Polymer scandal: FG may extradite ex-Mint boss to UK

EFCC boss, Ibrahim Lamorde

The United Kingdom has requested the extradition of a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, Mr. Emmanuel Okomoyon, to face prosecution in relation to an alleged scam involving printing of polymer notes.

A source at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission confided in one of our correspondents that the process of extraditing Okomoyon to the UK was being facilitated by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation under a mutual agreement for legal assistance request by the British government.

The Head of Media and Publicity, EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed on Monday that the British government had contacted the Federal Government to have the former Mint MD extradited.

“There was an extradition request on him by the UK government,” he said.

It was gathered that the EFCC had been investigating Okomoyon since 2012 on the request of the British National Crime Agency in relation to the alleged scandal that trailed the contract for the printing of the polymer naira notes.

60 soldiers face trial for mutiny Thursday

 Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade

Another set of 60 soldiers are to be arraigned before a General Court Martial by military authorities in Abuja on Thusday for mutiny.

The soldiers allegedly committed mutiny on August 4, 2014 by refusing to join troops in Maiduguri for “an operation.”

Their arraignment which is to take place at the Sani Abacha Barracks in Abuja comes as The PUNCH gathered on Monday that some of the 12 soldiers convicted on September 15, 2014 by the GCM had notified the Court of Appeal of their intention to challenge their sentences.

The GCM headed by Brig. Gen. C. Okonkwo had sentenced 12 out of 18 soldiers facing trial guilty of mutiny among other offences and sentenced them to death. Five of them were however discharged and acquitted and one sentenced to 28 days’ imprisonment with hard labour and reprimand.

The soldiers were charged with mutiny among other offences, including attacking the former General Officer Commanding the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army, Ahmed Mohammed.

A copy of the charge sheet filed against the 60 soldiers was obtained by The PUNCH in Abuja on Monday.

The charge sheet revealed that the soldiers, comprising two corporals, nine lance corporals and 49 privates, are to be arraigned on two counts of conspiracy to commit mutiny and mutiny.


Soldiers facing trial

The accused allegedly committed the offences at the Mulai Primary School, opposite African Independent Television in Maiduguri, Borno State on August 4, 2014 by refusing to join “111 SF Bn troops” led by Col. E.A. Aladeniyi to Maimalari Barracks in connection with an operation.

According to the charge sheet, they “conspired to commit mutiny against the authority of 7 Division,” an offence said to be punishable under Section 91(1) of the Penal Code Cap P89 LFN 2004.

The soldiers were also accused of committing mutiny which is said to be punishable under Section 52(1)(a) of the AFA CAP A20 LFN 2004.

The charges are said to be triable in the GCM under Section 114 of the AFA Cap A20 LFN 2004 and punishable under Section 91(1) of the Penal Code Cap P89 LFN 2004.

The two corporals are Andrew Ogolekwu and Saturday Efa.

The charge sheet reads, “Count One: Criminal conspiracy to commit mutiny triable by the General Court Martial by virtue of Section 114 of the AFA Cap A20 LFN 2004 and punishable under section 91(1) of the Penal Code Cap P 89 LFN 2004.

“Particulars of offence: In that you at Mulai Primary School Camp opposite AIT Maiduguri on or about 4 August 2014 conspired to commit mutiny against the authority of 7 Division.

“Count 2: Mutiny contrary to and punishable under section 52(1)(a) of the AFA CAP A20 LFN 2004.

“Particulars of offence: In that you at Mulai Primary School Camp opposite AIT Maiduguri on or about 4 August 2014 refused to join 111 SF BN troops led by Col. E.A. Aladeniyi (N/9695) to Maimalari Barracks in connection with an operation.”

Indications had emerged on Sunday that lawyers seeking to file an appeal challenging the conviction of some of the 12 soldiers by the GCM had not been able to have access to them.

There were reports that the convicted soldiers had been moved from the Defence Headquarters Garrison, Abuja to a detention facility at the Directorate of Defence Intelligence, Lagos.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Godwin Obla, who brought the process of appeal on behalf of three of the convicted soldiers, said his chambers had made unsuccessful attempts to get in touch with them.

The soldiers are Iganmu Emmanuel, Steven Clement and Andrew Ngbede.

Obla told one of our correspondents on the telephone that the military did not volunteer information on where the convicts were being kept.

He said that the inability to locate them had hampered the completion of the appeal process as they had not been available to sign some documents required for the appeal.

The SAN said, “We have been trying to get them (the soldiers) to sign for the process; and because we have not been able to get them, we have not been able to complete the process; there are things for them to sign.

“Nobody has been able to tell us where they are being kept; nobody is volunteering information; nobody has been able to tell us where they are.

“We are just hearing that they have been moved to the Directorate of Military Intelligence Cell in Lagos.

“We will make the move so that the process would be filed on their behalf.”


Soldiers facing trial

Obla also said that the filing process at the Court of Appeal had not been completed because the findings against and the sentencing of the soldiers by the GCM had not been promulgated and communicated to them.

He said that the filing could only be made after the findings and the verdict of the court martial had been promulgated and communicated to them.

Obla said, “The findings and sentence by the General Court Martial need to be promulgated and it is to be communicated to the convicts. It has not been communicated to them.

“It is after the findings and the sentence have been communicated to the convicts that the filing can be made.”

A lawyer from Obla’s law firm, Mr. Enokela Onyilo-Uloko, said that the law firm of a former President of the Senate, Chief Amah Ebute, was handling the defence of six of the convicted soldiers.

He listed those being represented by Ebute’s law firm as Jasper Braidolor, Friday Onuh, Alao Samuel, Linus Alan, Ifeanyi Alukagbe and Amadi Chukwudi.

He said, “Nine of the soldiers are already before the Court of Appeal; the appeals are within time; we are awaiting the hearing date from the Court of Appeal.

“A motion for Stay of Execution is being filed to make sure they don’t tamper with them.”

When The PUNCH sought to know from the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Olajide Laleye, if the conviction of the soldiers had been confirmed by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, he said he was not aware.

“I am not aware if the judgment has been confirmed or not; I don’t have that information,” Laleye said

The PUNCH had reported on Friday that the Army might arraign 13 soldiers for cowardice and failure to obey orders from their superiors to advance at the (war) front.

The soldiers were said to have been directed to join their counterparts at the 7 Division, entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating the ongoing counter-terrorism operation in the North-East early in the year.

National honours: Fayemi absent, Akinkunmi to earn life salary

Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi

Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, his Kebbi State counterpart, Saidu Dakingari, and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, were among persons who were absent when national honours were on Monday conferred on 313 Nigerians and friends of the country.
Fayemi, who was to be honoured with the Commander of the Order of Niger, did not send any representative to the ceremony where President Goodluck Jonathan announced the placement of the designer of the national flag, Pa Michael Akinkunmi, on a salary of a Special Assistant to the President for life.
Going by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission scale, the annual salary of a special assistant to the President is N14.06m.
 

Odigie-Oyegun and Dakingari however sent representatives to the ceremony, which held at the International Christian Centre, Abuja.
 

Six other governors that were listed for the CON awards – Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun); Governor Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo); Governor Theodore Orji (Abia); Governor Isa Yuguda (Bauchi); Governor Jonah Jang (Plateau) and Governor Sullivan Chime (Enugu) – were present.
 One of the highlights of the event was when Jonathan directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, to place Pa Akinkunmi on life salary.

That was in addition to his national honour of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic.

The highly elated recipient, who spoke with our correspondent through his son, Akinwunmi, thanked the President for the gesture.

He said he would eternally remain grateful to Jonathan because he had been neglected in the past.

“Baba is very happy. We thank President Jonathan for this gesture. We are indeed appreciative of this because you all know that Baba has been neglected in the past. I am sure that this honour will spur Nigerians to continue to contribute to the development of the country,’’ his son said.

But when the President announced house gifts for a taxi driver, Mr. Imeh Usuah; a traffic warden, Solomon Dauda; and a steward, Mr. Onuh Isaac, some people at the ceremony wondered if it would not have been better for a house to be given to the 78-year-old Akinkunmi also.

The gifts to Usuah, Dauda and Isaac were in addition to their national awards of Member of the Order of the Niger.

Jonathan directed the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Muhammed, to make the houses available to the recipients in Abuja.

While Usuah was honoured for returning N18m which an expatriate forgot in his car, Dauda was rewarded for the skillful and dedicated way he had been controlling traffic in the FCT.

Isaac, who is the Head of the presidential stewards, was honoured for serving successive heads of government meritoriously since the regime of former President Shehu Shagari.

Jonathan said he decided to honour the four recipients specially because of a media report that described the steward as “a pauper in the State House.”

He said the lives of the steward, the taxi driver and the traffic warden had further confirmed his position that people who say poverty drives one to criminality were wrong.

Jonathan said, “I want to specially recognise these three gentlemen: the taxi driver, the traffic warden, and the head of the presidential stewards.

“They have further confirmed my position that those who claim that people go into criminality because of poverty are not quite right.

“Myself and some of you here knew where we are coming from, we passed through stress but we didn’t take to criminality.”

The President also paid special tributes to the National President of the Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, who was honoured with the Order of the Federal Republic for her contribution to the entrenchment of democracy.

He expressed the hope that the national recognition given to all the awardees would inspire other Nigerians to be patriotic and contribute more to national development.

Jonathan said he remained committed to ensuring that the awards were not seen as mere pieces of paper and garlands tied around the necks of individuals not worthy of them.

The President urged Nigerians to be involved in the awards selection process by nominating those they considered worthy since members of the committee saddled with the responsibility were not magicians.

The President said, “I urge you (recipients) to realise that the honour bestowed on you is an additional responsibility to encourage you to continue to demonstrate the strength of character that has brought you to the hall of fame.

“My advice to all our countrymen and women is to thrive to be your best in your endeavour that would earn you recognition.

“It is my hope that the recognition bestowed on these awardees would encourage other Nigerians to recommit themselves to the service of their fatherland.”

Jonathan said one of the reasons why the society was no longer at peace was because of the dearth of people with noble traits.

He recalled that there was a time that people walked quietly when passing places of worship in reference to God.

Regretting that nowadays, people throw explosives into places of worship. He said the nation must return to those days when people feared and honoured God.

Earlier, the Chairman of the National Honours Award Committee, Justice Alfa Belgore, said the recipients were carefully selected to be honoured in recognition of their contributions to the success story of the nation.

Belgore said they emerged through a rigorous and painstaking screening process carried out by the committee.

He urged the recipients to continue to make the country proud and contribute to the success of the transformation agenda.

The chairman said, “All the things needed for peaceful coexistence and prosperity are present in Nigeria. All we need is stability which God will surely give us.

“If there is stability for 20 years, Nigeria will prosper and be among the seven leading countries in the world.”

Monday’s investiture brought to 4,737, the total number of the national honours so far conferred on individuals since its inception in 1963.

Twenty-five individuals were conferred with the national honour of the Commander of the Order of Federal Republic; 60 persons were honoured with Commander of the Order of Niger; 54 got the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic; 63 received the Officer of the Order of the Niger.

Fifty three were presented with OFR and 56 got MON.

One recipient got the Federal Republic Medal (First Class) and another had the Federal Republic Medal (Second Class).

Boko Haram looting our armoury – DHQ

  

The Defence Headquarters has said it is aware that members of the outlawed Islamist sect, Boko Haram, are in the habit of looting its armoury.

The military authorities stated that they were making efforts to secure all armouries in its various formations across the country.

Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, made the disclosure during his first real-time Twitter chat which held on Sunday night.

The army general was, however, not categorical about the grades of weapons just as he did not name the armouries that have so far been looted by the insurgents.

“We are taking measures to ensure that our armouries are secured. We agree and are aware Boko Haram has stolen arms,” Olukolade said while responding to an inquiry by one of the participants of the Twitter chat.

The Defence spokesman explained that the military high command frowned on the proliferation of arms, noting that inter-agency cooperation had recently been heightened to contain the menace.

According to Olukolade, the policing of Nigerian borders with other West African neighbours have been repositioned in view of the security threats posed by the Boko Haram insurgents.

“Interagency collaboration has been heightened; from all indications policing of our borders has increased. Our strategic information-sharing policy considers transparency, security, propriety and accuracy in reporting to the public,” he added.

Warning that the military would deal decisively with saboteurs among its officers and men engaged in the ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the North East, Olukolade said the service chiefs were “monitoring all personnel both in the frontline and rear”, adding that “suspicious people are being vetted.”

Dismissing the insinuation that top military commanders were feeding large on the entitlements of the rank and file of the armed forces, the military spokesman argued that the quality of food being provided for the officers and men at the battlefront are the same.

He claimed that the welfare package for the slain officers and men who die on the battlefield was attractive.

“The food they (officers and men) eat is within standards and best diet design as practicable. All eat the same food, be it officers or soldiers.

“By the way, there are two levels of insurance covering all soldiers and men involved in the anti-terror war. There is the Personnels’ Service Arm insurance, the Defence Headquarters Insurance package which is different from the gratuity, death benefits and children scholarships. On honour for slain soldiers, we do give due and befitting burials,” Olukolade said.

According to him, since Shekau has been killed by the military forces, the Armed Forces would remain focused by maintaining the tempo of “firepower to ensure that we sweep them (Boko Haram) off their nuisance hotspots.”

Tinubu calls for revolution

A former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says there is a need for the country to undergo a “common sense” revolution.

Tinubu, who is a national leader of the All Progressives Congress said the many years of misrule by successive Peoples Democratic Party presidents had continued to sink the country further into crisis.

The former governor said this in a statement titled ‘A Return to Decency’, on Monday.

He described the 16 years of PDP rule at the federal level as a period of steady decline into disaster.

He said, “The longer they rule, the less benefit the people derive. Nigeria now needs a ‘common sense revolution,’ a revolution that calls forth a return to decency, probity, transparency of process and fairness in outcome.

“This is done not by subterfuge, divide and rule and turning Nigeria in a field of discord or a street of broken institutions. It is accomplished by honouring the principles of democratic good governance and economic justice. It is done by persuading the people they are better off as one instead of better off tearing at one another’s throats.

“Nigerians should be prepared for change. We must rescue Nigeria from those set to cause it irreparable harm. The change I talk about is the only route to our deliverance from 16 years of the PDP locusts. Nigeria is ours to keep and its democracy is ours to save.”

He advised that this year’s Independence Day should be a time of sober reflection because other countries that received independence at the same time as Nigeria had since surpassed the country.

He described the Nigeria of today as the nightmare of its founding fathers. Tinubu further berated the PDP-led Federal Government of using religion to divide Nigerians.

He said, “We commemorate this Independence Day because the nation has survived despite its many challenges. We dare not celebrate because the nation has not flourished as it should. Fifty four years our national trek began with hope and promise, peace and unity.

“Today, the nation staggers beneath the weight of trouble multiplied by hardship. Peace and unity seem to have yielded the moment to violence and discord. We exist as a political unit on a map but we do not prosper as brothers and sisters in one nation, under one flag and pursuant to one accord.”

“Never has an elected government in Nigeria employed religion as a tool to divide the people, setting Nigerian brother against brother in a manner that allows this administration to function at the basest level of governance while seeking to establish a political domination that seeks no greater purpose than its self-perpetuation.”

He described attempts to stigmatise and physically intimidate the APC and the militarisation of elections as features of a perverse democracy.

He described President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda as an avenue to siphon funds through a dubious blueprint.

“They do not have a national blueprint or vision. They do have a blueprint and vision for excessive self-enrichment. Their equation is simple: You work, they feast. You toil, they grow fat. You seek a decent wage; they pilfer the collective treasury to enjoy a king’s ransom,” he said.

He said rather than promote religious tolerance and harmonious living, Jonathan’s government believes its electoral chances are enhanced by promoting ethnicism, internal divisions and religious suspicion but “successful nations are not built this way, have we not learned the lesson that we paid the high price of civil war to learn.”

Ekiti Crisis: PDP Accuses APC Of Plot To Stop Fayose's Inauguration

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement on Tuesday, described the underground plot by the APC to stop the inauguration of the clear winner of the June 21 governorship election, Mr. Ayo Fayose, as “a slap in the face of the people of Ekiti, an assault on democracy and an attempt to rape the judiciary,” adding that no amount of machination by the APC will stop Fayose's swearing-in on October 16, 2014.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alerted the nation of a very dangerous and anti-people design by the All Progressives' Congress (APC) to influence the judiciary, subvert the will of the people and stop the inauguration of the duly elected government in Ekiti State. The party therefore called for a full investigation into the activities of some officers of the judiciary involved in the recent crisis in the state.

 

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement on Tuesday, described the underground plot by the APC to stop the inauguration of the clear winner of the June 21 governorship election, Mr. Ayo Fayose, as “a slap in the face of the people of Ekiti, an assault on democracy and an attempt to rape the judiciary,” adding that no amount of machination by the APC will stop Fayose's swearing-in on October 16, 2014 in accordance with the desire of the people of Ekiti as expressed at the polls.

“In the past two weeks, we have witnessed series of lies, propaganda, threats and blackmail by the APC in their desperate bid to truncate the wish of the people. This desperate party has gone notches up in this awkward quest for power by inciting violence and outlandishly calling for the arrest of the governor-elect.

“After losing roundly in an election widely acclaimed as one of the most credible in our recent history as a nation, the APC, in its desperation for power, has shamelessly designed a heinous plot to compromise certain judicial officers in order to stop the inauguration of Mr. Ayo Fayose as the democratically elected governor of Ekiti State.

“We have here in our hands, an attempt to re-enact the design where the same APC leaders under the defunct ACN sabotaged and truncated the popular mandate given to the PDP in the 2011 governorship election by the people of Osun and Ekiti states through the verdicts of certain judicial officers.

“It is no longer in doubt that the vanquished APC seeks to perpetuate itself in power in Ekiti. We hereby confirm that the current toxic plot by APC is to manipulate the judiciary, secure a pronouncement to stop the October 16, 2014 inauguration and pave the way for the swearing-in of the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, who, as Acting Governor, will superintend over the conduct of a fresh election where the APC will have the floor for unhindered manipulation.

“We wish to sensitise Nigerians that it was in furtherance of this plot that the defeated Governor Kayode Fayemi ordered the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayo Daramola, to transfer all pending cases relating to the governorship election, including those before the election petitions tribunal, outside the state for trial.

“The directive is to ensure that the APC enjoys a field day, away from the people of Ekiti State in order to manipulate the process and actualise the boast by Governor Fayemi that his party will recover the state.

“This clear interference in the working of another arm of government portrays the APC leaders as desperate and with no regard for the tenets of democracy, the principle of separation of powers and the sacred will of their people.

“We are indeed taken aback that the same Governor Fayemi, who was among the first Nigerians to congratulate the governor-elect, an action that earned him very wide commendation, would now allow himself to be a tool in the hands of politicians who are desperate to truncate democracy and destroy the unity of his state.

“We have also noted the threat, blackmail and deployment of thugs by the APC to harass and unleash violence on the citizens of Ekiti State for supporting the governor-elect as well as sponsoring the publication of fabrications in a section of the media to tarnish his image.

“One of such is the widely publicised allegation that the governor-elect assaulted a judge only for Nigerians to discover that it was totally false.

“However, we wish to warn the APC that the people of Ekiti State have expressed their preference for the PDP by electing Ayo Fayose, therefore, no amount of blackmail, threat and propaganda will take away this sacred mandate."