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More Queen’s College pupils take ill…• Parents call for prosecution of ex-principal

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7 years ago

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on a daily basis, a pupil of Queen’s College, Yaba, is admitted in one general hospital or another in Lagos State, we learnt.

A parent, whose child had been admitted at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba, for about a week, told our correspondent that no fewer than 15 pupils of the school were receiving treatment in LUTH.

 

The parent and other parents with children in the school called on the Federal Government to recall a former principal of the school, Dr Lami Amodu, to face criminal charges for negligence and the death of two pupils of the school.

 

Our correspondent had reported that many pupils of the school had diarrhoea after eating spaghetti and water, said to have been contaminated.

 

A teacher in the school had disclosed to our correspondent that one-fourth of the school population was infected with diarrhoea and were initially admitted at the school’s sickbay.

 

Two pupils of the school–Vivian Osuiniyi and Bithia Itulua – were reported to have died after being taken away for proper treatments at home.

 

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, had released a statement, saying health records from the school’s sickbay indicated that the illness started on January 16, 2017, adding that a total of 1,222 pupils presented themselves at the school’s clinic on account of abdominal pain, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.

 

Idris had advised an indefinite suspension of academic activities in the school.

 

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, was reported to have asked the school’s new principal, Mrs. Bola Are, to cease plans for the resumption of the school.

 

PUNCH Metro, however, learnt that the school’s Junior Secondary School three pupils and Senior Secondary School three pupils had been going to the school as day students because of their certificate exams.

 

A parent, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone from LUTH on Thurday, said the decision was wrong, adding that some parents had been bringing their children from the school in their uniforms to LUTH.

She said, “My daughter did not show any symptom until about two weeks ago. We took her to a private clinic in our area, where she stayed for five days without any improvement.

 

“Then, we took her to a standard hospital where some consultants battled with the infection. After I had spent about N150,000, I was advised to take her to LUTH.

 

“In LUTH, I saw a lot of Queen’s College parents with their children. We were about 15 in number. Just yesterday, they brought a girl in school uniform. She was brought by her parents directly from the school. Unfortunately, while some of our children are struggling to survive, the school is trying to manage its reputation by lying that all is well.

 

“They are bringing pupils on a daily basis. The school authority and the Federal Ministry of Education are paying lip service to this unfolding incident.”

 

He said on the average, each admitted pupil spent two weeks in the hospital.

 

On Friday, the parent sent a message to our correspondent that another child had been brought in her school uniform to LUTH.

 

PUNCH Metro learnt that the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, had instructed all federal hospitals to treat pupils of the school free of charge.

 

A parent said one of the doctors attending to the children cautioned that pupils who had yet to show any sign of infection were more at risk.

 

He said, “We were told that the more the bacterial stays dormant in the body of the girls, the more dangerous it would be. There is a need for the school management to sensitise all the parents whose children have not fallen ill to take urgent action. It is dangerous for pupils to still be using that environment because the infection has not been isolated.”

 

A parent said many of the parents were of the opinion that the former principal of the school must be recalled and made to answer for the incident.

 

He said, “She was just transferred, which is wrong. She should be made to answer to what happened. She should be prosecuted for criminal negligence or manslaughter. The same principal bought a Ford Explorer Jeep.  The Jeep is on the school’s premises. This principal denied that anything happened, and the question is why? Somebody must pay for this.”

 

The Public Relations Officer of LUTH, Mr. Kelechi Otuneme, said he could not confirm the number of Queen’s College pupils in the hospital.

 

He said, “I don’t have that case before me right now, so I cannot tell the frequency at which they bring in pupils and the number of those in the hospital. I will get back to you tomorrow (Monday).”

 

The President of the Old Students Association, Dr Frances Ajose, confirmed the development, adding that she was informed each time a new pupil took ill.

 

She said, “Of course I am aware. I am notified each time they (the pupils) are going to hospitals.”

 

Ajose, however, directed our correspondent to the state Commissioner for Health, Idris, saying he was the only one authorised to comment on the outbreak.

 

A top official of Queen’s College, who begged not to be identified, said she had spoken with LUTH director and was informed many of the pupils had been discharged.

 

“I was told only five pupils are on admission. We are monitoring the situation. I have been praying for the pupils to return to school. The past principal really messed things up and I believe all other schools must have learnt from her mistake,” she added.

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EFCC indicts Sirika, brother in new N19bn fraud

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5 days ago

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May 14, 2024

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has charged former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, his brother, Ahmad Sirika; and his company – Enginos Nigeria Limited, with over N19.4bn fraud.

The sum is said to be for several aviation ministry contracts from the former minister to Enginos Nigeria Limited, owned by Sirika’s younger brother, Abubakar.

The Sirika brothers and Enginos Nigeria Limited will be arraigned before Justice Belgore of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Garki, Abuja today (Tuesday).

It is the second criminal charge the EFCC will be filing against the ex-aviation minister.

He was last Thursday arraigned for N2.7bn fraud before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.

Sirika was arraigned on six counts alongside his daughter, Fatimah; brother-in-law, Jalal Hamma, and Al-Buraq Investment Ltd.

The defendants pleaded not guilty while Justice Sylvanus Oriji granted them N100m bail each, with the condition that they must not travel out of the country until the end of the criminal case.

On Monday, EFCC insiders informed The PUNCH that the anti-graft agency had filed a second charge against the ex-minister, bordering on N19.4bn fraud.

In the copy of the fresh charges sighted by our correspondent on Monday, the EFCC alleged that Sirika, “while being the Minister of Aviation, on or about 18th August 2022, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did use your position to confer an unfair advantage upon Enginos Nigeria Limited, whose alter ego, Ahmad Abubakar Sirika, is your biological brother, by using your position to influence the award to him, the contract for the construction of a terminal building at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1,345,586,500.00.”

According to the EFCC, Sirika’s alleged action was a violation of Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under the same section.

In another count, the EFCC alleged that “on or about 3rd of November, 2022, in Abuja,” Sirika used his position “to confer unfair advantage upon Enginos Nigeria Limited, whose alter ego, Ahmad Abubakar Sirika, is your biological brother, by using your position to influence the award to him, the contract for the establishment of Fire Truck Maintenance and Refurbishment Centre at Katsina Airport for the sum of N3,811,497,685.00.”

In another count, he was accused of corruptly awarding a N615,195,275.00 contract to his brother for the procurement and installation of lift and air conditioners and power generators for the Aviation House in Abuja.

Furthermore, the EFCC alleged that Sirika, between August 2022 and May 2023 in Abuja, “had possession of an aggregate sum of N2,337, 840,674.16, which sum you knew indirectly represented the proceeds of criminal conducts of Hadi Abubakar Sirika, who was the Minister of Aviation at the time.”

It was revealed that the ex-minister’s younger brother, Abubakar, was earlier arrested and detained by the EFCC in connection with N3,212,258,930.18 paid to his company, Enginos Nigerian Limited’s bank account by the former minister.

 

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Nigerian Bank chiefs obtain N549bn insider loans in five years

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6 days ago

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May 13, 2024

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Directors and key management personnel of Deposit Money Banks borrowed about N549bn from their financial institutions in five years.

This is according to The PUNCH analysis of the banks’ annual reports filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited between 2019 and 2023.

However, the banks’ loans and advances to some directors and key management personnel as well as related party transactions dropped significantly in 2023.

These transactions dropped to N52.40bn for eight financial institutions compared to N111.31bn in 2022, indicating a 52.92 per cent decline in one year.

Financial institutions reviewed in the 2023 review include Access Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa, Fidelity Bank, Wema Bank, Stanbic IBTC Holding Plc and the FCMB Group.

This decline came amid the release of new corporate governance guidelines by the Central Bank of Nigeria which went into effect August 1, 2023.

In the circular dated July 13, 2023, and signed by Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Chibuzo Efobi, the guidelines which imposed responsibilities on the bank board and the executive compliance officers, supersede other previous codes, circulars and related directives, according to the apex bank.

The CBN guidelines on related party transactions said, “Banks shall establish a policy concerning insider trading and related party transactions by directors, senior executives, and employees, as well as publish the policy or a summary of that policy on their website. 22.2 The policy shall contain appropriate standards and procedures to ensure it is effectively implemented. 22.3 In addition to the requirements in Section 22.2, there shall be an internal review mechanism carried out by the internal audit function of the bank, to assess the compliance and effectiveness of the policy.

“22.4 Any director whose facility or that of his/her related interests remains nonperforming in any financial institution for more than one year shall cease to be on the board of the bank and shall be blacklisted from sitting on the board of such bank and that of any other financial institution under the purview of the CBN. 22.5 No director-related loans and/or interest thereon shall be written off without the CBN’s prior approval.”

Leading the pack in terms of major decline in loans to related parties and entities controlled by key management personnel was Fidelity Bank Plc, which went from N92.31bn at the end of December 2022 to N2.09bn at the end of last year.

In footnotes, the bank however said that some of the related parties like A-Z Petroleum Limited, Dangote Group and Genesis Group as of 31 December 2022, had “exited the related party relationship post 2022 financial year in line with CBN requirement.”

In 2022, the total value of insider loans for 10 banks including Access Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa, Fidelity Bank, Wema Bank, Stanbic IBTC Holding Plc, FCMB Group, Unity Bank and Sterling Bank amounted to N131.04bn.

Fidelity Bank led the highest for the year, followed by Unity Bank at N17.32bn and UBA at N13.74bn.

In 2021, the loans to related parties of these financial institutions rose to N139.16bn with Fidelity Bank and UBA leading at N97.73bn and N15.28bn, respectively. GTCO trailed in third position with N6.859bn.

Between 2019 and 2020, a total of N226.6bn was disbursed as loans. In 2019, eleven banks borrowed its key management personnel a total sum of N29.65bn. The figure also includes loans to companies related to the directors.

An analysis showed that GTCO lent N155m, Zenith Bank (N1.76bn), UBA borrowed its directors N297m, Wema Bank (N5.2bn), Stanbic IBTC (N95m), FCMB (N4.8bn), Unity Bank(N7.14bn), Sterling Bank (N10.12bn) to related parties.

In 2020, the figure increased by 564 per cent or N167.32bn to N196.97bn.

Checks showed that Access Bank lent the highest with a total of N174bn to its directors and companies related to them. This was followed by Unity Bank with N7.55bn. Third on the list was Sterling Bank with N6.01bn.

Other banks including Fidelity borrowed its directors N986.2m, GTBank (N67.9m), Zenith Bank (N1.797bn), UBA (N206m), Wema Bank (N2.82bn), Stanbic IBTC (N332m), FCMB (N3.2bn), Unity Bank (N7.55bn), Sterling Bank (N6.01bn).

Commenting on the trend, the Chief Research Officer at InvestData Consulting, Ambrose Omordion said “In my language, they say, it is the yam that you know that you use to make pounded yam. If an organisation feels that the insider or director can pay the loans given to them, then there is no issue. It is when they do not pay that is where there would be issues.

“Like what is happening now in the economy, banks are not giving loans to ordinary companies unless those with names because of economic headwinds. If they give loans to the public and they are unable to repay, Non-Performing Loans will rise. If the banks offer to insiders that would pay, it is better for them.”

 

The Punch

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Court Orders Arrest of Ex-Naval Chief, Usman Jibrin Over Alleged N1.5billion Money Laundering Charges

Published

6 days ago

on

May 12, 2024

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Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has ordered the arrest of a former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, and two other officers over N1.5 billion money laundering charge.

 

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) dragged the trio before the court over fraud N1.5bn allegations.

 

The court issued the arrest warrant after hearing a motion exparte marked FHC/ABJ/CR/158/2023 and filed by ICPC counsel, Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha.

 

In the motion, the lawyer submitted that Usman Jibrin Oyibe, Adam Imam Yusuf, Brigadier General Ishaya Gangum Bauka (first to third defendants), were investigated for allegations of money laundering and making false statements regarding diversion of funds in their respective military and paramilitary institutions, into companies in which they allegedly had stake.

 

According to him, at the commencement of the investigation into the allegations, the defendants were released on administrative bail on self-recognition because of their status as serving and former public figures and has since then refused to show up for possible arraignment in court.

 

The Lawyer prayed the court for a bench warrant against the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Respondents (Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin Oyibe, Adam Imam Yusuf, and Brigadier General Ishaya Gamgum Bauka) in charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/158/2023 which is pending before the court for the purpose of arresting and bringing them to court for their arraignment and trial.

 

Listed as first to sixth defendants in the 17-count charge are Usman Jibrin Oyibe, Adam Imam Yusuf, Brigadier General Ishaya Gangum Bauka, Lahab integrated & Multi Services Limited, Gate Coast Properties International Limited and Ummays Hummayd Energy Ltd

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