Tuesday, 9 May 2017

The Mendacities of the Apostles of Corpsocracy & the ‘Return’ of the Chibok Girls – By Femi Fani-Kayode


They say that nothing is hidden under the sun. In God’s time and by the power of His word and glorious light, all things that were hidden shall be made known and the sun of truth shall shine forth brightly dismantling the web of mendacity and deceit and displacing the cruel darkness.

The issue of President Buhari’s health, the enthronement of corpsocracy and the deep conspiracy and growing concerns about the issue of the Chibok girls and the circumstances of their purported release is making waves and generating a high degree of uncertainty, cynicism, skepticism, angst and tension in the country.

For example an anonymous contributor who has deep reservations and grave concerns about the narrative that the Federal Government is engendering wrote the following:

"We keep warning you to KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL but you are all easily distracted by the circus show they throw at you. Like his Friday-FRAUD circus appearances, EFCC discoveries, arrests of critics, etc.. But think critically. If a captain was killed few days ago and other soldiers were killed and wounded, how could the same group that killed them release 82 girls? They said Abubakar Shekau was fatally wounded and his deputy killed in an air strike. How will he, who is wounded, release his captives? The Federal Government told the world that they are afraid the girls are no longer in Sambisa. That they have been either killed, sold or scattered. How was it so easy to bring out 82 at once? Why are the girls ONLY released in May or October, when there is a major event coming-like the Democracy Day or Independence Day? THINK ABOUT IT: THEY KNOW HOW YOU ALL THINK AND REACT. THEY KNOW THAT YOU ARE ALL GULLIBLE, SO THEY TWIST YOUR MINDS. In truth, it’s all part of the plan but the challenge was Buhari’s sickness. It took them unawares. They didn’t plan for it or for the the loop holes that you see showing in their propaganda. He is suffering for the lies, deceit and the blood-letting that he supports. By the time God is done with him, his type will never spring up again. FOCUS ON THE BALL. BUHARI IS THE BALL AND NIGERIA IS THE FIELD. THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT TO TAKE: HER AND HER CHILDREN TO BE THEIRS. May 29 is around the corner and since there will be no achievement to talk about in the Democracy Day broadcast, they have decided to ask their co-conspirators to release some of the girls to decieve gullible Nigerians that that is their primary achievement. The whole thing is nonsense!"

Strong sentiments indeed. Yet the author reflects the thinking of many. For example when asked about his views on the purported return of the 82 Chibok girls, my friend and brother, the discerning, irrepressable and courageous Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state, said the following: "the government is flying dubious kites and selling cheap dummies to distract the people."

What is NOT missing cannot be found. Discerning Nigerians understand that the stories do not add up. Right now, a matter of urgent national importance arresting the attention of all and sundry is that of the President’s health. While I continue to pray, in conjunction with other Nigerians, for the President’s quick recovery, I condemn without equivocation this shameless playing on the intelligence and psyche of Nigerians taking undue advantage of the vexed issue of the so-called Chibok girls. It has become the style of this government to distract attention but the truth will be told some day. The questions are: which Chibok girls are they talking about? Chibok girls who purportedly were writing Physics WAEC examinations but cannot speak simple English? Chibok girls who were shielded from the media? Till today the media have not been allowed access to the so-called Chibok girls. When is the next batch of Chibok girls coming? When is the next make-believe? When there is the need for another cover-up, distraction and diversion of the people’s attention and focus, they will fly their usual kite and sell the self-same jaded dummy. It is very unfortunate that we brought ourselves to this sorry pass”.

This is an insightful, concise and effective articulation and it can hardly be faulted.

The suspicion with which most people view the Buhari administration and the unprecedented level of skepticism and cynicism that exists about their assertions and claims is indeed food for thought.

One cannot dismiss the concerns of the skeptics lightly because many questions still have to be answered.

For example it appears very strange to me that every time the Buhari administration has major issues and they need a distraction a new batch of Chibok girls are suddenly released.

Two days ago the leader of Boko Haram, Mr. Abubakar Shekau, mocked and insulted Buhari and now he suddenly releases 82 Chibok girls? It appears to me that this is most unlikely!

This begs the question: WHERE were these girls kept and WHO kept them? WHY are they not being allowed to see their parents? WHY have none of them been allowed to speak to the press? WHAT were the specific conditions of their purported release? There are so many questions that are yet to be answered.

Meanwhile a list of names of the 82 girls have been released to the public showing that most of them are Christians yet curiously, as Aisha Yusuf, one of the convenors of the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign (BBOG), told AIT News at 8.00pm on the night of May 7th,

“No parent has been allowed to see the released Chibok Girls and this is worrisome: no parent has identified any because the Government would not grant them access”.

This seems stranger than fiction. Have the girls become ‘government propety’ now? If so what are the terms and what is the purpose?

Equally strange is the fact that we have been told that they were kept in frightful and barbarous captivity in the hideous, barren and demon-infested Sambisa forest and other playgrounds and jungles of the murderous vampires called Boko Haram for the last three years and that they have been held captive in the cruel clutches of sadistic and battle-hardened Islamist terrorists, barbaric paedophiles, genocidal maniacs, sexual deviants, sociopathic perverts, bloodthirsty pyschopaths, serial rapists and degenerate coprophiliacs yet they all looked well-fed, well-oiled, well-kept and, in most cases, plump and fat with shining smooth skins.

One wonders what type of food the Haramites were feeding their young captives because whatever it was ought to be shared with the unfortunate children that are suffering hell in the Federal Govermment-funded Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps of north-eastern Nigeria. It would certainly do them a world of good.

The whole thing is all the more curious when one considers the fact that the 21 Chibok girls that were previously released have not, up until today, been returned to their families or their commnunity. Why is this so?

The question must be asked: what the hell is going on? Clearly we are being played for fools. And we have now been informed that these beautiful young mannequins and damsels were swapped in return for huge sums of money and five hardened and battle-tested Boko Haram commanders.

If this is the case the Nigerian people have a right to know exactly the amounts of money involved and the details and names of the commanders that have now been returned to lead the happy gathering of the ever-faithful, all-powerful and stupendously rich Islamist and Salafist Mujahadeen. Ambassador Babagana Kingibe and Alhaji Mamman Daura: over to you!

Even though journalists were barred from witnessing the event or entering the Presidential Villa on that day, I am glad that pictures and footage of the Presidents meeting with the Chibok girls were released to the public.

And those pictures and that footage, taken from a safe distance by the Presidents handlers and staff and not by enquiring and inquisitive journalists, tell quite a story.

The truth is that the whole thing stinks to high heavens. There is a rotting fish and a dead rat, combined, dispensing a compelling, overpowering, ungodly and unholy odour from somewhere under the floorboards of Aso villa.

We are told that the President travelled to London immediately after the event. Let us hope that he will come back home hale and hearty though somehow I doubt he will. I doubt that things will ever be the same again for him.

I suspect that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo may be Acting President for quite some time and within the year he may well be sworn in as substantive President. Let us wait and see.

The truth is that if the objective of the whole “return of the 82 Chibok girls” exercise was to distract Nigerians from the numerous challenges of our Government and our ailing President it has not worked very well.

We are glad that Buhari was at the mosque on friday. We are also glad that he received the 82 Chibok girls and travelled to the United Kingdom for more treatment albeit for an indefinate period of time on Sunday.

However we hereby reiterate our call for him to resign honorably and go and take care of his health permanently.

Hanging around and appearing on fridays at the mosque for a photo-shoot and a short prayer with his friends and staff was never going to be enough. If the plan is for him to go away for a few weeks and then return to start that puerile rubbish all over again it is not going to work.

He is not the Chief Imam of the Villa: he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

And we the people say NO to corpsocracy! There is no place in our constitution for the rulership of the living by the dead.

Now if anyone has any doubts about the seriousness of Buhari’s situation and ailment I urge them to zoom in on the picture of him taken on friday whilst he was walking through the Villa external corridor just before going to the mosque.

I am referring to the one in which he was flanked by his National Security Advisor, Babagana Monguno and his Chief of Staff, my old Cambridge University colleague, Abba Kyari.

Take a close look at his hand and cheeks in that picture. They are swollen beyond the norm.

It appears that he was put on steroids just so that he could come out for the mosque.

Again it appears that he is suffering from dementia. Worse still he can barely walk for long stretches without being propped up and, according to my sources, he drawls and sometimes dribbles when he speaks.

It is sad and pitiful.

No man should be forced to go through that and be displayed before the world in such a condition simply for political purposes.

All those that were around him on friday as he was walking to pray to his god looked like hungry and desperate wolves whilst he looked like the willing and gentle sacrificial lamb.

This is God’s judgement and it is terrifying and humbling. We must not gloat and we must not ridicule him. Rather we must all learn from it and fear the Lord of Hosts and the Ancient of Days. The Bible says “it is a frightful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God”. And so it is.

The President attracts nothing but pathos. He looks like a fallen character from a Shakesperean tragedy. He is a rejected and broken soul: a ghost and a shell of his former self.

He needs to be pitied and he should be allowed to resign and to go home and rest in peace.

Yet whatever Buhari chooses to do we must always remember that rebellion against a tyrant is an act of obedience to God. They may have today but tomorrow belongs to us.

Opposition to corpsocracy, subjugation, internal colonialism, slavery, religious bigotry, persecution, injustice, dehumanisation, the Apostles of hate and the evil cabal that have birthed and nurtured these vices is a divine injunction because the bible says we must “resist evil”.

Our struggle is not just political. It is ideological. It is fundamental. It is spiritual. It is deep and it is far-reaching.

We do not just want to change the leadership of this country. We want to restructure and redefine the whole nation. We want to pull down the entire system and rebuild a new country. Corpsocracy or no corpsocracy, that is our mission and that is the calling of our generation. That is the battle that we need to fight and the war that we must win.

Permit me to conclude this contribution with the words of Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje, a financial consultant, a writer and a public commentator. He wrote,

"As we advocate compassion and prayers for Buhari at this time, I would also like us to reflect on the fate of the hundreds or thousands of people killed by Fulani herdsmen, the hundreds of Shiites killed in Zaria and other places in the north, the many biafran demonstrators murdered in the eastern towns and many other recent victims of state sponsored and tolerated killings. They need compassion too!"

These are precisely my sentiments. God be with us all.


Court orders Facebook to remove hate speech postings worldwide


Facebook must remove abusive posts from its platform worldwide, an Austrian court has ruled in response to a complaint brought by the nation’s Green Party.
It followed abuse its leader received from trolls on the site, and was filed against Facebook’s Irish company.
Eva Glawischnig, who has been the federal spokesperson for the Green Party since 2008, had been targeted by “a fake profile” called Michaela Jaskova, which accused Ms Glawischnig of treachery.
The party has complained the ruling leaves many questions unanswered, including whether the obligation to delete abusive material should include similar but not identical posts.
It is considering taking the matter to the Supreme Court to establish whether similar content, which cannot be automatically detected by Facebook, should be deleted too.
Facebook has not responded to the ruling and declined to comment to Sky News, but is set to hire an additional 3,000 staff to combat hate speech and harmful material hosted on its platform.
In January, a man with learning difficulties was bound, gagged and brutally punched in a video that was live streamed on Facebook.
Last month, a video was uploaded to the site of a man shot dead in an unprovoked attack.
Regulation regarding these incidents is being pursued by governments across Europe.
The European Commission, in partnership with Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube published a code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online.
In December, the Commission published a fact sheet reporting that 28% of all notifications of alleged online hate speech led to the removal of the flagged content, although only 40% were reviewed within 24 hours.
Earlier this month in the UK, MPs stated that social media companies should be fined if they fail to remove harmful material from their platforms.

Ifeanyi Ubah Sues DSS, Seeks Release From Detention


Ifeanyi Ubah, the Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas Limited has sued the Department of State Services before the Federal High Court in Lagos over what he termed unlawful detention by the security agency.

According to his lawyer, Mrs. Ifeoma Esom, who appeared before Justice Mohammed Idris today with an ex parte application, claimed that her client had been in detention since May 6.

She urged the judge to order the DSS to release Ubah to prevent the security agency from coercing him to accede to “whatever conditions they impose on him in exchange for his freedom.”

Upon hearing the ex parte application on Tuesday, Justice Idris ordered the DSS to bring Ubah before him on May 12, 2017, to show cause why the businessman should not be released unconditionally.

In an affidavit filed in support of the application, the Secretary of Capital Oil and Gas Limited,George Oranuba, claimed that the DSS arrested his boss on account of allegations levelled against him by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria.

According to Oranuba, the issue had become a subject of litigation and was already before the court.

Oranuba, however, said despite the subsisting suit, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the DSS still invited Ubah for questioning.

According to him, Ubah had earlier been detained from March 24 to April 14, 2017.

The security agency had claimed that it arrested and detained Ubah for what it termed an act of “economic sabotage” involving an alleged diversion of petroleum products worth about N11bn.

Mercy Aigbe’s Husband Reportedly Remanded In Kirikiri


Lanre Genty, Mercy Aigbe’s husband was arraigned at Ikeja Magistrate court on 3 counts charge and has been remanded in Kirikiri prison as he was unable to immediately meet up with his N500,000 bail and two sureties. The case continues on the 12th of July, 2017. See photos below;


Reverend sister docked for allegedly defrauding students of N8.25 million exam fees


A Reverend Sister and Principal of School of Nursing, Umulogho in Imo, Eberechukwu Nwachukwu, was on Tuesday arraigned in Owerri for allegedly defrauding 25 students of N8.25 million.
Ms. Nwachukwu is facing a nine-count charge bordering on obtaining money under false pretences and threat to life at an Obowo Magistrates’ Court.

The students had reported a case of fraud against the school principal at the Police Area Command in Okigwe sometime in March.
The students, in their petition, claimed that each of them paid N330,000 to the school management for Nursing and Midwifery Council Examinations, but their names were not forwarded to the appropriate quarters for the examination.

The police prosecutor, Emmanuel Wonah, said the offences contravened provisions of the Criminal Code, Laws of Imo.
Giving evidence at the trial, one of the complainants, Amarachi Wokenna, told the court that she paid a total of N330,000 to the school management as registration fee for the Nursing and Midwifery Council Examination.

She said the principal acknowledged the payment by issuing a receipt to her.
Ms. Wokenna said surprisingly the principal refused to forward her name to the council for the exam which held in April.
Ms. Nwachukwu, however, denied the charges.

In her ruling, the Magistrate, M. O. Onyeweotu, granted her N500,000 bail with two sureties and adjourned the case until June 29 for continuation of trial.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the accused will remain behind bars pending when her bail condition will be perfected. - NAN



Lions escape from South Africa’s national park


Armed South African wildlife rangers and police scoured farmland around a small town near the Mozambican border on Tuesday for five lions that escaped from the country’s main national park.
The animals broke free from the Kruger park on Monday morning close to Komatipoort, a community of about 5,000 people.
“We believe it is five lions, and they are in the sugar cane fields near the border with Mozambique,” said park spokesman, Reynold Thakuli.
Trackers will attempt to recapture them using tranquiliser guns.
The area around Kruger, one of the country’s main tourist attractions, contains villages and farms that also raise cattle, putting livestock as well as people at risk of attack.
In 2015, a lion named Sylvester crawled under an electric fence at another park and went on a three-week sheep-killing spree before he was found by rangers taking a nap.
The cat was earlier this year released back into wild from a 200-hectare holding enclosure.
South Africa is virtually the only African country that contains its big, dangerous wildlife in fenced reserves.
In other African states, whose governments do not have the resources for fencing or capture operations, lions and other alpha animals frequently stray outside the boundaries of protected areas.

Former bank worker arraigned for stealing N40 million from customers’ account


A former staff of Fidelity Bank PLC, Friday Yahaya, was on Monday arraigned before Justice Hakeem Oshodi of the Lagos State High Court for stealing N40 million in total from several customers of the bank.

Mr. Yahaya was arraigned on a 16- count charge bordering on stealing, impersonation and forgery.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The prosecution counsel, Zainab Ettu, had notified the judge of her willingness to commence trial of the case as she had a witness in court.

Paul Okoli, the prosecution witness, informed the court that “on 3rd June 2014, a petition dated 30th May 2014, signed by one Onovai Oghenevo of Fidelity bank against the defendant (Mr. Yahaya) was assigned to my team for investigation.”

“In that petition, it was alleged that the defendant transferred N20 million from a customer’s account without the authorisation of the customer who is Ifeanyi Okoro. When this was discovered by the bank, the defendant disappeared and was nowhere to be found,” said Mr. Okoli, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Mr. Okoli informed the court that “before Mr. Friday was arrested, we interviewed Mr. Onovai from the Compliance Unit, who explained to us in detail what transpired. We then brought the defendant to the office, showed him the petition, he went through same and volunteered to respond in writing. His statement was dated 3rd June 2014.”

According to Mr. Okoli, “we dispatched letters of investigation to several banks including Fidelity bank, Access bank and First bank and we also received correspondences from them.”
“At the conclusion of our investigation, we discovered that the defendant transferred over N20 million from the account of one Ifeanyi Okoye,” said Mr. Okoli.

Mr. Okoli further revealed that “at the time, the customer was not in the country and at the time, the defendant was with Fidelity bank, Aspanda branch.”
“When Ifeanyi Okoye returned to the country and visited the bank with the purported investment certificate issued to him, the defendant had already been transferred to another branch.”

“Mr. Okoye then presented the certificate to the bank, they looked at their system and discovered that there was no such investment with the bank. A call was made by the bank to the defendant to come and explain the transaction and the defendant switched off his phone and disappeared into thin air,” said Mr. Okoli.

The defendant had issued Mr. Okoye a fixed deposit certificate.
“Mr. Yahaya, it was discovered, had also made so many several unauthorised transfers from other customers account to cover up the money he moved from Mr. Okoye’s account.”

“The money moved from Ifeanyi Okoye’s account was transferred to one Peter Arikhan. We extended our investigation and discovered that the Peter Arikhan is a 17- year-old boy who stays in the same area with the defendant and plays football with him,” said Mr. Okoli.

“The defendant had opened the account for the boy and was running the account by himself including the ATM card and all the transactions in the account was made by the defendant.

“In some of the transactions there were account to account transfer, in some other he was making a partial withdrawal from the fixed deposit account. The defendant got a transfer form which he filled and forged the signature of Mr. Okoye,” Mr. Okoli said.
The counsel to the defendant, C. J Jiakeollo, told Mr. Oshodi that “the defendant had gone far in trying to settle the matter as the defendant had paid N8 million with intentions to pay all the money.”

Mr. Jiakeollo prayed the court to adjourn the matter as “any cross examination may destabilise the system as they were seeking for a soft landing.”
Mrs. Ettu confirmed the effort made by the defendant in trying to pay back the said sum, but also acknowledged that “we went on to trial because we have given them enough time to come up with something and they weren’t forthcoming.”

Mr. Oshodi adjourned the case to 4th July 2017 for continuation of trial and cross examination of the prosecution witness, while also stating that the defendant will continue on his bail terms. - PT


For The First Time, Supreme Court Sentence Sitting Judge To Jail


A Supreme Court in India on Tuesday sentenced a sitting judge to six months’ imprisonment for contempt of court, an unprecedented development in the country’s judicial history, local media report.
Justice CS Karnan, 61, from the Calcutta High Court, was accused of contempt after he named 20 “corrupt judges” in January and sought a probe alleging corruption in the judiciary.

The accusations sparked a full-blown row between Karnan and India’s top court which recently ordered his psychiatric evaluation to ascertain if he was mentally ill.
Karnan recently turned away the team of doctors and ordered mental evaluation for the judges instead, even as he refused to show up at court or submit to its orders.
“We are of the unanimous opinion that Justice CS Karnan has committed contempt of court, judiciary and judicial process of the gravest nature,’’ Chief Justice J S Khehar said, ordering police to arrest Karnan.
The immediate provocation appeared to be Karnan’s sentencing Khehar and seven judges to five years’ jail Monday, saying they were guilty of caste discrimination.
He alleged that he was being victimised because he belonged to the low-caste Dalit community.
Karnan is the first judge in India to be sentenced to jail by court.
Legal experts questioned the ruling, saying the constitution did not allow the Supreme Court to exercise powers over the state high courts.
“The high court and Supreme Court judges have very similar jurisdictions under the constitution.
“There is no administrative hierarchy between them,’’ senior lawyer Indira Jaising told newsmen.

Boston Roland: “I Had Sex With Mercy Aigbe Severally, I Have Pictures


An Abuja based fashion model and stylist has accused Mercy Aigba of cheating with him. He vows to release pictures if she doesn’t behave.

According to Roland, Mercy Aigbe was cheating him one time in 2014. He claims he did not know that she was a celebrity, though she told him she was a single mom.

He said they had sex many times and they went to South Africa together only for him to find out later that she was a Yoruba movie actress and that she was married

52 Year Old Man Confesses To Raping Three Minors


A 52-year-old man, John Udensi, pleaded guilty before a Jos High Court to raping three minors, aged 10, 11 and 13. Udensi, a resident of Angwan-Boarder, Tudun Wada in Jos, is standing trial on a three-count of rape.

The trial judge, Justice Nafisa Musa, after listening to his plea, adjourned the matter to June 19, to enable the prosecution place all facts before the court, in view of the plea of guilt.

Musa gave the adjournment after the counsel for the accused, Mr David Adudu, prayed the court for an adjournment to enable the prosecution and defense review facts in view of the accused person’s plea of guilt.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the accused person was first arraigned on November 25, 2015, and was specifically accused of raping three girls.

The prosecutor, C. R. Parlong, of the Plateau Ministry of Justice, had told the court that the accused person committed the crime at his home, on different dates in 2015.

He alleged that Udensi lured the victims into his room to watch Television and raped them.

Parlong told the court that the accused had informed the police, in a confessional statement, that he committed the crime on Oct. 9, Nov. 18 and Nov. 20, 2015 at his home in Tudun Wada.

The prosecutor quoted the accused person as saying that the first and second victims entered his room while he was watching Television and started “touching” him.

According to the statement, the accused person warned her to stop, but she refused.

“The girl continued to touch me until we had sex with her while the second victim watched. Not long after, the second girl also entered my room to watch Television but ended up having sex with me,” the accused stated, while admitting that the sex sessions were repeated several times thereafter.

The prosecutor further quoted the accused as saying that he later lured another girl, aged 13, into his room and had sex with her but was unlucky as a crowd trooped into his house and beat him up before handing him over to the police.

The prosecutor said that the offense contravened section 283 of the Penal Code, an offense punishable with life imprisonment upon conviction. - NAN




Wife Seeks Dissolution Of 14-Year Marriage Over Excessive Sex


One Foluke Ojo has approached a Magistrate Court sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, seeking  dissolution of her marriage to Busuyi Ojo, saying she was tired of the union over alleged too much sex from her husband.

The couple who had been married for 14 years, both agreed to the dissolution. Folake alleged that her husband was no more taking care of the family. She declared that she was no more in love with her husband, asking the court to grant her prayer.

The applicant alleged that Busuyi wanted to have sex with her all the time; and that anytime she refused to have sex with him, she would be beaten blue black by her husband. She further alleged that after beating her, Busuyi would still go ahead and have sex with her.


She alleged, “There was a day my husband beat me up, it was my mother that rescued me and took me to hospital.”

In response, Busuyi denied all the allegations leveled against him by his wife; saying that Folake always disobeyed him and that she did not always behave like a responsible wife.

“She dressed like a prostitute, she can wear any cloth she likes, forgetting that she is a housewife,” Busuyi alleged.

Expressing no more interest in the marriage, the husband urged the court to grant his wife’s request of terminating the 14-year union.

Having heard from both sides, the president of the Magistrates’ Court, Mr. Ayodele Omotola, in his ruling, said there was an indication that the relationship had broken down, but he urged the parties to allow peace to reign.

The court president however ordered the respondent to pay a sum of N5,000 to the court for the food allowances of their children and then adjourned the case till May 10, 2017 (today) for judgment. - Punch

I briefed President Buhari about NIA’s $289 million covert projects — NSA Monguno


Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, has said he informed President Muhammadu Buhari about the National Intelligence Agency’s covert operation that went awry with the discovery of over N13 billion at an apartment in Lagos last month, PREMIUM TIMES can report.
This newspaper can also confirm that Mr. Monguno knew about the covert operation, took part in its gradual advancement and expressed the satisfaction of not only himself but that of the president over the diligence and professionalism of the NIA personnel executing the intelligence projects.
“Detailed brief of this exercise was rendered to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces who expressed satisfaction on your agency’s foresighted disposition on development of its critical infrastructure,” Mr. Monguno said in a letter to the Director-General of the NIA, Ayodele Oke.
The May 17, 2016 correspondence —with reference number: NSA/332/S— was written to Mr. Oke as part of the of NSA’s oversight activities concerning the NIA covert operations which was already underway at the time.
Three months earlier, Mr. Monguno had raised a three-member panel to inspect the projects the NIA was undertaking as part of the clandestine operations approved by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In its report to the NSA on February 29, the team expressed satisfaction with the level of progress on the overt and covert projects, which has a budget of $289 million.
The panel, which Mr. Monguno described in a document as having conducted “a comprehensive inspection of the NIA projects both in Lagos and Abuja,” was led byAdeyinka Famadewa, a brigadier-general in the Nigerian Army with specialities in military intelligence.
The new details now before the presidential committee probing the #IkoyiMoney controversy appear to have clarified the controversy surrounding the source of the recovered funds. They also seem to have rubbished insinuations that Mr. Oke did not brief Mr. Buhari and Mr. Monguno about the projects.
Although Mr. Monguno did not openly deny knowledge of the operations and projects, several presidency sources have suggested that neither the NSA nor the president was briefed about the $289million released to the NIA or the projects being executed with it.
President Buhari also indicated that he did not know about the operation when he suspended Mr. Oke from office and set up a panel to investigate the “circumstances in which the NIA came into possession of the funds, how and by whose or which authority the funds were made available to the NIA, and to establish whether or not there has been a breach of the law or security procedure in obtaining custody and use of the funds.”
Incidentally, the three-man panel, led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, also included Mr. Monguno. Attorney-General Abubakar Malami is the third member of the panel, which was set up on April 19.
The panel has since concluded its sitting and announced that its report would be presented to the president on Monday, May 8.
During his first visit to the NIA Headquarters on May 5, 2016, Mr. Monguno expressed delight at the activities of the external intelligence service and made particular reference to the $289 million operation.
“On the occasion of my maiden visit to the NIA since assumption of official duties as NSA, I am extremely delighted by the warm reception and hospitality shown to me by H.E. Ambassador Ayo Oke, DG, NIA, the quality of works in progress is notably breathtaking but very inspiring also.
“All the facilities being constructed have demonstrated that the NIA is far ahead of its sister agencies in terms of foresight and dealing with 21st Century intelligence issues.
“It is my fervent prayer that the NIA achieve all the goals it has set for itself so that all other institutions of government, particularly the intelligence community, will bring about the desired change for this great country,” Mr. Monguno wrote in the NIA visitors’ book on May 5, 2016.
Mr. Monguno became the National Security Adviser on July 3, 2015.
After conveying the commendations of the president in his May 17, 2016 letter to Mr. Oke, Mr. Monguno informed the NIA DG that “the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) shall, henceforth, take on the task of verifying the current state of the projects and associated records.”
“In the content of these oversight functions, the NIA is hereby required to avail the NSA bi-annual updates on these projects until their completion.”
Presidency sources had earlier told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Buhari learnt of the NIA projects during the work of the presidential committee that audited equipment procurement in the military which was led by John Odey, an air vice marshal.
The source said Mr. Oke approached Mr. Monguno and intimated him of the $289 million approved by Mr. Jonathan in 2015 for “the development of critical security infrastructure and covert operations”.
He said the NSA requested a report about the money and what it was meant for.
“When the NIA submitted his report to the NSA, he (NSA) set up a three-man panel to investigate the claims made by Mr. Oke,” he said.
He also said Mr. Oke listed about nine projects that were being carried out by the NIA across the country.
“In the report he presented, the DG said he has already authorised a payment of $98,891.067.57 out of the money as at January 20, 2016, leaving a balance of $190, 311,314.02
“Out of that balance, the DG said the sum of $89,298,792 was cash at hand while the sum of $101,015.55 was in the bank,” he said.
Our source said Mr. Oke provided a detailed breakdown indicating all payments made and outstanding sums, adding, “the calculations based on the tabulation gave an exact balance of the $289 million that was approved by the former president.”
The source said Mr. Famadewa’s panel also submitted its report to the NSA for onward disclosure to the president.
“Upon receiving the report, Mr. President said it is normal and directed the NSA to take responsibility and to also have oversight over the projects,” the source said.
However, another source involved in the investigation told PREMIUM TIMES the N13 billion is part of the $89,298,792 Mr. Oke had reported to President Buhari as cash at hand.
The source, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to discuss the matter with journalists, said the NIA moved the money from one of its Lagos safe houses to the Ikoyi apartment when the safe house was being renovated.
“The movement (of the money) is a standard procedure in clandestine security operations. It was necessitated by the renovation in the safe house,” he said.
“Unfortunately, inter-agency rivalry made the EFCC ignore the early warning the NIA gave it to abandon the search after it started,” the source said.
A former External Affairs Minister, Bolaji Akinyemi, recently cautioned the federal government on its handling of the current probe.
“External Intelligence operations do not belong into the same security genre as domestic security forces such as the SSS, EFCC and the Police,” Mr. Akinyemi, who was in office from 1985 to 1987 and supervised the NIA’s operations, said in a statement last week.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had on April 12 recovered of $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 from an apartment at Osborne Towers in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The anti-graft agency said it acted on information provided by a whistleblower.
A day after news of the recovery dribbled around the country, the EFCC approached the Federal High Court in Lagos for a forfeiture order.
Muslim Hassan, a judge at the Lagos Division of the FHC, granted the anti-graft agency’s request and gave any potential claimant until May 5, else the entire N13 billion would be permanently forfeited to the Nigerian government.
On April 14, according to presidency and security sources, the NIA admitted owning the money, saying it warehoused it in the Lagos apartment for an operation it was conducting.
Our sources said Mr. Oke, the NIA director general, had approached Mr. Magu to request EFCC operatives who broke into the apartment to back down while the operation was still underway, but the EFCC boss refused his request.
Mr. Oke confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that the money belonged to the NIA in an April 14 interview, but declined requests to disclose what it was meant for, saying “You don’t expect me to tell you that.”- Premium Times