed sum.

Ohakim and the reality of the past

In continuation of its renewed vigour in the war against graft, operatives of the anti-corruption commission last Thursday, June 18, arrested Ohakim in his Abuja home, and whisked him to their office, where he was grilled for several hours, before being released on administrative bail.

Ohakim’s investigation and eventual arrest, followed a petition to the EFCC alleging fraud and embezzlement of public funds during his four-year tenure (2007 – 2011). Besides alleged embezzlement, EFCC is said to have quizzed the former governor on how he acquired one or two property linked to him. Now that these former states’ chief executives have made statements to the commission, coupled with facts, information as well as material evidence gathered so far, Nigerians are optimistic, nay cautiously, that separate criminal charges will soon be instituted against them in court.

It is also hoped that the EFCC will avoid the pitfall of the past. Prosecutors must not file multiple charges before different courts on same res (subject matter). Again, they must resist the temptation of rushing to court even when investigations have yet to be concluded. More than anything, the commission’s criminal charges against high profile suspects – in most cases politically exposed persons – have often suffered under the weight of “abuse of court process” as well as “want of diligent prosecution.”