Military Officers In Trouble As PMB Wields Big Stick...
President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier told Nigerians that he inherited an empty treasury from the past administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan, and vowed to go after those that have looted the nation’s finances.
Daily Sun; Buhari probes military, Vanguard; FG probes N3.8trn missing oil funds, The Punch; Okonjo-Iweala spent $2.1bn without approval- says FG, The Nation; Four-man panel to probe how NNPC blew N3.8trn, as well as The Guardian; FG begins probe of NNPC, makes the front pages of the national dailies for Tuesday, June 30, 2015.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who was a former General in the Nigerian army, he has declined to attach sentiment in his fight against corruption as he ordered the probe of the military institution. DAILY SUN reports that President Buhari, on Monday, June 29, ordered the military hierarchy to account for the number of weapons purchased to fight Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East. He also ordered the Military High Command to make available records of the total amount of money it received from the Federal Government to fight insurgency.
Daily Sun gathered from a top military source that the decision was taken after Mr. President met with the service chiefs comprising the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-General Kenneth Minimah, Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase. The source said the President’s decision might not be unconnected with the grumbling in the military by some personnel, who felt that their bosses and their colleagues occupying strategic position had taken advantage of the counter-terrorism operations to enrich themselves.
The source, who agreed there was corruption in the military, further disclosed that most senior officers see the war against insurgency as an avenue to make money, hence, lobby to get posted to the North-East. He said unlike in the past when soldiers lobbied to go for international peace-keeping operations, because of the foreign currency they will make. He said soldiers now lobby for counter-terrorist war in the North-East because the profit is very huge.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation which is the country’s major income generating sector and also the most corrupt government organisation has been dragged to a hot chair as President Muhammadu Buhari ordered an investigation into its activities for the past years. VANGUARD reports that governors comprising (Edo) Adams Oshiomhole, (Kaduna) Nasir el-Rufai; (Akwa Ibom) Udom Emmanuel; and (Gombe) Ibrahim Dankwambo were, on Monday, June 29, constituted into a four-man panel to probe the NNPC. The order was given after revelations emerged that the corporation withheld N3.8 trillion of the N8.1 trillion generated from oil sales. The panel was also saddled with the responsibility of looking into the disappearance of another $2.1 billion that was allegedly unilaterally withdrawn by the Jonathan administration in the last six months of its government. The revelations were made at the end of the inaugural meeting of the new National Economic Council, in Abuja.
The President while inaugurating the NEC promised that the FG will abide by the provisions of Sections 80 and 162 of the Constitution and ensure more accountability, transparency and integrity in the Distribution of the Federation Account. He said all revenue generating agencies such as NNPC, Nigeria Customs Services, Federal Inland Revenue Services, Nigeria Ports Authority, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and Liquefied Natural Gas amongst others shall comply with stipulated Financial Regulations and Administrative Instructions in their remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Meanwhile, prior to the start of the NEC meeting, Prof. Sylvester Monye, who served as special adviser on monitoring and evaluation to ex-president Jonathan, in a live Channels Television programme monitored in Lagos, cautioned the new administration against sustaining the language of opposition while in office. He said their continued propaganda could negatively impact on the sound economic indicators transferred by Dr. Jonathan. He said the Jonathan administration left behind $1.5 billion in the Sovereign Wealth Fund and another $2.09 billion in the Excess Crude Account.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy under ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, may have landed herself in trouble as THE PUNCH reports that the ex-minister has been accused of spending $2.1 billion from the Excess Crude Account without authorisation. The accusation was made on Monday, June 29, by the National Economic Council, chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo. The council said it looked at the numbers for the ECA, the last time the former minister reported to the council, adding that in the minutes taken in November 2014, she reported there was $4.1 billion.
The Federal Government in a reaction inaugurated a panel to probe the NNPC and the ECA between 2012 and May, 2015. The members of the panel are Adams Oshiomhole, Nasir el-Rufai; Udom Emmanuel; and Ibrahim Dankwambo.
Oshiomhole, el-Rufai, Emmanuel and the Zamfara State Governor, Abdulazeez Yari, jointly briefed State House correspondents after the NEC’s 58th meeting in Abuja. Oshiomhole said: “Today, the Accountant-General Office reported we have $2.0bn. Which means the honourable minister spent $2.1bn without authority of the NEC and that money was not distributed to states, it was not paid to the three tiers of government.” He added that the unauthorised spending, according to the economic council, is among the several anomalies discovered in the management of the nation’s economy between 2012 and May 2015. He said within this period, the NNPC was said to have received a total of N8.1 trillion but remitted only N4.3trillion.
Yari through the Director of Funds, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. M.K. Dikwa, confirmed that the council members received the report of the ECA and unremitted funds by the NNPC. He said: “On that line, a four-man committee consisting of the governors of Edo, Gombe, Kaduna and Akwa Ibom states was constituted to go through the books of the NNPC and Excess Crude as well as the Federation Account. The four-man committee is to check the books of the NNPC, especially the issue of excess crude and what is not remitted into the federation’s account.”
Meanwhile, the Buhari-led administration in its continued efforts to ensure all stolen monies are returned to the nation’s coffers, THE NATION reports that a four-man panel comprising Governors Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) and Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) was on Monday, June 29, constituted by the federal government to investigate how the NNPC blew the sum of N3.8 trillion. This was disclosed to newsmen yesterday, by Oshiomhole after the National Economic Council meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Edo governor, who was accompanied by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom, said the figure was contained in the reports presented to NEC by the NNPC and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation. He said the reports showed that N8.1 trillion generated from oil sales during the period was not remitted to the Federation account, adding that only N4.3 trillion was deposited by the NNPC.
THE GUARDIAN reports that governor Oshiomhole, revealed that this is the first time they are having a National Economic Council meeting in which under the instructions of the President, NNPC and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation were compelled to provide information in black and white on issues regarding the total sales of Nigeria’s crude from 2012 to May 2015.
The governor said it was also discovered in the reports that former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spent $2.1 billion from the Excess Crude Account without approval between November last year and May 2015. Oshiomhole faulted the NNPC for spending without appropriation, noting that if the federal government cannot spend without appropriation, why should any agency do so?
