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Mass sack imminent in culture/film sector

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…..Presidency to sack heads of Culture Agencies, Directors

There are indications that President Muhammadu Buhari has acceded to the request made to him by the leadership of the amalgamated workers union of parastatals in the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture to sack heads of cultural agencies and some top directors in the agencies. A Presidency source confirmed that the President has communicated his approval of the request of the union to the Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed. The directive will also affect some top directors in the agencies who have been accused of misconduct or who were engaged without due process. The source also revealed that the President subsequently directed that all the CEO’s and Directors accused of ‘corruption, embezzlement and maladministration’ be investigated and ‘brought to book’ where necessary.

The leadership of the unions had in a joint petition addressed to the President through the Secretary of the Government of the Federation requested President Buhari to sack all the heads of the culture and film agencies in the same manner he ordered the sack of all the heads of the information agencies earlier in the year.

A source explained that the Workers Union had alleged that most of those who are heading the culture and film parastatals are ‘square pegs in round holes’ while others who were employed by the Jonathan Administration under questionable criteria lack the capacity to run the agencies. The union leaders also alleged ‘wide scale abuse of public funds and embezzlement’ by most of the CEO’s. ‘’They even alleged that some of the CEO’s were involved in employment racketering and were squandering capital and over head votes on self serving scheme. They even gave an example of a parastatal in Lagos whose CEO padded his capital budget. They said he included organizing a workshop for kannywood filmmakers in his 2016 budget and was funded. Meanwhile they have no business with film. The agency is just a monument’’ the source said.

There are about 11 parastatals in the culture and film arm of the Ministry of Information and Culture. The parastatals are the National Council for Arts and Culture, National Theatre, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization, National Gallery of Arts, National Troupe of Nigeria, National Museums and Monuments and National Institute for Hotel and Tourism Services. Others are the Nigerian Film Corporation, Nigerian Tourism Corporation, National Film and Video Censors Board and the National Institute of Cultural Orientation.

It will be recalled that President Buhari earlier in the year approved the sack of CEO’s of the parastatals in the information arm of the Ministry of Information and Culture. Those affected in the sack include Sola Omole of the NTA, Emeka Mba of the NBC and Ladan Salihu of the FRCN.

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Finance Ministry Allegedly Spent N55million On Sendforth  Of Perm Sec, Udo Okonkwo Ekanem, Pays Money Into Personal Account…

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A  review of public payments portal, Govspend, has shown that a sum of over N55 million, was paid into the account of one Unoh Omolara, for the sendforth party of Udo Okonkwo Ekanem.

 

The payment was made by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

 

Okonkwo served as the permanent secretary, special duties of the ministry.

 

The payment for the party was made on September 13th, 2024.

According to the payment description, the event was scheduled to hold at Transcorp Hilton hotels on September 6th, 2024.

 

 

Further checks revealed that the event was confirmed by the ministry of finance on its website.

 

The ministry had noted that it celebrated the Ekanem in appreciation of his oustanding commitment.

 

 

This is despite the provision of Chapter Seven, Section 713 of Nigeria’s Financial Regulations 2009 states that “Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private account.”

 

The money spent on the sendforth was twice the amount spent to set up 28 boreholes in Jigawa State.

 

According to details on the Govspend website, N28.3 million was spent on drilling twenty-three solar powered borehole and five numbers hand pump boreholes in Jigawa State.

 

 

This would mean that this money spent on sendforth, half of it would have provided same number of solar powered boreholes and hand pumps in other locations of the country.

 

There have been concerns over prudence in management of government resources by different ministries’ department and agencies.

 

Although, the government has expressed its commitment to accountability, experts say there are loopholes exploited by different government parastatals.

 

 

 

Source: Sahara Reporters.

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ICPC Arraigns House Of Reps Ex-Member John Dyegh For Money Laundering

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The lawmaker was arraigned on Monday on a five-count charge before Hon. Justice M. Shitu Abubakar at the Federal High Court 1 sitting in Makurdi, Benue State, under case number FHC/MKD/CR/184/2024.

 

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences commission (ICPC) has arraigned a former House of Representatives, John Dyegh, for abuse of office and money laundering.

 

 

 

 

 

John Dyegh, who served as a member of the 9th National Assembly, representing Gboko/Tarka Federal constituency at the House of Representatives of Nigeria, was arraigned before a Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi, Benue State, for allegedly violating the provisions of the ICPC Acts 2000.

 

 

 

 

 

The lawmaker was arraigned on Monday on a five-count charge before Hon. Justice M. Shitu Abubakar at the Federal High Court 1 sitting in Makurdi, Benue State, under case number FHC/MKD/CR/184/2024.

 

 

 

 

 

The charges detail alleged corrupt practices, including Dyegh’s receipt of N18,970,000 (Eighteen Million Nine Hundred and Seventy Thousand Naira) on May 19, 2014, intended for the construction of school facilities in Guma, Benue State.

 

 

 

 

 

John Dyegh was accused of allegedly channeling the funds through the First Bank account of Midag Limited, a company in which Dyegh has a substantial interest. This alleged action violates Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Act, of 2000.

 

 

 

 

 

He was further alleged to have received and transferred these funds through Midag Limited and Kangnaan Global Resources Limited, companies associated with him, contrary to the Corrupt Practices Act.

 

 

 

 

 

Dyegh allegedly abused his office by privately benefitting from contracts awarded to the companies while overseeing the related funds as a signatory on their accounts, according to the charge sheet.

 

 

 

The Presiding Judge, Justice Abubakar, at the commencement of the trial last Friday ordered Dyegh’s to be remanded at the Nigerian Correctional Center, Makurdi, pending the determination of his bail application and adjourned the matter till Monday 11, November, 2024.

 

 

 

However, at the resumed hearing of the case on Monday, November 11, 2024, Defense Counsel S.E. Irabo moved a bail application of his client Dyegh.

 

 

 

He prayed the court to grant his client the bail citing health concerns.

 

 

 

Justice Abubakar, after listening to the argument of the counsels, subsequently granted Dyegh bail in the amount of N20 million, requiring two sureties with international passports to be surrendered to the court and verifiable addresses.

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Justice Abubakar later adjourned the case until January 16, 2025, for a definite hearing of the corrupt case preferred against the former Federal Lawmaker.

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Nigerian Senator’s Wife Orders Policemen In Convoy To Arrest, Torture Skit-maker For Criticising Husband Over Bad Roads, Poor Health Facilities

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Personnel of the Taraba State police command acting on the orders of Hajia Fatima Lau, wife of the Senator representing Taraba North senatorial district, Shuaibu Isa Lau, arrested and detained a skit maker, Nafiu Hassan, for several days, SaharaReporters has gathered.

 

Lau is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Deputy Senate Minority Leader.

 

 

 

Hassan had done a skit where he decried the deplorable condition of roads in the senatorial district. He said that many of the roads are now killing zones due to their bad state.

 

However, sources said the Senator’s wife last Wednesday saw Hassan while passing by her street and called the police from GRA Division in Jalingo to arrest and detain him.

 

 

 

She was said to have created a scene publicly while accusing the skit maker of “cyberstalking and criminal character assassination.”

 

 

 

It was learnt that Hassan was tortured and released on Sunday.

 

 

 

The source said, “Nafiu Hassan made a video about a month ago about bad roads and dilapidated health facilities in Taraba North. However, this video led to his arrest last Wednesday and he was detained till Sunday,” a source told SaharaReporters.

 

“He was arrested by the police on the orders of the Senator’s wife. Nafiu was passing through the Senator’s street while the wife, Hajia Lau, was about to enter her residence in Old Commissioner Quarters in Jalingo.

 

 

 

“So, she saw him and created a scene knowing he was the one that made a video about bad roads and dilapidated healthcare facilities in her husband’s village. She termed that as defamation of character and then ordered policemen attached to her to immediately arrest him.

 

 

 

“These officers in her convoy then started beating him. Then they took him in their Hilux to GRA Division Jalingo and his bail was denied. He was however released on Sunday. He was accused of character defamation and criminal conspiracies, which are all null and void.”

 

 

 

Another source said it was not the first time the Senator’s wife would order security operatives to detain Nigerians.

 

 

 

He said, “This is the fifth time this woman is maltreating people in this state. There was an incident of two boys passing around Mayo-Gwoi. Her convoy was passing by at the time and one of the boys mistakenly touched the car leading her convoy which was moving slowly due to traffic.

 

 

 

“It wasn’t the car she was inside but one of the cars in her convoy; however, out of annoyance, she called the police to arrest the boy and he was detained for three weeks.

 

 

 

“The same woman ordered soldiers to beat about 10 people who went to see her husband at home. She sent them away, claiming there was one person out of them she did not like.

 

 

 

“They were exchanging words with her and then she informed soldiers to assault them. Guess what, they followed all the individuals to their homes and beat them mercilessly. These are the ones I can recall for now but there are more than those two cases. There are many cases linked to this same woman. There are others more deadly than them. But sadly, no one to stand for the victims.”

 

 

 

Efforts made by SaharaReporters to reach Senator Lau failed as he did not answer nor return calls to his mobile phone.

 

 

 

A text message sent to his mobile line had yet to be replied to as at the time of filing this report.

 

 

 

This comes a few days after a viral video showed Alex Ikwechegh, a member of the House of Representatives, assaulting a Bolt driver, Stephen Abuwatseya.

 

 

 

The footage showed the visibly angry lawmaker repeatedly slapping and insulting the driver after Stephen asked him to come outside to collect a package meant for delivery.

 

 

 

The incident, which occurred on October 27 in the Maitama district of Abuja, sparked outrage on social media. Ikwechegh then issued a public apology, acknowledging his actions and expressing regret over his behaviour during the altercation.

 

 

 

In a message posted on Instagram, the lawmaker apologised to the Bolt driver, Nigeria Police Force, and the National Assembly, admitting that his actions did not meet the standards expected of a public official, regardless of the provocation involved.

 

 

 

He was also arraigned at a magistrates’ court in Kuje, Abuja, where he pleaded not guilty to three counts bordering on assault and threat to life.

 

 

 

The defendant was released on N500,000 bail, and the court adjourned the case until November 8, 2024, for further proceedings.

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