N458m Bribery Scandal: Apologize to Agbaso now, PDP tells Okorocha, Imo Assembly

Following the clean bill given to the impeached Deputy Governor of Imo state, Sir Jude Agbaso by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) exonerating him of charges of corruption, the Legal Adviser of the People Democratic Party(PDP) Imo State Chapter, Chief C.O.C Akaolisa yesterday told the Imo state government and the State House of Assembly to apologize to the impeached Deputy Governor of the state without further delay.
Akaolisa in a press statement in Owerri, made available to newsmen advised particularly, the seven–man Panel of the State House of Assembly headed by Hon. Simeon Iwunze that investigated the N458 million bribery allegation against the impeached Deputy Governor to resign from office and bury their heads in shame, adding that the EFCC have convincingly proved that Iwunze and the members of his panel were specially hired to execute the dirty job.
It would be recalled that the former deputy governor of state was impeached by members of the State Legislature on March 28th, 2013 for allegedly receiving the sum of N458 million bribe from the Managing Director of JPROS Nigeria limited, Mr. Joseph Dina.
Akaolisa also advised Governor Rochas Okorocha to emulate his Edo State counterpart, Governor Adams Oshiomhole who apologized to the widow he hurt by his action and extend same to Agbaso, whom he alleged falsely accused and maliciously removed from office.
Hear Akaolisa: “The Agbaso issue will remain the albatross of the Okorocha administration and all those who aided and abetted this wicked contrivance against Agbaso will surely have their own day of judgment. I call on the members of the Iwunze led-House of Assembly panel to apologize to Sir Jude Agbaso or resign from the House of Assembly as they have been exposed as hired agents who willfully executed the hatchet job of politically ‘hacking down’ an innocent man from his office.”
The lawyer further warned Okorocha, advising him to take stock and cut his excess as his name has become a byword for everything repugnant in Imo state.
“It is rather most unfortunate that reckless impunity has become a style of governance in Imo state of today and most people can no longer wait for 2015 to tell Okorocha how he has plundered the state and subjugated Imo people.”
Source

Road block dismantling slashes police corruption, says IG

The Inspector General of Nigerian Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, said the dismantling of roadblocks has reduced corruption in the police by 80 per cent. He did not say how he arrived at the figure, but justified it by the sacking of ‘thousand of policemen’ for corruption offences.
Abubakar, spoke when he presented the Nigerian Police Force Scorecard in Asaba on Saturday.
In his view, corruption thrives in the country because the people want to cut corners and are desperate.
He said obeying the law helps to reduce bribery and corruption, adding that the force was making efforts to transforming the Nigerian Police for the better.
The inspector general of police called for partnership with other agencies and the general public, while condemning those who applaud criminals for committing crime.

Abubakar, left, with his men

“The essence of roadblocks is for a temporary arrest of crime and as soon as this is done it is dismantled, this is the situation in other countries of the world. Removing roadblocks in Nigeria has reduced corruption in the police by 80 per cent. The police is a member of our society, therefore, we need the people’s support for the police to succeed in the task of crime fighting,’’ he said.
The IGP said the police was partnering with sister agencies to achieve the organisational goal of providing security for Nigerians.
He said the police had purchased no fewer than 2000 vehicles and some helicopters for crime fighting.
He also said arrangement was on to procuring at least two helicopters for each of the six geopolitical zones to help police fight crimes.
Abubakar said the partnership was yielding result, adding that despite the challenges of Boko Haram in the North, kidnapping, armed robbery and other related-crime had reduced.
He commended the officers and men for providing adequate security during elections in Delta, Edo and Anambra.
He also spoke on housing programme for policemen.
He said the police would complete 2,250 housing units for officers and men by the end of December.
“We believe that the officers and men of the Police Force should have their own houses. By the end of this year, we will have completed a total of 2,250 housing units in Abuja for the officer and men of the force.’’
Abubakar said the force had secured a mandate to pull out of the general pension fund administration as it could now administer and operate its own pension funds.
The inspector general of police also said the force has secured the sum of five billion naira to operate its own mortgage bank.
“We also ensure that our officers and men are insured because of the challenging job they do. When we assumed office, 100,000 were not promoted to next levels, but as we speak, 75,000 of them have been promoted.
We are currently working toward promoting the remaining 35,000 to their new ranks,’’ he said.
He urged the officers and men to be obedient, respect the right of the people and the law.
Abubakar said the challenge of unemployment, poverty and the widening gap between the rich and the poor were some the factors contributing to the rising crime wave in the country.
“These factors make it difficult for people to see what the Nigerian Police is doing to check crimes in the country,’’ he said.

PM  News

2014 budget: Reps rebuff bribery allegations for fixing oil benchmark

The House of Representatives yesterday debunked allegations that each legislator received $100,000 to peg the benchmark of the 2014 budget at $76.5 per barrel of crude oil.

Speaking with reporters after the closed door-session, the Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Victor Ogene, said members did not fight over the issue at the closed door session as alleged by some people.

“Seriously speaking, you all saw us when we came out, smiling. The issues I told you clearly were between those who insisted that the benchmark remains at $79 and those, who feel that it was okay at $76.5,” he said.

He said neither did they receive any bribe from the Presidency over the benchmark.

The benchmark has been a source of contention between the Presidency and the Lower House with the latter insisting on $79 per barrel as against the Senate’s adoption of $76.5 per barrel.

The bribery allegation followed a meeting the lawmakers had with President Jonathan on the issue

Source

Ibori’s UK lawyer questioned over alleged police bribery

One of the counsels to Chief James Ibori, the jailed former governor of Delta State, has been arrested in London for allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice in the money-laundering case that got the politician sent to prison.

Ian Timlin, a former litigation partner at City Law Firm Speechly Bircham, was held by Met anti-corruption detectives investigating the alleged bribery of police officers. The senior lawyer was arrested at his home in Kent on suspicion of conspiracy to corrupt a police officer, perverting the course of justice and money-laundering offences concerning Ibori.

The former governor was jailed last year for embezzlement after admitting stealing almost £50m, although the true amount may have been many times greater.

The Independent of London reported that during a long-running Scotland Yard investigation into his business affairs, Mr Ibori hired the law firm, Speechly Bircham, which specialises in tax advice for non-domiciled people living in the UK. Mr Timlin, who until 2010 was a partner at Speechly Bircham, then hired RISC Management, a controversial private detective agency embroiled in the scandal that erupted after the murder of the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

Leaked documents, according to the newspaper, suggest RISC, run by former Met Police officers, gained inside information into the ongoing investigation of Ibori and that the agency paid serving detectives £20,000 for intelligence that helped the convict’s defence lawyers. One £5,000 payment was allegedly made to a source for information relating to “forthcoming interviewing strategy to be deployed by police”.

Mr Timlin was arrested in April and it is understood police have retrieved internal documents from the law firm. Keith Hunter, the boss of RISC Management, has also been arrested as part of the investigation, which was triggered in May 2012 when newspapers revealed the Met had done nothing since a whistleblower passed police leaked documents revealing the alleged payments to officers many months before.

Like all current investigations into damaging allegations of police corruption, the long-running inquiry has inched its way tortuously forward, which prevents the media from reporting the full details. Both Mr Hunter and Mr Timlin deny the allegations and are on bail.

Mr Timlin qualified as a solicitor in 1991 and was a partner for 15 years in a number of London law firms before he left Speechly Bircham in 2010. He is now legal director of the Long Port Group, a property development company in the tax haven of Guernsey, and has been involved in the construction of a sports resort in Brazil.

Sourcee

Nigerian FA official banned for taking bribe

A senior Nigerian football official and a club administrator have been banned for 10 years following their involvement in corruption, the country's football authority has announced.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) banned the chairman of its own disciplinary committee, Olaleye Adepoju, for 10 years for taking a bribe from a club.
The NFF emergency committee also handed Dapo Lam-Adesina same sanction for his role in the scandal, excluding both men from all football-related activities following an investigation.

The football authority also referred to police an allegation that the chairman of Enugu State Football Association, Chidi Ofo Okenwa, was an imposter.

Okenwa was told to step down from his role pending the outcome of the police probe.
"The sanctions handed down by the committee are entirely fair and should act as a deterrent to any club or individual who might consider breaching the rules," NFF board member Chris Green told BBC Sport.
"We've handed out a severe sanction to one of our own, another clear pointer to the fact that no-one is above the law.
"Our football must be clean, fair, rid of dirty dealings and professionally run.
"Every corruption or bribery scandal is damaging to the credibility of the sport, but the NFF will continue to work hard to prevent this ugly spectre of scandal from destroying our beautiful game."
Adepoju was a member of the NFF executive committee and also the chairman of the football association in Oyo state, south-west Nigeria.
He was alleged to have received a cash payment of 1.5 million naira ($9,400) before a disciplinary hearing against Shooting Stars, from the Oyo state capital Ibadan, after they abandoned a league match against Sunshine Stars earlier this year.
He was said to have received money to find in favour of Shooting Stars after their players refused to take the field in the second half when the score was 0-0, claiming that one of their officials had been attacked.
However, the NFF rejected Shooting Stars' account and suspended Adepoju from his role in charge of its disciplinary committee.
Adepoju, a lawyer, claimed he took the money for giving legal advice.
Shooting Stars were fighting relegation at the time. A subsequent hearing awarded Sunshine Stars the three points from the match.
"We are prepared to put up with the pain of deep investigations if it keeps the game cleaner," Green said.
Match-fixing and corruption is a problem in Nigerian football and has led to sanctions against a number of clubs, referees and officials.
The NFF's former secretary general Taiwo Ogunjobi was also banned for 10 years last month.

BBC

1 in 5 Africans forced to pay bribes for police, health care, education

Sale of refineries may not be transparent – Experts

There are fears in the Nigerian oil industry that the planned sale of the four government refineries, with a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, may not be transparent.
Sources in the industry, who spoke with our correspondent in confidence on Sunday, said the three-month window within which the assets were expected to be sold was too short to allow for global best practices and transparency.
There are, therefore, strong indications that the assets might be sold in a hurry to friends of the government.
Some of the intended beneficiaries, it was learnt, might be some indicted persons in the fuel subsidy scam, who had yet to be cleared.
The Federal Government had set the first quarter of 2014 as the deadline for the sale of the four refineries.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, last week confirmed in London that the refineries would be handed to the private sector.

She stated, “Government does not want to be in the business of running major infrastructure entities and we haven’t done a very good job at it over all these years.”
By the timetable of the Federal Government, it is expected that within the set period, the evaluation of the assets, expression of interests of would-be investors, the technical and commercial bidding processes, as well the short-listing of successful bidders and final handover of the assets, will be concluded.
Alison-Madueke said a Presidential audit of the facilities had last year recommended the sale of the refineries due to inadequate government funding and their unimpressive performance.
Although Nigeria is one of Africa’s top crude exporters, it still imports fuel to meet more than 70 per cent of its local needs.
The refineries operate at a fraction of their capacity because of poor maintenance and aging equipment.


[Punch]