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Anti-graft war must be won against all odds, says Senate President 

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Senate President Ahmad Lawan
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan
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…As Witness Protection bill scales second reading 
 
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said that the war against corruption by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government must be won irrespective of temporary setbacks.

Lawan stated this in his remarks after a bill seeking to establish the Witness Protection and Management Framework scaled second reading during plenary on Tuesday.

According to him, the fight against corruption is one that must be vigorously pursued by government to ensure the eventual elimination of graft, given that same is capable of hindering Nigeria’s development.

He added that the Witness Protection bill, if passed and signed into law, would be an incentive that encourages witnesses to testify in corruption cases since their protection is guaranteed under the law.
 
Lawan said, “Distinguished colleagues, almost every administration in this country would work against corruption that has bedeviled the development of this country.

“The witness protection bill that we are debating today is a way forward to encourage witnesses to testify against corruption. And by protecting them properly, that will incentivise such witnesses.

“The war against corruption is a must, and it must be won. It is not about the quantum of funds or resources that we have, but how we are able to put to use even our scarce resources.

“So, this is a very important bill, and I’m sure all of us would lend our support.”

Sponsor of the bill for an Act to establish the Witness Protection and Management Framework, Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari, said the bill was first read on February 23, 2021.

According to the lawmaker, it was also listed among the bills of interest and international significance, contained in the recent Executive Communication from President Muhammadu Buhari, which was read on the floor of the Senate on the 19th of January 2022.

“Empirical evidence show that one of the major causes of the inability to successfully prosecute criminal cases in our courts is the lack of witnesses.

“Many of them face intimidation and threats just as prosecutors most times do not have the funds and management framework to safely bring witnesses to testify in court.

“The passage of this bill into law will fill this gap as well as fulfill some of our Country’s international commitments to various conventions and protocols, like the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) amongst others”, Senator Kwari said.

He further recalled  that the Witness Protection and Management Bill and Whistle Blower Bill were initially considered as co-joined in a single bill by the 8th National Assembly and passed in 2017.

He added that following a technical stakeholders roundtable comprising of representatives of relevant criminal justice system operators, it was resolved that both bills be unbundled in order to allow Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAS) currently running witness protection programs continue in that wise.

“This necessitates the separation of the two bills and accordingly paves the way for witness protection programmes across the broad spectrum of Law Enforcement Agencies, thereby discouraging duplicity and multiplicity of agencies”, he said.

Section 1 of the bill provides for the establishment of a legal and institutional framework to protect witnesses and related persons, with responsibilities for carrying out all administrative duties relating to witnesses and related persons.

The bill under the section ensures that the relevant agency takes responsibility for entering into a witness protection agreement, regulate the procedure while harmonizing existing laws and policies on witness protection and management.

The Bill in Section 2 also specifies offences and laws in which the bill apply, and comprise terrorism, money laundering (prevention and prohibition), economic and financial crimes, corrupt practices and other related offences, drugs and narcotics and their trafficking, trafficking in persons, Criminal and Penal Code offences.

It further provides for customs and excise management, any legislation dealing with proceeds of crimes, confiscation and forfeiture of assets, and to all justice sector institutions and authorities, including the courts, law enforcement as well as security agencies, and other relevant regulatory institutions towards the protection of witnesses in the course of the investigation, detection and prosecution of offences.

Part 2 sets standard for establishing and managing the witness program, while Section 3 mandates all public institutions having responsibility under their laws of investigating and/or prosecuting offences under any law, to establish a witness protection and management program.

The section further provides for rights, duties, privileges and obligations of other bodies such as courts, lawyers, parents/guardian in relation to witness protection and management.

In addition, Part 3 provides for protections such as allowing a witness to establish a new identity or restore a former witness’s original identity by an application from a relevant agency made to the Court, for a new entry in the birth, marriage or death registry and issuance of a certificate as the case may be.

Part 4 mandates relevant agencies, to designate a Witness Protection office at each of their branch offices to enable the adoption and management of the Witness Protection Program.

On the other hand, Part 5 of the bill provide for the establishment of a Witness Protection Fund to be managed and controlled by relevant agencies.

According to the bill, such funds include moneys appropriated by the National Assembly for payment into the Protection Fund, which shall amount to at least fifty per cent of the total estimated expenditure of the Protection Fund, moneys approved by the President for Witness Protection Programs, moneys accruing to the Protection Fund from any fund or account established by an Act for the lodgment of proceeds of confiscation and forfeited assets.

Other sources include a percentage of the total amount recovered by the Government as direct result of information provided by a protected person, subventions, grants, aid and donations from Federal or State Government, etc.

Part 6 criminalizes certain acts relating to false or misleading and unlawful disclosures, false representation and unauthorized access to a witness.

Part 7 under Miscellaneous provides for legal proceedings such as 30 days pre-action notice, non-compellability of witness, restriction on execution against property of the relevant agency, indemnity of officers of the relevant agency including powers of the Attorney General of the Federation to make regulations in respect of the bill.

The bill after consideration was referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters; and Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes.

The Joint Committee is expected to report back in four weeks.

Meanwhile, a bill seeking to establish the Federal Polytechnic Shagamu also scaled second reading in the Senate.

The bill sponsored by Senator Olalekan Mustapha (Ogun East) was referred by the Senate President after consideration to the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND for further inputs.

The Committee was also given four weeks to report back to the chamber in plenary.

 

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N84bn fraud : Senator-Elect Yari Running from Corruption Investigation, Arrest says EFCC Source

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Abdulaziz Yari
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As the race for the president of the 10th Senate gathers momentum, an aspirant in the Democratic Group of the Senators-Elect, Senator-Elect Abdul-Aziz Yari, has ran to the judiciary to prevent his arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-corruption agencies for corruption cases he was linked with as well as emerging money laundering investigation into his reckless spending in pursuit of his ambition.

It is to this extent that the recent injunction secured by former Governor of Zamfara State is adjudged as being capable of undermining the nation’s image on Anti-Corruption war.

Yari had secured court Injunction before Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Abuja Division of Federal High Court to prevent his re-arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission, ICPC, as well as Directorate of State Services, DSS, from re-arresting him.

Yari is currently under investigation on N84 billion fraud involving the former Accountant- General of the Federation, Idris Ahmed which he reportedly benefited N22 billion.

In addition, Yari is under investigation by EFCC over alleged financial infractions of $56,056.75 reportedly lodged in his account with Polaris Bank; N12.9m, N11.2m, $303m, N217,388.04 and $311.8m said to be kept in different Zenith Bank accounts in the name of Yari and his companies.

Sources familiar with the investigations by EFCC stated that the ongoing investigation of the N84 billion fraud by former Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, in which Senator -Elect Yari was linked and previously arrested but released on bail is still pending with more information coming to light on the role of Yari and his associate, one Anthony Yaro of Finex Professional Services believed to be a front that collected N20 billion of the looted fund on behalf of Yari.

The source in EFCC who wants to remain anonymous as he is not authorized to publicly comment on the sensitive case said “with the court order that we read in the newspapers, we may need our Legal Department opinion on what to do”.

He said further that “In addition to new revelations on the massive fraud at the Accountant-General of the Federation’s Office for which some refund has been made, in the EFCC investigations of the ex-governor ofl Zamfara State, Mr. Bello Matawale, the name of Yari has also surfaced in the alleged massive looting of the resources of that poor state under his watch as governor.

We are making efforts to locate him (Yari) for further interrogation in this regard.”

In similar manner, the ICPC was about to invite Senator-Elect Yari for his role in the fraud of Paris Club Refund to governors when he was the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) for which about N500million and $500,000 have been forfeited to the Federal Government.

“The Senator Elect from Zamfara West is a subject of inquiry in our office. Beyond the Paris Club Refund looting, we are also investigating the disclosure that Yari spent at least $700,000 in Saudi Arabia on a trip for lesser hajj which has raised suspicion of money laundering” an ICPC source disclosed on why he may have approached the court to prevent his invitation.

Aside from running to the court to frustrate his imminent re-arrest, Yari is also reportedly planning to go underground in the coming days to prevent possible arrest for questioning days before the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.

As if the above alleged humongous financial malfeasances were not enough troubles for the Senator-Elect who has remained defiant of the zoning arrangement for the leadership of the 10th Senate by his party, the APC, another source disclosed that the Department of the State Security (DSS) has also unearthed some information that the killings and banditry in Zamfara State may not be unconnected with the gold mining activities of Senator Yari, another source of his unexplained wealth.

Observers are keenly watching how Senator-Elect Yari will free himself from the many tangles he has walked himself into and whether the judiciary will vacate the exparte motion when the matter comes up on Thursday, 8th June, 2023 to allow the security agencies to perform their roles without let or hinderance.

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Fuel subsidy: Edo Join Kwara To Slashes Work Days To Thrice Weekly

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Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki
Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki
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Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has reduced civil and public servants’ work days from five days to thrice weekly.

Kwara State earlier took the same step.

This is part of measures to ameliorate the sufferings faced by the people due to the Federal Government’s subsidy removal policy.

“As a proactive government, we have since taken the step to increase the minimum wage paid to workers in Edo State from the approved N30,000 to N40,000, the highest in the country today,” he said in a Tuesday statement.

We want to assure you that we will continue to pay this amount, while we hope to increase it even further if more allocation accrues to our State from the Federal Government in view of the expected savings occasioned by the removal of the fuel subsidy.

“We know the hardship that has been caused by this policy which has radically increased the cost of transportation, eating deep into the wages of workers in the State. Therefore, the Edo State Government is hereby reducing the number of work days that civil and public servants will have to commute to their workplaces from five days a week to three days a week till further notice. Workers will now work from home two days a week.

“Similarly, for teachers and parents, their commuting to school will be reduced as the government is working on deepening the EdoBEST@Home initiative to create more virtual classrooms, thereby reducing the cost of commuting on parents, teachers, and pupils. The Edo SUBEB will provide details on this initiative in the coming days.”

He added, “To lower the rising cost of energy on our people, we will continue to work with the electricity companies in the State to improve power supply to homes and businesses.

“Similarly, fibre optic connections are being made available to help our people work remotely, thereby reducing their cost of transportation.

“While government intensifies these efforts to alleviate the burden of the fuel price increase on the people during this very challenging period, we want to call on everyone to remain calm and go about their daily businesses lawfully.”

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Aircraft Used For Nigeria Air Was Chartered Flight From Ethiopian Airlines — MD

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Nigeria Air
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The Interim Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Capt Dapo Olumide, on Tuesday, said the aircraft used to unveil the country’s national career was a legitimate chartered flight from Ethiopian Airlines.

He said the aircraft returned to Ethiopian Airlines after the unveiling.

Olumide stated this before the Senate Committee on Aviation.

The Committee members expressed its misgivings towards the unveiling of the national carrier during a meeting with Olumide; the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Emmanuel Meribole; as well as heads of aviation agencies.

At the meeting, the Chairman of the Senate Aviation Committee, Senator Biodun Olujimi wondered why the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika hurriedly unveiled a national carrier on the last day of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Also, the Chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji, said the launch of Nigeria Air is a fraud.

He stated this after meeting stakeholders in the aviation sector who largely denied knowledge of the launch.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Aviation said Nigeria Air was only unveiled and not launched.

Responding to the Committee, Capt Dapo Olumide said Nigeria Air was unveiled at the time it was to prove to Nigerians that the project is not a fluke.

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