Nitel's Ongoing Strike Bites Harder

In this report, Efem Nkanga, examines the recent strike action embarked upon by employees of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), the negative impact the strike has had on the economy and the need for the Federal Government to declare telecommunication a critical sector of the economy.

The ongoing industrial action of employees of NITEL has continued to take its toll on the economy almost two weeks after the commencement of the strike, which was attributed to disagreements between Transnational Corporation, owners of NITEL and NITEL employees over the payment of salaries and emoluments.

The strike action, which has led to the shut down of SAT-3, the underwater communication cable link connecting Nigeria and many African countries to the rest of the world through Europe, has led to communication challenges that has continued to take its toll on the economy. Affected by the strike action are critical sectors of the economy spanning oil and gas, banking, the seat of government, security service, media houses, private telecoms operators (PTOs) and telecoms companies etc. Major conglomerates like Total and Shell are said to have been seriously affected by the strike action. Though NITEL is known for rendering epileptic services, it has a golden asset - SAT-3, which delivers capacity that links Nigeria and other participatory members of the project to major internet backbones across Europe, Asia and the Americas. The SAT 3 cable project connects Africa with Europe and is projected to be a major revenue earner for NITEL. THISDAY gathered that NITEL, which spent about $45 million in 2002 to co-own the facility, which runs through the Atlantic Ocean linking countries along the route, makes only about N100million as revenue every month while its salary structure on a monthly basis is about 500 million. It is this shortfall between the revenue it earns and its liabilities that has been its albatross.

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Senate Will Protect Iyabo From EFCC, Senate Claims

The Senate yesterday stood its grounds, insisting that the chairperson of its Committee on Health, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, is innocent of the corruption charges brought against her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Consequently, the Senate promised to protect her from unnecessary harassment and intimidation by the anti-financial crimes commission.

The Senate had, through Obasanjo-Bello's lawyer, Chief Afe Babalola, requested Senate president David Mark to prevail on the EFCC not to arrest her over the N10 million her committee collected from the Ministry of Health.

The committee had agreed to have participated in the sharing of the money.
Addressing Senate reporters yesterday, Senator Eze insisted that their colleague Iyabo was not found wanting in any way.

He noted that when the Senate listened to her, they came to the conclusion that she was neither culpable nor found wanting of any misconduct and that if due process was followed she would have no questions to answer.

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Obasanjo has now garnered the support of the senate in hiding from the EFCC. It seems, though, that if she is truly innocent, she would not be hiding. If she was not involved with the corruption, she should go before the EFCC, and they should bring a legal end to this.

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Contractors May Refund Government's Money with Interest

Contractors who handled the controversial power plants initiated by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo's but failed to perform satisfactorily may be forced to refund the money and pay interest on them.

This is among punitive measures the House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel probing the alleged $16 billion spent on the energy sector between 1999 and 2007 may recommend to the Federal Government.

Aside the representatives' probe, the Federal Government has intensified its efforts to bail out the energy sector from its near moribund state.

Its current focus is on the controversial National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP), where a global firm hired by the government to assess seven of the power plants and recommend ways to make functional has submitted its report.

After inspecting the Papalanto Power Plant in Ogun State yesterday, the panel's chairman, Mr. Godwin Ndudi Elumelu, said the contractors who performed poorly would be made to refund the money and pay interest on them.

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After many problems, much payment, and little results, the power sector of Nigeria did not do very well last year. Hopefully, the contracters will follow through and refund money, which might mitigate some of the damage and lack of progress in the power sector.

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Bribery At Tribunals

In a season of scandals, the judiciary appears unwilling to be exempted from the rot that has hit the system. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi says there are allegations of corruption against some judges at the election tribunals. This again brings to the fore the apprehensions about the rulings of these tribunals, as well as their ability to serve their purpose - dispensation of justice.

These allegations are not new. The House of Representatives Committee on Justice gave vent to them following petitions it got, in which there were allegations that as much as N2.1 billion has been spent in bribing judges at tribunals.

Some things are new about the latest allegations.

They are capable of pitting the judiciary against the legislature. The House of Representatives Committee on Justice is asking for the rulings of the tribunals. Its intentions are not clear.

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This article typifies the constant allegations that are always present in Nigeria and the current popular trend of news about tribunals. Even long after the tribunals are over, people are still disputing the results with the most popular form of accusations in Nigeria: Bribery, because even if the allegations are false, the stink of it stays, forever tarnishing the accused party's reputation. 

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Yar'Adua Signs N2.748 Trillion Budget 2008

After several months of disagreement between the executive and the legislative arms of government on the 2008 Appropriation Bill, President Umaru Yar'Adua, yesterday, signed the Bill into law with a charge to all government agencies to implement it with "the highest sense of responsibility and with total deference to due process."

The total amount budgeted for the 2008 fiscal year is N2.748 trillion, comprising N860 billion for capital and N1.888 trillion for recurrent.

Although the signing ceremony was billed for 10 o'clock in the morning, it was not until 3:00 p.m that it finally took place following what a source described as the state of the president's health. Reporters were not allowed to witness the event as has been the tradition.

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The compromise that was offered last week was signed into action, so this is just confirmation of what was expected to happen. It is good that Nigeria is attempting to build capital, but it is hard to tell how much will actually buy the capital. The banning of reporters during the event shows the strong presence of tradition in Nigeria.

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N300m scam: How we shared N10m – Iyabo Obasanjo

Embattled Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello has said that N500,000 was disbursed to each member of the Senate Committee on Health from the controversial N300m scam in the Federal Ministry of Health.

The Senator, who the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission claimed on Tuesday was at large because of her alleged involvement in the scam, said the money was given to the senators to cover parts of their expenses during a four-day seminar and retreat in Ghana.

She said in a statement to EFCC that the retreat and seminar was to facilitate the passage of the Health Policy Bill.

In the statement obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday, Obasanjo-Bello, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, said it was not unusual for a ministry to sponsor an executive bill.

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This thinly veiled, terrible excuse for the corrupt use of the health department's use of its greatly needed money is a poor reflection of the justice system in Nigeria. Just because she is the daughter of the former president, this criminal is still free to give excuses.

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N300m Scam - Grange, Aduku, 11 Others Charged

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arraigned former Health Minister, Prof Adenike Grange; former Minister of State for Health, Gabriel Yakubu Aduku, an architect; and 11 others on a 56-count charge of graft involving about N300 million.

But the name of the daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Iyabo, which was mentioned as having partaken in the graft, was missing on the list of the accused persons charged to court yesterday.

The EFCC told the court that Iyabo was currently at large and could not be arrested for prosecution but would be arrested and brought to justice once found.

Iyabo, according to count 56 of the charges between December 2007 and March 2008 in Abuja while serving as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health, dishonestly received the sum of N10 million belonging to the Federal Government having reason to believe that same was stolen. Her action is said to have constituted an offence punishable under Section 317 of the Penal Code Act Cap 352, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) Abuja.

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Corruption remains rampant in Nigeria, as 300 million Naira have been swindled from the government. What is somewhat different is the exclusion of the president's daughter from an accused list, despite proof of her involvement. Officials do assure that even these ties do not exclude Iyabo Obasanjo from justice, which is hopefully true.

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President and Assembly agree on budget

After the protracted bickering over the delay in the passage of the 2008 Appropriation Bill, the Presidency and the National Assembly have reached an agreement on how to address the points of disagreement in the budget.

According to [Ayogu Eze], the President would compile his reservations on the budget and send them to the National Assembly in form of an amended bill to the budget with the Assembly pledging to give them positive consideration.

Adeniyi said in Abuja yesterday that "it was an amicable meeting. It was very cordial. And an agreement was reached. And under it, the President will assent to the budget. He will then send an amendment bill to the National Assembly on the areas there were consensus on review.

"Both parties resolved their differences on the budget and decided to reach a compromise. The budget document will be signed the way it is now but an amendment would be sent to the NASS in another two weeks."

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As posted earlier, the budget delay has been very detrimental to Nigeria's economy. It's a good thing that the disagreement is getting closer to being resolved. Contrary to the somewhat misleading news headline, however, the budget is not yet finalized or written.

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Action Congress Asks Nigeria to 'Sack Iwu Now"

Action Congress (USA) has again called for the removal of Maurice Iwu as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a statement made available to leadershipnigeria.com it said that again the verdict in Edo State proves that he had failed to deliver as promised free and fair elections at every level of government throughout Nigeria.

We have and continue to witness the election tribunal void election after election and ask for re-runs. He is a disgrace to progress and democracy, his denial of his failure is shameful and should be prevented from making further statements publicly regarding it.

They thanked President Yar'Adua in his belief in the rule of law, but strongly opposed his statement which includes "do-or-die" in any re-elections throughout the country. However, we expect that we will do free and fair elections, whereby each registered voter is given the opportunity to cast their vote without fear, that those votes are counted without bias and that the true count is given declaring only the individual who rightfully wins regardless of who does.

The statement said, "As a man who has tried to convince the country and the outside world of his sincerity to provide safety for the people of Nigeria, it becomes highly embarrassing to hear the word 'die' coming from him (Yar'Adua) in reference to any election, when he should be guaranteeing protecting the lives of all its citizens and not a select few".

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In a delayed response to the elections, Action Congress called for a reform of the election commission of Nigeria in the form of firing its chairman. Although this approach may or may not be effective in reforming the elections, it is good to see that some action is being suggested. The only way to improve a flawed system is to change something, and Nigeria, or at least some parts, is trying to reform.

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Security Experts from Britain, U.S, and Nigeria Meet Today

The Niger Delta oil fields, a major point of conflict in Africa

Top American intelligence and military officers as well as their British counterparts will, today, in Abuja, engage top Nigerian security chiefs under the Gulf of Guinea Energy Security Strategy (GGESS) to explore fresh initiatives towards ending militancy in the Niger Delta region, in particular, and a secured business environment in the entire Gulf of Guinea.

GGESS was initiated by the Federal Government in 2005 as a collaborative effort with key foreign governments to find a lasting solution to the security of oil and gas supply from the Niger Delta. It is also to promote sustainable development of the region in a climate of peace.

If successfully implemented, the GGESS initiative is expected to be replicated in other countries in the sub-region. The strategy seeks to build strong partnerships between the Nigerian Government and foreign governments interesteds in the co-ordinated effort to stamp out oil theft, illegal small arms dealings and money laundering with particular emphasis on the Niger Delta.

At inception, the US Government collaborated with Nigeria in establishing the GGESS. The United Kingdom which initially attended meetings as an observer eventually joined the group as a full member. Nigerian representation to the GGESS is drawn from the NNPC, the Nigerian military and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The GGESS has four work groups to facilitate the achievement of set objective: the Small Arms Control, Maritime Security, Money Laundering and Sustainable Development.

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Another sign of attempts to improve stability and security in Nigeria, this article shows that some officials are trying to battle the seemingly endless flow of corruption and violence. Although this step forward will be met with almost as much movement backwards, hopefully the overall trend in Nigeria is progressive.

U.S. report questions voting rights abuses in Nigeria

For the first time this year, the United States government is commenting openly about its disappointment with how certain 2007 election petitions are being settled in Nigeria without attention being paid to what it described as criminal activity during the polls.

In its current World Annual Report of Human Rights for 2007 released yesterday in Washington DC, the U.S. government submitted that in Nigeria "the government's human rights record remained poor, and government officials at all levels continued to commit serious abuses."

The greatest threat to liberty is "the abridgement of citizens' right to change their government, " according to the report presented to the press by Jonathan Farrar, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour at the State Department, the equivalent of Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

According to the U.S. report: "Although it was widely accepted that the 2007 elections were fraudulent, most of the tribunals overturned elections based on technicalities such as not having the party logo on the ballot or not having the party name listed, rather than for criminal activity related to the elections."

The report noted that after the flawed 2007 polls, tribunals received over 1,250 legal motions filed across the country to overturn the results of individual elections for all levels of government posts, including the Presidency.

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Even over a week after the tribunals, people are still complaining over the results of the tribunal. The article, unlike some other ones, cites legitimate reasons for complaint, particularly in the full article. The elections were mainly overturned because of technicalies rather than large problems, denoting the desensitization of nigerian towards these large problems.

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Government Introduces New Rural Development Plan

The Federal Government yesterday presented to stakeholders for inputs a three-year draft rural development plan for the country called the, "Community Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (CEEDS)".

Minister and Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Senator Sanusi Dagash, who presented the documents to the stakeholders in Abuja yesterday, said CEEDS is estimated to cost about N248.64 billion.

"CEEDS conceptual framework is premised on the dire need for restoration of the human dignity and hope for poor communities in rural areas.

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Although some may say the US has a poverty problem, it is nothing compared to that of Nigeria. To say that even N248.64 billion could make a dent in the poverty situation of Nigeria is absurd. Even if the money was used without corruption or other problems, the amount of people below any poverty line in Nigeria is to enormous for billions of Naira to alleviate.

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How Obasanjo Spent $13bn on Power

Clearer picture of how the Obasanjo administration spent $13 billion on the power sector emerged yesterday with the Minister of State for Energy (Power), Mrs. Fatima Ibrahim, giving a breakdown of the expenditure over a period of eight years.

And following the failure of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) to materialise, the 36 states and the 774 councils are now demanding the refund of the $3.2 billion they contributed for its implementation, according to Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State.

She said the sum of N235 billion; $6.5 billion and 330 million Euro were used to finance the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP).

She said another $4.6 billion sourced from the international creditors and $1.6 billion from Joint Venture Calls (JVCs) were also used to finance the sector during the period.

Ibrahim said although there was no evidence of misappropriation of the funds, some contracts that were paid for were abandoned by the contractors after payment.

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Following up on this story, the government has finally responded to the question of the people and the questions of the state government. The money was reportedly all allocated to certain projects, but that does not rule out the possibility of massive corruption or faulty allocation. The government's explanation was that many contrators who were hired for the job did not complete their tasks. This money that was not returned upon will be sought out from the contractors, and hopefully the government can come closer to their ambitious power supply goals.

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INEC Pays N21m Life Insurance Claims

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday issued cheques worth N21 million to 10 families of their deceased staff as payment for their Group Life Assurance Claim.

He said the policy to pay the life issurance was borne out of the fact that the process of electoral democracy "remains a very stressful and risky assignment in Nigeria and Africa as a whole," adding that election management agencies should ordinarily not be a life endangering matter.

"It is a sad commentary on our state of being as a society that various staff of the Commission have had to face extreme exposure to strains, pressure, threats and physical assault leading to temporal and at times permanent disability. In some unfortunate cases, death has resulted in the course of what ought to be a civic duty of carrying out electoral duties," Iwu lamented.

"This insurance will also cover the total permanent or temporary disability resulting from accident and natural causes as well as taking care of the medical expenses for career public servants arising from accident," he added.

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Life insurance must be paid to electoral workers for disabilities and even death. The significance pretty much explains itself. Electoral workers shouldn't have a life threatening job in any democracy.

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MEND Chief Charged With Treason, Gun Running

About one month after they were extradited to Nigeria from Angola over gun-running charges, the Federal Government yesterday filed treason charges against the detained leaders of Movement for the Emancipa-tion of Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah and Edward Atatah.They were accused of terrorism, illegal importation of firearms and gun running.

At the Federal High Court, Abuja where the charges were filed, it was revealed that Okah was charged in absentia last year with treason and other offences. The defence was handed a copy of the 14 charges made against Okah in December, after his arrest in Angola before he was extradited to the country. If found guilty, Okah faces death penalty.

According to the charge, Okah and Atatah who are 42 and 43 respectively in September 2007 travelled from Nigeria to Luanda, Angola to buy shipping vessel worth USD670,000 to be used to transport arms to militants in the oil rich Niger Delta. Federal Government argued that the offences contravened section 41 © of the Criminal Code Act (CPA) Cap 77 laws of the federation of Nigeria 1999 and punishable under Section 41.

The accused were said to have sold and provided 250,000 assault riffles, general-purpose machine guns, rocket propelled launchers /canisters, bazookas and assorted ammunitions to armed groups such as the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Icelandic Cult and the MEND to levy war against the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Yenegoa, Port Harcourt, Delta and other places contrary to section 37(1) of the CPA.

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Nigeria has many illigitamate militant and non-militant groups representing the large number of minorities present in the country. Some groups that may seem somewhat non-confrontational are actually aiding the violent nature of other groups without endagering themselves as much. These militant groups are a bad sign for a newly democratic, country, because militants in true democracies seem to be ineffective, and from the sheer number of militant groups in Nigeria, we can conclude that they are somewhat effective.

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Good "Friends"

We have made many posts about the rampant corruption in Nigeria, but this comic adds a little humor to the subject. With all of the corruption in other areas, it seems that the only way to complete this project is by promising more corruption. It is a vicious cycle with no easy end in sight.

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Dissent abroad over tribunal results

Shamsey Oloko

Nigerians abroad, many of who monitored the live delivery of the presidential tribunal's ruling yesterday via satellite television, the Internet and tele-conferencing, have expressed divergent opinions on it.

Former President of the U.S.-based Nigerian Lawyers Association and a New York-based lawyer, Shamsey Oloko, noted: "To accept this verdict as credible requires a willing suspension of disbelief.

Aluko added: "The Ogebe elevation saga, his absence from court, the unanimity of the ruling and all the rumours leading up to this judgment are all saddening. One would only hope that the Supreme Court would in some way redeem the newly battered image of the judiciary."

Similarly, Dr. Baba Adam, chairman, Pro-National Conference Organisations in the U.S. said it was a sad day for Nigeria, "rolling back the progress made by the judiciary over the last eight years."

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Although these are not the opinions of local Nigerians, this may be indicative of what those who do live in Nigeria think. Nigerians have been very patient to wait for this tribunal, hoping for a nullification of the election. Now that the election is final, will the people of Nigeria stay placated, or will they resort to violent or nonviolent protest?

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Yar’Adua’s victory: Military warns troublemakers

The flag of the Nigerian Defence Forces

The Defence Headquarters on Wednesday warned anyone contemplating to protest the affirmation of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s election by the Presidential Election Tribunal to have a rethink.

It said the warning was necessitated by information that there were plots by some people to breach the peace in the country because of the Tuesday verdict by the tribunal.

The DHQ said in a statement by the Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yusuf, that the military would do anything to defend the rule of law in the country.

The statement which was signed by Yusuf for the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Owoye Azazi, said the disruption of the public peace would not be the best way to react to Tuesday’s judgment by the tribunal.

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Apparently, the military believes that there is some chance of violent protest in response to the recent tribunal. The article makes it seem that the chance is relatively high. It is good that the military at least claims it will stick with the president, given the history of military rule in Nigeria.

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Nigerian Tribunal Upholds Yar'Adua's Victory

Ibadan, Nigeria -- A Nigerian tribunal Tuesday upheld the victory of President Umaru Yar'Adua in last year's presidential election, declaring him duly elected.

The tribunal, in a three-and-a-half hour judgment carried live on national radio and television, nullified all grounds brought against the election by Messrs. Buhari and Atiku and said Mr. Yar'Adua remained the elected president of Nigeria.

In their separate petitions, Messrs. Buhari and Abubakar had asked the tribunal to annul the result, alleging widespread fraud. They said the election wasn't conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2006 and urged the tribunal to nullify the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC.

Local and international observers said the election was marred by vote-rigging, ballot stuffing, ballot-snatching and other irregularities.

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Inspite of many claims of illegitamacy, this nigerian tribunal has stated that the elections were valid, although there is much evidence of less than legal techniques used to obtain votes. From previous events, it seems that the Nigerian people will probably accept this decision without violence.

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Nigeria parliament passes 2008 budget, spending up

Nigeria's National Assembly passed a final version of the 2008 budget on Wednesday that foresees a 21 percent hike in proposed expenditure and an even sharper increase on what the government actually spent last year.

The Senate and House of Representatives, which had passed slightly different versions of the budget last week, reconciled their figures and adopted the 2.89 trillion naira total spending proposed by the upper chamber.

The harmonised bill will now be sent to President Umaru Yar'Adua for final approval. He had originally proposed an annual spending figure of 2.45 trillion naira.

To increase the amount of money available to be spent in this year's budget, the lawmakers revised upwards the benchmark oil price to $59 per barrel from $53.83 in the executive's original bill.

The Senate had said the additional spending was "committed to the provision of water, roads, power, enhancement of social services such as education and healthcare delivery".

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Although the budjet has not been approved by Yar'Adua, a 20% increase in spending is quite signifigant. The addition is supposed to help provide more quality public goods and services, and the Nigerian people may appriciate the extra spending. Hopefully, this new budjet, and the higher oil prices from Nigeria do result in added stability and satisfaction with the Nigerian Government.

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