The new headquarters for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will be built by China, the group confirmed in a press statement on Wednesday March 14, 2018.

The political bloc and China have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the project that is expected to cost $31.6 million.

“The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Brou and the Ambassador of China to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Zhou Pingjian signed for both parties in a bilateral meeting held at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters, Abuja,” the statement read.

The idea of a new headquarters was initiated in 2012 but action on the said project takes immediate effect from the date of the signing of the deal.

The project is expected to cater for a facility comprising offices and conference complex building, as well as road facilities, electrical equipment, parking lots and security posts within the proposed site of the project.

ECOWAS currently operates from three different building in Nigeria’s administrative capital, Abuja. According to the President of the ECOWAS Commission that situation was necessitated by the increasing numbers of staff.

“An ECOWAS designated authority and the China Development Bank Corporation will work together to verify records of account payments at regular intervals,” the statement further clarified.

The development emphasizes China’s political and diplomatic investment in Africa. They built the African Union (A.U.) headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. They are also building a new parliament for Congo Republic and rebuilding the burnt premises in Gabon.

China was accused in a French newspaper report of spying on the A.U. building. The report by Le Monde said China had installed hidden microphones in the building and were transferring sensitive information at odd times of the day.

The A.U. and China jointly rubbished the report with China describing it as preposterous and meant to damage relations between the two partners.

Africanews 

A luxury mansion co-owned by former Vice Presiden Atiku Abubakar, and his fourth wife, Jennifer Douglas, in the posh neighbourhood of Potomac, Maryland, United States, has been auctioned.

The property gained international notoriety in 2005 after it was searched by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in connection with a bribery scandal involving disgraced former U.S. Congressman, William Jefferson.

The seven-bedroom cream-coloured single family brick house on 9731 Sorrel Ave, Potomac, Maryland, was originally listed for $3.25 million on Zillow and other online real estate websites on January 25, 2018. It was eventually sold for a pending offer of $2.95 million on February 26, 2018 after an online auction.

A pending offer means a buyer and seller of the property have reached a deal. However, a buyer can still pull out from the deal (which is very unlikely) if they cannot resolve issues like cost of repairs or they cannot get a bank to approve a loan for the purchase of the property.

Atiku and his wife bought the 7,131 square feet house in December 1999 for $1.75 million. Built in 1988, the house was described on Zillow as one of the finest in the tony neighbourhood of Falconhurst, Potomac, where houses are valued between $2 million and $10 million.

The Atikus’ mansion is a colonial-style building that sits in the middle of a 2.3 acres premises of lush green trees. The mansion has a total of 21 rooms, multiple terraces which are said to be ideal for outdoor parties, a pool sauna, a gazebo, a gourmet kitchen and an outdoor swimming pool.

Sources with knowledge of the state of the mansion but who requested not to be named because they did not want to be publicly associated with this story, said the Atikus had not lived in the mansion since the politician left office as vice president in 2007.

One source told PREMIUM TIMES that after 2007, house service staff lived in the mansion for some years, but the place was later locked up, and had remained unoccupied.

Tax records from the Montgomery County, Washington DC, show that Ms. Douglas consistently paid property taxes on the mansion from 1999 to 2016. She, however, is in default of $27,913.77 being that for 2017.

The house was not in foreclosure as it was paid for completely by the Atikus and available records showed that no bank loan was involved in its purchase.

Atiku’s US mansion [Photo Credit: Zillow – www.zillow.com]

The sale of the mansion was not listed as a public auction, which is an auction done under a court order on behalf of government or its agencies.

There is also no evidence that the sale is connected to the now infamous 2005 case or any other unknown criminal investigations.

Paul Ibe, the spokesperson for the former VP told PREMIUM TIMES the sale of the mansion was voluntary and strictly an investment decision.

“Atiku Abubakar is a successful businessman who has a long history of real estate investments,” Mr. Ibe said in response to an enquiry by this newspaper.

“The U.S. home was simply one of such numerous investments. The home was no longer serving the purpose for which it was bought. Consequently, it has to be put up for sale via open auction, a growing and preferred method of selling high end properties. The proceeds thereof will be deployed to business aimed at creating jobs.”

Atiku has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the Jefferson corruption saga that led to the search of his home.

But the former vice president’s political rivals have always harped on that episode to discredit him.

What is more, the billionaire politician,  believed to be nursing a fresh bid to become president of Nigeria in 2019 after several failed attempts, has not travelled to the U.S. for a long time. That has fuelled speculations that he might be avoiding a possible arrest or prosecution.

But in an interview with the BOSS newspaper last December, he explained he had made attempts to visit the U.S. but was turned down for administrative reasons.

“I applied but wasn’t issued a visa. However, they did not decline me categorically either. They’ve only said my application is going through administrative process. It is the sole prerogative of America to determine who they want in their country or not. I’m not running away from America,” he said.

Atiku, William Jefferson and the FBI Search Warrant

The sold property attracted international media attention in 2005 after the FBI videotaped Mr. Jefferson, who was the congressman representing Louisiana, receiving $100,000 worth of $100 bills in a leather briefcase as part payment of a $500,000 bribe allegedly demanded by Atiku, who was vice president at the time, to facilitate the award of contracts to some two American telecommunication firms in Nigeria.

On August 2, 2005, the FBI applied for a search warrant from William Connelly, a US judge in Maryland, to search the Potomac mansion.

A day after the affidavit was filed, the FBI raided the congressional office of Mr. Jefferson and discovered $90,000 “wrapped in aluminum foil and stuffed inside frozen-food containers” and hidden in a freezer. The serial numbers on the bill matched those the FBI had given to an informant.

Disgraced former U.S. Congressman, William Jefferson [Photo Credit: Pinterest]

The affidavit filed by FBI special agent, Edward Cooper, in support of the application for a search warrant of the Maryland home further revealed the details of the bribery scandal.

Mr. Cooper told the court that the search of the property was necessary because the FBI has probable cause to believe that the there are evidence of the violations of Title 18 United States Code, Section 201, which relates to the bribery of a public official; Title 18 United States Code, Sections 1343, 1346, and 1349, which deals with wire fraud, deprivation of honest service and scheme defraud.

Mr. Cooper also claimed that the evidence he sought in the Atikus’ mansion were believed to be in violation of Title 15, United States Code, Section 78dd-1, which deals with the bribery of a foreign official, Title 18 United States Code, Section371, which deals with the conspiracy to commit bribery and the bribery of a foreign official.

Mr. Cooper also listed the items to be seized from the mansion as:

1. Cash in $100 denominations or higher.

2. A new, reddish-brown coloured briefcase retailed or manufactured by Bosca.

3. A reddish-brown coloured cloth bag with two drawing strings on top of the bag.

4. All video recording devices, surveillance videotapes, CDs, digital media or any other electronic devices related to the surveillance of the house grounds, driveway and premises.

5. All recording of visitors to the premises recording arrival, departure or length of stay information.

6. All records, logs, schedule of employees or personnel working at the premises from Monday July 18, 2005 at 6 pm to the present.

7. Records, documents from January 2001 to the present relating to IGate incorporated, Rosecom.net, NDTV, Multimedia Broadband Services Inc, and W2 IBBS Limited.

8. All records and documents relating to communication to and from Atiku Abubakar and William Jefferson regarding the proposed business venture in Nigeria.

The bribery investigation started in March 2005 when a “cooperating witness”, who has since been identified as a Virginia-based businessman, Lori Mody, approached the FBI after he suspected that he had been a victim of a fraudulent scheme involving Mr Jefferson, Vernon Jackson, and Brett Pfeffer.

Mr. Mody told the FBI that he suspected that the trio were scheming to defraud him of $3.5 million using Mr. Jackson’s company, iGate Incorporated.

He said he paid the money to Mr Jackson, who had developed a technology that could enable the transmission of data, audio and video through copper called “Triple Play”, for its reacquisition from another company which had acquired it from iGate. However, Mr. Jackson, after collecting the money, could not produce proof that he had reacquired the technology.

He also told the FBI that Mr. Jefferson promised to assist him with his business dealings in Nigeria for a percent share of his business, which he directed to be issued in the names of his children.

At the time, Mr. Jefferson was a member of the congressional African Trade and Investment caucus as well as member of the congressional caucus for Nigeria.

The FBI revealed that Mr. Jefferson had already received a 30 per cent equity in a Nigerian company controlled by Mr. Mody in exchange for promoting communication equipment and services offered by iGate in Nigeria. Mr. Jefferson also requested that the 30 per cent stake be placed in a Nigerian company controlled by his children.

Atiku Abubakar

He was expected to use his influence to communicate with the Nigerian president and vice president to secure the business venture for iGate. The FBI said he wrote to Atiku seeking his assistance in overcoming opposition to iGate’s business venture from the defunct Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL).

“With regard to the Nigerian business venture, Jefferson has discussed the making of payments to high-ranking government officials there including the Vice President of Nigeria,” the affidavit stated.

“Congressman Jefferson met with the Vice President of Nigeria on July 18, 2005 in Potomac, Maryland. At the meeting the Vice President agreed to help secure the necessary approvals for the participants in the Nigerian business venture to commence operations in Nigeria in exchange for at least 50% of profit planned to be received by CW’s (Mr Mody, the cooperating witness) Nigerian partner,” he wrote.

The FBI also claimed that Mr. Jefferson discussed the payment of $500,000 to Atiku before the commencement of the Nigerian business operations. Video surveillance taken on July 30, 2005 at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City indicated that Mr. Jeffeson collected $100,000 in a leather briefcase (a reddis-brown Bosca briefcase) from Mr. Mody, which he allegedly claimed was to be given to Atiku to secure his support for the Nigerian business venture.

Two days later, Mr. Jefferson told Mr. Mody that he had delivered what he described as the “African art” to Atiku  in the early hours of July 31, 2005.

Mr. Jefferson had originally suggested, in one of the two meetings with Mr Mody, where the possibility of bribing Atiku was discussed, that the alleged bribe should be paid into a foundation run by Ms. Douglas.

During the conversation Mr. Jefferson added that the stated aim of the foundation was to help Nigerian women. He however said the foundation was likely a front.

On the evening of July 18, 2005, the FBI stated that Mr. Jefferson visited Atiku and Ms. Douglas at their Potomac mansion and held a private meeting with the former vice president for approximately an hour.

At the end of the meeting Mr. Jefferson met with Mr. Mody at a restaurant and told him that Atiku agreed to help with securing the necessary approval for NITEL to participate in the iGate venture for a share of the profit to be earned by iGate’s Nigerian partner, Rosecom (Rosecom has a 25 per cent stake in the business) expected to earn from the business and a $500,000.00 described as “front end” payment.

Mr Jefferson also suggested that the money could be sent to Atiku through an investment in the stock market.

When eventually searched, no money was found in Atiku’s home, indicating Mr. Jefferson simply kept the bribe money to himself.

Jennifer Douglas

Ms. Douglas, also known as Jennifer Iwenjiora, Jamila Abubakar, and Jennifer Douglas-Abubakar, met Atiku in the 1980s when she was a television reporter with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

They dated for a while but lost contact when she emigrated to the U.S. While in the U.S, she married and took the name Douglas but was later divorced and became a naturalised American.

They were reunited in the early 1990s and resumed their relationship. Atiku spent a considerable amount of time with Ms. Douglas in Maryland during the regime of late dictator Sani Abacha between 1995 and 1998. Atiku was one of those who was persecuted by Mr. Abacha – his stake in logistics company, Intels, was stripped off him on the orders of Mr. Abacha.

Mr Douglas enrolled in a PhD in International Relations at the American University and received a doctorate in 2007. She and Atiku married officially in 2003. In that year, Ms. Douglas made a $1 million donation to the American University School of International Service Building Fund, an investigative committee of the U.S. Senate revealed in 2010.

The Senate committee, whose mandate was to investigate the flow of suspicious funds into the U.S., revealed that between 2000 and 2008 Ms. Douglas helped her husband bring in over $40 million in suspected illicit funds into the U.S through wire transfer from offshore corporations.

In 2008 a civil inquiry by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claimed Ms. Douglas received over $2 million in bribe payments in 2001 and 2002, from German technology company, Siemens AG.

Though she denies wrongdoing, Siemens pleaded guilty and settled bribery related civil charges and told the Senate committee that the money was sent to her account.

Ms. Douglas, whose last known place of employment was at the American University of Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirate where she was a professor on International Relations, played an active role in the establishment of Atiku’s American University of Nigeria Yola.

According to the U.S. Senate report, she approached the authorities of the American University, where she was a student in 2002 for assistance in the setting up of the university and served as a liaison between the institution and her husband. She is an unpaid trustee of the university’s board of trustees.

P/T

In less than one year, Nigerians will once again go the polls to a elect new set of leaders. There is so much controversy surrounding the role being played by the National Assembly, but despite this, membership of the House of Representatives or the Senate tend to attract a lot of contest even as they come with a lot of expectations from constituents.  We look at the challenges principal officers of the 8th National Assembly will face from those interested in their positions in 2019.

Many eyes targeting Saraki

With the peculiarity of political situation in Kwara State and the crave to have a change of leadership in certain quarters, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki may have resistance in the coming general elections. 

But pundits are quick to note that the politician would cruise to victory because he has enormous powers and resources at his disposal. 

Despite this, the local government election conducted in November in the state was a pointer to what the Senate President might face in 2019 elections as Kwarans are reportedly determined to dismount the long enthroned political establishment in the state.

Kwara, according to some political analyst, “needs to be liberated from the shackles of a powerful clique as symbolized by Saraki at present. 

For many years, it was easy to determine who gets what position in Kwara, considering the established norm which gives unfettered powers to the Saraki Political Dynasty that normally goes unchallenged. 

The Kwara Central Senatorial District is represented by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki but many people from the opposition have perfected plans to challenge him. 

One of them is Abdulrasaq Abdulrahman who had slugged it out with Saraki in 2015. Apparently alluding to the crisis in APC with high expectation that some of its leaders would defect, Abdulrahman recently said the Senate President would not be welcomed in PDP in the event he decides to defect.

Also, Yinka Aluko who was a PDP deputy gubernatorial aspirant in 2015 is looking at the direction of contesting for Senate from Kwara central.

A former Chairman of the Federal Character Commission and a former Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin, Professor Abdulkareem Oba is another candidate who may likely come out for the ticket. Although Oba is said be aiming for the governorship seat in the PDP, his supporters want him to contest for the Senate because they believed he has the charisma to defeat Saraki in the poll. 

However, Saraki being the political leader of the state and the popularly acclaimed godfather of other politicians in the state automatically enjoys the blessing and support of all APC members, hence no position from within; if anything many would ride on his back to sail through.

Although, there are rumours that the Senate president is eyeing for the presidency, sources said in the event he goes, he would most likely ‘endorse’ one of his disciples to contest for the Senate to hold forth in the event he lost at the presidential primaries.

Ike Ekweremadu

For now, it is not certain who from the opposition political parties are showing interest in the Enugu West Senatorial District seat by 2019. Nobody has been courageous to declare interest to challenge the Deputy President of Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

However, Daily Trust gathered that the Special Adviser to the President on Judicial Review, Barrister Juliet Ibekaku and the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu are interested in Ekweremadu’s seat, although they are yet to make their official declarations. Both Ibekaku and Okechukwu are from Udi Local Government Area under Enugu West Senatorial Zone.

When the former Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime dumped the PDP for the ruling APC last year, the talk was that he was targeting the seat currently occupied by Ekweremadu.

But presently, it seems Chime is no longer showing interest in the senate. The disharmony in the Enugu State Chapter of APC may not be in favour of anybody coming out from the party to challenge Ekweremadu. 

The chairman of PDP in Enugu West Senatorial District, Okey Ozoani said the various factions that exist in the state APC will make it easy for the PDP candidate to win in 2019 election.

A source close to APC told our reporter that “it will be difficult for anybody to remove Ekweremadu from the seat. Except he decided not to re-contest, that’s the only reason another person can come on that seat.”

The APC State Chairman, Dr Ben Nwoye declined comment on the development.

Ahmad Lawan’s challengers in Yobe

Except Governor Ibrahim Gaidam throws his weight to go for the governorship, the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan might have an easy ride back to the Senate. 

Those close to political permutations in Yobe State said Lawan, who represents Yobe North Senatorial District, had made his constituency proud since his foray in the National Assembly in 1999.

Sources say as Governor Gaidam rounds up his second term in office, the likes of Senator Lawan are being touted as likely successors.

His human empowerment initiatives, his fight against the construction of Kafin Zaki dam which will starve River Yobe, free health initiatives, rich academic CV and positive relationship with the governor would make opposition to Lawan’s return to the Senate a herculean task.

Born in 1959, Lawan received a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Maiduguri, a master’s degree in remote sensing from Ahmadu Bello University and a doctorate degree in remote sensing/GIS from Cranfield University, UK.

He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1999 and was elected to the Senate in 2007. 

But in the event Gaidam goes for another candidate, the likes Hassan Kafayos, a grassroots politician who defected to the APC recently might give a good fight.

Also, a former Minister of Finance, Alhaji Lawan Ngama who is in the PDP might join the race. He had slugged it out with Senator Lawan in 2015.

Akpabio’s domineering posture in Akwa Ibom 

Godswill Akpabio is the Senate Minority Leader and Senator representing Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial district on the platform of PDP.

He still commands the respect and praises of the people of the state.

His emergence as senate minority leader being a first timer in the Senate was a feat that was deemed impossible until he clinched the post. Against all odds, he dethroned Senator Aloysius Etok in 2015 at a time he was angling for the position for the third consecutive term.

For now Akpabio is already preparing to return to the Senate next year, a move many believed is geared towards clinching the position of the Senate President. 

Back home, he still commands the support of his constituency as no candidate is yet to declare any interest in unseating him. 

Akpabio is from Essien Udim Local Government Area, but the people of Abak Local Government Area believe it is their zone to produce the next senator.

But they are yet to produce an aspirant and no politician from that axis has indicated any interest to vie for the position.

When our correspondent contacted Mr Cletus Eshiet, the PDP Vice Chairman for Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, he said insinuations that the people of Abak are proposing to produce a contender for the position was false. 

He said Akpabio deserves more than a second term in the Senate for all his achievement and contributions to the people of the district.

Limited challenge for Dogara

The Speaker House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has been representing Bogoro, Dass and Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency of Bauchi State since 2007. He was first elected on the platform of PDP. Dogara defeated Seth Karfe who hails from Tafawa Balewa to get the ticket in 2007.

Before then, Dauda Garba Bundot from Dass Local Government represented the constituency from 1999 to 2003. Dogara later defected to the APC.

The speaker had on different occasions fought for the seat with strong political opponents.

But since his election in 2007, Dogara’s political profile rose astronomically both at the House of Representatives where he held some key positions and at home where he is always in touch with the people of his constituency and beyond.

Dogara was said to have been brought to political limelight by a former Bauchi State Governor, Adamu Mu’azu through Professor Suleman Elias Bogoro, the former Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), who hails from the same village with the speaker and is a relation.

The speaker enjoys the support in Bauchi political cycles, making him one of the most sought after politicians in the state.

His emergence as speaker of the House of Representatives in 2015 further strengthened his political clout, transforming him from a Bauchi State politician to a national political figure of sort.

It is widely believed that the speaker had never faced any strong opposition as the number one choice for his constituency.

That notwithstanding, there are some people from the speaker’s constituency that are believed to be interested in his seat.

Some of these people, according to sources include Dr Gashon Damina, a senior lecturer at the faculty of Law, University of Jos, who many believed is going to contest on the platform of PDP.

Others include a lecturer with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Bauchi Centre, Emmanuel John Kaka and Godfrey Manasseh Marti among others. Marti is believed to be angling for the ticket in APC.

Mr Gideon Bawa, a retired Head of Administration in Dass Local Government Area is also believed to be interested and will contest under the New Nigeria Peoples Party, (NNPP).

A lawyer, Kefas Yakubu and a former Bauchi State House of Assembly member who represented Lere/Bula Constituency in the 1990s, is also believed to be staging a comeback to challenge Dogara in 2019.

But many are of the opinion that, no aspirant at present could match the political strength of the speaker to pose a threat to him. Dogara appears to be in a comfort zone in the House of Representatives as he never showed interest in vying for the Bauchi State governorship ticket. He is, however, seen as a strong factor in deciding who emerges as governor in 2019 because of his influence both in the state and at national level.

However, the speaker had a running battle with Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar after the 2015 general elections over some political issues. The feud had lingered on for long that it pitched most of the federal lawmakers from the state against the governor. 

But the political atmosphere in the state may not be a guarantee that elected officials would not be challenged at the polls in 2019 because there are many political parties with formidable aspirants.

Gbajabiamila opposition from PDP

Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila representing Surulere 1 Federal Constituency in Lagos appears to be having it so smooth in his party ahead of the 2019 election even though he is yet to declare for re- election. But feelers from his associates indicate that he is strongly considering throwing his hat into the ring for the fourth time as a representative.

Findings by Daily Trust at the constituency show that none of his fellow APC stalwarts has come up openly to indicate interest in the seat with strong suspicion that he might emerge unopposed again.

It would be recalled that the majority leader secured the APC ticket in a primary conducted in December 2014 scoring 247 of the 252 total votes cast.

An APC member in the constituency who confided on our correspondent, said, “As I am talking to you, no member of the party has come out to say he wanted to unseat Gbajabiamila. He is our man and he has been representing his constituency very well since he was first elected.”

But Daily Trust gathered that the only potent opposition to his re-election is the PDP which candidate then is said to be warming up for another contest with the lawmaker.

It would be recalled that Mr Tony Ashi Kodi of the PDP came second in the 2015 election with 14, 550 votes while Gbajabiamila won with 21, 715 votes. 

Kodi, who is still a strong PDP member, has not given up on his aspiration and he is said to be consulting at the moment ahead of the 2019 polls.

Despite the massive defection of PDP members to APC, a party source confirmed to our correspondent that Kodi, an Igbo man, remains a strong member of the party.

DailyTrust 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has uncovered an illegal voter registration centre in Offa, Kwara State.

INEC Administrative SecretarySecretary in Kwara, Paul Atser, made this known in a statement in Ilorin on Friday.

“It has come to the notice of Independent National Electoral Commission, Kwara State that some unscrupulous persons are carrying out illegal registration of voters in Offa Local Government area,” Mr. Atser said.

According to him, the perpetrators of the illegal registration were using Corel Draw application to change the particulars in a scanned INEC PVC.

The INEC official said one suspect was arrested and undergoing interrogation by the police.

“The general public is advised to be watchful and ensure that they go to only INEC designated registration centers to be captured for the PVC,” Atser added.

He said a list of all designated centers were available at the INEC State office as well as INEC offices in the 16 local government councils in Kwara.

(NAN)

The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige, said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari created no fewer than seven million jobs in the first two years of the administration between May 2015 and November 2017.

The minister stated this while briefing State House correspondents after meeting with Mr. Buhari in his office in November, 2017.

“We promised jobs but what has happened is that people tried to quantify jobs in terms of white collar jobs for graduates from universities and polytechnics, but they don’t want to look at the blue collar jobs.

“Agriculture and agric value chain alone have created more than 5-7 million jobs,” he said.

Mr. Ngige said a lot of the jobs were created in rice farming.

“From rice tilling, harvesting, sending to the paddies, mills, and even where people are making the jute bags, transportation, people are getting jobs.

“So, that value chain alone from agric is enormous,” he said.

The minister also said the government has created, “millions of jobs from the N-power scheme.”

He said agencies of government such as the National Directorate of Employment, NDE, have also created jobs through skills acquisition.

He said under the NDE, the government gives beneficiaries tools to earn a living through being, “plumbers, electricians, cosmetologists, shoe makers, tilers and several other areas.”

THE CLAIMS:

CLAIM 1: The minister’s first claim here is that “Agriculture and agriculture value chain alone have created more than 5-7 million jobs.” Mr. Ngige said such jobs were created in agricultural activities like rice farming.

CLAIM 2: Another claim is Mr. Ngige’s statement that the government has created “millions of jobs from the N-power scheme.”

VERIFICATION OF CLAIMS

The three major government agencies referenced by the minister’s claims are the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development, the National Directorate of Employment and the Social Investment Programmes (specifically N-Power)

CLAIM 1: THE 5-7 MILLION AGRICULTURE JOBS

Dubawa [using the PTCIJ reference] sent a Freedom of Information request to the ministry of agriculture, requesting data on jobs created by the ministry through the agriculture value chain. The ministry failed to provide any response, several months later.

Also, a letter to the ministry of labour requesting details of the ”five to seven million jobs” was not replied.

While the two relevant ministries failed to provide any data to back up the minister’s claim, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the federal government’s repository of data across all sectors, nevertheless offers reliable data on job creation, that is not in sync with the minister’s claims.

The NBS Quarterly Job Creation Survey is a nationwide survey covering all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with the objective of tracking the number of jobs being created in the economy within a given period.

Its findings are categorised into three groupings of: formal sector, informal sector and public sector jobs. The formal sector data represent employment generated in establishments that employ 10 persons and above, or in formal professional services that employ less than 10 persons.

With regards to the informal sector, this represents jobs generated by individuals or businesses employing less than 10 or those businesses operating with little or no structures e.g. those in Agriculture, Light Manufacturing, Trade, etc. The public sector jobs are those created in government ministries, departments, agencies otherwise called the MDAs, such as government Parastatals, academic and research institutions at federal, state and local government levels.

Since the present administration, under President Muhammadu Buhari, was sworn in on May 29, 2015, the historically relevant NBS reading that supports its job creation claim would be the NBS 2015 second quarter data. This data outlook captured the job creation position from the second quarter of 2015 through third quarter of 2016. Since no Quarterly Job Creation Survey has been published after this date, this remains the only valid official evidence of job creation in the country.

Working through the 16 months captured by the available NBS data, it was revealed that in the second quarter of 2015 after the administration came to power, 141,368 jobs were created. In the third quarter, Q3, 2015, 475,180 jobs were created while in the last quarter, Q4, 2015, 499,521 jobs were created.

Summation of jobs created by the Buhari administration between Q2, 2015 and Q3, 2016

In the first quarter of the second year, [Q1, 2016], 79,465 jobs were created while in Q2, 2016, 155,444 jobs were created.

The last data available from the NBS was Q3, 2016 when 187,226 jobs were created.

Thus, the total jobs created in the period under review (Q2, 2015 – Q3, 2016) is 1,538,204. That is, between April 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016, a total of 1.5 million (1,538,204) jobs were created across Nigeria in all sectors (including agriculture), according to NBS data.

This data shows that on the average, 256,367 jobs were created in each quarter between Q2, 2015 and Q3, 2016.

Considering that Mr. Ngige made his statement of creating “more than 5-7 million jobs,” over 13 months after the last available NBS job data (Q3, 2016 which ended on September 30, 2016), an extrapolation of data offers insight on what official figures for the jobs created between Q4 of 2016 and Q4 of 2017 could be.

At an average of 256,367 jobs created quarterly since Mr. Buhari assumed office, the estimated job creation for the five quarters (Q4, 2016 to Q4, 2017) becomes 1.2 million (1,281,835).

While the 1.2 million jobs is an extrapolation, the possibility that the actual number will be more than that is low as Nigeria’s economy was in recession for most of the period under review. The country only announced it had exited recession after the second quarter of 2017.

This leaves the total number of jobs created between the Q2, 2015 and Q4, 2017 as 2,820,039 (2.8 million jobs), and certainly they were not all created in the agriculture sector as Mr. Ngige had suggested.

Assuming also that all the 2.8 million jobs were created in the agriculture and agro-allied sector, it would still be a far cry from the “more than 5-7 million jobs” Mr. Ngige declared.

Therefore, claim 1 by the Labour minister that “Agriculture and agriculture value chain alone have created more than 5-7 million jobs” is therefore false.

CLAIM 2: MILLIONS OF JOBS FROM THE N-POWER SCHEME

The N-Power is a component of the Social Investment Programme (SIP) of the Buhari administration. The SIP is a major campaign promise of President Muhammadu Buhari to provide food for school kids, pay cash to poor persons and battle unemployment.

SIP is divided into four: Home Grown School Feeding Programme for public schools; Conditional Cash Transfer to poor persons; N-Power for unemployed graduates; and the Government Enterprises Entrepreneurship Programme.

The N-Power is aimed at engaging unemployed Nigerians with a monthly stipend of N30,000. It started out in December 2016 and attracted hundreds of thousands of applications out of which only 200,000 persons were selected from across the country and currently engaged under the programme.

Even though there was another call for application early 2017, there has been no official statement on whether any of those who applied for the 2017 batch of the programme has been employed.

In terms of number of those engaged, a statement by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in February 2018, stated that “200,000 volunteers were recruited nationwide while another set of 300,000 graduate volunteers have been pre-selected for the next round of the programme.”

Also the website of the scheme npower.gov.ng states that only 200,000 Nigerians have been enrolled so far on the scheme.

The information from both the official website of the N-Power and the office of the vice president both show that Mr. Ngige’s claim is inaccurate.

Therefore, the labour minister’s claim that that the Buhari administration has created “millions of jobs from the N-Power scheme” is also false.

Organisers of the annual National Political Summit say that preparations have been concluded for a hitch-free third edition of the programme designed to engage stakeholders on ways to address political challenges confronting the country.

Chairman of the Board, Save Nigeria Group, Dr Gregory Ibe, told newsmen in Abuja that the three-day event would provide a platform where various agitations in the country would be discussed.

The event scheduled to take place from March 19 to March 21 in Abuja has the theme “Reforming the Nigerian Federation: Which way forward’’.

“It is important that we start discussing all the agitations, expectations and challenges facing us as a nation.

“There is a lot of heat across the country and people are saying that political solution is required, so there must be a gathering of Nigerians where you bare your mind.

“Where political solutions can be discussed and a more refined information that can provide solution to whatever is happening in the country can be presented for government to take action.

“It is a platform where all who are interested in moving this country forward can come and vent their anger and document what expectation they have so that we can use it to find solutions,’’ Ibe said.

According to him, critical stakeholders have therefore been invited from across the zones of Nigeria to present specific positions on the options for reforming Nigeria.

“The national gathering of stakeholders will attract over 3,500 delegates to dialogue on the future of Nigerian political environment.

“And to forge partnership and cooperation for the sustainable development of the country,’’ he added.

NAN

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) Sierra Leone has released a campaign calendar and guidelines for the March 27 presidential run-off election involving the candidates of the main opposition rtd Brig. Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and Dr Samura Kamara of the ruling All People’s Congress (APC).

Bio, a former junta leader who returned power to elected civilians and Kamara, outgoing Foreign Minister and former Central Bank Governor, were frontrunners in the March 7 first round vote with 43.33% and 42.7% scores respectively.

NEC said the two political parties and their candidates could campaign across the 16 Administrative Districts from 15th to 25th March, with each party granted exclusive permit on specific days in designated Districts to avoid clashes.

Following the inconclusive first round vote, political horse trading and realignment of forces are reportedly going on among the 17 registered political parties.

As part of preparations for the run-off vote NEC is procuring new ballot papers bearing the photographs of the two candidates as against the previous design with 16 candidates. The Commission is also expected to retrain polling officials and ready the electoral machinery for hitch-free voting.

The March 7 vote recorded some 84% voter turn-out and the run-off is expected to be even more fiercely contested. The winner will replace out-going President Ernest Bai Koroma of the APC who has completed his constitutionally allowed two mandates of five years each in a country where the APC and the SLPP have dominated political power since independence from Britain in 1961.

The Core Team of ECOWAS Long-Term Observers, including Secretariat staff of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC), is on ground monitoring the electoral processes.
The ECOWAS Observation Mission supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), European Union and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).

Meanwhile, from the 24 parliamentary results released Thursday by NEC, the APC has 13 seats, SLPP 10, and the Coalition for Change (C4C) one seat.
The country has 144-seat unicameral parliament, including 132 contested seats complemented by 12 seats for Paramount Chiefs.

May I send to you warm Easter greetings in advance. I also wish all Nigerians a joyful season, as we gradually approach the 2019 general elections, another epochal era in the political history of our great and beloved country, Nigeria.

First, please permit me to begin by acknowledging your demonstrated prowess in the proactive, timely and appropriate responses to the 2015 multiple electioneering campaigns issues of national and international dimensions, when you served as the APC National Publicity Secretary.

Sir, your deftness and clarity of thoughts in handling the emergent issues adequately elucidated Nigerians greatly. And it sufficiently psyched them to opt for the clear and rewarding choice of leadership change in favour of the incumbent APC national government led by President Muhammedu Buhari.

I believe, like most Nigerians that your inclusion into the cabinet of the Buhari Presidency and handing over to you the portfolio of Minister of Information and National Orientation was indisputable.

Apparently, it was a decision propelled by your past antecedents in information dissemination and publicity management. Many of us hailed your choice, because we felt you had the knack and the bite to assist immensely in disseminating or projecting the laudable policies, programmes and projects of the Buhari Presidency.

But regrettably, the fire in you which swelled your camp of admirers, by deflating malicious and sentimental propaganda against the establishment you represent has waned, if not outrightly extinguished in the last two years.

The next general elections are drawing nearer. And overt or clandestine malicious campaigns have been mounted against the government you serve, implicating your principal and attempting to rubbish the performance records of President Buhari. The campaigners freely downplay his enormous achievements in various sectors of the economy, with deliberately concocted falsehoods and misrepresentations.

But your office seeming to delight more in silently consenting to the free reign of these disgruntled opposition elements is spiting and spatting on the face of the APC led Federal Government of Nigeria. They brand it all sorts of derogatory names before your watchful eyes.

Nigerians are shocked at the sudden cold feet you have developed in effectively performing your official responsibilities of articulating the programmes and projects of the Buhari Presidency. This proclivity has been entrenched to the extent that even ‘Lilliputians’ in information management appeared to have inexplicably and speechlessly suppressed the enormous strength and prowess, we believed, you possessed in this professed specialty.

President Buhari and the government he leads have become a free punching bag for liars, detractors, saboteurs and enemies of the state, who hurl every falsehood to the public domain unchallenged.

These retrogressive elements are succeeding in misleading vulnerable Nigerians, with these smart schemes. But it is glaring that you have abdicated your responsibilities of enunciating a concrete agenda of information dissemination and stimulation of robust public debate among Nigerians on the performances of the Buhari Presidency.

Instead, you have consciously marooned Nigerians on the Island and donated the citizenry to the rumour mill and or, denial of information, which the opposition is exploiting maximally in plotting their evil agenda against Nigeria. You have lost the gripping touch and the engaging golden voice once accustomed with you.

Sir, where is thy golden voice? I must confess and with all sense of responsibility, humility and all fairness to you and Almighty God, that you have proven us wrong by not doing enough in the present circumstance. It is now more convenient to assert that you appear to have lost track of your responsibilities and roles, as Nigeria’s mouthpiece, as you are conspicuously not doing enough. Should we now suggest that you are better at the party secretariat and should therefore, be redeployed to the base?

I am amazed that you have not realized the whole gamut of a strategic communication of this magnitude, at a time the image of your country is severely battered and deprecated. Please, you need to adopt both conventional and non-conventional approaches, like the revival of public enlightenment campaigns, as even defined by the nomenclature of the ministry you superintend.

Again, occasional visits to states, where federal projects have been undertaken or are ongoing to interact with the people and raise platforms of awareness of the existence of such projects is imperative now.

Sir, with due respect, it is time to mount the proverbial horse and ride to prove your mettle or else I am tempted to believe that it’s either Nigerians overrated your competence or simply, you passed casually, just like one of the many indolent state governors who merely rode on the wings and benevolence of President Buhari to be shadowy super stars in the corridors of power.

We all know in reality that everything that aligns with President Buhari markets itself. But time has come to do the needful, by arresting the prevalent inactions your office has slipped into, to keep Nigerians constantly informed

I appreciate your audience. May God give you the necessary wisdom, guidance and strength to match the demands of the moment.

South-South Professional Women Association (SSPWA) has called on women and philanthropists to empower young girls to rid Niger Delta region of the burden of prostitution and human trafficking.

Mrs Omole Haruna, the President of the association, made the appeal during an outreach programme for women of the Guardian Angels Catholic Church, Lugbe, on Friday in Abuja.

Haruna told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the focus of their outreach includes education, health and moral values.

She explained that “the mission of SSPWA is to provide a platform for professional women particularly in south-south zone and the country in general to pursue and formulate better strategies that promote higher standards, economic and educational empowerment of women and young girls”.

Haruna, who frowned at number of young girls in the zone that indulged in prostitution, trafficking or work as house maid among other ills within and outside the country, described such acts as social vices.

She further described those vices as inimical to the growth and development of the zone and the nation at large and blamed the rate of prostitution on poverty, lack of direction and mentorship by elderly women in the society.

The SSPWA president said the south-south zone was blessed and well endowed with large number of influential and highly placed women in the society.

She noted that if each of them utilise their positions and impact positively on young girls, it would assist in reducing the social vices in the region.

According to her, all south-south woman; the elderly and mothers must rise up to their responsibilities by ensuring that young girls have higher standard of moral behaviour and embrace the best standard in education.

“We must also ensure our young girls have opportunities to quality life, enjoy medical and health services, among others.

“The reason we are focusing on the south-south region is that a lot of happenings among women from the zone, especially girls, like prostitution, slavery, unemployment and housemaids, are not favourable to us.

“Our target is to rid the zone of these menace and raise children with high moral standard since we have highly placed professional women within our zone that are holding positions of authority.

“These women can make impact on the lives of these younger girls to become responsible citizens of the country,” Haruna said.

Similarly, Mrs Felicia Onibon, President, Change Managers International Network and past Vice President of SSPWA, decried the rate of abuse and sexual harassment of women, young girls and children in the society.

Onibon blamed such abuses on failure of government to implement the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), among other laws that protect women and young girls in the society.

She emphasised that women lawyers and other groups had made a lot of efforts toward ensuring the passage of CEDAW but yielded no result.

According to her, so many of our girls have been violated by some men in the society due to lack of legislation to bring perpetrators to book.

“The process of violation affects self esteem of both our girls and women that have been affected.

“When a girl is violated she loses control in her academic pursuit, sometimes she gets unwanted pregnancy which would go a long way to stop her growth and development in life,” Onibon said.

Onibon who decried the disparity between the rural and urban women however urged governments to affect the lives of the people in rural areas by alleviating poverty through infrastructure development and aid their agricultural drive, among others.

She said: “the only way to ensure growth and development of any nation is by bringing government to the grassroots, boosting the economy of rural dwellers and alleviating their plight, among others.”

NAN

Constantin Reliu, a dead man, has been having himself a rough year.

The Turkish government deported him in January for having expired documents, sending him back to a Romania he says he hadn't seen since the late 1990s.

And you can imagine his surprise when, upon his return, he found out he died back in 2003. There was an official death certificate registered by his wife and everything.

"I am officially dead, although I'm alive," the deceased told The Associated Press by phone Friday. "I have no income and because I am listed as dead, I can't do anything."

In fact, Reliu, 63, very nearly couldn't even get back into Romania. It took more than six hours of interrogation just to convince customs officials he wasn't playing a hoax on them, he told local media. They told him it had to be a joke, because he was dead.

Eventually, they let him through — only after measuring the distance between his eyes to compare it with his passport photo, the AP says — but more troubles awaited him inside Romania's borders. His wife had apparently obtained the death certificate after years of silence from him, figuring, according to the Romanian publication, that he had died in an earthquake.

He told the wire service that he had decided to cut off communication after he discovered his wife's infidelity, years after he first left for Turkey in 1992 to work as a cook. He hasn't seen her since the '90s.

Now, here's the capper.

On Thursday, a court in the city of Vaslui rejected his bid to get the death certificate overturned, despite the fact that he appeared in person to plead his case. Reliu had no case to stand on, the court ruled, because his appeal was filed too late.

Multiple media outlets, citing the court, say the ruling is final.

It is unclear where things go from here, or how. His lot is limbo, it appears: banned for life from Turkey, banned from life in Romania, he can't make a living anywhere.

"I am a living ghost," the dead man said.

NPR