We pay over N200m to Abia government annually – School Proprietors

The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools has said that it paid over N200 million annually to the Abia Government which may not be getting to government treasury. The Abia Chapter Chairman, Mr Okey Ufomba, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Aba on Friday. “The private schools sector has always been very supportive.

‘’By way of revenue, we generate over N200 million for Abia annually but our worry is: does this money get to government coffers?

“Does it get to them? This is my worry. Our worry is that most of this revenue we pay does not get to Abia state government.

“Now we are working with the Abia State House of Assembly to check this. They are trying but they need information to work,” he said.

Ufomba said that by furnishing the state House of Assembly with more information on their transactions with revenue agents, the government could improve the state’s revenue.

“We want to see how they can guide the Board of Internal Revenue and other revenue agents to reduce the amount of money we pay to what we can afford.

“We also want them to define a proper channel for us to be paying the money to the government so that the government can get money to work with. “We are very prepared to work with the governor and the government,” he said.

He noted that the members of the association paid for over 40 revenue items to government agents which resulted in each member paying more than N450, 000 annually.

Ufomba listed some of the items as Infrastructure levy (N50,000 – N200,000), Fire Extinguisher (N25,000-45,000), Advert fee (N5,000 – N50,000), Borehole (N7,500 – N25,000) and Consumer Protection Council fee (N10,000 – N20,000). Others are ASEPA Bucket (N2,500 – N10,000), Environmental levy (N10, 000 – N24,000), Operational Permit (N5,000 -N10,000), Business Premises (N5,000 -N10,000) and Ministry of Education annual renewal fee (N20,000 – N80, 000).

He said that the rates differed from one school to another depending on the presence or absence of Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools in the complex.

The chairman stressed the need for the government to stop taxing the proprietors of private schools indiscriminately if it wanted them to remain in business and support the education sector.

“The government should have pity on us because if they continue like this, we will not remain in business for long and the people in the state will suffer for it,” he said. 

Source: (NAN).

I’m ready to die for the actualisation of Biafra despite one year in prison – Nnamdi Kanu

Detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has again reiterated his resolve towards the struggle for the actualisation of Biafra, stressing that it is “Biafra or death.”

Recall that the Department of State Services, DSS, had in October last year arrested Kanu in Lagos before arraigning him for charges bordering on treasonable felony. However, Kanu was reported to have made the declaration as he marked his one year in detention despite been granted bail by several courts.

The declaration was contained in an article by one Chijindu Benjamin Ukah. The article reads in full: “Today, Friday, 14th October, 2016, marks one year of the kidnap and unlawful detention of Dr. Nnamdi Kanu – the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB/Director of Radio Biafra, by the gestapo-SSS of Tyrant Buhari’s Nigeria. “Nnamdi Kanu (Prisoner of Conscience) was arrested on 14th October, 2015 by the Agents of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the State Security Service (SSS) in his hotel room at the Golden Tulip Essential Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. “Kanu during a visit to Kuje prison expressed great confidence and absolute loyalty towards the Biafra restoration project, saying that his one year in prison is too little a price to pay as long as Biafra will come. He berated the shenanigans of the Buhari-led government against him, while vowing that his continued detention will not deter him from remaining steadfast in this noble cause. He also urged Biafrans to continue even if he dies in detention. Biafra to everyone should be the ultimate goal and with strong conviction reiterated that it is “Biafra or Death”.

“Since the detention of Kanu, Nigeria has developed from worse to worst under a tyrant-Buhari. Buhari thought that holding the leader of IPOB automatically means the death of IPOB’s ideology, but lo and behold, the agitation is increasing sporadically every minute he spends in prison. Every plague that befell the Egyptians of old due to Pharaoh’s stubborness to allow the Israelites go has been manifesting in Nigeria. Buhari was clearly hoodwinked into believing that he can ‘crush’ Biafra like he has always regurgitated. Nnamdi Kanu since his illegal detention is yet to be found guilty and that his Buhari’s greatest challenge as of now.

“What He Did Before His Arrest:

“Nnamdi Kanu was the Anchor Man, and Director of Radio Biafra. He broadcasted on Radio Biafra until the day of his arrest. Radio Biafra was established in defense of the right of the Indigenous People of Biafra, and for the total emancipation and the restoration of the nation of Biafra; and to set a largely misinformed public free from the evil of tyrannical rule of a cabal of ill-educated and institutionally corrupt men and women. Radio Biafra propagates truth to mankind and exposes evil without fear or favor. It preaches the ideology, that is, “Biafra” in its totality

“Radio Biafra is the voice of the voiceless Indigenous People of Biafra, it is a platform meant to salvage Biafrans – the most endangered species, who are being marginalized, exploited, subjugated, and mapped out for total extermination by the Islamic Mohammedan Emirates of the North since the amalgamation of Nigeria by the British Empire in 1914.

“Kanu, through Radio Biafra, called Biafrans together in the spirit of brotherhood and comradery. He librated millions of Biafrans from mental slavery, made them discover their true identity, and restored their dignity as the children of the most high.

“The Charges Against Him By The DSS: The DSS brought three frivolous charges against Nnamdi Kanu, viz; “That Nnamdi Kanu and other unknown persons, now at large, at London, United Kingdom, between 2014 and September, 2015 with intention to levy war against Nigeria in order to force the President to change his measures of being the President of the Federation, Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation, by broadcasting on Radio Biafra; calling for self-determination of Biafra.

“That he was Managing an unlawful society

“And that he imported a radio transmitter and described it as containing household items.

“His Court Case: He was arraigned secretly at Magistrate Court, Abuja, granted bail under stringent conditions, some of which required the Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property within Abuja municipality of a level 16 officer in the Ministry. The bail conditions no matter how stringent, were met, yet he was not released. Under the UN and AU Charters, it is enshrined that upon meeting bail conditions, bail is granted. This is clear sign that Nigeria is sliding to days of Decree 2 and 4 of 1984 (promulgated by same Buhari). This is pure Dictatorship.

“On 17th December, 2015, Justice Ademola Adeniyi of the Federal High Court, Abuja ordered that Kanu be released unconditionally, but the (S)DSS refused to obey the court order to date. “On 23rd December, 2015, Justice Mohammed opted out of the case, also countered the prosecution counsels, saying that Nnamdi Kanu had the right to reject the trial, “after all justice is rooted on confidence.” This happened after Nnamdi Kanu objected to the case, stating that it was needless, as the federal government had repeatedly disobeyed previous court rulings, including releasing him unconditionally.

“On 29th January, 2016, Judge John Tsoho ironically ordered that Nnamdi and the other two accused persons, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi be remanded in Kuje prison pending the commencement of their trial. He gave three baseless reasons for his ruling; “That Nnamdi Kanu was a threat to national security. “That if released, Nnamdi Kanu might commit the same offence again.

“That there was a probability that Nnamdi Kanu might jump bail because he possessed dual citizenship, the same baseless statements made by Muhammadu Buhari during his maiden presidential media chat on 30th December, 2015.

“On 19th February, 2016, Justice Tsoho dismissed the application by the federal government to have a secret trial and masking of witness bearers against Nnamdi kanu.

“On 7th March 2016, John Tsoho reversed himself on an appeal which he earlier dismissed on February 19th, 2016, against Nnamdi Kanu. He thereby committed perjury.

“On 5th April, 2016 at the Federal High Court, Abuja, Justice Tsoho instituted secret trial in Nigeria. He maintained his ruling of 19th February, 2016, which stated that Nnamdi Kanu would be tried secretly – with masked witnesses. The public was barred from attending the hearing on 5th April, 2015. Only a handful of Journalists were permitted to cover proceedings.

“And in continuation of reversal of his own ruling, Judge John Tsoho allowed DSS lawyer, Mr. Idakwo who was the lead interrogator of Nnamdi Kanu and the other two accused persons when they were in DSS custody to wear legal regalia and aid the lead prosecutor, Mr. Mohamed Labaran. The DSS automatically became the arresting agency, the detainer, interrogator, investigator and also running the prosecution in a court of law for the office of the Attorney General of Nigeria through the office of the Director of Public Prosecution.

“During the proceedings on 5th April, 2016, the defending counsel led by SAN Chuks Muoma was the first to make his presentation – that the law provided that each counsel had a maximum time of 20 minutes to (adumbrate) make their presentation, but Justice Tsoho cut short the right of adumbration of the defending council, which showed clearly that John Tsoho was biased.

“On 26th September, 2016 Justice Tsosho backed off Kanu’s case after Kanu’s counsel, SAN Chuks Muoma, said the continuation of the matter by Mr. Tsoho would amount to a great disservice since there was a petition against him, before the NJC.

“On 5th October, 2016, the ECOWAS Community Court was opened to hear Kanu’s case with Nigerian government, but lo and behold, the counsel to the government was absent from the Court.

“After taking stock of Kanu’s plight from 14th October, 2015 to 14th October, 2016, it is crystal clear that Muhammadu Buhari is hell-bent on fulfilling his statement of “Ensuring that Kanu is jailed”. Muhammadu Buhari is disobeying court orders, bullying judges and rubbishing the judiciary.

“Since one year of Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest, He has not been found guilty of any crime by any Court of competent jurisdiction yet he is still in detention. He has been denied of his human rights, he is undergoing physical and mental torture. Notwithstanding all the maltreatment and injustices meted out on him, he still maintained that it is “Biafra or Death”; despite all the killings of peaceful Biafra protesters, those alive are still chanting alongside Kanu that it is either “Biafra or Death”. This is a clear signal that Biafra cannot and should not be toiled with.

“Buhari is stucked between the deep blue sea and the shark as the world’s focus is now on him, with regards to Kanu’s case and the incessant killings of Biafrans. “Biafra Writers is urging all Biafrans to continue to keep faith with Kanu, as the international community has realised that a full-blown dictatorship has been activated while democracy is dying fast in Nigeria. “We are very positive that victory is in sight, as Buhari’s tyranny will accelerate the Biafra restoration process. The world through our efforts now understand that the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu portends grave danger for humanity and the enclave, Nigeria and in such light we must keep up with the momentum.” 

Source: Daily Post

DSS should probe more corrupt judges, Protesters urge Buhari

^{President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to ensure that corrupt judges are flushed out of the system.}  

^{The call, which was made at a rally Wednesday in at the Federal High Court, Alausa, Lagos, saw placard-carry protesters urging the President to wipe out corruption in the judiciary and other arms of government.}

^{Some of the placards read, “We support total probe of the judiciary”, “Probe more judges”, “Justice is not for sale, Probe the court”, “Corruption is worse than Boko Haram.”}

^{The protesters also admonished the president not to deter to take decisive action on the judges saying all the judges so far indicted or arrested for corruption should immediately resign considering the magnitude of the case that the DSS has built against them.}

^{The Lagos Coordinator; Human Right and Anti-Corruption Coalition, Desmond Abiona who spoke on-behalf of the masses said Nigerians are sad that the judiciary that should be the last recourse of the common man is a bigger problem than what we had hoped it would solve for us.}

^{“How many terrorists have we successfully convicted and put away for good?”  he quried adding that  corrupt judges have not allowed it. They rather receive bribes and allow killers roam the land with explosive belts and AK47 than deploy the judiciary as a tool for curbing terrorism. “}

^{According to the activists, the case of those that have been given lenient punishments or bailed from the DSS net is a slap on the wrist by the National Judicial Council (NJC) urging the president to ensure that they must face the law court.}

^{“The DSS must widen its investigation to take in all the petitions that the NJC has ever discarded given the fact that the council has demonstrated it tends to shield corrupt judges. The arrested judges should be charged to court within the shortest time possible to that they cannot claim their rights were violated.}

^{“We want to clearly warn the judges that would be handling the trial of these arrested men that Nigerians would be watching closely and this is no time to play fraternal games. In addition to accepting bribes and being corrupt there is also something called conflict of interest and Nigerians will be watching.”}

^{“The DSS must widen its investigation,” adding that Nigerians are not expecting anything less.}

^{Source: The Nation}

How state governors defraud Local Governments in Nigeria – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday, gave insight into how the nation’s governors “defraud” the Local Governments(LGA) in Nigeria, and also rendered them ineffective in the performance of their statutory functions.

Obasanjo who declared that the governors remained the “greatest obstacles” to having a virile and functional Councils, alleged that the state governors “steal” Council funds under the pretext that they have done something on their behalf.

According to him as soon as the Local Government Allocations were released from the Federal allocation, the state governors simply deduct from the source, whatever amount they claimed were spent on behalf of the Local Governments.

The ex – President made this known during an interactive session shortly after delivering his keynote address at the maiden International Conference on Politics, Security and Development, Babcock University, Ilisan, Ogun State.

The conference themed: “Forty years of Local Government Reforms and Democratic Development in Nigeria: Critical Perspectives,” and convened by the department of Political Science and Public Administration, Veronica Adeleke School of Social Sciences, Babcock University, was chaired by former Managing Director of Nigerian Airways and politician, Alh. Jani Ibrahim.

Obasanjo who recalled that he initiated Local Governments reforms between 1976 and 1979 to make them autonomous, functional and developmental, lamented that once such money were illegally deducted by governors, no LGA chairman dare questioned or challenged such illegality.

“I called such fraud, stealing and corruption. It is fraud, it is corruption. They will say they have done something or paid for something for their Local Governments. And when the Local Governments’ money comes, they take it. Who is that chairman that will tell the Governor you have taken our money? You are gone,” he said. And earlier in his speech, Obasanjo said not allowing the LGAs to work as well as stealing of their funds from source by states is one of the greatest disservice of all political parties in our democratic experiment. 

He noted that experiences have shown that the LGAs in many states across the country have become the most constitutionally-abused matter since the 1999 Constitution became operational.

He rued that only a handful of states had held local government election while others carried on as if it is legal to run local governments without the Constitution that created them.

Obasanjo decried a situation where most state governors have resorted to appointing transition committee Chairmen comprising of their surrogates to oversee the affairs of the Councils, saying the trend has sadly been sustained till date.

According to him, in States where the polls had been conducted, the governors, in connivance with corrupt electoral officials subservient to the governors and ruling party committed malpractices which make mockery of the process.

“The constitution envisages that the with the allocation from the Consolidated National Revenue Account to the Local Governments on the states will be added, the contribution of the State into a joint account as funding for the functions of the Local Governments.

“Not only did most of the States contribute nothing in breach of the Constitution, they also devised different dubious programmes and plans by which they took substantial amount of allocation due to the Local Governments.

“With that done, most of the Local Government officials just shared what remained among them without any serious service being undertaken for the people. It is perpetrated by most of the states,” Obasanjo said.

He however, expressed the optimism that the problems and challenges of LGAs in Nigeria are not beyond solutions.

He said the LGAs have remarkable capacity not only to learn, grow and adapt but also considerable capacity and flexibility to enter into effective partnerships with both the private sector and civil society in delivering services to their constituents.

The ex – President therefore suggested that the LGAs have to be led by men and women who understand the enormous challenges they face and the need to focus primarily on those issues that would enhance the living standards of the masses.

He also suggested that LGAs chairmen have to ensure prudent management of resources and lay emphasis on accountable and transparent local governance.

According to him, the principal reason for demanding “accountability and transparency is to ensure efficient deployment of resources in effective service delivery.”

But Governor Ibikunle Amosun who was represented by the Secretary to State Government(SSG), Mr Adeoluwa Taiwo, said his administration recognised the constitutional provisiona of the LGAs which informed why it had conducted successful Council elections twice – first in 2012 and last October 8, in the state.

Amosun also said contrary to the allegations that state governors in Nigeria routinely nibble at the Councils’ funds, his administration acts differently and had never dipped its hand into the LGAs’ purse, adding that he continued to supplement them regularly to the enable the LGAs pay salaries.

Source: The Nation

Emefiele’s kidnap: As ransom couriers, we got N13m –Soldiers

Two soldiers, Lance Corporals Musa Maidabra and Edwin George, serving at 122D30 Regiment in Maiduguri, Borno State, have been arrested for transporting the ransom that was paid for the release of the wife of the Central Bank Governor, Margaret Emefiele.

Emefiele and three others were abducted along Benin-Agbor road about two weeks ago and were released 24 hours later after the payment of undisclosed amount to their abductors.

The soldiers said they received N6.5m each as their share of the ransom, estimated to be around N80m.

Maidabra and George, who were paraded alongside seven others on Monday in Abuja, for alleged involvement in the kidnap, said they were paid the money for assisting the gang to transport the ransom to a hideout in Benin city.

Other suspects include a dismissed soldier, Ernest Uduefe; Mohammed Abubakar, Mohammed Musa, Mohammed Sule, Ibrahim Abdullahi, Aliyu Musa and Mohammed Yusuf.

Maidabra said, “We were not involved in the kidnap; we only assisted them to transport the money to a location. We carried the money and ran away with it in a vehicle. It was part of my friend’s share he gave me.. We didn’t know the money was from a kidnap operation.”

George corroborated his colleague’s claim, saying they only provided security cover for transporting the ransom to a hideout in Benin.

“I was not involved in the kidnap. The money they gave me was over N6m. I asked about the source of the money, but they didn’t tell me,” he claimed.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Donald Awunah, said the police recovered N14,725,000, two Honda Accord cars, one Audi car and one AK-47 rifle and two cartridges from the gang.

He stated that two jeeps worth N1.5m and N4m were recovered from Maidabra; while a Honda Accord estimated at N1.1m bought from his share of the ransom was recovered from George.

Awunah explained that detectives recovered N7.7m from Aliyu Musa, out of his N10m share; adding that Musa sustained bullet wounds after a gun duel with the police while trying to escape from the forest where they had kept their victims.

He said, “Mohammed Sule confessed to have received N10m in cash as part of his share of the ransom paid and claimed that a soldier and a gang leader escaped with the loot. Another suspect, Ibrahim Abdullahi, admitted to have also received N10m in cash.

“The police will continue to limit the capacity of kidnappers and other criminals who try to disrupt the quality of life of Nigerians. We will deploy adequate manpower and resources in crime reduction, detection and prosecution of offenders.”

On the payment of ransom, the police noted that it was sometimes used as a bait or bargaining chip to save the lives of the victims of crime.

“It is absolutely important to mention that the Police do not and will not encourage payment of ransom,” Awunah added.

Source: The Punch

14 Student Union Leaders Arrested And Tortured By The Nigerian Police

About 14 student union activists were arrested this afternoon by the Nigerian Police who tortured, beat, and brutalized them as they met near YabaTech. These students congregated in Yaba following their attendance at a hearing at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The student activists attended a hearing on the case between some the rusticated University of Lagos Students’ Union (ULSU) and their university, UNILAG. Today’s hearing ended with Federal Court Justice Salihu Seidu adjourning the case to October 25th because the defendant, UNILAG, failed to show up in court.

It was learned that the police viciously beat, brutalized, and arrested numerous student activists. Among those brutalized included: the NANS JCC Chairman Samson Moses Adewale, NANS JCC Sports director Muhammed, NANS JCC Secretary General Owolabi Oluseyi, two NANS JCC senators, and others.

The police swooped in on the student leaders during a meeting to decide next steps in their case against UNILAG for illegally rusticating students. During the police operation many students were arrested, according to sources.

Sources speaking to newsmen said the circumstances surrounding the attack, and the Gestapo manner it was carried out, suggests that the Nigerian police were likely acting on instructions of UNILAG authorities. It will be recalled that the Nigerian police are implicated, alongside UNILAG officials, in the rustication of some student leaders.

Semester examinations started in UNILAG today and the court hearing today was expected to grant an order that could give the students the opportunity to join their colleagues in the exams. Unfortunately, the case was adjourned till October 25th, meaning the students would be missing the entire semester despite not having violated credible rules. Activists are saying that the action is punitive and a corrupt university management is punishing the students.

Meanwhile the Education Rights’ Campaign has condemned the premeditated and vicious attack today by the armed policemen in a message sent to the media by the National Coordinator Hassan Taiwo.

“We strongly condemn this attack; it is unacceptable that the police would disrupt the peaceful gathering of students. These students were illegally rusticated by an intolerant management for leading fellow students in a protest in April to demand improved welfare conditions.

“As citizens of the country, students have the right to freedom and expression. The police is funded by taxpayers’ money and they shouldn’t be converted into the private thugs of tyrannical Vice Chancellors like the one at UNILAG.

“We therefore call on the commissioner of police to immediately release those reportedly arrested and caution his men from being further used by a despotic University authority to clampdown on students of the University of Lagos.

The students were first detained at Sabo Police station before being moved to Lagos Police Headquarters in Ikeja. They are being moved to Panti Police Station as at the time of filling this report.

Source: Sahara reporters