April 02, 2008
Zimbabwe opposition declares victory
(CNN) -- Zimbabwe's main opposition party has said its leader Morgan Tsvangirai will be the country's next president.
"The opposition has won the election," Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general Tendai Biti said.
Based on the results of 243 constituencies posted outside polling stations, Biti said Tsvangirai won 50.3 percent of the vote -- just barely over the 50 percent margin to avoid a runoff with incumbent President Robert Mugabe.
But Zimbabwe's state-run newspaper announced Wednesday that neither party garnered more than 50 percent, and that a runoff was inevitable.
The government has yet to release any official results from the presidential vote, creating confusion.
Biti told CNN on Tuesday his party believed it had won enough votes to force a run-off election.
The MDC had announced on Sunday -- a day after the presidential vote -- that Tsvangirai had won 67 percent of the vote.
Harare blames the delay in releasing results on logistical reasons, noting that four elections were held simultaneously. But some election observers and analysts have raised concerns that Mugabe is using the time to rig the results.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a group of non-governmental organizations monitoring the election, had released exit polling data that showed Tsvangirai leading with over 49 percent of the vote -- short of the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff election.
Mugabe was second with 41.8 percent, according to the organization. Independent candidate Simba Makoni had 8.2 percent.
The United States, Britain and the European Union have expressed their desire for Mugabe to step down.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last weekend called Mugabe a "disgrace" to his country and the entire region.
The European Union said it was important for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release the results and avoid "unnecessary speculation" about the results. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said an immediate release of the results was "critical" so that the elections were seen to be fair.
Tensions are high in the southern African country that has had only one leader -- Mugabe -- since independence from Britain in 1980. There are fears that a delay in results could lead to violence.
A year after the last presidential election -- which the MDC said was stolen -- the government of Zimbabwe charged Tsvangirai for treason. He was acquitted. The MDC accused Mugabe of trying to eliminate him as a challenger.
Zimbabwe faced international sanctions after the 2002 election, including travel restrictions imposed by the United States on Zimbabwean officials.
A hero of the country's civil war against the white Rhodesian government, Mugabe became the country's first black leader in 1980. Nearly three decades later, he has consolidated his rule over all aspects of Zimbabwean life.
His country was once revered for offering its citizens some of the best education and health care in Africa, but now schooling is a luxury and Zimbabwe has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world.
Zimbabwe was once known as the breadbasket of southern Africa, but now it is difficult to get even basic food supplies. Inflation has skyrocketed to more than 100,000 percent, while food production and agricultural exports have dropped drastically.
Thousands of Zimbabweans flood into neighboring countries to look for jobs.
Part of the economic freefall is traced to Mugabe's land redistribution policies, including his controversial seizure of commercially white-owned farms in 2000. Mugabe gave the land to black Zimbabweans he said were cheated under colonial rule, and white farmers who resisted were jailed.
Mugabe denies mismanagement and blames his country's woes on the West, saying sanctions have harmed the economy.
Posted by Publisher at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)
UN workers 'kidnapped in Somalia'
Two foreign contractors, a Briton and a Kenyan, working for the UN in Somalia have been seized by unknown gunmen in southern Somalia, reports say.
They were doing work for the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
The incident happened on a road between the towns of Bu'aale and Sikow in the Juba region of Somalia, when gunmen fired on the men's car, witnesses say.
The UN based in neighbouring Kenya says it cannot confirm the kidnapping, although it had confirmed it earlier.
A number of foreign aid workers have been kidnapped in Somalia in the past few months.
It is not known why the two men, who are believed to be working for the FAO-funded Somalia Water and Land Information Management project, may have been kidnapped.
It is not known if either man has been harmed, although there are unconfirmed reports that a white man was seen with blood coming from a wound possibly on his leg.
In February, MSF withdrew all its international staff from Somalia after three of its workers were killed by a bomb.
Posted by Publisher at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
How we got N10m from health ministry, by Senate panel
From Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Collins Olayinka and Florence Oretade, Abuja
EFCC defends invitation to Reps' counterparts
AT last, the Senate Committee on Health headed by Mrs. Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello has broken its silence over its role in the alleged sharing of the N300 million unspent 2007 budget of the Federal Ministry of Health.
Although the panel admitted that it collected N10 million from the ministry to facilitate its members' retreat in Ghana between March 16 and 20, this year, it insisted that the money was not from the controversial unused budget.
Also yesterday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said that its invitation to the House of Representatives Committee on Health on the N300 million scam was informed by the outcome of its preliminary investigation into the matter. The commission said there was need to get more details from the panel.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, the Secretary of the embattled Senate panel, Mr. I. E.F. Edobor, declared that the committee did not act outside the Senate Code of Ethics in accepting the money from the ministry. He added that the Senate President was duly informed of the decision of the panel to seek such funds from the ministry.
There were also indications yesterday that the Senate leadership has summoned members of the panel to appear before it to explain their role in the unreturned public funds.
In its defence, the committee refuted reports that it took part in the sharing of the money allegedly spent on dubious projects in total disregard of a presidential directive that all unspent appropriated funds before December 2007 should be returned to the treasury.
Last week, the two health ministers at the centre of the controversy, Prof. Adenike Grange and Mr. Gabriel Aduku, resigned in accordance with President Umaru Musa Yar' Adua's directive.
Since then, the duo have been keeping dates with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the issue.
Four directors and the permanent secretary of the ministry have also been suspended by the Federal Government over the saga.
Grange was alleged to have received between N5 million and N10 million from the loot but she has insisted that she is innocent.
The statement by the Senate panel read in part:
"The Senate Committee on Health would like to state as follows:
That the committee was not a beneficiary of any Christmas bonus or Christmas gift or indeed any other gift from the Federal Ministry of Health;
that contrary to all the speculations, the committee was in no way involved in any alleged money sharing; and
that the committee however acknowledges some funding from the ministry specifically meant to support the retreat in Ghana which was planned to review and conclude the National Health Policy Bill pending since the last Senate. This is an Executive Bill. The committee notes that support of the retreat by the Federal Ministry of Health is totally in consonance with Senate Rules (Rule 3 of the Senate Code of Ethics)."
Interestingly, the committee said it strictly complied with the aspect of the code of ethics which required it to, among others, notify the Senate President in writing disclosing the purpose, sponsors and duration of such travel or trips.
Edobor stated that "the extent of the ministry's support was N10 million and was received and duly signed for by the committee's secretary in Decemeber."
A source within the National Assembly said yesterday that following the controversy generated by the issue, the Senate leadership has asked the panel's leadership to brief it on the money it got from the ministry.
The House of Representatives Committee on Health, which also collected the same amount from the organisation, last week returned the money to the health ministry, claiming that it never knew that the money was part of the N300 million unspent budget.
On the incident, the EFCC said after it presented the preliminary report to the executive, two ministers in the ministry were forced to leave while some of the directors were suspended. The preliminary report, it added found its way back to the commission for more investigation into the fraud
"Based on that, the House Committee members of the ministry of health are expected here today (yesterday). It is another leg of the investigation after the two ministers indicted in the preliminary report turned in their resignation. It is in the bid to get a more robust detail that will make the final report," a source said.
However, it stressed that it had already shifted the case files to the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice for commencement of prosecution.
Last Wednesday, Obasanjo Bello was quizzed by the EFCC over the unspent fund
However, there was no trace of the presence of the House Committee members at the EFCC building in Abuja.
The members said they failed to present themselves for questioning at the Head of Operations Unit of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as scheduled because they were awaiting the House consent to do so.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON), Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, has said the Senate Committee on Health went to Ghana to understudy the country's health system.
Oloriegbe, in an interview with The Guardian in Abuja yesterday, said it was not the first time National Assembly committees would be going abroad for such exercises.
While not holding brief for the Senate panel over its role in the scam, Oloriegbe said that the N10 million collected for the Ghana trip was not part of the unspent money.
Posted by Publisher at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
Contractor Overpaid by N.22bn; Imoke wants projects completed
From Stanley Nkwazema in Calabar, 04.02.2008
Another shocking revelation greeted members of the House Committee on Power and Steel yesterday as they continued their tour of power projects sites in their probe of the funds released to the sector between 1999 and 2007.
The committee, which left Akwa Ibom for Cross River State yesterday morning, was told that the Federal Government overpaid the contractors, Marubeni Nigeria Limited, by N224 million.
This amount was paid to the contractors as "unforseen expenditure", even though it was above the agreed contract sum.
It also emerged that Marubeni, whose project was among the first to be awarded, was fully paid by the federal government to the tune of N19.4 billion for the Calabar 561mw GT power station.
The committee also learnt that apart from collecting over $151 million, Marubeni has completed only 30 per cent of the civil works while the project is now eight months behind schedule.
However, Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, who had appeared before the House Committee to explain his role in the projects when he was Minister of Power and Steel, asked the committee not to rely on hearsay as they inspect the plants and sites of the power projects.
Imoke told the committee members that it was good they were embarking on this fact-finding mission and not relying on hearsay, adding that visiting the sites “will afford you the opportunity to see, first hand, what is going on. It will also ginger those that are not working and spur others to take the job seriously. They will be on their toes”.
Imoke, who received the committee at 12. 40 pm in his office, recommended that non-performing contractors should be punished.
“The projects,” he said, “have been on for quite some time and should have been completed. You must make recommendations for the completion of these projects.”
The governor told the committee at the Government House, Calabar that after the visit, “you should sanction those who have failed to perform and commend those who excelled. For us in Cross River, it is our hope and belief that your visit will facilitate the completion of the projects”.
The committee is expected to start a tour of locations in the state before leaving for Bayelsa on Thursday.
"The projects were designed to create relief across the country," the governor said. "It is imperative that they be completed."
When the lawmakers stopped over at the Calabar 561mw Generation Power station along the Itu road, Ikot Nyong in Onim Ankiong Clan, Odukpani Highway, the Site Manager of Marubeni Corporation of Japan, Derek Charman, a British citizen, explained that two site managers who earlier started the project abandoned work before he was brought in last November on a rescue mission.
He would not state why the previous site managers jumped ship.
Charman said: "We have had no financial problems, just the roads, but now we have been able to do about 30 per cent of the civil works on site."
Explaining his position, in which he tacitly asked for more grace before he could accomplish the task before him, Charman said: “I arrived here November 15 last year. I am determined to complete this job and I know its importance. We have had delays. But I will need one more dry season that means I can deliver the job between January and April 2009.”
On why the job was not started till the completion date elapsed, he said “we have improved since I came in”.
The statement by the Managing Director of Marubeni, Mr. Toru Sato, that the community was delaying the job was countered by the Clan Head of Ankiong Clan Council of Odukpani Local Government, retired Brigadier General Bassey Asuquo, who confronted him (Sato) at the Calabar Port.
Asuquo disclosed that after the ground breaking by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on March 10, 2006, rather than complete the job with the first phase of the proposed five turbines scheduled for July 2007 and the last in November last year, there were only unanticipated and technical delays for the better part of the project.
The sub-contractor handling the civil and earth works at the project site along Itu road, Gitto Construction, explained that contractors handling big jobs in Nigeria tell a lot of lies without carrying out the necessary tests.
Another contractor blamed nature and topography for the delay in executing their project.
The Site Manager, Emmanuel Sandrello, told THISDAY that they never envisaged what they saw when they moved in to the site as they had spent so much time blasting rocks hidden atop soft soil before they could proceed with piling and ejection on the points for the turbines.
He however explained that the civil works would be ready before the end of the year as they work along with the main contractors to remedy the situation.
At the site of the 30.31 KV sub station in Calabar, the members were told that the contract was awarded in 2001 on paper without a site by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
The Consultant Engineer of PH Power, Mr. Abdulrauf Jimoh, a Nigerian, told the committee that three contractors earlier given the job abandoned it before MBH Engineering, owned and run by Indians, took over the job.
This company too has already cashed over 90 per cent of its contract sum.
He told the committee that government has so far paid over £8,987,000 out of the £9 million for the procurement of the equipment and so far, it has also paid N306,956,000 for the local content out of N461 million.
He said the job was awarded to the contractor who was asked to go and look for a flat land to site the project but Alston and Ariva who were the initial company that started the job all left because they asked that the initial bid be reviewed. He estimated 22 per cent as the state of jobs done at the site.
When the committee members visited the Calabar Port, they were shown round the Warehouse of Intels Nigeria handling the clearing of the goods for the projects. The company explained that they stored the turbines which cannot stand the harsh weather inside the terminal building while others have been lying outside since last year.
They also said that they had so far handled about eight vessels since they starred in 2006.
Posted by Publisher at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
Divorce case: Moji Obasanjo wants journalists shut out
By ADESINA AIYEKOTI
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Mojisola, estranged wife of Dr. Gbenga Obasanjo, son of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has asked an Ikeja High Court to give a judicial order barring the press from covering the celebrated divorce case between her and the husband. She said that press reports have traumatised her and her children.
Gbenga, the petitioner, however, countered the request through his counsel, Emankhu Addah, urging the court to dismiss the application. He said, “the press is constitutionally empowered to report the proceedings.”
According to Mojisola in the application filed by her counsel, Mrs. Helen Ovnlen, the request has become necessary because she, her children and family have been greatly traumatized following series of publications on the matter.
Citing the matrimonial causes Act, sections 103 (2) and 108 (2), Mojisola’s counsel further prayed the court, presided over by Justice (Mrs) E. O. Williams Dawodu, to make an order directing that all other proceedings in the matter should not be published or printed by the media, pending the final determination of the suit.
She urged the court to grant the request, most importantly, because of the health of her client (Mojisola) and the children.
The counsel submitted that the press had, before now, “gone ahead to make sensational headlines of the proceeding,” which, according to her, have been prejudicial to the proceeding.
Opposing the application, Gbenga’s lawyer, Addeh said the publication being referred to by the respondent could not be referred to as libelous and defamatory.
He said the grounds which formed the basis of the application was well captured by the affidavit filed in support of the suit.
Following the arguments canvassed by the two counsels, Justice Dawodu deferred ruling till April 18, 2008.
The trial judge had earlier frowned at the reports carried by some newspapers and a radio station that her court had heard the application in chambers.
Ordering journalists in the courtroom to stand up, Justice Dawodu advised them to be sure of their facts, before informing the public about the proceedings in court.
The petitioner, Gbenga, is in the substantive suit asking the court to dissolve the seven-year old marriage as he alleged, among other things, that he doubted the paternity of the fruits of the wedlock.
He averred, in his 50-paragraph affidavit filed in support of the motion that his father, (Chief Olusegun Obasanjo) and his father-in-law, Otunba Alex Onabanjo, had sex with his wife, Mojisola.
Earlier, Mojisola had accused Gbenga of sundry sins, including assault and battery.
Posted by Publisher at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)
Tragedy! ...Bride, 30 celebrants drown in Bagwai dam, Shekarau attends funeral, condoles with families
By ABDULLAHI D. ABDULLAHI & ALIYU YUSUF
NO fewer than 31 people out of about 35 mainly women and children lost their lives when a canoe carrying them capsized Monday at Watari Dam in Bagwai Local Government Area of Kano state.
The canoe that was conveying over 20 women and about 15 infants including a bride who was being accompanied to Badau village some five kilometers from Bagwai town, capsized about five minutes to the bank of the dam when it hit a tree.
Daily Triumph learnt that the accident occurred in the third and final trip of the canoe to Badau village at about 8.00 p.m when it was already becoming dark. The sad episode involved a bride, Malama Bilkisu Bibiyo Ado Rinji.
As at the time of filing this report, only one person was confirmed still missing, but four survivors were rescued by local divers according to reports.
As for the four survivors, two are presently receiving medical attention at a Bagwai hospital while the other two are already home.
One of them, Habiba Bagwai said none of the women apart from her survived, adding that she also lost her three children, a 17-month old Abdullahi, Isyaku 6, and Asiya 4.
The driver of the canoe, Malam Abdullahi Sani said he could not ascertain how many passengers were aboard the canoe as it was dark and most of the women were carrying infants and children.
On his part, the Sarkin Ruwa (chief of the local divers), Malam Umar Garba disclosed that one cannot expect any survivor after spending over 10 hours under water, but however said his people were trying tirelessly to see if they could get more survivors.
The chairman of Bagwai local council, Alhaji Abdulhamid Idris said though the number of those involved could not be ascertained as the accident occurred in the night, the casualty may have risen.
Also commenting, the supervisory councillor on health, Hon. Sa’idu Garba
Sarkin’ya told Daily Triumph that the stated number was the one given by the relatives of the bride, but it could have risen because some boarded the canoe at a later stage.
Meanwhile, Kano state governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau was among the thousands of mourners who attended the funeral prayers of some of the unfortunate victims yesterday.
Condoling the families of the deceased, Governor Shekarau described the incidence as a great tragedy not only to the people of the area but to the entire people of the state, praying for Allah to grant them al-Jannatul Firdausi and the fortitude to the families to bear the irreparable loss.
Also, the deputy governor Engr. Abdullahi Tijjani Muhammad Gwarzo was among those who went to the area to condole with the victims’ families.
Daily Triumph recalls that during the National Population Census exercise in 2006, the dam had claimed the life of one of the census officials while trying to cross it aboard a canoe while the other staff, a lady survived.
Posted by Publisher at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)
Diana jury considers verdict
Apr 2 2008
A jury has finally begun deliberating on the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed 10-and-a-half years after the car crash in Paris in which they were killed.
Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker sent the panel of six women and five men, sitting at the High Court in London, out to consider their verdicts at 11.55am.
An unprecedented six-month inquest at the High Court in London has heard the evidence of around 250 witnesses in the UK and by video link from France, the US, Nigeria, Kenya and Australia.
Diana and Dodi were killed alongside driver Henri Paul when the Mercedes they were travelling in crashed into a pillar in the Alma underpass in the early hours of August 31, 1997.
They were pursued by paparazzi after leaving the Fayed-owned Ritz Hotel where they had spent the evening, but accounts differ over whether the photographers were around them at the moment of the crash.
There is widespread evidence that Mr Paul - the hotel's acting head of security - was three times the French drink-drive limit and speeding at the time.
Seconds before striking the 13th pillar of the underpass the Mercedes also had a glancing contact with a white Fiat Uno as it passed, the court heard. The other car has never been conclusively traced.
The six-woman and five-man jury must now decide whether the smash was manslaughter, an accident or unexplained.
But, on the orders of the coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker, they can not return a verdict which supports any of the murder conspiracy theories which have surrounded the tragedy for 10 years.
He ruled this week that there was "not a shred of evidence" to back them.
Posted by Publisher at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)
2008 Budget: Presidency denies receiving harmonised copy
By Ihuoma Chiedozie, Abuja
Published: Wednesday, 2 Apr 2008
Indications of further delays in the passage of the 2008 Appropriation Bill emerged on Tuesday when the Presidency denied reports that the National Assembly has sent the harmonised copy of the budget to the President for assent.
There were reports on Tuesday that the National Assembly has at last forwarded a full document of the Appropriation Bill to President Umaru Yar’Adua following his insistence on scrutinising the entire budget document before signing it into law.
The reports had it that the Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, said that the budget had been sent to the President.
However, contrary to these reports, a source in the Presidency informed our correspondent on Tuesday that the Presidency had not received the document.
According to the source, “The document is yet to reach the President through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice for vetting and final assent.”
The source went ahead to suggest that reports that the harmonised budget was in the President’s possession could be part of attempts to blackmail Yar’Adua, and lay the blame for late passage of the budget on him.
He said, “The document has not reached the President or any of his ministers. We do not know who is peddling this rumour and I think it is all designed to put the blame for the delay in signing the budget on the President.”
The source added that the President was worried over the continuing delay in the passage of the 2008 Appropriation Bill.
“The President himself is really getting worried over the whole thing. We do not really know what the problems are that the lawmakers are delaying the submission of the comprehensive copy of the harmonised budget,” he said.
The latest development has cast doubts on expectations in the Presidential Villa that the budget would be passed this week.
The continuing impasse over the 2008 Appropriation Bill ensued after the President demanded that the lawmakers must review the budget after they raised it from the original N2.5tn to N2.8tn.
The two institutions seemed to have found a middle ground after the National Assembly conceded to this demand and reduced the budget to N2.7tn on March 12, 2008, but that was only the beginning of another stalemate as the President refused to sign the Appropriation Bill without receiving the full copy of the harmonised document, which the National Assembly had not been able to provide.
In the same vein, there were also indications in the Presidential Villa on Tuesday that the Federal Government may soon begin the prosecution of public officials found culpable in the ongoing probe by the House of Representatives into the power sector.
The source said that the Federal Government may not wait for the report of the House of Representatives Committee on Power, which is currently probing about $16bn spent in the power sector between 1999 and 2007 without commensurate result.
The source said that the Ministry of Justice would still go ahead with the prosecution even if the committee failed to make its report available to the President.
According to him, the AGF would not need any prior authorisation from the President since the Yar’Adua administration believes in the rule of law.
The source said that the Federal Ministry of Justice stationed some of its officials at the public hearing sessions to record every bit of information that emerged from the proceedings.
The source said that these recordings, as well as documents gathered in the course of the hearings, would come in handy during the prosecutions.
“It is now that Nigerians will see the real war against corruption. We are going to use what people said during the probe against them.
“The Attorney-General of the Federation is poised to show Nigerians how a genuine war against corruption can be fought. Nobody who has a case to answer from that probe will be left out,” he said.
Posted by Publisher at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)
Irish PM resigns over cash-payments scandal
Ahern denies wrongdoing after probe uncovers $150,000 in secret deposits
MSNBC News Services
updated 1 hour, 29 minutes ago
DUBLIN, Ireland - Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who helped broker peace in Northern Ireland but couldn't survive a scandal over his collection of cash from businessmen, announced Wednesday he will resign.
Flanked by his senior Cabinet ministers, Ahern told a surprise news conference he would step down May 6. He denied ever receiving a corrupt payment, but conceded that 18 months of growing criticism of his explanations had taken a toll on the effectiveness of his government.
"Never, in all the time I've served in public life, have I put my personal interests ahead of the public good," Ahern said during a 10-minute statement during which his voice frequently wavered with emotion.
"I have never received a corrupt payment and I've never done anything to dishonor any office I have held. ... I know in my heart of hearts, I've done no wrong and wronged no one," said Ahern, 56, who has been Ireland's leader for 11 years.
Unprecedented economic boom
His 2 1/2 terms in office have been marked by unprecedented economic success at home and peace in the neighboring British territory.
But Ahern's hold on power has been steadily weakening since investigators discovered cash payments he secretly received from businessmen in the mid-1990s.
Ahern initially claimed to have received just two major payments from personal friends. But the investigation since has uncovered about a dozen undocumented cash deposits in 1994 to Ahern, who is due to resume testimony next month.
Investigators say they have uncovered more than $150,000 in undocumented cash deposits to Ahern.
Washington speech
The announcement follows a string of embarrassing appearances by Ahern in the witness stand at an anti-corruption tribunal.
Ahern said he intended to remain in office until he delivers a speech to the joint houses of U.S. Congress in Washington April 30. He said that speech would be "one of the proudest moments of my political career."
Ahern, one of Europe's longest serving heads of government, had previously said this would be his last term in office but that he did not intend to go until it ended in 2012.
Posted by Publisher at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
Kogi Chief Judge sacked
Written by Hassan A Karofi & Yusha’u Adamu Ibrahim, Kano
Wednesday, 02 April 2008
Chief Judge of Kogi State Justice Umaru Eri was removed from office yesterday by a resolution of the State House of Assembly, and acting governor Chief Clarence Olafemi immediately appointed Justice Sam Otah as the acting Chief Judge.
The acting governor announced the appointment soon after the state executive council meeting in Lokoja yesterday.
Justice Eri’s removal followed a resolution of the state House of Assembly directing the acting governor to remove him from office for alleged misconduct.
Eighteen members present on the floor of the House signed the resolution to remove the chief judge.
The house resolved that, "We the undersigned hereby resolve that an address be presented to His Excellency, the Governor of Kogi State, that the Chief Judge of Kogi State RT Hon. Umaru Eri be removed from office for misconduct under section 292 [1] [11] of 1999 constitution".
Those who signed the resolution include Osiyi Godwin Ojo, Akaba Musa, Atule Christopher Okoche, Yakubu Yunusa, Emmanuel Omobije, Ohiemi Z. Shaibu, Abdulahi I. Ali, Abdulahi Zakari and Adamu Mohammed.
Other signatories were Mustafa A. Alladey, Ismaila Inah Husseini, Idakwoji R Ilemona, Philip Orebiyi, Adams Kayode Olorunmo,
Mohammed Nwaha Abdulsalam, Jato Idis Adonu, Isah Ogirima Amoka, and Momojimoh Andas.
Soon after the resolution was adopted, the House went on a recess, to resume sitting on April 29.
This followed a motion by the minority leader, Tako Ndakwo Abduraman, seconded by the member representing Ogori/Magongo, Osiyi Godwin.
According to Section 292 (1) of the constitution: "A judicial officer shall not be removed from his office or appointment before his age of retirement except in the following circumcise –
In the case of –
Chief Justice of Nigeria, President of the Court of Appeal, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Grand Kadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital territory, Abuja and President, Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, by the President acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate.
Chief Judges of a State, Grand Kadi of a Sharia Court of Appeal or President of a Customary Court of Appeal of a State, by the Governor acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the House of Assembly of the State praying that he be so removed for his inability to discharge the functions of his office or appointment (whether arising from infirmity of mind or of body) or for misconduct or contravention of the Code of Conduct;
In any case, other than those to which paragraph (a) of this subsection applies, by the President or, as the case may be, the Governor acting on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council that the judicial officer be so removed for his inability to discharge the functions of his office or appointment (whether arising from infirmity of mind or of body) or for misconduct or contravention of the Code of Conduct."
Posted by Publisher at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)
Power probe: FG to prosecute indicted persons
Written by Ben Agande, Tordue Salem & John Ighodaro
Wednesday, 02 April 2008
*Govt overpays contractor by N224m
*C'ttee to summon Obasanjo, Atiku, others
THE Federal Government is set to prosecute anyone indicted by the House of Representatives Committee which is currently investigating the power sector in the eight years of the Obasanjo administration.
The committee, on the second day of its on-the-spot assessment of power projects in the country, yesterday found that a Japanese company, Maruberi, was in 2002 overpaid by N224 million by government in respect of its construction of the 561 mega-watt Calabar power station.
Presidency sources yesterday told Vanguard that government, ahead of its planned prosecution of people that may be indicted by the probe, has directed relevant law enforcement agents to collate as much evidence as they can to use against such people.
Presidency sources familiar with the matter said through its discreet participation in the public hearing and other subsequent investigations, government now had enough evidence to prosecute some of the people indicted.
The President, sources said, was determined to ensure that the war against corruption did not lose its steam and was keen on ensuring that those who connived to frustrate government’s effort at improving power situation in the country were made to face the full wrath of the law.
“Even if the House Committee on Power does not make the report of the committee available to the executive, the Ministry of Justice and other agencies of the executive would go ahead with its plans to prosecute people who have cases to answer,” sources said.
FG overpays firm by N224 million
And yesterday, the House of Representatives Committee on Power discovered that Marubeni, a Japanese company, was in 2002 overpaid N224 million by the Federal Government for the construction of the 561 mega-watt Calabar power station.
The House Committee led by Mr Ndudi Elumelu also discovered in the course of its tour of projects in Cross River State, that the contract for the Calabar 330kva transmission line awarded to MBH Power Company, an Indian electrification company, in 2001 is yet to be completed after seven years
Members of the Committee while cross-examining the consultant to MBH, Mr. Abdul Rafiu Jimoh, discovered that about £8,987,222 was paid to MBH as operating cost, while N956.915 million was paid to the same company in 2002, even when a site for the job was yet to be secured.
The consultant for the 561 megawatts Calabar power station, Mr. Derek Charman, while admitting that the company was overpaid for the job, which is still at the stage of foundation laying for the installation of turbines, said it was not the fault of Marubeni, saying a British Engineer pleaded with the Federal Government to extend the contract agreement to December this year (2008) for another dry season to enable the company meet its obligation to the government.
The committee while inspecting equipment deposited at Calabar Port was told by the Managing Director of Marubeni, Mr. Toru Sato, that the delay in executing the contract was caused in part by the activities of militants.
The submission angered members of the committee who dismissed the statement as a lie.
Sato was contradicted by the Chairman, Onim Ankiong Clan Council, the area where the 561 Megawatt power station is located, Brig-Gen. Bassey Asuquo (rtd), who said “in fact, our relationship with the project’s contractors is very cordial.”
Asuquo who assured the contractors of their continued safety said: “The Clan Council has constituted a Security Committee to ensure a hitch-free operation at the project site.”
Governor Liyel Imoke assured the committee of the state government’s protection of every power project site visited, while advising them “to punish accordingly anybody who was involved in these abandoned contracts appropriately.”
He said the “work that the committee is doing is very good for this country.”
Disparities in PHCN accounts
The Elumelu-led delegation also discovered that there were disparities in the account figures of the PHCN. Senior Finance and Accounts Officer of PHCN branch in Calabar, Mr. Nkpoikanke Ekwere, gave the probe panel the remittance figure for the month of October 2007 as N18.955 million, but Elumelu who did an independent calculation discovered that the actual remittance figure was N21.668,746 million.
There were also discrepancies in the figures given by the branch as what was spent and remitted last year with the one the committee summed up.
While the PHCN in Calabar generated N59 million for December 2007, according to the Accounts Officer, the House Committee discovered, according to a First Bank statement, that N58 million was credited.
The Committee is now in Rivers State, where the Omoku, among other power plants, would be inspected.
C’ttee to summon Obasanjo, Atiku, others
Meanwhile, the Reps Committee probing the Power Sector has indicated its intention to summon former President Olusegun Obasanjo; former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani; former Speaker, Alhaji Bello Masari; and former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to explain their roles when money was appropriated for the power and steel sector during the last administration. This was made known in Calabar yesterday.
Speaking to newsmen after the committee met with Governor Liyel Imoke at the Executive Council Chambers of the Governor’s Office, Elumelu explained that relevant invitations would be made during the course of the committee’s investigations.
Asked why the committee had not invited persons like the former president, he said: “We have six zones in this nation and we are only in one of the zones. We have to go to all the zones to ascertain the extent of work done, after that, not just the president, there are other people that have not been invited.
Those who chaired relevant positions when money was appropriated like former Speaker, former Senate President, former Vice-President and President. So it is a long race.”
Responding, Governor Imoke commended the committee for the decision to inspect the projects.
His words: “What the committee is doing is very important in this country. We are particularly pleased that the committee has deemed it fit to go round and visit the various projects site.
I believe that beyond affording the committee members the first time opportunity to see what is actually going on to make the assessment, I believe the visit also helps to ginger up those who are responsible for executing these projects.
It creates an awareness and forces everybody to be alert. Here in Cross River State, where a number of these projects are located, it is our hope and belief that with what the committee is doing, it would only facilitate the completion of these projects for the benefit of the good people of Cross River State.
After your exercise, I believe you will be better placed to sanction those who have failed to perform and of course to commend those who have done well. Those who have performed below standard should be queried because the projects have been on for sometime.”
Posted by Publisher at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)
FBI probes Nigerians over money laundering activities
From Laolu Akande, New York
LAW enforcement cooperation on money laundering between Nigeria and the United States (U.S.) seems to be on the rise in the last one year as the U.S. government disclosed that its Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is currently working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to break a group of money launderers, including Nigerians, using U.S. banks.
According to a U.S. government yearly report on money laundering and financial crimes, the EFCC is working with the FBI on a case involving a group of brokers laundering money through banks in the U.S.
The FBI's cooperation with Nigerian law enforcement authorities has grown since the FBI opened an office in Nigeria after the termination of military rule in 1999.
An FBI Supervisory Special Agent, Dale Miskell, who had participated in FBI operations in Nigeria and became the first U.S. law enforcement officer to testify in a Nigerian court, recalled going on a raid with EFCC in Lagos thus: "A few years back, I got a call from our Legal AttachZ agent in Lagos. He told me that the Nigerian government was concerned by these kinds of scams and had created the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to fight them."
He said on a regular day in Lagos, he would send an e-mail to his FBI colleagues "with the names and addresses on dubious packages. By morning I'd have an e-mail back with a list of the ones suspected of fraud. Then, we'd pay a visit to the addressee. A Nigerian officer would pose as a parcel company driver and would make the delivery and subsequent arrest, with several Nigerian officers and I in my suburban as backup."
He disclosed that through this way, the FBI worked in Nigeria with EFCC and together made 17 arrests and seized $1 million worth of illegally purchased goods.
This time the FBI-EFCC cooperation is targeted at U.S. banks where some Nigerians are suspected to be part of a money-laundering group.
Although the official report issued recently did not give details, it is believed that some of those being investigated may have links with Nigerian public officials who are known to use long lines of relatives, friends and cronies to lodge funds looted from the public till in U.S. banks.
The U.S. report said "many of these alleged abuses of office involved politically exposed persons (PEP) and/or their collaborators."
The U.S. report, which circulates to other government agencies including the U.S. Congress, also referred to five former Nigerian governors currently under Nigerian investigation for money laundering and implied that the FBI might be playing a role in the EFCC's investigation of them, especially regarding the US end of such investigations.
The U.S. law enforcement authorities are reportedly familiar with several Nigerian politicians who have held public offices in the past and current office holders who have fat account balances in U.S. banks.
It is also believed that some of the on-going FBI-EFCC investigations were as a result of a surge of petitions received in previous years by the EFCC.
The U.S. government reported that petitions and leads have been provided by "whistleblowers." There are said to be 437 of such cases, some of which include FBI cooperation that the EFCC Legal Unit is reported to be investigating for possible prosecution
The report also praised the EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu, saying the "EFCC has recorded significant successes in combating financial crimes. Through EFCC efforts, a former inspector-general of police was arrested and prosecuted for financial crimes valued at over $13 million."
The U.S. government observed that there were still 92 other charges of money laundering against this former inspector-general of police.
The U.S. report on money laundering and financial crimes noted that the Nigerian Federal Government should strengthen its agencies responsible for supervising designated non-financial business and professions, while securing the autonomy of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the EFCC.
The American government also advised the Nigerian government to continue its cooperation with relevant international organisations "to identify and eliminate remaining anti-money laundering deficiencies."
Posted by Publisher at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
April 01, 2008
Missing Edo commissioner found dead in hotel room
By TONY OSAUZO, Benin
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The missing Edo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Barrister Calus Enoma, has been found dead in one of the rooms of Palm Royal Hotel, in Ugbowo area of Benin, the state capital.
The late commissioner was said to have had a deep cut on his forehead while his body was swollen and stinking at the time police detectives forced the door to his room open on Monday.
Top police sources told Daily Sun that the late commissioner was found dead naked on a bed in the hotel room.
According to the police sources, Enoma had driven himself to the hotel on Friday night in a car that bore no security number. He was said to have dropped his police orderly at his residence, where the policeman also lives, before driving out alone.
At the Palm Royal Hotel, where the state Governor, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor led government officials, Assistant Inspector-General of Police for Zone 5, Mr. Udom Ekpoudum and the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Dega, to see the corpse of the late commissioner, the Managing Director Barrister Jude Nosagie, revealed that Enoma personally checked into the hotel last Friday night.
He explained that a staff of the hotel who checked in the commissioner, was already helping the police in their investigations.
The corpse of the late Enoma was later taken away in an ambulance marked ED60A08. AIG Ekpoudom told journalist that investigation into the incident was on.
In a statement signed by Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Joe Akhigbe, the Edo State government described the death of the commissioner as “shocking, sad and painful and a great loss to the government and people of Edo State.”
The statement said: “Barrister Enoma was, this morning, found dead in a hotel room in the state capital, having left his residence at about 10:00pm on Friday, 28th March, 2008, after receiving a telephone call from an unidentified caller.
“The governor is saddened and depressed by the unfortunate loss.”
The statement said that security agencies have commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding the commissioner’s death. It expressed the government’s heartfelt condolences to the commissioner’s wife, Mrs. Julie Enoma and members of his family.
Meanwhile, the Edo State chapter of the Action Congress (AC) on Monday said the statement by the Special Adviser on Communication to Governor Osunbor, Mr. Tony Ikpasaja, demanding that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the AC should produce Barrister Enoma within 48 hours or face dire consequences was a smokescreen to clamp down on the AC governorship candidate.
Addressing journalists on Monday, AC chairman, in Edo State, Prince Tony Omoaghe, said by making such statement the PDP-led government wants to cause confusion in the state and then link it with the Action Congress.
While disclosing that the AC had contacted its team of lawyers to file a multi-million naira libel suit against Mr. Ikpasaja, the PDP and Governor Osunbor, the AC chairman alleged that the Osunbor-led faction of the PDP had resolved that rather than have Oshiomhole govern the state, “it would make the state ungovernable and precipitate a state of emergency.”
Also on Monday, the National Conscience Party, in a statement signed by its National Chairman, Dr. Osagie Obayuwana, called for the sack of Mr. Ikpasaja for asking Oshiomhole and the AC to produce the late Enoma when the matter was yet to be reported to the police.
“Spokespersons for government ought to know that what they say is capable of inflaming passions and they ought to exercise great caution in making public pronouncements,” the statement said.
The party also expressed sadness over Enoma’s death.
Posted by Publisher at 01:57 PM | Comments (0)
Scarcity looms as new rule stalls fuel import
By Taiwo Hassan
UNLESS fuel importers and the Federal Government immediately address some new challenges in the industry, Nigerians may experience another round of acute shortage of petroleum products.
The looming scarcity of the essential products is not unconnected with the enforcement of ethanol content requirement by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to tighten loose ends in the importation of fuel into the country.
Following the recent circulation of 14, 000 metric tonnes of toxic fuel in the country, which was traced to Oando Plc, the DPR directed that all fuel brought into Nigeria must not contain more than five per cent ethanol.
DPR, the oil and gas industry regulator, is already enforcing the order. Two ships, which brought products with 22 per cent ethanol, have been intercepted by the agency.
Investigations conducted by The Guardian showed that major marketers might soon run out of petroleum products now in their Lagos depots. The firms are said to be in difficulty bringing in new consignments because of the DPR's new rule.
But the Nigerian National Petroleum (NNPC) recently attributed the scarcity of fuel to public holidays, which affected product lifting by tanker drivers.
Although the majors are said to be seeking a review of the policy, the DPR has insisted that any oil firm wishing to import petroleum products must meet the industry standard.
According to DPR, the adulterated consignment, which came from Gunvor International B.V. Amsterdam branch in Geneva, Switzerland, contained about 20 per cent ethanol.
The importers under the aegis of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) say that they are finding it difficult to import fuel that meets the DPR's specifications.
The Guardian learnt that because of the high cost of producing fuel with low ethanol on the international market, Nigerian importers are shunning it as they cannot sell above the current pump prices to recoup their investment.
Even with the bridging costs paid to them by the Federal Government, the marketers argued that they would still sell at a loss if they import fuel with low ethanol. It was also learnt that the higher the ethanol element in fuel, the cheaper the product. But this has several side effects on vehicles.
A source said that the practice of importing low-grade fuel started from the regime of the late head of state, Gen. Sani Abacha and persisted until the bubble burst last February with the distribution of fake fuel in Lagos.
Before the incident, the DPR was allegedly not enforcing the ethanol requirements. The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) reportedly recommended that the DPR should enforce the ethanol specification to save the country from further embarrassment.
The DPR swung into action at the weekend when it intercepted two ships carrying 66, 000 metric tonnes said to be having 22 per cent ethanol. One of the vessels belongs to FT Freja Selinda while the other is owned by Lovelly Sky. Each of them carried 33,000 metric tonnes of gasoline.
The Guardian learnt that the vessels were brought in by a consortium of oil firms as part of their efforts to make products available in Lagos.
MOMAN sources said that the new regulation by DPR was affecting their ability to import fuel.
They also faulted NNPC's linkage of product scarcity to the recent public holidays in the country.
One of the importers said: "There is no iota of truth in the statement released by the NNPC that the public holidays observed by the tanker drivers is the cause of queues experienced in Lagos.
"The majors are not getting the usual support relating to importation of fuel. We only got one consignment of petroleum products in, which we have shared and distributed," he said.
This view was corroborated by an official of a product haulage firm, who said: "There is no iota of truth in what the government said, especially the NNPC. The truth of the matter is that we (transporters) that load trucks at the depots knew that before the public holidays that there was no fuel as no ships came in to discharge products except at Mosimi, NNPC Ejigbo and NIPCO depots. So, we all diverted there to load but we exhausted the products immediately. I was shocked on reading the NNPC or government's version of the situation in the papers."
The liberalisation of the industry in 2005 by the government led to the oil majors dominating the import sector.
In a statement, the NNPC had said it was aware of the resurgence of queues at the filling stations but added that it was a temporary development caused by the public holidays observed by the tanker drivers.
Posted by Publisher at 01:56 PM | Comments (0)
Shock, Disbelief as House Panel Tours Power Projects; Due Process approved payments •Nenadi: I was never summoned
From Paul Ibe in Abuja, Stanley Nkwazema in Uyo and George Orji in Kaduna, 04.01.2008
The inspection tour of power plants under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) by the House Committee on Power began yesterday with an avalanche of revelations on the controversial project.
The tour took members of the committee to several distribution and transmission stations in Akwa Ibom State.
The 54-man team from the House and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) expressed shock as most of the contractors had nothing to show for the huge sums of money they have so far received.
One of the contractors, the committee was told, only visited the project site for the first time about three weeks ago.
The project consultant, Colenco, led by an engineer, Z. Domelenchi, admitted to the lawmakers that actual work on the civil structures of the contract started three weeks ago while he had only been to the site thrice for a contract that was supposed to have been completed last year.
Colenco, in trying to justify the volume of work done so far, explained that the contractor could not mobilise workers and materials to the site on time due to disagreements among the three communities that share ownership of the parcel of land and their demand for unpaid compensation which was not built into the contract.
Receiving the committee in his office yesterday, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Godswill Akpabio, said contractors found wanting should not go unpunished.
THISDAY is also in possession of documents which show that the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (BMPIU), better known as the Due Process Office, recommended the issuance of Due Process Certificates for payment in addition to the Due Process Certificates for award of contracts for power projects during the tenure of former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
While on inspection of the New Haven distribution and transmission substation located at Ikot Una near Ikot Ikpene yesterday, the parliamentarians were, yet again, shocked to discover that the contractor had nothing to show for the contract for which he had already claimed over N17 billion.
When the team visited the site, the only thing that showed any semblance of work was the excavation, apart from a fencing done of the project site which has already been completed.
Domenclechi explained that the contractor, Payma Bargh Co/Cartlark International Limited, had procured all the engineering equipment for the switching sub-station.
He took the members round the warehouse which was provided to them by Una Ma Paper Industries for a fee of N500,000, saying that 30 more containers have been lying at Onne Port in Rivers State awaiting clearance, pending when the civil works and transmission lines would be completed.
The Managing Director of the company, Mrs Mariam Akanmode who spoke to THISDAY on phone from Abuja yesterday, however explained that though equipment had been procured, the company had problems resettling the communities while nothing much could be done because the other contactors involved with the transmission and distribution lines had not done any work which is supposed to precede the designs, taking into consideration the position of the lines and distribution materials.
She said: “We have all the equipment, but you may wish to understand that there are other contracts that will surely affect our completion. The transmission lines and the distribution angle must be completed so that we can position the equipment properly and also make room for expansion when necessary.”
But the communities quarrelled among themselves over the compensation as they told the delegation that they could not say how much was actually voted for the compensation. The Village Head, Chief Joshua Essiet, said it was sad that nothing much had been done since last year when the company moved in equipment and procured the parts for the projects.
The sub station is estimated to cost the federal government N5.96 billion but the contractor has so far been paid N4.5 billion.
Energo, the company that was awarded the Ikot Ekpene-New Haven (Ugwauoju) 330KV, Eket Uyo 132KV and Ikot-Ekpene transmission lines worth N19bn – out of which – N13 billion has so far been disbursed, had virtually nothing to show for the money.
The completion of their job will affect the switching sub station as they have to rely on the lines to switch on.
But that was not the last shocking experience for the 54-man delegation. When they visited the Rural Electrification Project, awarded at a cost of N40 million, they discovered that it was yet to take off two years after.
It was the same story at the N1.78 billion 2x75 MVA injection sub station at Abak, where the controversial Laymeher of Germany (project design consultants) and Steag Encotech (project consultants) have their sites.
The contractors, Benbok Engineering Limited, based in Abuja, have so far collected the sum of N278 million but the Committee noted that only the fencing of the one-and-a-half plot of land donated by the local government has been completed while they hurriedly brought in a Mikano Generating set and tried using manual labour to push it into the gate house built for that purpose, perhaps to create a picture of activity.
At the PHCN Uyo Business District office, it was a shocker of a different kind. The House committee discovered that the impromptu visit merely exposed the Accountant, Mr. Philips Ike, who could not provide vouchers for the payment of staff salaries or explain where the funds received by the District were lodged.
He was subsequently asked to appear before the House when the Committee returns to Abuja for the final part of its investigation.
The Akwa Ibom State Governor however told the committee that the vital role being played by the committee would stabilise the polity.
Akpabio, who flew in from Enugu to receive the House, said the outcome of the probe would show the integrity of the House while he insisted that otherwise nothing tangible can take place in the form of industrialisation.
Meanwhile, THISDAY has discovered that contrary to what its Director General, Mr Emeka Eze, told the House committee, the Due Process Office actually approved payment certificates for contracts for the NIPP projects.
Eze had claimed during his appearance before the House Committee on Power and Steel that the contractors for the power projects did not get Due Process Certificates for payment.
However, a BMPIU Due Process Review Report for EPC contracts (transmission lines and associated substations) listed 10 companies handling several power projects under the NIPP totaling about N90 billion which the Due Process Office recommended for issuance of Due Process Certificates for payment.
The 10-page report dated December 2005 in its conclusions/suggestions stated: “It was also noted that all the lots have WHT taxes added contrary to statutory provisions on the operations of WHT. Only Value Added Taxes shall be added while companies pay WHT which are chargeable as taxes paid by companies.
“Consequently all WHT taxes as added have been removed.
“In consideration of the above comments, BMPIU is inclined to grant Due Process Certification for the award of the various lots as follows:
“Due Process Certificate for award in the various sums against the contractors as in the BMPIU column for lots 1-10 can be granted. Also, Due Process Certificates for payment can also be granted since bulk of the money will be needed to fund Letters of Credit that will need to be opened for the manufacture of the said equipment.”
The Due Review Report authored by Prof. Kunle Ade Wahab, Special Adviser to former President Obasanjo and Head, BMPIU, Ms. Bimbola Ogunseitan, SSA to former President Obasanjo and member BMPIU and Mr. Tajudeen Oyawoye, SA to former President Obasanjo and member BMPIU and bearing number MI/DPR/EME /REPORT/ 2005/275 made the following findings:
“The bidding period is adequate; the prequalification criteria used for prequalification of the contractors are agreeable to BMPIU; disqualification of non-responsive bidders is in order and the rates for works included by the recommended contractors are most reasonable and found to be much lower that (sic) rates used in procuring transmission lines in 2001. However, the report observed that there is inconsistency on the basis for the recommendations.
“If time was of very essence as we believe it is, then no company should be awarded more than one lot, otherwise the basis for not allowing Energo to have the two lots it emerged the winner would be brought to question as the RFP did not put conditions on eligibility for two lots as the Ministries tried to canvass in the evaluation report.”
Also, another Due Process Review Report dated January 2006 for the Niger Delta Medium Sized Power Plants EPC BOP Contract for Power Plants recommended Due Process certificates for the seven power plants located in the Niger Delta.
The report bearing number BMPI/DPR/AEA/REPORT/2005/305 stated that “Due Process Certificates for Awards and Payments may be granted as requested by FMP&S based on the reasons in paragraphs 3.9.16 and 3.9.17…” in favour of the firms and at the price approved by BMPIU.
Paragraph 3.9.16 referred to above states: “It is noted that Rockson Engineering is mobilised in Nigeria and is presently executing similar projects. Marubeni built Egbin Power station, a steam turbine plant and the biggest power plant in Nigeria. The need to quickly execute the project on a fast phase basis informed FMP&S in insisting after BMPIU findings, on awarding the projects…taking into cognisance the ability of the two contractors to deploy resources quickly and having a recent working knowledge of the terrain.”
The contracts for the power plants which BMPIU recommended Due Process Certificates for payments include Marubeni Engineering (West Africa) Limited for Calabar, Eyaen and Sapele at the values of N20,346,452,235.00, N15,329,511,485.00 and N16,291,680,715.00 respectively. Others are Rockson Engineering/Burns McDonnel for Egbema and Gbarain Ubie at the values of N17,329,511,485.00 and N18,721,141,497.00 respectively. The total contract value of the power plants Balance of Plant Projects (BOP) is N88,131,991,647.0
Yesterday, former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Esther Usman, expressed dismay at the allegation that she refused to honour an invitation extended to her to appear before the House Committee on Power.
Usman, in a letter to the Chairman of the Committee dated March 28, 2008 and copied to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representative, Kaduna State Governor and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) denied any knowledge of an invitation or receipt of any invitation either in writing or verbally to appear before the Committee.
Usman expressed her willingness to appear before the House to testify any time the Committee deems it necessary to invite her, noting that she has nothing to hide on account of her many years of public office.
Posted by Publisher at 01:54 PM | Comments (0)
Kogi election: Idris wins, Audu kicks
Written by Umoru Henry & Isiaka Oyibo
Monday, 31 March 2008
ALHAJI Ibrahim Idris of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was, yesterday, returned to office as governor of Kogi State in a landslide victory. He polled 518,581 of the 734,625 votes cast in Saturday’s election.
His closest opponent, Prince Abubakar Audu of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), trailed a distant second with 175,978 votes; while Mr. Ramat Momoh of the PAC got 1,529 votes and Professor Yusuf Obaje (DPP) got 1,259 votes.
The results were announced by the state’s INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Ayo Adakeja.
Idris thanks all
Reacting, Alhaji Idris said: “I thank God and the good people of Kogi State for this overwhelming result. In fact, this overwhelming result is dedicated to the good people of the state.
“I thank the president, all the party leaders, all my supporters and all those who worked hard to ensure that victory is ours.
“This time, I shall work even harder and more powerfully to ensure that the people get the dividends of democracy in full,” he said.
Idris extended his hands of fellowship to his opponents. But Prince Audu said the election was characterised by a high level of malpractices.
Iwu has done it again, says Audu
Audu recalled a statement credited to the INEC Chairman, Professor Maurice Iwu, following last year’s election that if given another chance, he would conduct future elections the way he conducted previous ones.
“Now Iwu has done it again,” Audu said and vowed to go to the tribunal.
PDP thanks supporters
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Professor Rufai Alkali, also thanked all the PDP supporters in the state for coming out en masse to vote in spite of “all odds.”
“Initially, the ANPP protested against exclusion but now we have proven our might democratically,” he said.
Prince Abubakar Audu, governorship candidate of the ANPP, had gone to the Election Petitions Tribunal to protest his exclusion from the April 14, 2007 election.
The tribunal ruled that the exclusion by INEC was improper and called for a re-run election, a judgment upheld by the Court of Appeal.
“It is good for the country; it is beautiful. The judiciary, INEC and the people have done their job,” Alkali said.
Also reacting, Senator Smart Adeyemi said the election results confirmed the people’s belief in the PDP as the only party that could bring meaningful development to Kogi.
Adeyemi said: “These election results are even more resounding than those which led to Alhaji Ibrahim Idris being sworn in as governor in May last year.
“Those in the opposition should apologise to Nigerians for destabilising the nation and inflicting violence on the people of Kogi State, all in the effort to occupy a position they do not deserve.
“They should also apologise for the resources expended on the re-run election and for disturbing the peace of the people who had told them that they were not on the ground. They should do the right thing and defect to the PDP,” Adeyemi said.
ANPP, AC call for cancellation
The ANPP and the Action Congress (AC) with which it ran a joint ticket in the election, as well as the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) called for the nullification of the election.
Addressing a joint press conference in Lokoja, they described the results announced by INEC as cooked to satisfy some individuals.
Their spokesman, Chief Mike Adeleye, who is the chairman of AC in the state urged their supporters not to lose hope as they would challenge the results in court.
He alleged that the results declared in four local government areas in Kogi East senatorial districts were manufactured by the PDP.
“We are going to contest the results with all the evidence at our disposal to prove to the whole world that what happened during the weekend elections were no elections but daylight robbery,” he said.
He said PDP leaders in the state were aided by the police in snatching ballot boxes in areas they knew they would lose.
But the PDP dismissed the allegations as baseless and directed them to go to the tribunal.
Results in some voting units in Adavi ankpa, Ajakuto, Kotonkarfi and 11 centres in Okene were cancelled on account of violence and irregularities.
Posted by Publisher at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)
Soludo to deliver keynote address at Vanguard Bankers' Award
Written by Omoh Gabriel, Business Editor
Tuesday, 01 April 2008
GOVERNOR of the Central Bank (CBN), Professor Chukwuma Soludo, will deliver the keynote address at the second Vanguard Annual Bankers’ Award scheduled for the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos on April 18.
The theme of the award is “The role of Nigeria banks in realising Financial System Strategy (FSS) 2020.”
Professor Chukwuma Soludo, GOVERNOR of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
Soludo, architect of the banking revolution in Nigeria, will give an insight into the apex bank’s expectation of money deposit banks in realising the dream of Nigeria becoming the financial hub of Africa. FSS 2020 is Soludo’s second dream for Nigeria. His first was the banking consolidation.
When on July 6, 2004, Prof. Soludo announced a 13-point reform agenda for the banking industry in Nigeria at an expanded meeting of the Bankers Committee, bankers realised they were in for a tough time.
Of the 13-point agenda announced by the governor, only one was top in the minds of bankers. That was the new capital base N25 billion: have it by December 31, 2005 or cease to be a bank in Nigeria.
What Soludo did not disclose then was that he was scheming to launch Nigerian banks into the global financial market.
Nigerian banks then were satisfied with local transactions on foreign exchange where they reaped economic rent in the form of commissions. Most banks, at that time, saw the reforms as an impossible task and campaigned against it. Some saw some sense in it and immediately set to work. Three years after, the 24 surviving banks are shaping up to the best of competition.
The post consolidation results of banks show that the banking sector is still the most vibrant in the economy today. The banks are not satisfied with their current shareholders fund status and nearly all have returned to the capital market to raise more funds.
Giving his report on bank consolidation in Nigeria to stakeholders in Abuja, Prof. Soludo said the assets base of banks grew by approximately 277 per cent between 2003 and 2007.
Nigerian banks, according to him, now have branch expansion outside Nigeria, with 16 branches in Africa of which nine are new and five outside of Africa. The move by Nigerian banks to venture off-shore is as a result of the confidence they now enjoy on the international stage.
In the last one year, close to 10 Nigerian banks have ranked among the 1,000 top global banks.
The banking sector, today, is the fastest growing in Africa and with monetary authorities vision to make Nigeria the financial hub of Africa, and with its Financial Strategy 2020 in the works, the banks will continue to play leading roles in the economy. It is the dominant sector in the Stock Exchange and the dominant driver of the progress at the Nigerian capital market. The banking sub-sector accounts for 17 of the top 20 companies by turnover volume.
Soludo's biodata
Prof. Soludo, before his appointment as CBN Governor, was a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund, the University of Cambridge, the Brookings Institute, the University of Warwick and the University of Oxford and a visiting Professor at Swarthmore College (USA).
He has also worked as a consultant for a number of international organisations, including The World Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the United Nations Development Programme.
Soludo is a core professional in the business of macroeconomics. He obtained his three degrees and then professorship at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. He graduated with a First Class honours degree in 1984, an M.Sc. Economics in 1987, and a Ph.D. in 1989, winning prizes for the best student at all three levels.
He has been trained and involved in research, teaching and auditing in such disciplines as the multi-country macro econometric modelling, techniques of computable general equilibrium modelling, survey methodology and panel data econometrics, among others.
Soludo studied and taught these courses in many universities, including Oxford, Cambridge and Warwick. He has co-authored, co-edited and authored about 10 books on this subject-matter.
In 1998, Soludo was appointed to the position of Professor of Economics at the University of Nigeria; the following year, he became a visiting professor at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, US.
He joined the Federal Government in 2003. Prior to his May 2004 appointment as Governor of the Central Bank, he held the positions of Chief Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Executive of the National Planning Commission.
In January 2008, in a speech to the Nigerian Economic Society, he predicted consolidation in the private banking industry, saying: “By the end of 2008, there’ll be fewer banks than there are today.
The restructuring of the banking industry has been attracting funds from local and foreign investors, which have increased banks’ ability to lend to customers.”
He hopes to see Nigeria become Africa’s financial hub, and considers microfinance important to the federal government’s economic policies.
Posted by Publisher at 01:49 PM | Comments (0)
Fraud fear over Zimbabwe vote delays
(CNN) -- There were still no official results Tuesday from the weekend's presidential vote in Zimbabwe, but an election monitoring group projected that opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai was leading President Robert Mugabe.
Tensions are high in the southern African state that has never seen a transition of power since Mugabe led the country to independence in 1980.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's delay in releasing the presidential count raised suspicions that Mugabe's government was buying time to rig the results, something many believe was done in 2002, when Mugabe last faced Tsvangirai.
"The people of Zimbabwe will not allow such a thing to happen," said Thoko Khupe, vice president of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Party. "They are not going to accept that. They now know that they won this election."
According to an independent African monitor, senior members of Mugabe's party are worried the government may have lost the elections, The Associated Press reported.
Marwick Khumalo, head of the Pan-African Parliament observer mission, indicated the ruling ZANU-PF party was considering the possibility of defeat, the agency said.
"I was talking to some of the big wigs in the ruling party and they also are concerned about the possibility of a change of guard," he told the South African Broadcasting Corporation's SAfm radio, the agency reported.
MDC sources denied to CNN that it was in talks with the Zimbabwean leader over a possible transfer of power, in spite of a report Tuesday on the New York Times' Web site that Mugabe was preparing to cede power to Tsvangirai.
The long delay in results has left Zimbabweans desperate for information.
Cashing in on the public demand for news of the vote, vendors sold the state-run newspaper The Herald for three times the official cover price.
In spite of the information blackout for the presidential vote, the commission released updated results for the parliamentary election Monday.
With 109 seats out of a total of 210 declared, Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) had won 53; the MDC 51; and a party that split from the MDC had five seats.
Watch Zimbabwe's opposition vows that election won't be stolen
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged a quick report on results, saying "all eyes will be on Zimbabwe."
"I think there are two things that are important: The results come forward soon and they are not delayed. Secondly, that the election seems to be fair and representative."
In the absence of official presidential results, a group of non-governmental organizations monitoring the election released exit polling data that showed Tsvangirai leading.
Noel Kututwa, chairman of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, said that his group's polling data gave Tsvangirai 49.4 percent of the vote -- short of the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff election.
Mugabe was second with 41.8 percent. Independent candidate Simba Makoni had 8.2 percent.
The MDC declared victory Sunday, saying results posted at precincts around the country gave Tsvangirai 67 percent of the vote.
"Results are posted at each and every polling station. It is now public knowledge that the MDC has already won this election. It is not something that is private. Everybody knows that, so how can you steal something which is already in the public's eye," MDC Vice President Khupe said.
One major concern is how Mugabe, 84, or the military would react to electoral defeat.
"The key thing now is whether behind the scenes how the army is reacting, whether they're going to back up ZANU-PF and say 'We're going to keep Mugabe at whatever cost' or whether really now they know the game is up," said British Parliament member Kate Hoey, a frequent visitor to Zimbabwe.
A year after the last presidential election -- which the MDC said was stolen -- the government of Zimbabwe charged Tsvangirai for treason. He was acquitted. The MDC accused Mugabe of trying to eliminate him as a challenger.
Zimbabwe faced international sanctions after the 2002 election, including travel restrictions imposed by the United States on Zimbabwean officials.
The Commonwealth - made up of Britain and its 53 former colonies - suspended Zimbabwe, prompting Mugabe to withdraw from the group.
"The world can't sit by this time and allow Mugabe to steal another election," Hoey said. "It just isn't going to happen. I really can't see this time, because the majority is going to be so much bigger and the people of Zimbabwe are peaceful people and really want to see this change happen. We must support them."
Hoey said the United Nations needs to get involved, as well as South Africa and other neighboring nations.
The United States, which has raised concerns about election fraud, called on Zimbabwe's government to make sure "the counting of the votes ... ensures the will of the people is heard," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Monday.
While election observers have urged prompt reporting of the results to avoid political unrest, government officials said it takes time to verify and "harmonize" the counts.
It is unlikely that if Mugabe emerges as the victor, he will receive any congratulations from the United States.
Speaking to reporters during her trip to the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the longtime president and his government "a disgrace to the people of Zimbabwe and a disgrace to southern Africa and to the continent of Africa as a whole."
The Zimbabwean government has denied CNN and other international news organizations permission to enter the country to report on the elections.
A hero of the country's civil war against the white Rhodesian government, Mugabe became the country's first black leader in 1980. Nearly three decades later, he has consolidated his rule over all aspects of Zimbabwean life.
His country was once revered for offering its citizens some of the best education and health care in Africa, but now schooling is a luxury and Zimbabwe has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world.
Zimbabwe was once known as the breadbasket of southern Africa, but now it is difficult to get even basic food supplies. Inflation has skyrocketed to more than 100,000 percent, while food production and agricultural exports have dropped drastically.
Mugabe denies mismanagement and blames his country's woes on the West, saying sanctions have harmed the economy.
Posted by Publisher at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)
Why force will not work in the Niger Delta Military chief; Confab to hold soon - Yar'Adua
By PETER DADA, Ibadan
Chief of Army Operations, Major General Mohammed Sani Saleh yesterday advanced reasons for the failure of the Nigerian Army to use full military force to combat Niger Delta militant groups.
Speaking with the journalists at the official opening of a-week long military training workshop in Ibadan, he said: "since the militants are Nigerians , there is no need for the Nigerian Army to apply full military force in suppressing them."
"it is not true that the various militia groups have more sophiscated weapons than our army," he added.
Said he: " What we are just trying to do is to ensure that we handle the matter with extra-care because this is not external incursion which requires full military force . Like I said earlier , these people are our brothers and sisters and all we have to do is to let them see reason why they should drop their arms and be part of the present political dispensation in the country,"
He advocated the adoption of political and socio-economic solutions to the problem.
The General then assured the nation of the readiness of the officers and men of the Nigerian Army to protect the people always regardless of their respective status in the society.
The army according to him, has continued to re-engineer itself by organising training and re-training programmes for its personnel in readiness to meet the challenges ahead.
"As at today, the Nigerian Army has taken part in several peace-keeping operations in various parts of the world," he noted.
Earlier, in his keynote address , the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen. Luka Yusuf told the participants at the workshop that they should know that the military professionalism could only be improved through effective training and sound administration at the unit level.
He reiterated the commitment of the Army Headquarters to the full implementation of the Continental General Staff System (CGSS) which he said was aimed at putting the Nigerian Army on the same degree with other advanced armies at the international arena.
Yusuf charged the Commanding Officers who participated in the workshop to ensure that they impart discipline in officers and men serving in their respective units.
Meanwhile, President Umaru Yar'Adua has said that his long bruited conference on the Niger Delta would be convened soon.
This was announced on his behalf at Kiagbodo, Burutu Local Government Area in Delta at the 80th birthday of Chief Edwin Clark by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan.
The committee to work out modalities for the conference would soon be constituted.
The statement said that the present administration had held wide consultations with all stakeholders linked with the Niger Delta question.
Yar'Adua said that far reaching decisions would be concretised at the conference which would bring the sufferings of the Niger Delta people to an end.
"Our administration has collated all the documents and reports that emanated from the Niger Delta question and listened to various groups and stakeholders,'' he said.
He enjoined the people of the area to embrace peace as plans would only be implemented in an atmosphere of peace.
The president reaffirmed his commitment to launch the nation to greater heights through the implementation of his seven-point agenda.
The president described Chief E. K Clark as a patriarch and patriot. Yar'Adua said that Clark had impacted positively on the socio-economic and political developments of not only his immediate community, but his state and the nation at large.
He called on Nigerians not to ignore, but to always tap on the experience and wisdom of the nation's senior citizens.
Yar'Adua urged Ijaw leaders not to relent in the commitment to ensure that there was lasting peace in the Niger Delta in particular and the nation in general.
Among those who graced the occasion were Govs Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa and Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta and the President General of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), Olorogun Felix Ibru.
Posted by Publisher at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)
Justice Dept says Jefferson case to go forward despite Supreme Court refusal to hear case
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday refused to step into a high-stakes legal fight between the Justice Department and indicted Rep. William Jefferson over the unprecedented raid on the lawmaker's Capitol Hill office.
The Justice Department said the court's action would not impede the bribery case against the Louisiana Democrat.
The justices declined to review an appeals court ruling that said that, while the office search itself was legal, the FBI reviewed legislative documents in violation of the Constitution.
Other documents seized in the raid were provided to prosecutors and were used to support a 16-count indictment of Jefferson in June 2007.
Jefferson has pleaded not guilty to charges of soliciting more than $500,000 in bribes while using his office to broker business deals in Africa. His trial has been delayed indefinitely.
Jefferson has asked the trial judge in Alexandria, Va., to suppress all paper and electronic documents seized in the May 2006 raid. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III has yet to rule on the request, which prosecutors oppose.
"We were convinced that the Department of Justice was out of bounds," Robert Trout, Jefferson's lawyer, said in a telephone interview. "Now, almost two years later, we are gratified that our initial judgment about the raid has finally been confirmed."
The international bribery investigation of Jefferson already had produced a mountain of evidence against him — most notably $90,000 found wrapped in foil in a freezer in his Washington home — when the FBI carried out the search of his office in the Rayburn House Office Building.
Prosecutors contend he used his influence as chairman of the congressional Africa Investment and Trade Caucus to broker deals in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and other African nations on behalf of those who paid bribes to him.
The search was "necessary, appropriate and constitutional," Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, said at a news conference on the day the indictment was made public.
"Some of those documents that we were able to obtain through the process have indeed supported the charges that are presented today," Fisher said.
Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney expressed disappointment in the court's action Monday, but said, "The Department of Justice will continue to prosecute the case."
The issue that the high court declined to deal with is the reach of a constitutional provision known as the speech or debate clause, which protects elected officials from being questioned by the president, a prosecutor or a plaintiff in a lawsuit about their legislative work.
The court has never said whether the protection also applies to searches.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it does.
The appeals court did not say lawmakers would need to have advance notice of the FBI's arrival. Rather, the court said the Justice Department may not broadly review legislative records. One solution mentioned in the opinion was for FBI agents to lock down the office, then allow the lawmaker to set aside disputed documents. A judge would decide whether the records could be seized.
Officials said they took extraordinary steps, including using an FBI "filter team" not involved in the criminal case, to review the congressional documents. Government attorneys said the Constitution was not intended to shield lawmakers from prosecution for political corruption.
While the Bush administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said in February that he would prefer Congress and the Justice Department reach agreement about any future searches.
An agreement between lawmakers and his agency would be better than a court-issued "bright-line ruling that one of us can't live with or would find it awkward to live with," Mukasey told the House Judiciary Committee.
Brendan Daly, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the court's refusal to enter the case could be an incentive to reach an agreement.
"This will enable the executive and legislative branches to work out procedures to protect the interests of law enforcement and the speech or debate clause of the Constitution," Daly said.
In its argument to the high court, the Justice Department said the appeals court ruling "is jeopardizing ongoing public corruption investigations."
If allowed to stand, the ruling also would essentially prevent investigators from searching lawmakers' offices because it requires the FBI to give the lawmakers advance notice, the department said in its argument to the Supreme Court.
"The bottom line is that, if the government cannot search a member's office in the manner authorized by the search warrant here ... the government cannot do so in any meaningful manner and congressional offices may become a 'sanctuary for crime,'" the Justice Department said.
The case is U.S. v. Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2113, 07-816.
Posted by Publisher at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)
Dearth of medical personnel KNSG moves to stop brain-drain...Health workers get pay perk increase
KANO state government, has in its usual benevolent disposition, particularly as it relates to workers in the state, put paid its promise by increasing the allowances of all medical personnel across the board.
By this gesture therefore, all professional and non-professional staff of the state Hospitals Management Board (HMB) have had their allowances raised beginning from yesterday.
A statement from the office of the Director-General of the Board, Dr. Ibrahim Adamu Yakasai and signed by the board’s PRO, Sani Abba Yola, said in this regard, call duty allowance for medical officers has been increased from its previous 240 per cent to 320 per cent, while that of pharmacists rose from 112 per cent to 160 per cent.
Similarly, nurses who hitherto were collecting a 75 per cent increase of their allowances, have already began to enjoy 137 per cent increase. Shifting allowance has also been upped from 30-50 per cent, the statement added.
Yakasai said the move became imperative following the shortage of health workers in the state, occasioned by poor salary and allowances which forced medical personnel to shun public hospitals for private or federal facilities in search of greener pasture, saying this prompted government to make an upward review of their allowances to keep them put..
According to him, in spite of government’s tireless efforts for improved healthcare delivery through adequate funding and supply of necessary working equipments and medicaments, such efforts had defied solution due to the acute shortage of health workers in the past.
Dr. Yakasai however, expressed optimism that this increase would no doubt bring about more conducive atmosphere for the personnel to be attracted to remaining in the state services.
He therefore appealed to all medical professionals to seek appointment with the board in view of the improved package so as to offer meaningful contributions for improved healthcare delivery in the state.
Sources at the board however, quoted the Director-General as saying that with this humane gesture offered the health workers by the magnanimous Shekarau administration, all the workers are therefore expected to reciprocate by being responsible and responsive to the demands of the state’s health care delivery system.
The health workers, it was further learnt, were also warned to buckle up for them to earn every kobo they are paid.
Posted by Publisher at 01:13 PM | Comments (0)
