by Admin | Jun 1, 2017 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI N423bn spent in six years, execution rate at 12% • Some contractors collected money without going to site The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Usani Uguru, on Wednesday said the Federal Government has uncovered some shady deals by some of the contractors that handled projects in the Niger Delta region between 2009 and 2015. He said while some of the contractors made away with the money paid them without appearing on the sites of the projects, some others managed to implement 12 per cent of the projects they were paid for. Uguru disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said the discoveries were contained in a report of an investigation carried out by the ministry on all contracts awarded and projects carried out by the ministry from 2009 to 2015. The late Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan were the Presidents of the country during the period. The minister said the report revealed that over N423bn had been expended in the region by the ministry alone, adding that the amount did not include the sums expended by other intervention agencies. “From this amount, projects execution rate has been at 12 per cent with an average completion rate of a project standing at five years. The impact rate is eight per cent,” he said. The minister said he sought and got the council’s approval to make the report available to relevant government agencies in charge of recovering government assets that were either misappropriated,...
by Admin | Jun 1, 2017 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI The Nigerian Navy on Thursday said it had arrested five suspected oil thieves in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom. The Commander, NNS Jubilee, Commodore Saidu Garba, disclosed this to newsmen while handing over the suspects to the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. Garba said that men of the command, during a routine patrol in its area of operation, intercepted two canoes and arrested the suspects with 11, 250 litres of Automobile Gas Oil. He said the arrest followed intensive patrol of the maritime environment, following intelligence information on the activities of oil thieves in the area. Garba reiterated the determination of the command to deal decisively with crude oil thieves, sea pirates, pipeline vandals and other perpetrators of crime within its area of operation. “The command admonishes oil thieves and other criminal elements operating within the maritime environment to refrain from such acts or face unpleasant consequences, as there will be no hiding place for criminals in the state,’’ the commander said. He alleged that the suspects had confessed to conveying the products from Bonny in Rivers to Akwa Ibom. Receiving the suspects, the Akwa Ibom NSCDC Commandant, Mrs Obiagelu Obiagulu, commended the Commander, officers and men of NNS Jubilee for their complementary role in fighting criminality within its maritime environment. “Let me acknowledge the effort of the NNS Jubilee for combating crime within the coastal water of the state,’’ she said. Obiagulu said the command had secured the conviction of 25 persons in the last five months, for various offences. She said that the five suspects would be prosecuted...
by Admin | Jun 1, 2017 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI The Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday heard that a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mohammed Dele Belgore and former minister of National Planning Prof Abubakar Suleiman signed for the N450million they allegedly received from former Petroleum Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the money was part of $115,010,000 (about N37billion) allegedly shared by Alison-Madueke to some individuals in 36 states during the 2015 general elections. EFCC re-arraigned Belgore and Suleiman on an amended money laundering charge in which Mrs Alison-Madueke was included as a defendant, though “at large”. The commission said they “directly took possession of the sum” and conspired to make cash payment of N450million, which “exceeded the amount authorised by law without going through financial institution”. Testifying at the trial yesterday, an EFCC operative, Usman Zikari, said the money was stashed in a bank’s vault before it was shared among the politicians and some Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officers as gratification towards the 2015 general election. He exhibited a receipt for N450 million which Belgore and Suleiman allegedly signed. Zikari said sometime in 2016, the commission received an intelligence report that three firms and an individual, Adesanya Olaitan, took $89million to the bank on Alison-Madueke’s instructions. The witness added that another aide of the former minister took $25,776,000 to the bank. Zikari said the money was first converted to naira before it was then distributed to politicians, including the defendants. He said in the course of investigation, the bank’s Managing Director was invited for questioning. “During the interview with the MD, it was revealed that in December...
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