Mohammed Shosanya

The Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi,Ojaja II, has implore the Federal Government and the Governor of Ekiti State, to expedite thorough investigations into the death of two monarchs in the state and ensure that the perpetrators face the full wrath of the law.

Onimojo of Imojo-Ekiti,Oba Olatunde Samuel Olusola and Oba David Babatunde Ogunsakin, Elesun of Esun-Ekiti in a terroristic ambush on Monday January 30, 2024 while returning to their respective domains from a peaceful routine meeting in Oke Ako, Ekiti State.

In a statement on Wednesday,the topmost monarch condemned in the strongest terms the heinous attack on three Monarchs in Ekiti State leading to the untimely death of two of them.

He commiserated with families of the deceased Monarchs, the people of Imojo-Ekiti, the people of Esun-Ekiti, the government and Ekiti State council of Obas and Chiefs, describing the incident as a sacrilegious audacity deliberately planned and executed to undermine security capacity of Nigeria.

“Assassinating traditional rulers in cold blood! This is absolutely unacceptable to us. If this could happen to the traditional rulers, what would then become hopes for their common subjects who look up to them for local security interventions?”.

“This is a pure sacrilege and it is a deliberate display of criminal audacity to undermine the government’s security control capacity. This reprehensible act has not only robbed us of noble leaders but has also left a scar on the fabric of our unity and peaceful coexistence as a Nation. Government must stop at nothing to ensure the perpetrators are arrested and made to face justice”,the statement said.

Ooni Ogunwusi,who doubles as the Natural Leader of the Oduduwa race worldwide called on the Federal Government to prioritize the establishment of community policing across the nation as the recent spate of killings and kidnappings of traditional rulers and school children across the country highlights the urgent need for a robust, community-oriented security system saying community policing, with its emphasis on local involvement,will be helpful to enhance intelligence gathering, deter criminal activities, and ensure the safety of Nigerians.

“We cannot continue like this. Several of our school children are still languishing in the undetected incarceration of these heartless terrorists. A party state chairman in Lagos state was a victim recently. What about the recently abducted school children in Ekiti state? Six sisters in Abuja not too long ago with one of them killed. Similar cases across the country. Who is safe in this country again? Enough is enough.”

“The time should not be later than now for Government both at states and Federal levels to show practical capacity in the area of security management and operations. The traditional rulers in Nigeria must be motivated with statutory community policing policy needed to work officially with government as we remain the closest leaders to the people, we know the traditional techniques to get rid of all these unfortunate situation, We are no cowards and we are ready to rise to the occasion defending our traditional land. Get us statutorily involved and see that what we inherited from our respective ancestors are still intact and real.” Ooni said.

The statement added:”We traditional Rulers in Yorubaland and Nigeria at large commiserate and sympathise with families of the affected traditional rulers. We stand in solidarity with the people of Ekiti State during this trying time and with all our subjects across the country who have been victims terrorist killings and kidnappings.”

Mohammed Shosanya

Men of Amotekun Corps,have stormed forests in Ekiti State searching for abductors of pupils of Apostolic Faith Nursery/Primary School, Emure-Ekiti, Ekiti State who were kidnapped on Monday on their way to Eporo-Ekiti.

The action follows the order of the state governor,Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

Speaking while parading 31 crime suspects in Akure, Ondo State capital on Wednesday, Ondo State Corps Commander, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye disclosed that Governor Aiyedatiwa ordered that the state Amotekun Corps should move to Ekiti State to assist them in searching for the kidnappers.

He disclosed that no fewer than 100 men from his command were deployed to Ekiti State to search for and rescue the victims.

He said that some persons have been arrested during the combing of Ekit forests, saying investigation is ongoing while the search for the pupils continued.

Speaking on the 31 crime suspects paraded at the headquarters of the formation at Alagbaka, Akure, the Amotekun Corps commander said some kidnap suspects were arrested and investigation has commenced on their operations in the state.

He disclosed that the 24-hour patrol of the formation with the collaboration of other security agencies in the state paid off in checking criminal activities in the state.

He warned that no hunter should enter any forest reserve in the state without permission and complying with all laid down rules and regulations by the state government.

He disclosed that the joint border patrol between Ondo and Osun states Amotekun Corps has been reinforced to prevent travellers from being attacked or molested by criminals.

On how the current wave of crimes across the federation could checked, Amotekun Corps commander charged the federal government to approve creation of state police.

He was of the opinion that state police would make it easier for each state to protect its people as they would be able to identify any new entrant in their community.

He called on the people of the state to report any strange moves in their areas and avoid commercial motorbike riders wearing hood as face mask, warning that they are criminals.

He also enjoined everyone who moves round in the night to always be with their identification cards as the state Amotekun would not relent on its resolve to chase away criminals from the state.

Mohammed Shosanya

The Senate on Wednesday summoned the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso to appear before it next Tuesday over the state of economy and free flow of Naira at the forex market.

The Senate committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, which summoned the CBN Governor, expressed concern over the continued falling of the naira.

The naira had fell to N1,520 to a US dollar, a development that made the Senate to summon the CBN Governor.

Speaking with newsmen shortly after their closed door meeting, the Chairman, Senate committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru ( APC Lagos East), said the state of the economy, especially the inflation index was of great concern to the lawmakers.

He said: “We have held a meeting this afternoon essentially to focus on the direction of the Nigerian economy .

“We are all living witnesses of what is going on. Underlining the major issue of the economy is the way the inflation index has been and of course it is a major concern to us .

“We have deliberated among ourselves. Critical issues were addressed and we believe that the next line of action is to summon the governor of the Central Bank on Tuesday at 3 O’clock to brief us properly on the state of the economy.

“That we have resolved and will communicate to the governor of the Central Bank after which we will have further communication with members of the press.”

Mohammed Shosanya
The House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee has chided the Nigeria Customs Service for its failure to submit audited statements for the 2016, 2017, and 2018 financial years to the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation.

This was sequel to the commencement of the public hearing on by the committee chaired by Bamidele Salam.

The Controller General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, who appeared with other officers of the service was questioned over the queries raised by the Auditor General to the Federation on the 2017 audited report.

The queries involved the “Under-remittance of revenue into the federation account for the year 2017 in sum of N62,242,980,006.87, discrepancies in reported revenue figures, resulting in under-remittance of revenue of sum N63,601,805,270.67, under-disclosure of outstanding remittance for the year 2016 to the sum N10,473,681.51, non-maintenance of bank statements and bank reconciliation statements, non-maintenance of revenue collectors receipt.

“Violation of e-payment policy of the Federal Government of the sum of N2,654,500.00 and non-submission of audited financial statements for 2016,2017 and 2018 financial years.”

Responding, Adeniyi noted that only Common External Tariff is remitted into the Federation account by the OAGF, while others that are active are remitted into the Non-Federation Account.

He agreed that there was an over remittance of N1,170,469,464.13 only, into the Federation Account, which showed that there was no under-remittance of N62,242,980,006.87.

According to him, since the inception of the Treasury Single Account, Area Commands do not maintain accounts with commercial banks, all revenue collected are remitted directly to the Central Bank of Nigeria and the statements are accessed at the customs headquarters through CBN’s Transaction Query System.

He said, “Since the introduction of repayment in 2009, the maintenance of treasury Book 6A for revenue collections was stopped. Rather, the repayment receipts on the Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System platform have replaced the treasury books 6A.

“The service does not have fuel and this necessitates the fuelling of the vehicles for operational purposes which cut across the four zonal headquarters and area commands across the nation for control purposes.

“The service submitted copies of audited financial statements and management reports for the three years under review”.

Documents submitted revealed to the Committee that the audited financial statements for 2016, 2017, and 2018 financial years were presented to the Auditor General for the Federation in 2021.

Committee members expressed displeasure with the non-submission of audited financial statements for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 financial years at the appropriate times.

The Chairman of the Committee ordered the Auditor General to present documents on other queries raised against the commission including “Splitting of contracts to circumvent tenders procedures to sum of N38,120,000.00, payment vouchers without prevent supporting document to sum of N22,396,768.00 and unretired cash advances in the sum of N12,431,199.63.”

The lawmakers agreed to allow NCS to come at a later date to respond to the queries.

Mohammed Shosanya

Mohammed Bougei Attah, Procurement Professional and National Coordinator, Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative,says the recent circular that originated from the office and signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator George Akume titled “Operationalization and Development of Federal Government Contract Administration System (FCAS) for MDAs” is a clear violation of existing law on contract management and administration.

The circular which according to the memo is “..to protect Government from entering potential flawed and unfavourable contracts leading to litigation at great cost..” is in fact doing the opposite,Attach maintained in a statement sent to Premium News on Tuesday.

According to him,the circular did not only undermine and usurp the statutory roles and responsibilities of the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, it also potential put the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, AGF in an illegal engagement.

He also said,advising all MDAs to direct inquiries and clarifications on FCAS through the office of the AGF, via a special unit, the government has only succeeded in exposing the office to illegalities, contradictions and legal tussle that the SGF seek to avoid.

He noted that the BPP was established by Act No. 14 of 2007 to perform the oversight of contracts implementation which include the issuance of ‘No Objection Certificates’ to or for contracts award.

He said,while the Office of the SGF, AGF and the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP have statutory roles in contract awards and implementations, the AGF cannot be seen to play the role of a party or be a judge in the process.

He also said,the role of the AGF in procurement or contract administration is limited to interpretation, defence and prosecution of contract issues or cases as the case may be.

The office in this case,he said,cannot be a party to the process and be a judge at the same time in the case of any legal challenge.

He said,Section 7 of the PPA 2007 specifically mandates the BPP to oversight and advice on contract implementation in Nigeria public sector, and this include ensuring that contract approvals at the level of threshold by the Federal Executive Council, FEC and all MDAs meet certain criteria to qualify for ‘No Objection Certificates’.

He explained that the Circular from the SGF is very unfortunate because it is an act of disobedience to the very law the office is to protect.

He added:”Why create a shortcut when it is a fact that a ‘No Objection Certificate’ by the BPP is a document evidencing and authenticating that due process and the letters of this PPA have been followed in the conduct of a procurement proceedings and allowing for the procuring entity to enter into contract or effect payments to contractors or suppliers from the Treasury?

“It is important to note that “evidencing” that follows the word certificate in the definition serves as a proof of the fact while the word “authenticating” that also follow refers to giving a legal authenticity or authority to the procurement proceeding so certified.

“Further it is to confirm that the person who signed the certificate is qualified and fit, or proper officer designated to do so by law in accordance with Section 7 and 59 of PPA 2007, as well as Sections 11(9) and 20 of the CIPSMN Act 2007.

“The BPP though not a court in the conventional sense, is an independent, quasi-judicial agency of government that uses judicial principles to make administrative decisions and therefore is required by law to be properly constituted to enable it have legal jurisdiction to perform its functions. To create a “new law” therefore through a directive of circular is a direct route and opening for abuse of law, impunity and corruption.

“It should be stated here again that Procurement (contract) corruption alone accounts for over 70% of total corruption in the public sector. This recent Circular therefore lacks merit and a clear violation of the PPA 2007.

It is on record that for over 10 years, after the enactment of PPA 2007, we have consistently pointed out that the errors in the Act is purely implementation. And to correct the gaps and humongous corruption issues in contract management in Nigeria, the government need to implement Part 1, Section 1 of the PPA 2007 as well as Section 11(9) and Section 20 of the CIPSMN.

“The simple solution is to constitute and inaugurate the National Council on Public Procurement, NCPP on one instance, and to constitute the BPP in accordance with provisions in Section 16 of the Act, read together with Section 19 of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management Act 2007. Anything short of this steps will continue to take Nigeria backwards, undermine the efforts in the fight against corruption and increasing economic downturn”