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BRING BACK IKEDI OHAKIM (PART 2)

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I will never forget my friend Jenifer. I have told you this story before. Situation demands that i say it again. I remember the first day when she walked into my room drunk. That was in 2012. She sat down. ‘I’ve come’ she said, ‘to tell you the latest news about Rochas Okorocha ,your Governor in Douglas House, Owerri. He is sacking more workers. After the 10,000 workers, he has sacked another 30,000 workers ’

Everybody knows Jenifer in the neighbourhood. She was among the 10,000 Imo State Civil Servants popularly known as Ohakim 10,000 jobs that Governor Rochas Okorocha sacked on the 6th of June 2011. Today, she hates Rochas with a passion for making her and her sister unemployed. She took up the vodka drinking habit when she lost her job. She has dark skin, tiny boobs, long shiny dark hair, and brown eyes. She looks very athletic. Her cloth hugs her body; the lightest of cotton.

When Jenifer told me that day of another mass sack in Imo State, it shocked me. I quickly made phone calls and discovered that the news was true. Jenifer pulled her hair up and piled it on top of her head. She let her eyes look at my eyes, and then she dropped her hair and let it fall down in front of her face. When I saw Jenifer in that mood, I felt her pains of unemployment and the sadness was so great. Today Jenifer is still drinking. She and her sister are still unemployed.

On that first day that she entered my room, i stood up , touched her wrists and hands. I felt sorry for her. Okorocha overlooked the fact that the average Nigerian worker has four dependents – at least two living with him and he removed food from the table of the masses that voted him into power. Jenifer walked away from the mirror and said something that is true today. ‘’This is not what we bargained. All the things we were told during the election, all the love we chased, all the good campaign promises, what happened to them?’ ‘We now have an Imo state of unemployed youths; Imo state were minimum wages are denied workers, Imo state were workers are owed salaries, Imo state were the people are being denied employment in spite of their potentials; Imo state of escalating executive lawlessness, Imo state were LGA funds are looted, Imo state of disregard for constitutional rights. Government in Imo today is Owelle only . Those in government today are suffocating. The teachers are suffering. The civil servants are suffering. Business men are suffering. Even the traders are suffering. What we have now in Imo State is the more you look the less you see’ she said

Just like Jenifer pointed out, politically, economically and socially, the government of Owelle Rochas Okorocha has shown inability to move Imo State forward. With Imo’s huge resources and financial allocations from FG the present state of socio-economic and political paralysis and unimaginable underdevelopment and mass misery of the vast majority of Imolites in all the LGA’s and sectors, provide an irrefutable proof of failure of the rule of Governor Okorocha.

For example, pension in Imo which previously is automatic for any worker that has worked for a certain period is now a cash pot for some capitalist thieving elements to embezzle and become financially bloated while thousands of Imo citizens entitled to pensions in Imo live or die in penury due to a backlog of unpaid pensions under one spurious excuse or another. The governor recently said he is going to pay pensioners but na so we dey always hear. Retired workers of Imo Broadcasting Corporation are still crying. Retired primary school teachers are crying. Staff of General Hospitals and Imo Transport Company are crying. I can go on and on to mention them.

Youths like Jenifer today, are completely without jobs. Governor Okorocha sacked 10,000 Imo graduates in the civil service and another 30,000 workers in our LGA’s . Why,why, why? Today he claims to have employed 15,000 teachers and 25,000 public servants when it is all scam. The great improvement, which the Imo working masses had previously got in the last administration vis-à-vis their working conditions have been drastically rendered ineffectual under the current and vicious neo-liberal, capitalist, anti-poor policies and practices of Okorocha.

He is not interested in genuine effort at developing public infrastructures or the economy through which millions of jobs can be provided. To him, economic growth is defined by the amount of billions that he can amass so as to compete with elements within his class. For me, Imo with its allocation and mostly untapped wealth, can guarantee decent and secure jobs for Imolites without tears. I cry for the members of the House of Assembly Service Commission that Okorocha sacked. I cry for the members of the Civil Service Commission that he sacked. I cry for the members of the Local Government Service Commission, Local Government Development Areas, Judicial Service Commission and Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers that he sacked. These are statutory commissions with fixed tenures that he illegally dissolved before the expiration of their tenure of office. I also cry for the 10,000 workers, people like Jenifer.

Okorocha’s government has also earned its name in the corruption hall of fame. His government’s corruption is gargantuan. Aside superintending over massive looting, the Okorocha’s government has openly and unashamedly associated with every tom, dick and harry in the corruption business. Financial scam is now everywhere in Imo State. What happened to the N13.3 Billion Bond Proceeds out of the N18.5 taken by the Imo State Government during Ohakim’s regime? What happened to the N3 Billion SUBEB project account? What is happening to our Sure-P funds? What happened to the N2.5 Billion Local Government Joint Project Account? What happened to the N3.6 Billion left in JAAC Account by the previous administration? What about the N488 Million in VAT account? Who squandered the N132 Billion Local Government Allocations for 27 Local Government Areas in Imo State from May 2011 to December 2013? Who squandered the N16billion ISOPADEC funds? Who squandered N670 Million Imo children funds? Who squandered the flood assistance funds of Imo State?

Where is the money stolen in Connivance with Jpros Company Limited from the Construction of Warehouse-Orlu-Road Junction? Governor Okorocha’s administration paid JPROS a total of N1.35 Billion Naira for the above road. Where is the N458 Million Naira laundered to Dubai and Lebanon with the connivance of the Governor’s former Special Adviser on Project Monitoring and strong political associate Prince Macdonald Akano and Mr. Joseph Dina of JPROS International Limited? I can go on and on.

Today he claims to be paying monthly stipend to pupils and students in all the public schools in Imo State when the payment is occasional. He claims to have spent millions of naira procuring free school uniforms, bags, sandals, desks, books etc for pupils and students in all the public schools in Imo State but provided only few uniforms and canvass to few wards. What about the sale of ADAPALM to Roche Group(his company), the sale of Imo Transport Company (I.T.C.), Concorde Hotel, Children’s Park (opposite Concorde Hotel Owerri), state General Hospitals etc for many years.What about the Sale of Imo Road Maintenance Agency (IROMA) graders, bulldozers, pay-loaders etc to himself . What about the alleged auction of world-class Printing and Sword Machines worth over 200 million naira belonging to Imo Newspapers to his private printing press in Lagos. What about the borrowing of many Billions of Naira from banks and denying that no money was borrowed?

My brothers we must get Imo out of this one chance vehicle. The people of Imo must first and foremost remove from power this ruling capitalist thieving elite and in his place institute a workers and poor people’s friendly government whose central strategy would be based on the mobilization of Imo’s human and natural resources to meet the needs of full economic development and decent living for all Imolites and not just for a few thieving capitalist elements. We need someone to proffer genuine anti-capitalist, pro-masses economic and political alternatives to the ruinous policies of the present capitalist thieving cabal in Imo State.

Who is the popular candidate with grass root support that will help us out among the lot? I will desire that all aspirant will engage all Imolite as Ohakim is doing. It is better we pick Ohakim from this point, give him all our expectations of responsible future leadership in Imo State.Let us give him an audience and hear him. He has realised that power really belongs to the people and is ready to lead the people with uncommon service. Imo must learn forgiveness from Ekiti so that the fresh air in Ekiti can get to the virulent section of the South East. Yes we needs someone that is more popular at the grass root than the lot and only a popular and experienced candidate can defeat a sitting governor. Let’s take the step to support Ohakim. As I said before it is better to bring out the diamond in Ohakim. Imo state need strong leadership-Men and Women who are simple,wise,humble, creative and above all courageous. Let’s Bring Back Ikedi Ohakim to give our youths jobs and to make Imo better.

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N3bn Fraud Trial: Court permits Yahaya Bello’s accused nephew to travel abroad

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The Federal High Court in Abuja has permitted an accused nephew of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello to travel to the United Kingdom for medical attention.

 

To enable the defendant, Ali Bello, to embark on the foreign medical trip, the court ordered the release of his passport seized from him as part of his bail conditions.

 

Obiora Egwuatu, the trial judge, issued the order on Monday, overruling the objection of the prosecution agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to grant the accused person’s request.

 

He said the prosecution failed to present convincing evidence to back its claim that Ali would jump bail or tamper with evidence if allowed to embark on the medical trip.

 

He said he had no reason to believe Ali would jump bail, having fulfilled previous undertakings to return to Nigeria to continue his trial on two separate occasions.

 

“Since the grant of bail, he has not breached the terms of bail and has been coming to court to stand his trial.

 

“It is not controverted that this court had on two previous occasions granted the applicant similar prayers.

 

“On those two occasions, that is, between the 1 to 31 August 2023 and 17 December 2023 and 10 January 2024, the applicant did not breach the terms of the permission granted,” the judge said.

 

Stressing the need to ensure a defendant is healthy to stand trial, the judge said, “I wholeheartedly subscribe to the view that a defendant should be alive to stand trial” and face the consequences of his crime if found guilty.

 

Mr Egwuatu ordered the court’s deputy chief registrar who keeps Ali’s passport to release it to him, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

 

He also ordered the defendant to return the passport on or before 15 September.

 

Series of charges relating to Kogi funds

Ali and three others are standing trial on money laundering charges involving N3 billion allegedly diverted from the Kogi State coffers during former Governor Bello’s tenure.

 

The three co-defendants in the case are Abba Adaudu, Yakubu Siyaka Adabenege and Iyadi Sadat.

 

The case is only one in a series of prosecutions the EFCC brought against Ali, Mr Bello and their associates over their alleged fraudulent handling of Kogi State Government’s funds.

 

Ali and a co-defendant, Dauda Sulaiman, are charged with money laundering in another case involving the alleged diversion of N10 billion of Kogi State’s funds. The case is before a different judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, James Omotosho. The prosecution has already called seven witnesses in the trial.

 

Mr Bello, the former governor, faces money laundering charges involving an alleged diversion of Kogi State’s N80 billion in a separate case before Mr Omotosho. Both Ali and Mr Suleiman are named as accomplices in the case.

 

EFCC brought the charges against Mr Bello after completing his two terms of eight years as governor in January but has been unable to get him to court for arraignment.

 

Since April, Mr Bello has shunned six court sessions scheduled for his arraignment, which has now been rescheduled for 25 September.

 

Ali’s medical trip request

On 5 April, Ali filed an application in the trial before Mr Egwatu seeking an order to release his passport from the deputy chief registrar of the court to enable him to travel abroad for medical consultation and examination.

 

He said the trip was to fulfil a routine cardiologic follow-up to review his medication and undergo cardiac tests.

 

He said he received medical advice to undergo the process annually.

 

He also recalled that the judge had granted him similar permissions to embark on the foreign medical trip on two occasions – first between 1 and 31 August 2023 and second between 17 December 2023 and 10 January 2024.

 

He said he returned to Nigeria on both occasions and returned his passport to the court’s deputy chief registrar as he was ordered to.

 

He pleaded with the judge to order the release of his passport again, undertaking to return it to the official upon his return from the UK to Nigeria.

 

The defendant also gave an assurance to be law abiding in the UK.

 

EFCC opposes request

The EFCC opposed the application.

 

Arguing against the request in court, EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, a SAN, cited a five-paragraph counter-affidavit detailing reasons for the commission’s objection. An EFCC official, Abubakar Salihu Wara, swore to the facts in the document on 19 April.

 

Mr Oyedepo argued that Ali failed to place any medical report before the court to show the health condition that necessitated the medical appointment.

 

Mr Oyedepo said Exhibit ‘A’ attached to the application did not disclose the email address of the sender and the receiver of the said medical appointment.

 

He added that the applicant did not present anything to show that Exhibit ‘A’ emanated from the London Centre for Advanced Cardiology as claimed.

 

He argued that Ali might tamper with evidence gathered for his prosecution if his application is granted.

 

However, Ali filed a further affidavit to dispute the prosecution’s claims.

 

Ruling

Apart from banking on the reputation Ali had earned by fulfilling his promises to return to Nigeria when granted the foreign trip permissions on two previous occasions, the judge also ruled that EFCC’s reasons for objecting to the request were not convincing.

 

Mr Egwatu held that EFCC failed to show that the name of the London hospital Ali planned to visit and its address “are not in existence”. He said there was no contrary evidence disputing the fact that the applicant “has a scheduled appointment with the said cardiologist.”

 

According to him, there was also no evidence presented by the EFCC to show that while Ali was on bail, he did or attempted to interfere with evidence or collude with any person to tamper with evidence.

 

The judge further said that a defendant ought to be healthy to stand the rigours of trial.

 

Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Godwin Emefiele, facing multiple corruption trials, recently applied to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to seek medical attention in the UK, but the court rejected the request.

 

The judge in the case upheld EFCC’s objection, which was argued by Mr Oyedepo, the same prosecutor in Ali’s trial.

 

(NAN)

 

 

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Reps ask FG to suspend NMDPRA boss over anti-Dangote refinery comment

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The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to suspend the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, pending the conclusion of the investigations of allegations against what it called the unguarded statement by the CEO.

 

The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by the member representing Esosa Federal Constituency, Edo State, Esosa Iyawe, during Tuesday’s plenary on the need to address issues arising from Farouk’s utterances about the nation’s local refineries.

 

The lawmaker reminded his colleagues that claims of adulterated fuel in the Nigerian market must be thoroughly investigated, stating that fuel quality can impact engine hardware.

 

This he said, is the reason ultra-low sulphur diesel is recommended for all types of power plants, storage tanks, industrial facilities, fleets and heavy equipment, and even ships, as high sulphur content in fuels, causes damage to engines and contributes to air pollution.

 

He said considering the various risks associated with sulphur, countries across the world have taken steps to regulate it by setting standards that require maximum reduction of emissions of this chemical compound, which diesel producers are expected to adhere to.

 

The Labour Party lawmaker, however, noted that the NMDPRA permits local refiners to produce diesel with Sulphur content of up to 650 parts per million until January 2025, as approved by the Economic Community of West African States.

 

He quoted the NMDPRA boss as saying that the diesel produced by the Dangote Refinery is inferior to the ones imported into the country and that their fuel had a large content of sulphur, which he put at between 650 to 1,200 ppm.

 

 

“In their defence, Dangote called for a test of their products, which was supervised by members of the House of Representatives, wherein it was revealed that Dangote’s diesel had a Sulphur content of 87.6 ppm (parts per million), whereas the other two samples diesel imported showed sulphur levels exceeding 1800 ppm and 2000 ppm respectively, thus disproving the allegations made by the NMDPRA boss.

 

 

“Allegations have been made that the NMDPRA was giving licences to some traders who regularly import high-sulphur content diesel into Nigeria, and the use of such products poses grave health risks and huge financial losses for Nigerians.

 

“The unguarded statements by the Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, which has since been disproved, sparked an outrage from Nigerians who tagged his undermining of local refineries and insistence on the continued importation of fuel an act of economic sabotage, as the imported products have been shown to contain high levels of dangerous compounds.”

 

He condemned what he called the careless statement by Farouk, noting that “Without conducting any prior investigation, he was not only unprofessional but also unpatriotic, especially in the face of the recent calls for protest against the Federal Government.”

 

Recall that a joint committee of the House on Monday, July 22, 2024, commenced investigations into Farouk’s allegations against Dangote Refinery.

 

The panel, made up of the Committees on Petroleum (Downstream and Midstream) is also conducting a legislative forensic investigation into “The presence of middlemen in crude trading and alleged unavailability of international standard laboratories to check adulterate

d products”, among others.

 

 

 

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Democrats Raise Over $40 Million Online Following Biden’s Presidential Race Exit

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In a remarkable display of financial support, Democrats raised more than $40 million online following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would be exiting the presidential race. This surge in donations, which occurred on Sunday, marked the most significant single day of online contributions for the Democratic Party since the 2020 election.

According to a New York Times analysis of ActBlue’s online contribution tracker, the wave of donations began shortly after President Biden’s withdrawal and coincided with Vice President Kamala Harris gaining momentum in the nomination race. Prior to Biden’s announcement, donations were averaging less than $200,000 per hour. However, within just one hour after the news broke, donations soared to $7.5 million.

The ActBlue platform processes contributions for various Democratic candidates and causes, not limited to Biden or Harris. It includes donations to Democratic House and Senate candidates as well as political nonprofits. The overall increase in donations highlights the unified support within the party during a pivotal moment.

Kenneth Pennington, a Democratic digital strategist, expressed his enthusiasm on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “This might be the greatest fundraising moment in Democratic Party history.” The previous record for single-day donations on ActBlue was set after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020, with approximately $73.5 million processed. Sunday’s donations, reaching over $50 million by the end of the day, made it one of the platform’s most successful days ever.

The influx of contributions comes at a critical time for the Democratic Party, which has been grappling with internal conflicts and a need to regain momentum in the race aga inst former President Donald J. Trump. Fundraising had significantly slowed among major Democratic donors following President Biden’s underwhelming debate performance, but his departure from the race seemed to galvanize the party’s base.

Biden’s exit and his endorsement of Vice President Harris appeared to unify Democratic supporters, resulting in a dramatic spike in contributions. As Harris builds momentum to secure the nomination, the financial backing will undoubtedly play a crucial role in her campaign.

President Biden’s withdrawal had been anticipated by many, although the timing came as a surprise. He announced his decision while recovering from Covid at his Delaware beach house. In a letter posted on X, Biden reflected on his presidency, calling it the “greatest honor of my life.” He emphasized that stepping down was in the best interest of the party and the country, allowing him to focus on his duties for the remainder of his term.

Biden’s endorsement of Harris was swift and unequivocal, with his campaign quickly rebranding to “Harris for President.” Prominent Democrats and potential rivals, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, promptly voiced their support for Harris.

The surge in donations following Biden’s exit signifies a critical juncture for the Democratic Party. With substantial financial resources now at their disposal, the party aims to leverage this momentum to overcome recent challenges and strengthen their position in the upcoming election.

 

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