Insecurity: Jonathan, Obasanjo meet

President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo met behind closed doors yesterday to seek a way out of the worsening security.

Top on the agenda was the insurgency in the Northeast.

Chief Obasanjo told reporters at his Presidential Hilltop home in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on his return from Abuja that he travelled to Abuja for the meeting as a “mark of respect for the office of the President”.

The former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said: “Yes, I can confirm that I met with Mr. President on his invitation. In fact, he had wanted to come to Abeokuta, but as a sign of respect to the Office of the President, I had to go. We had discussion on the country’s security issues and that is all.”

Obasanjo, who said he appreciated the invitation, said he would continue to make himself available for service on national issues and in the interest of peace and progress.

The relationship between the Obasanjo and President Jonathan is believed to be frosty. It is not known whether there was also an attempt at reconciliation during the meeting.

Last week, Obasanjo lauded the efforts of the Federal Government and the Lagos State government to curb the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease(EVD).

But he said if the same energy put into tackling EVD was applied in handling the abducted Chibok school girls issue the story would probably have been different today.

The former President this week criticised Jonathan’s style of running the country’s economy, likening it to the era of the late Gen. Sani Abacha, whose military regime did not only inflict hardship on Nigerians but also wiped out the middle – class.

On the Eggon/Fulani crisis in Nasarawa State, Obasanjo charged Benue and Nasarawa states to work together for the restoration of peace to the warring communities.

According to him, the two ethnic groups, Eggon (who are farmers) and the Fulani, who are herders, must understand each other and sort out their differences.

He said: “there is no way, such will not happen, but the two state governments should come up with a lasting solution. The farmers would want their crops to be protected, while the cattle men will also want their cattle to feed. So, the government should fashion out peaceful means to end the crisis.”

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Insecurity: Jonathan, Obasanjo meet

Jonathan, ex-leaders, govs resolve to end terrorism before Dec

Members of the Council of State rose from an emergency meeting on Thursday with a resolution to support President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure that the current spate of terrorism in parts of the country ends before December.

Jonathan, ex-leaders, govs resolve to end terrorism before Dec

They also resolved to put an end to all discriminatory practices in states including the registration and “deportation” of non-indigenes as well as different school fees for indigenes and non-indigenes in states-owned institutions among others.

The council presided over by Jonathan has the Vice President, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, all former Heads of State, all former Chief Justices of Nigeria and all state governors as members.

All former Heads of State, except former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) attended the emergency meeting. President of the Senate, David Mark, was also absent.

Governors Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Sullivan Chime (Enugu) and the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting.

Aliyu said it was the resolution of council members that all hands must be on the deck to end insurgency in parts of the country.

He said they would work hard to ensure that the predictions by some foreigners that Nigeria would cease to exist as a united body beyond 2015 remained a wishful thinking.

The governor added that the council observed that leaders, particularly politicians remained the only threats to the country and democracy.

He said a collective decision was taken to stop the inflammatory statements always attributed to politicians.

He said, “More fundamental of the issues is the bucks stopping with the leadership. In fact, it came to the fore that if there is any threat to either the state or democracy probably the threat is coming from politicians and from leaders of the country.

“We must understand the boundaries of leadership and also the responsibilities that are involved. Leadership is not about beauty contest.

“In leadership, you must take difficult decisions and really go about implementing them.

“So, all the things came to the fore at the meeting and subsequently, each of us made it a deliberate resolution to all be bi-partisan or non-partisan to support the President to make sure that we get rid of this insurgency and indeed suggesting that before December.”

The governor said there was nothing religious or Islamic about the activities of the dreaded Boko Haram sect.

He said the important thing was for adherents of religions to respect the rights of adherents of other religions aside from theirs.

Akpabio said the council frowned at the registration of Nigerians in parts of the country and directed that the exercise be stopped forthwith.

He disclosed further that the council set up a six-member committee saddled with the responsibility of further identifying other discriminatory practices across the country.

The committee which has two months to submit its report, according to him, has governors of Niger, Sokoto, Enugu, Gombe, Akwa Ibom and Ondo States as members.

He said with the submission of the report, the council would then decide if the National Assembly would be approached to ensure that changes are made.

He said the ex-leaders proffered solutions to the security challenges in the country while council members commended security agencies.

He said, “Council viewed the report seriously that some citizens were being deported; deportatiom should be from one country to the other but where you have a Nigerian who is being returned to his state of origin to other states, then you know there is a problem.

“We felt that that was capable of disrupting the unity of the country, making Nigerians to become apprehensive and unsafe. ‎

“Also, council frowned at the idea of even registering Nigerians in various parts of the country and felt this must be brought to an end immediately.

“And so we looked at all these issues and the role every leader should play from the local government level to the federal level. The role each one of us should play to ensure that we solidify the unity of this country.

“We also looked at these discriminatory practices across board from all parts of the country: North, South, West and the East and we felt all those issues must be brought to front burner, solutions proffer to ensure that Nigerians are united, live freely and do their businesses without hinderance.”

Chime on his part said he saw commitment to save the country by both past and present leaders who attended the meeting.

He said the willingness to remain one Nigeria will lead to the abolition of disclosure of states of origin.

Rather, he said people would only be asked to disclose where they reside.

He said those of them who were around knew that was how the civil war started.

He said, “Those of us who were around will remember very well that that was how the civil war started, we saw the danger, we said there is really need for every body to be sensitised on this. It looks very innocent now to say well, I have security concerns, I can register any body who is not from here.

“But you don’t think that you have some people on the other side, what will you feel if they have the same concerns and decide to register everybody who is not from there?

“That is not the way the framers of the constitution envisaged that the constitution should be operated.

“That is why this meeting was held and I am very happy that there was a lot of commitment, the governors who are the main operators, who are the leaders at that level are all committed that this issue is resolved. There a lot of commitment and support across party lines by those who attended.”

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Jonathan, ex-leaders, govs resolve to end terrorism before Dec

Jonathan aware of CBN expenditures - Sanusi replies to financial accusation

Suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has responded to allegations of recklessness levelled against him by the Presidency.

Sanusi and Jonathan

Reacting to Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria’s (FRCN) claims that the CBN engaged in unlawful expenditure on intervention projects, Sanusi noted that President Goodluck Jonathan instructed him to pay “N19.7 billion to the Ministry of Police Affairs for the purchase of armoured helicopters and other security equipment like armoured helicopters; armoured patrol vans; anti-riot equipment; and hand held communication equipment.”

Sanusi added that “upon the application of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the CBN paid N2.1 billion for the automation and renovation of the Federal Executive Council Chamber”. The President approved the “construction of the International Conference Centre for Nigeria.”

Jonathan, Sanusi disclosed, “also requested that the CBN pay N3.2 billion for the construction of a new counter terrorism centre for the office of the National Security Adviser and that the FRCN itself was a beneficiary of the CBN’s intervention policy as the CBN paid N220 million to the FRCN and also organised the banking sector, through the Banker’s Committee, to pay N280 Million, totalling a sum of N500 Million, for the construction of the IFRS Academy.”

All of these requests Sanusi said were duly submitted to the CBN Board of Directors and were duly approved and the grants under the Intervention Program were duly budgeted for, and made on a limited and selected basis.

On the claims that the CBN’s expenses on Private Guards and Lunch for Policemen went up from N0.919 Billion in 2011 to N1.257Billion in 2012, Sanusi responded that “the CBN retained the services of about thirteen (13) private security companies to provide access control and security check services. In 2012, the CBN budgeted N600 Million for security services but spent N582.2 Million on private guards.”

To complement the efforts of private guards, the CBN Sanusi added “also requested the services of security agencies, in light of the increased security challenges, especially the activities of the Boko Haram terrorist group. These security personnel were engaged on a daily basis; and were attached to senior CBN officials; special assignments such as security coverage for currency movements; static guard duties at the bank’s premises nationwide, and other sundry engagements. About 2,406 Policemen are currently deployed on a daily basis to various branches and other locations of the CBN. These security personnel were paid a daily lunch and transport allowances totalling N675.02 Million in the year under review.”

On the claims that the CBN’s breakdown of “Currency Issue Expenses” for 2011 and 2012 indicated that it paid the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (NSPMP) N38.233 Billion in 2011 for printing of banknotes, whereas the entire turnover of NSPMP was N29.370 Billion, Sanusi responded that the “expense item of N38.233 Billion to NSPMP was made up as follows: N28.738Billion payment to NSPMP in 2011; N6.587Billion accrued liability in 2011 but paid in 2012 when deliveries were received; and N2.829Billion audit adjustment journal entry into the account at the end of 2011 in respect of prepayments to NSPMP.

The difference between the numbers in the financial statements of CBN and NSPMP he said “is a simple reflection of timing differences between recognition of expenses by the CBN and income recognition by the NSPMP, with both entities applying conservative accounting policies.”

That the CBN made fictitious payments to Emirate Airlines: N0.511 Billion which allegedly does not fly local charter in Nigeria; Wing Airline: N0.425 Billion which allegedly is not registered with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); and Associated Airline: N1.025 Billion which allegedly did not have a turnover of up to a billion naira in 2011, the suspended CBN governor answered that the “CBN neither engaged, paid nor claimed to have paid Emirates Airlines. Rather, the CBN engaged and entered into an Air Charter Services Agreement with Emirate Touch Aviation Services Limited, which is a local Nigerian charter service company. A simple enquiry by FRCN would have clarified and avoided this misrepresentation.

ii. With respect to Wings Aviation Limited, the CBN contracted Wings Aviation Limited, which changed its name to Jedidiah Air Limited on 21 August 2009 but only notified the CBN of the change on 28 February 2012. Please, see Annexure C for the letter from Jedidiah Air Limited notifying the CBN of the change of name. Here also, a simple enquiry by FRCN would have made this clear. iii. With respect to Associated Air Limited, the CBN did in fact pay a total of N1.025 Billion to Associated Airline Limited. See Annexure D for the schedule of payments made to Associated Airline Limited. It is worth stating that the CBN is not responsible for how the company reports its turnover.”

To the allegation that the expenses made by the CBN on account of currency issues and sundry currency charges for the years 2011 and 2012 were identical and therefore difficult to understand, Sanusi stated that “it is incorrect to say that the expenses in 2011 and 2012 were identical. The sundry currency charges amounted to N1.68 Billion in 2011 and N1.87 Billion in 2012. This expense related to amounts paid to Travelex under an agreement to import foreign exchange for licensed BDCs. On the other hand, Currency Issue Expenses totalled N1.15 Billion in 2011 and N1.28 Billion in 2012, relating to expenses borne by the different branches and currency centres of the CBN in the movement and handling of cash” he explained.

With regards to the Fixed Assets Clearing Account comprise properties acquired by the CBN without any expectation to derive future economic benefits and are written off by the CBN on a yearly basis, Sanusi responded that, “Fixed Assets Clearing Account is used by the CBN to record the procurement of fixed assets, physical items and projects-related expenditure for the CBN, using the IT application Oracle ERP. However, some items, which do not qualify as fixed assets under the capitalisation policy of the CBN, he said are sometimes posted into this account.”

The transactions he said “are periodically reviewed for the purpose of capitalizing those which qualify under the Capitalization Policy and posting such to the respective Fixed Asset Account and Fixed Asset Register with tag numbers. All other assets which do not qualify are expensed through income and expenditure accounts at the end of the year.”

The allegation that the CBN’s leadership uses this head of expense (Facilities Management) to capture what ordinarily should have been accounted for as their benefits-in-kind for tax purposes, and that this head of expense is used for ‘fraudulent activities’ based on the inclusion of items such as “Profit from sale of Diesel”, Sanusi said “the CBN outsources the management and maintenance of its landed properties across the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT. This involves three service areas: engineering services, building services and environmental services. These are operational costs relating principally to head offices, branches, currency centres and training institutes.”

On the specific allegation of ‘fraudulent activities’, based on profits from the sale of diesel, Sanusi noted that “the CBN’s Facilities Management Agreements clearly include the supply of diesel for the operation of generators to power CBN offices in 51 locations across the 36 States and the FCT. The Diesel is paid for at pump price, while overhead and profit at 10 per cent is paid to the service providers. This overhead and profit is presumably what the FRCN erroneously regarded as “profits from the sale of diesel”. These profits do not go to the CBN but to the service providers, which is why they are an “expense item”. The CBN does not operate in any sector of the petroleum industry.”

Also responding to accusations that the external audit revealed debit/credit balances of sundry foreign currencies without the physical stock of foreign currencies at the CBN Head Office, Sanusi said “losses or gains may arise out of the account balances, which in turn, may be occasioned by exchange rate differentials. In either event, once crystalized, the net position is then posted to the Foreign Assets Revaluation Account. As such, as at 20 February 2014, there was no physical stock of currency missing at the CBN.”

On the issue of wasteful expenditure in 2012, Sanusi stated that “this allegation is clearly at variance with the reality of the financial performance of the CBN under my leadership. For example, in the year 2008, just before I took over office at the CBN, the contribution of the CBN to the Federation Account was N8Billion. Based on the 2012 annual accounts, our contribution rose tenfold to N80Billion, while in 2013, our contribution, based on the audited accounts, was N159Billion.”

Sanusi noted that in the five years of his tenure as CBN Governor (2009 – 2013), “the CBN has contributed N376Billion to the Federal Budget as IGR (Internally-Generated Revenue). Indeed in 2012, the House of Representatives Committee on Finance publicly commended the CBN for being the highest contributor of revenues to the FGN among MDAs – accounting for 75 per cent of the total IGR contributed by MDAs between 2009 and 2012. The CBN has been able to achieve this through prudent management of costs, including currency expenses and overheads. For example, we brought down currency expenses from N50.8 Billion in 2009 to N29.08 Billion in 2012.”

He also said that “the Ministry of Finance has already received its IGR from the CBN in full, based on our 2013 accounts and the Ministry even requested and received an advance of N70Billion in anticipation of surplus that is yet to be earned for 2014. With this level of prudent financial performance, it is puzzling to imagine the basis for the levied allegation of “Wastefulness”.

Reacting to the allegation that the CBN paid excessive legal and professional fees of N20.202 Billion in 2011, Sanusi said “the CBN, like any other public entity, is not immune from liabilities that arise from judgments and orders of the Nigerian courts. The referenced N20.202Billion spent under this head covered the CBN’s judgment debt liabilities in the year under review.”

Jonathan aware of CBN expenditures - Sanusi replies to financial accusation

After 10 days Jonathan"s cousin still languishing in kidnapper"s den

President Goodluck Jonathan’s septuagenarian cousin, Inengite Nitabai, is still languishing in kidnappers’ den 10 days after he was whisked away by his assailants.

Jonathan and Nitabai

Nitabai, a compound chief in Jonathan’s Ebele Family, was abducted by 10 gunmen on February 23 at his residence in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.

He was driven out of his compound in his Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) by the bandits who harassed his inlaw and collected N400,000 from his wife.

His car was later recovered at Onuebum waterside, a development that fueled speculations that his abductors escaped with him through the creeks.

But 10 days after the incident, Nitabai’s whereabouts had remained unknown.

Security operatives seemed clueless about the location of the 70-year-old man and his kidnappers.

Though security operatives flooded Otuoke and surrounding creeks in search of Nitabai, their efforts had yielded no positive results.

The kidnappers had called the family of their victim three days after the incident demanding N500m and threatening to kill him if the money was not provided.

It has not been confirmed whether the captors of Nitabai had brought down their demands.

Family members, though in dire straits,  were said to have been instructed not to speak to members of the press.

But a member of the family said issues surrounding Nitabai’s abduction were complicated.

The source who pleaded anonymity said central to the issue was a land dispute between Nitabai and some members of his family.

“We are praying that they should release our father. We hope to see him come out alive. The police are investigating the land dispute to know whether it has anything to do with the kidnapping. Some people have been arrested. But is is complex”, he said.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, said security agencies were making huge progress. (0)

After 10 days Jonathan"s cousin still languishing in kidnapper"s den

Jonathan cousin"s kidnappers demand 500 million ransom

By Ehi Ekhator

The kidnappers of President Goodluck Jonathan’s adopted father and cousin, Inengite Nitabai, have demanded a ransom of N500million to set him free.

The demand has thrown the family of Nitabai into chaos as they are running from pillar to pole trying to figure out a solution to the problem.

As usual, the kidnappers have threatened to kill Nitabai if the ransom is not produced on time, says a security officer who spoke to our correspondent.

A close source who crave anonimity said that the family had formed a committee to look into the outrageous demand and find a way to secure his release.

As usual, the kidnappers warned against involving security operatives or they might never see Nitabai again.

He said “The kidnappers contacted the family four days after and demanded a whooping sum of N500m. It is believed that the family of the victim has begun negotiations with the hoodlums,” 

The family have been exploiting different possibilities that might have led to the kidnapping of their brother.

The atmosphere became gloomier following refusal of the assailants to establish contact with the family of their victim three days after the abduction.

The kidnappers’ incommunicado, it was observed, created panic and heightened apprehension among members of the family. (0)

Jonathan cousin"s kidnappers demand 500 million ransom