Tag: Bribe

  • INEC staff refund Diezani bribe

    INEC staff refund Diezani bribe

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Thursday said some of its staff indicted in the N3.4bn bribe allegedly given by former Minister for Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke to influence the 2015 elections have returned their share.

    The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, disclosed this when he visited the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu, in Abuja.

    A statement by spokesman of the EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, quoted the INEC chairman as saying that 70 of the affected staff in three states were still in denial.

    According to the statement, Yakubu added that the staff would be referred to the EFCC for further investigation.

    The INEC chairman also said about five INEC political appointees, who are either National Commissioners or Resident Commissioners, were found wanting.

    Also indicted, he said, are 21 retired staff mostly acting under the aegis of WANEO (West African Network of Election Observers).

    Yakubu said 21 retirees had been blacklisted from monitoring elections and other activities organised by INEC in the future, according to Uwujaren.

    “If we get our election right, we get our democracy right as the right people will be elected and once we get our democracy right we will get national progress and development on track.

    “INEC is on the same page with the EFCC in this big responsibility of sanitising the country,’’ the INEC chairman was quoted saying.

    Responding, Magu was said to have expressed the anti-graft agency’s readiness to prosecute all the indicted INEC staff.

    “We are already prosecuting some of the INEC staff, we have started in Lagos and we are in the process in Port-Harcourt, Kano and Gombe,’’ Magu reportedly said.

    He said, “What you have done will change the course of electioneering in this country, by bringing in sanity and credibility.While expressing satisfaction with the collaboration between both agencies, Magu commended the INEC boss for supporting the investigation involving some of his staff members.

    “It will send a signal and serve as deterrent to any person who may wish to perpetrate fraud in the electoral process whether as a monitor or staff of INEC.’’

    Magu assured INEC of continued support from the EFCC, noting that the agency’s functions are central to the future of the country, and that the next election must be different.

    Uwujaren said the INEC boss was accompanied on the visit by other management staff of the commission, including Hajiya Amina Zakari, Mr Baba Shetima and Prof. Okey Ibeanu.

  • Malabu oil deal predated my tenure, I never received $200m bribe – Jonathan

    Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday refuted reports that he received the sum of $200m bribe from the Malabu oil deal.

    Jonathan made the denial while responding to report by an American news website, Buzzfeed, which claimed he got the said amount from the sale of the controversial OPL 245 oil block.

    In a statement by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, the former President maintained that the Malabu oil deal predated his administration.

    The statement reads, “The allegations that former President Goodluck Jonathan received $200 million as proceeds from the Malabu Oil deal which were published on a gossip news site, Buzzfeed, and republished by a few other newspapers, is false in its entirety, and is one more in the series of fake news sponsored by those threatened by Dr. Jonathan’s continuously rising profile in the international community.

    “Common sense should have shown the purveyors of this slander that the Malabu oil deal far predated the Jonathan regime and it would only make sense for him to be bribed if he had a time machine to go back in time to when the deal was struck.

    “The report relied on hearsay evidence from a man of questionable character who provided no substance to back up his false claim.

    “The man quoted by the report said he ‘assumed’ that Dr. Jonathan would be bribed. Since when has the assumption of a crook been enough to smear the reputation of a patriot and international statesman like Dr. Goodluck Jonathan?

    The former President also dismissed claim by the report that he tutored the children of former Petroleum Minister, Dan Etete.

    Describing the report as “clearly ridiculous,” Jonathan maintained that he has never met Etete’s children.

    He said,“The report also wrongly claimed that “Jonathan and Etete had known each other for years, according to Shell staff, when Jonathan served as a tutor to Etete’s children while he was a minister”. This claim is clearly ridiculous and nothing can be further from the truth.

    “In the first place, the former President couldn’t have been a ‘tutor’ to Etete’s children without first establishing contact with the family.

    “This is because Jonathan met Etete who served as the Petroleum Minister in Gen. Abacha’s military regime for the first time under the succeeding civilian administration, when he was already the deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. Even then, the fact remains that ex-President Jonathan has never met any of Etete’s children.

    “Besides, Jonathan couldn’t have been anybody’s private tutor during that period, because he was already in the directorate cadre.”

  • Stop bribing project supervisors, FG warns contractors

    The Federal Government on Friday warned contractors against bribing controllers and engineers overseeing projects.

    Hammering the stance of the Federal Government against bribery, Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Alhaji Mustapha Shahuri, said most jobs get poorly delivered because contractors compromise standards and the supervisors who are supposed to raise alarm have been bribed.

    In his words: “Most jobs get poorly handled because the supervisors are bribed to look the other way while specifications are being ignored and quality compromised.

    Contractors handling major projects are the worst culprits in this respect; we have told them that we shall not accept any shoddy job from anyone.”

    He advised job handlers to adhere strictly to contractual agreements, and declared that state controllers of the ministry and supervisors monitoring projects would be held responsible for shoddy jobs under their care.

    The minister warned government officials fond of receiving gratification to desist from that, saying that anyone would face the full wrath of the law.
    NAN

  • Bail is free, don’t offer money for it – CP tells Nigerians

    Bail is free, don’t offer money for it – CP tells Nigerians

    The Commissioner of Police in Kano State, Mr Rabiu Yusuf, has warned officers and men against demanding for money or any form of favour before granting bail to the suspects.

    Yusuf also cautioned them against illegal investigation of cases, unlawful detention of suspects and prolonged detention, saying that they should respect human rights in the course of all investigations.

    The police chief spoke at a lecture/ parade with officers and men working at State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Divisional Crime Officers and Investigation Police Officers (IPOs) in the state.

    Yusuf, according to a statement issued by the command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Magaji Majiya, said that the era of bribery and corruption was over in the police circle.

    “Nobody should accept or demand money or any form of favour for bail.

    “Any senior police officer found to be engaged in corrupt practices will be queried and sent to the Force Headquarters for disciplinary action.

    “Inspectors and rank and file found wanting will be sanctioned appropriately,” Yusuf said.

    He urged them to exhibit professionalism and diligence during investigation by collating all relevant evidences and witnesses and forward the case files to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for Legal advice where applicable.

    Yusuf urged the Legal/Prosecution Department to ensure diligence and logical prosecution of cases in the Court of Law and that cases should be judiciously followed up to gain conviction of criminals.

  • Corruption: Man orders wife to bury him with N17m to bribe God

     

    Ugandans were recently stunned following a will left behind by a deceased man, ordering his wife to bury him with Shs200 million (N17m).

    He said he would take the money to heaven to bribe the Almighty Father on Judgment Day so He could forgive his earthly sins.

    Charles Obong, 52, until his demise worked as a senior personnel officer in the ministry of Public Service from 2006 to 2016.

    According to Ugandan Monitor, he died on December 17, 2016, after a protracted illness and was buried at his ancestral home at Adag-ani village, Bar-pii parish, Aromo Sub-county in Lira District, on Christmas Eve. He was buried in a metallic coffin worth Shs20m.

    The Aromo Sub-county chairman, Mr David Elic, said his brother-in-law had left behind a Will, dictating that upon his death, his wife Margaret Obong should deposit huge sums of money in his coffin.

    He planned to convey the money to God as an offertory so that the Almighty Father could forgive his sins and save him from ending up in hell.

    He reportedly also instructed his brother Justin Ngole and sister Hellen Aber to bear witness to ensure his wife follows his testament to the letter and secure the money in his coffin.

    But Mr Obong’s Will was violated as his body was exhumed last Saturday and the money withdrawn from the grave and his would-be planned bribe before God was truncated.

    Obong’s wife reportedly confessed that her late husband had instructed her to bury him with huge sums of cash, which he would carry to heaven to offer God on Judgment Day. Ms Obong, however, declined to reveal the sums of money her husband asked he be buried along with.

    She told the family members that her husband had also instructed her to ensure Mr Ngole, her brother-in-law, and Ms Aber, sister-in-law that she would place the money inside the casket.

    The witnesses (Mr Ngole and Ms Aber) also confessed that their brother was buried with countless sums of money.

    During the Saturday’s meeting, the Okii of Okabo clan chief, Mr Mike Gulu, ordered that the body be exhumed and the money recovered.

    According to an eyewitness, Mr Elic, when the coffin was opened, US$ 5,700, in the denomination of 100 notes, was found in the coffin. The money was removed and was being kept with the Okii of Okabo clan leader.

    The funeral service van also left hurriedly with the grave construction material when the situation became very tense,” Mr Elic added.

    The area LC3 councillor, Richard Ecel, who confirmed the exhumation said, “I witnessed everything because I was invited there officially. When the clan elders ordered the exhumation, the widow resisted but was overpowered and eventually the body was exhumed and the money recovered from the coffin.”