‘Nepotism, extortion’ — CSOs give reasons for Nigeria’s poor TI corruption rating

 

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), and BudgIT have listed five “weaknesses” as the reasons for Nigeria’s poor rating on the 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by Transparency International.

In the 2020 index released on Thursday, Nigeria scored 25 out of 100 points — with zero signifying the worst performing countries and 100, the best-ranked.

Nigeria scored 26 points in 2015, and 28 points in 2016.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the CSOs said Nigeria’s poor rating by TI is a reminder of the need for a fast and transparent response to challenges posed by corruption in the country.

Salaudeen Hashim represented CISLAC, Austin Aigbe, CDD, and Tolulope Agunloye, BudgIT.

They listed lack of transparency in COVID-19 response, nepotism, lack of adequate laws to tackle corruption, prevalence of bribery and extortion by the police and corruption in the security sector.

“With the COVID-19 pandemic out of Nigeria’s responsibility, there has been a lack of transparency in the emergency response of the government. Coupled with the gap in coordination, the process has been fraught by incessant flouting of procurement guidelines, hoarding of relief materials and diversion of these materials which are then used as personal souvenirs presented to political party loyalists and close associates,” the CSOs said.

“In the past year, we witnessed nepotism and favoritism in the appointment and promotion of some public officers. For example, all Nigerians remember the controversy which trailed the decision of the National Judicial Council (NJC) when at least eight of the 33 judges recommended for appointment by the NJC were either children or relatives of current or retired justices of the supreme or appeal courts.

“The repeated failure to enact the Proceeds of Crime Act as a legal framework for the management and utilization of recovered assets in Nigeria which is one of the key pillars of this administration’s anti-corruption strategy is inexplicable

“The year 2020 witnessed the #EndSARS protests which saw young people across the nation demanding an end to police brutality and corruption. A factor that led to this protest was widespread bribery and extortion by law enforcement officials especially the police.

“From violent extremism and insurgency to piracy, kidnapping for ransom, attacks on oil infrastructure, drug trafficking, and organized crime, Nigeria faces a host of complex security challenges. These threats typically involve irregular forces and are largely societally based.”

They asked the government to appoint and promote public servants based on merit, adding that it must ensure a free civic space for engagement with citizens and the media.

Fighting corruption is one of the focal points of the Buhari administration.

- THECABLE

SELF DEFENCE !! Falana: Igboho has no right to issue eviction notice to herders

 

Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, says Sunday Adeyemo, a youth leader better known as Sunday Igboho, does not have the right to issue an eviction notice to herders in Oyo state.

On January 16, Igboho led some youths in Ibarapa local government area of the state to Salihu Abdukadir, Seriki Fulani, leader of the Fulani group, to register displeasure over the recent killings and abductions in the area.

Blaming the attacks and kidnappings in the area on herders, Igboho gave them a seven-day ultimatum to vacate Oyo.

Speaking during a BBC programme, on Wednesday, Falana said some of the herders, who had lived in the area for about 10 years, have the constitutional right to stay there.

“Anybody who is affected by such illegal quit notices would have to go to court to stop whoever is issuing the notices. That is the law but don’t let us resort to violence; it is unnecessary. With profound respect under our laws, even a squatter cannot be ejected and that is why on a daily basis, tenants are given quit notices by landlords or owners of properties,” he said.

“So, a private citizen cannot wake up and say anybody should leave the community. You must embrace the rule of law. Nobody can do that, not even the government because section 43 of the constitution says every citizen shall have the right to own and acquire properties in any parts of the country.

“The campaign of the human rights community is that if you are born in a place, or you have lived for not less than ten years in any part of the country, you should be considered an indigene and be entitled to all the rights and privileges of the so-called indigenes of the state. So, for me, there is no way I can embrace anyone who has given quit notice to any group of people.

“We must stop the idea of criminal profiling. If anybody has committed an offence or a group of people has committed an offence, we must fish them out and have them tried under the law but you can’t wake up and say all Yoruba people, all Hausa people are criminals, all Igbo people are criminals. No, it is a fallacy of generalisation.

“The government must ensure that the lives of the citizens are secured. It is the abdication of the duty of the government that has made the Sunday Igbohos to be relevant in the society. That is why private citizens give quit notices to people from other parts of the country. It is not the right way to fight this problem. We need to have ranches, in Oyo State in particular.

“The largest abattoir in West Africa is located in Oyo State but the state government has not allowed the abattoir to function for the past nine years. Is that how to run a country? The scientific way of solving this problem has been abandoned. So, why would a Sunday Igboho not take over the government of that state? That is what is going on.”

- THECABLE

Hushpuppi’s lawyers set to abandon his case

 

Gal Pissetzky and Vicki Podberesky, the two US lawyers who were representing Nigerian Instagram celebrity, Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppi, have applied to withdraw from the case.

They have both filed an application at the United States District Court in California, stating their intent.

The application was submitted on January 21 and the court will hear it on February 22.

The lawyers cited communication problems as the reason for the withdrawal and also that Hushpuppi has hired new lawyers to defend him.

“Both family and jail staff have told me that they have conveyed my messages to Mr Abbas to call me. He informed me that he is retaining new counsel.

“I informed him that I and Ms. Podberesky were moving to withdraw given his refusal to communicate and cooperate with us,” Pissetzky said.

Hushpuppi is being tried on a four-count charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, money laundering conspiracies and international money laundering.

The trial is scheduled to continue on May 4, 2021.

- DAILY POST

YORUBA IN CRISIS !! Tension in Oyo: Makinde meets Buhari, demands more security agents

 

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Wednesday, met with President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss the security situation in the state.

He declared that his administration remained resolute about fighting bandits, hoodlums, armed robbers and kidnappers.

Makinde insisted that the real enemies of Oyo were the criminal elements.

The governor spoke to State House Correspondents after his meeting with Buhari.

He said: “The issue that I discussed with Mr. President is the fact that Oyo State landmass is quite big. Oyo State is close to 29,000 square kilometres. And the state right now only has two Mobile Police Squadrons.

“I requested for more Mobile Police Squadrons to be deployed to Oyo State and also asked for support for the joint security outfit because the underlying issue here also has to do with limited opportunities.

“The tension will definitely go down if a lot of our youths are gainfully employed. What triggered all of these was that Dr. Aborode was brutally murdered; that is criminal. But on the other hand, the Seriki, Alhaji Kabir, has been staying in that same place for 40 years.”

Makinde reiterated that the Constitution of Nigeria guarantees that anyone can live in any part.

- DAILY POST

FULANI SLAVES !!! I’m ashamed of Southwest governors – Fani-Kayode

 

Critic, Femi Fani-Kayode has attacked Southwest governors for meeting with Miyetti Allah over herdsmen’s menace in the region, saying he is ashamed.

Southwest governors had on Tuesday met with Miyetti Allah to resolve lingering herdsmen crisis in the region.

But Fani-Kayode wondered when things got so back in the Southwest that its governors would be constrained to sit down with Miyetti Allah in order to explain their legitimate decision to give a quit notice to killer herdsmen.

He described the meeting as shameful on the part of Southwest governors.

“When did things get so bad in South West that all our 6 Governors felt constrained to sit down with a bunch of cow-loving terrorists like Miyetti Allah in order to explain their legitimate & lawful decision to give a quit notice to killer herdsmen in the forests of Ondo. It is shameful,” he tweeted.

At the meeting held with Miyetti Allah in Ondo, all open and night grazing by Fulani herdsmen and underage herders were banned in the South West zone of Nigeria.

The meeting was convened between the governors and Miyetti Allah, as well as security agencies to find solution to incessant killings and kidnapping in the Southwest.

The meeting was chaired by Governor Kayode Fayemi, Chairman NGF.

A communique issued at the meeting resolved that MACBAN is a peace loving, law abiding organization which does not habour or condone criminals and agreed that open, night grazing should be banned henceforth and that under age herding is Inimical to security and hence be banned.

- PM NEWS

TERRORIST ON THE RUN !!! Sarkin Fulani in Iganga, Abdulkadir resurfaces in Ilorin, decries threat to life

 

The embattled Sarkin Fulani of Igangan, in Ibarapa Local Government of Oyo State, Salihu Abdulkadir, on Thursday resurfaced in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Addressing newsmen at a press conference, Abdulkadir said ” Given the conspiracy by the police with the natives of Igangan, I and my people will not feel comfortable returning to Igangan.

“We have learnt that the government had deployed over 200 Amotekun personnel to the forests in Oyo.

“Who will these Amotekun men meet in the forests other than the Fulani?” he asked.

Sarkin Abdulkadir denied conniving with kidnappers operating in the Igangan area as alleged by Mr Sunday Adeyemo, (aka) Sunday Igboho and knowledge of the killing of Dr Aborode.

“On the issue of the killing of one Dr Aborode, I don’t know anything about it. Where Dr Aborode was killed is very far from my village,” he declared.

Abdulkadir, said, “all the allegations against him were concocted by Sunday Igboho with the sole aim of getting the Fulani out of Igangan and other parts of Yoruba land.”

He asserted that “I and my family have been living in Igangan for over 50 years without any challenges from the people or any other places.”

The sarkin Fulani appealed to emirs and other traditional rulers in the 19 Northern states to come to the rescue of the Fulani residents in the South West.

He equally called on the Federal government to probe the burning of his house, vehicles and the killing of seven of his men in Igangan by alleged agents of Sunday Igboho.

DAILY POST recalls that the Sarkin Fulani of Igangan was recently sent packing from Igangan by Sunday Igboho over the alleged kidnapping of some indigenes and other criminal acts levelled against him and his people.

- DAILY POST

COWARD KING !!! Fulani herdsmen: Ooni sends warning to Sunday Ighoho

 

Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has advised Sunday Adeyemo, well known as Sunday Igboho, not to take laws into his hands but allow constituted authorities to handle the herdsmen menace.

The monarch also warned Sunday Igboho to watch out for politicians seeking to hijack his agitations against killer herdsmen in the region.

This is coming after the first class monarch met with President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed doors in the Villa on Tuesday.

The prominent Yoruba monarch visited Aso Rock, amid heated ethnic tension in Ondo and some parts in Oyo state, generated by the recent locals-Fulani herders’ confrontation.

Speaking with the press after the meeting, According to Ooni of Ife, the purpose of his visit is connected with the simmering ethnic tension in some parts of the South West region.

He said it’s part of the duties of traditional rulers that everything is right, all and sundry of the country are in good shape.

“The take-home here is that Mr. President has assured it’s not going to be a political thing. We all know the problem all over the country because we have a lot of bad eggs that have mixed across the entire country, and we are having that situation again in the South West.

“So I am here as the co-chairman of the national council of traditional rulers to get the assurance of Mr. President that either of the party won’t turn to a political party fun fair in order not to risk the lives of our people, not only in the south-west but the entire country.

“I am happy he has told me that I should assure other traditional rulers to work with them now so that we can separate the good, the bad, and the ugly,” he added.

However, in another interview with Arise TV, the traditional ruler praised Igboho for taking on the campaign against herdsmen but advised him to allow constituted authorities to handle the menace.

The Ooni said Igboho has done very well, but he should back down so that government can take over the battles to avoid politicians hijacking the movement.

The monarch said: “Let us be very objective. He (Igboho) is being a mouthpiece for the downtrodden. He came up and everybody is listening now but my advice to him as a traditional ruler is that he needs to be very careful so that the politicians won’t hijack the whole motive from him.

“He has done well and we’ve already praised him but he shouldn’t take laws into his hands. We have the governor there, he is the chief security officer of the state and Mr President has invited him (Makinde). Let the right people that are being authorised to do what is right do it

“He (Igboho) has done well and the world has heard him but everything should be done in moderation.”

He added: “We know that the bandits are everywhere. He shouldn’t take laws into his hands. We have laws in this country, and we should follow it. Let the right people chosen either our leader, let them follow what they are supposed to do.

He has done well, and we should leave it like that,” he said.

Speaking on the role of traditional rulers and other Yoruba leaders such as Aare Ona Kakanfo;

“Well, we cannot compare then and now, in the holding day, Yoruba have a dynasty, we have structure and by virtue of that, that is the structure that gave birth to Aare Ona Kakanfo.

“But these days, you now want to take the job of a governor and say you are Aare Ona Kakanfo, no, what you need to do is more of advisory roles and advocacy because the structure in the holding days is not obtainable now. If you do it, you will land yourself in jail.”

That is why I said, the likes of Sunday Igboho, they have done well, let the government take over, they have created a good awareness for it, and we have taken it upon ourselves to compliment what they did, but the likes of Aare Ona Kakanfo, they need to work with the system that has a constitution” the monarch added.

Ooni also said, “Traditional rulers have a role to play. We should be very neutral and so far so good, we have been trying to be neutral. Whatever this government is doing, we always stand up to try and see how to support them.

“It is not as if we will now go out to criticise them. We are not politicians, we are traditional rulers; we should be respected, we should be neutral, and we should accommodate all and sundry.”

- PM NEWS