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Tag: cso

  • Kidnapping: Travellers suffer in gridlock as Edo communities barricade Benin-Lagos highway

    Kidnapping: Travellers suffer in gridlock as Edo communities barricade Benin-Lagos highway

    Ten communities of Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo barricaded the Lagos-Benin Highway on Wednesday to protest incessant attacks by herdsmen.

    Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) joined in the protest which lasted for several hours and led to a gridlock on the highway.

    The communities lamented that the rampaging herdsmen often destroyed their farmlands, evicted them forcefully from their ancestral homes and killed their loved ones.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that protesters came from communities such as Odiguetue, Ofintebe, Igolo, Okokuo, Abumwenre I and Abumwenre II, Obarenren, Uhiere, Uyimo I and Uyimo II to join in the barricade.

    Speaking for the communities and for the CSOs, Mr Osagie Obayuwana, a community leader said they were worried about looming crisis brewing in the various communities and orchestrated by armed herdsmen.

    He said urgent steps were needed to be put in place to check the activities of the herders before it snowballed into full blown crisis in Edo.

    “We want the whole world to know the experience our people have been made to go through for quite some time now.

    “We are zeroing in on Ovia North East communities; about 10 communities have been under siege for some time now.

    “Farmers have been prevented from going to their farms; another planting season is running out; they have been sentenced to hunger, farmers and their families and this has an implication for the larger society.

    “It is one of the reasons the price of food is rising beyond the reach of even those in the middle class.

    “So far, we have not seen any serious efforts to address this issue.

    “Our people have gone to various relevant government offices to complain, but there had not been any response.

    “Right now, the matter is degenerating to an extent that people are being driven out of their villages.

    “We don’t want the Benue and Plateau experience where armed herdsmen drive people away from their communities, change the names of the communities and start to occupy the houses to be replicated in Edo.

    “We don’t want that,’’ he said.

    Mr Osazee Edigin, a representative of Edo State Civil Society Organisations decried the level of insecurity in Edo communities, and noted that it had gone from bad to worse.

    “We are here to support these communities that have been ravaged and sacked by herdsmen.

    “We have seen the high level of insecurity in the state, and we want the state government and law enforcement agencies to rescue the people.

    “We are here to amplify the voices of these locals so that the state government can intervene in this.

    “If we don’t do it, we are going to have scarcity of food and more victims.

    “We urge government to rise to the occasion and protect lives and property.

    “The government should step in. When there is no peace in the land, life will not flourish and the economy will go down,’’ he said.

    Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Mr James Chu, addressed the protesters and appealed for calm assuring that efforts were being made to address the situation.

    Chu represented the Commissioner of Police in Edo, Mr Abutu Yaro, to calm the protesters.

    “Machineries have been put in place to curtail the excesses of armed herdsmen in the various communities in the state.

    “The commissioner of police shares with you in this pain. We are all on the same page and that is the reason I am here to talk to you.

    “There are critical strategies that are in place to ensure that the excesses of these herdsmen, disturbing our villages are monitored and equally checked and stopped.

    “I assure you that the police are not resting on this issue. We shall work hands- in-gloves with the communities to ensure the essence of this gathering,’’ Chu said.

  • CSO Engages IOCs, FG: Demand Remediation of Degraded, Polluted N’Delta Environment

    CSO Engages IOCs, FG: Demand Remediation of Degraded, Polluted N’Delta Environment

    By Gabriel Choba
    A Civil Society Organisation known as Center for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) yesterday faulted the pollution and degradation of the Niger Delta environment through gas flaring and other oil activities in the region, just as it stressed the need for remediation of the environment.
    Speaking through the Chief Executive Officer, Ambassador Sheriff Mulade, the CSO lamented that despite the high oil production in states such as Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa and Cross Rivers, oil pollution and reduced life span are the prices that the oil rich region has to pay for feeding the nation.
    Mulade noted that the Nigerian economy is heavily dependent on the oil sector, accounting for about 95% of the export earnings, and 40% of government revenue, according to the International Monetary Fund, IMF. He added that the revenue generated from the Niger Delta is used practically to run the country’s economy.
    He said “it is no more news that the exploration and exploitation activities of oil companies in the region have degraded and devastated the environment at an alarming rate, so much so that life expectancy in the Niger Deltan Region has been reduced due to health hazards from the polluted environment.”
    “Oil pollution has destroyed the environment and the traditional occupation of the people, leading to high rates of poverty unemployment, criminality and violence in the Niger Delta Region. This morbid situation has been worsened by the poor environmental practices of the IOCs, (international oil companies) and the failure of Government Agencies to hold them accountable.”
    He asserted that the people have resorted to self help by engaging in pipeline vandalism, illegal refining of crude oil, illegal oil bunkering, destruction of forests, militancy and other forms of violence as a result of perennial environmental pollution and degradation. He then proffered solution to the the sad violation of the region by stressing that the oil multinationals and the Federal Government must interface and make aggressive efforts to increase the standard of environmental practices by the oil companies in the region.”
    The CSO however, warned the IOCs to adhere strictly to environmental sustainability practices and equally urged the locals in the region to stop all acts of violence and vandalism that can lead to the continues pollution of the environment, adding that the Niger Delta is their economic base that must be protected at all times.
  • Anti-graft war: FG protests as Nigerian CSO rates Buhari’s administration poor

    Anti-graft war: FG protests as Nigerian CSO rates Buhari’s administration poor

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has rejected the assessment of Bubari administration by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).

    Reacting to the current rating by CISLAC, Mohammed described it as unfair and unacceptable.

    CISLAC, a non-governmental organisation, had on March 23 in Abuja addressed a press briefing where it allegedly accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration of lack of transparency in the recovery of stolen assets.

    However, fielding questions from State House correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday, the minister dismissed CISLAC’s accusation, saying the assessment is not truly a reflection of the realities on ground.

    He said: “I think that I’m aware of that particular rating which was not quite flattering to Nigeria, but our position, which I’ve declared before is that that rating does not truly reflect the great strides that the administration has made in the area of fighting corruption.

    “The government has put in place various reforms in fighting corruption, but some of these reforms will take time to yield the desired results because the matrix used by TI is not just about grafts alone.

    “It includes how transparent or how opaque the services are and you’ll find out that when we scored in the 2018, 2019 transparency reports, we realised that we scored very low in the area of ease of doing business in particular.’’

    The minister stated that the Federal Government had embarked on various reforms aimed at tackling cases of corrupt practices in both private and public sectors of the economy to improve the country’s rating by the Transparency International (TI).

    “That is why the federal government embarked on reforms, especially at the seaports, because that is one area where we scored very low.

    “You will see that in recent times, we’ve embarked on numerous reforms at our seaports so that our rating will improve.

    “For instance, we realised that following the release of 2019 TI corruption perception index, we initiated reforms to improve on ease of doing business indices.

    “This is because we found that up to 40 per cent of the country’s corruption perception survey indices related to business, process and general public service delivery.

    “So, that is why we are concentrating on the ease of doing business, making sure that people can get to the ports, clear the goods in good time and by the time some of these forms start yielding fruits, I’m sure that perception will improve,’’ he added.

    Mohammed further disclosed that the federal government had put in place preventive mechanism to check corruption rather than prosecution.

    He said: “We believe that it’s more important to put in place preventive mechanism rather than prosecution and this preventive mechanism that we’ve put in place include the programme launched by the ICPC, which is what they called the National Ethics Policy.’’

    According to him, this policy addresses integrity issues in all sectors of the polity and is directly linked to the pillar of national anti-corruption strategy.

    He revealed that the Code of Conduct Bureau had also put in place some preventive measures, especially in the area of energising the code of conduct for public officers

    Mohammed disclosed that the Council for Ease of Doing Business recently launched the Nigerian Ports Process manual meant to help people doing business at the nation ports.

    “In addition, we actually also analysed the process that the TI used in the rating that was used recently and we found quite a few discrepancies in the rating process, including some data sources in which Nigeria’s course has remained flat over the past 10 years.

    “What we said is that we take this ratings seriously, so we actually went and analysed the ratings and we found that there’ve been some gaps.

    “It’s either we’ve not flooded enough data or they have not revised all data because we found it strange that the country’s rating in certain areas has remained the same for a period of 10 years.

    “We are taking the media measures so that they can get this data in respect of these sectors because we believe that it’s not possible for you not to improve, for you not to lose points for 10 years. So there’s a bit of discrepancy there,’’ he said.

  • Politicians plotting to truncate NDDC forensic audit, CSO raises alarm

    Politicians plotting to truncate NDDC forensic audit, CSO raises alarm

    An Oil and Gas Industry Watchdog has cautioned the National Assembly to stop actions capable of distracting the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), from completing the forensic audit on time as ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The organisation, Transparency In Petroleum Exploration and Development Initiative (TIPEDI), lamented that the current crisis of confidence between elected politicians particularly from the Niger Delta area and the NDDC will have serious negative effect not only on the Commission but on the hapless people of the area who have suffered neglect for many years.

    TIPEDI’s National Coordinator, Chief Nathan Egba in a statement issued from Yenagoa, said “the accusations leveled against the National Assembly by the NDDC Management are serious but common knowledge, because some Federal legislators have perpetually milked the Commission over the years. It is therefore not surprising that they are now engaged in a plot to derail the forensic audit exercise which obviously will unearth their nefarious activities”.

    He said some legislators deliberately orchestrated the present conflict between the Prof. Keme Pondei led management of the NDDC and the National Assembly as a means of blackmailing the Commission to bow to some illegal demands as well as derail completion of the forensic audit but unfortunately it has backfired as the NDDC management courageously called their bluff”.

    Chief Egba, who was a former Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information and Orientation said: “Over the years, succeeding managements of the NDDC have come under the same kind of pressures and blackmail, with several managements capitulating and allowing the Legislators turn the Commission into their glorified cash-cow.”

    “In the process a lot of funds meant for developing the Niger Delta area and improving the people’s lives have ended up in the pockets of few individuals to the detriment of the general population.”

    Adding that, “it is necessary to state at this point that the Legislators as representatives of the people should rather cooperate with the NDDC to address the reasons behind their relatively poor performance over the years, which has been attributed to the National Assembly’s slow and disruptive budget passing process.

    According to Chief Egba: “We in TIPEDI agree with the NDDC’s submission that over the years the National Assembly applies three clear steps by which it stifles the NDDC’s operations; namely through replacing the Commission’s budget proposals with the Legislators own projects”.

    “Other ways include, delay in the passage of the budget till very late in the year and when the budget is finally passed, demands by Legislators for upfront payments for their projects, most of which are usually left abandoned anyway”.

    “Therefore, for us Mr President has signalled his seriousness in pursuing the forensic audit process to its logical conclusion with the appointment of the current Acting Managing Director, Prof. Keme Daniel Pondei, a totally non political academician with the courage to confront this albatross in order to make life easier for future managements of the Commission”.

    The TIPEDI Coordinator, however, called on the Acting M.D. Prof. Keme Pondei, as someone with no political ambition or desire to perpetuate himself in office, to remain courageous and focused in order to be able complete the assignment and justify Mr President’s confidence in setting up the Interim Management Committee.

  • CSO berates demolition of houses during lockdown

    CSO berates demolition of houses during lockdown

    Enough is Enough Nigeria, a civic society organisation has condemned the demolition of houses in the Ogba area of Lagos State amid the coronavirus lockdown.

    It said demolition exercise carried out by the Lagos State Government contradicted the stay-at-home and social distancing order of the government.

    It stated, “Reports reaching us say, Lagos State Government is demolishing homes, sending poor into the streets and rendering them homeless at Ifelodun Street, Oke-Ira, Ogba (behind Yaya Abatan, Ogba).

    “These actions undermine efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “We urge the state government to cease the destruction of properties in Ifelodun Street, Oke-Ira, behind Yaya Abatan, Ogba. This is not the time to undermine national efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

    “We’re in the midst of a public health emergency. Our collective health depends on our ability to stay home and practice social distance. It becomes more obvious than ever that ‘housing is health care’.”

    Reacting, State Environment and Water Resources Commissioner, Tunji Bello, in a statement said the demolished structures were illegally erected on the drainage system in the area.

    He, however, said the demolition exercise has been suspended.

    He said, “The Lagos State Government, on Wednesday, announced the suspension of the on-going demolition of illegal structures on drainage alignments from Yaya Abatan to Obawole in Ogba area of Lagos State.

    “The temporary suspension was in view of the need to effectively curb the coronavirus pandemic in Lagos.

    “The demolition exercise was duly approved in February 2020 after several contravention notices had been issued to owners and occupiers of the structures, asserting that the exercise is part of the wholesome clearing and cleaning of drainage channels and alignments by the state government in readiness for the rainy season.

    “The exercise will be revisited by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources after a successful containment of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

     

  • 9th N/Assembly: Nigeria Needs A Female Speaker- CSO Coalition

    9th N/Assembly: Nigeria Needs A Female Speaker- CSO Coalition

    From Jonas Ike, Abuja
    As the politicking for who becomes speaker of the House of Representatives in the 9th Assembly hots up, a human rights and advocacy group, Coalition of South East Civil Society and Human Rights Organizations is drumming support for the candidacy of Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, who so far is the only female in the race.
    The group in a statement signed by Jasper Uche and comrade Ibuchukwu Ezike who are the conveners, it said the All Progressives Congress (APC), being a national party should consider geographical spread and gender balance in alloting political positions to deserving members in line with what the United States just did recently with the election of a female speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
    Nkeiruka, according to the group is a “tested hand in legislative matters judging from her contributions in the last 12 years as a legislator in the green chamber with numerous legislative accomplishments which include the Anti-Turture Act, 2017, Compulsory Treatment and Care for Gun Shot Victims Act 2017, Local Government Autonomy Bill which was merged with the constitution amendment bills, to mention but a few”.
    The group which further described the lawmaker as “a woman of strong character” also said “she has to her credit a clean record in public office, and her achievement as current House Committee chairman in Aviation speaks volume”.
    “her grassroot appeal and her interpersonal relationship with other legislators is a great asset to the APC and the country at large”, the group noted.

  • Buhari orders CSO to proceed on immediate ‘strategic course’

    …as presidency announces replacement

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the redeployment of his Chief Security Officer (CSO), Bashir Abubakar and accepted a replacement.

    Abubakar was the president’s CSO until this week when he was ordered to proceed on an immediate “strategic course” at a university in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

    According to top presidential sources, he has seen been replaced by Idris Kassim Ahmed.

    He is to be assisted by another Department of State Security Service (DSS) official, Abubakar Maikano.

    Recall that Buhari had two months into his administration in July 2015 replaced his erstwhile CSO, Abdulrahman Mani, and requested the DSS to redeploy him out of the Presidential Villa.

    The president thereafter appointed Abubakar as a replacement.

    Until his appointment as CSO, Abubakar was an assistant director in the Bayelsa State command of the DSS.

    Mr Ahmed, the new CSO, was deployed from the headquarters of the DSS.

    Our sources, who are familiar with the development, said the removal of Abubakar was at the instance of the Director General of the DSS, Yusuf Bichi.

    “The DG wrote and informed Mr President of the plans by the service to send the former CSO for further training at Argentina and it appears that request was granted because a replacement has already been named,” a source said.

    Another source who asked not to be named because of the “sensitive nature of the matter” said those around the president have never been happy with the way the former CSO operated.

    A source said those around Buhari do not like the “independent method of operation” of Abubakar.

    “They may not have approached the president to complain officially but most of them do by their body language and they did so because they know the president easily knows everything going on around him even if he never showed it,” the source said.

  • Why we posted Tinubu’s former CSO to Kwara few days to general elections – Acting IGP

    Why we posted Tinubu’s former CSO to Kwara few days to general elections – Acting IGP

    The acting Inspector-General of Police,Mohammed Adamu, has explained that the posting of Kayode Egbetokun, a former chief security officer to the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, to Kwara State as Commissioner of Police was only based on merit.

    Adamu stated this at a one-day summit organised by the Vanguard for Transparent Leadership and Democracy in Abuja on Thursday.

    Represented at the event by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mogaji Ismaila of the FCT Police Command, the acting IG said the outcry that greeted the posting of Egbetokun was unnecessary because the exercise had no political undertone.

    He said, “May I appeal to the journalists and the politicians not to drag us into political issues. Posting of commissioners of police is purely the responsibility of the IG in conjunction with the Police Service Commission.

    “This recent posting came as a result of the retirement of some commissioners of police and the elevation of some CPs to the rank of assistant inspectors-general of police, and even to the position of deputy inspectors-general of police.

    “You don’t expect the IG to leave states whose commissioners of police were promoted to AIGs and DIGs vacant. Definitely, there is going to be movement and as far as we are concerned, the IGP used experience, competence and other qualities in posting those police officers to the affected states.

    “The postings by the IGP have no political undertone and he has no ulterior motive in carrying out the exercise. He carried out the exercise purely for effective service delivery.

    “On the issue of a former CSO to a former governor, the man carried out that task as a junior officer. Now that he has risen to the position of CP, are you saying that he should not be posted?

    “The IG is free to post him to any state where he feels he could deliver. His posting is based on his track records, devoid of any political undertone and the criticisms about it are unnecessary.”

    The acting IG promised that the police would play a neutral role throughout the electoral process.

    “It is not true that majority of the newly posted CPs are northerners. Our postings are purely on merit and based on competence,” he added.

  • 2018 budget: CSO tells NASS to avoid another budget padding scandal

    Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has called on the National Assembly to diligently scrutinise the 2018 Budget to avoid another budget padding scandal in the country.

    Legal Adviser of the organization, Mr Adesina Oke, made the call while addressing newsmen in Abuja and said that it was imperative to eliminate frivolous and wasteful allocations in the budget.

    Oke said that the poor level of implementation of the 2017 budget was lamentable.

    He said that apart from the delay in the passage of budgets, implementation level of less than 20 per cent called for serious concerns.

    “It is bad enough that capital allocations are usually inadequate and frivolous, wasteful provisions, poor disbursement and utilization only create economic uncertainties and negative impacts on the welfare of citizens.

    “As at this day, the 2018 budget is not close to being passed and the month of April is being projected for its passage.

    “For a pre-election year, this is a recipe for economic crisis and avenue for corruption and unapproved spending which could be diverted for political party or selfish uses by various MDAs.

    “We must overhaul our budget making process to make it more open, transparent and result –oriented,’’ he said.

    Oke also urged the National Assembly to follow through with the confirmation of all outstanding executive appointments by carrying out constructive and objective scrutiny of appointees without prejudice and political sentiments.

    He called on the National Assembly to ensure effective oversight of the MDAs to avoid wastages, abuse and misuse of public funds for any purposes other than serving the interest of Nigerians.

    On his part, Mr Vanccan Prusa, Manager Anti-Corruption, CISLAC, urged the government and security agencies to render the highest level of protection and unconditional political state support to anti-corruption agencies.

    Prusa said that international commitments stipulated during the anti-corruption summit in London anchored on open government partnership should be fulfilled if international community would be convinced about the seriousness of Nigeria to fight corruption.

    He said that whistle blowers should be provided legal provision and assurances from the highest political level that their lives were protected and their actions glorified while exposing corruption.

    Prusa also advised that immediate appointment and prompt inauguration of National Procurement Council as provided in the Public Procurement Act should be accelerated to curb continued systemic corruption in the nation’s procurement process.

     

  • Boko Haram: Buhari praised as CSO hails Buratai

    President Muhammadu Buhari has earned accolades over the administration’s conquest of Boko Haram and other rising insurgencies threatening the stability of peace and unity of the country in recent times as it also hailed the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai for his leadership and sportsmanship.

    President Muhammadu Buhari has earned accolades from a critical segment of the Nigerian society, over the administration’s conquest of Boko Haram and other rising insurgencies threatening the stability of peace and unity of the country in recent times as it also hailed the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai for his leadership and sportsmanship.

    This was made known at a peer review gathering of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations For Tranparency and Good Governance [CCSOTGG] which held in Abuja to appraise the administration’s efforts on security.

    The group while commending the Nigerian Army’s decisiveness in dealing with both rising and existing insurgency , affirmed that Boko Haram is only able to attempt showing its presence in a limited geographical area where it exploits the vulnerability of soft targets, which says a lot about how the Nigerian Army, under the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General TY Buratai, has been able to degrade the terrorists.

    In the statement signed by the convener Nkechi Odoma, the group condemned all terrorist attacks describing them as a gross violation of sanctity of human life and an attack on the society and humanity at large.
    Attributing the recent wave of peace in the nation to the military’s action, the coalition specifically applauded Buratai’s commitment to the cause, attributing it to the recent Global Terrorism Index which scored Nigeria high.

    “The combination of these achievements has revived our hope that Nigeria will step into 2018 as a more secured country with the space available to terrorists continually shrinking until they become a relic of history whose only mention would not be in the daily news bulletins but in the archives, that tell of a gallant era of Nigeria’s Armed Forces. We dare say that the Global Terrorism Index 2017, which showed that terrorists are not able to kill as many people as they use to, is a testimony to the victory that Nigeria will ultimately score over the enemies of humanity.

    “It is a confirmation that the Nigerian Army under Lieutenant General Buratai has contributed greatly to improvements and the success recorded by the country’s defence architecture in the last two years especially in responding to both internal and external threats.

    “This coalition commends President Muhammadu Buhari as the Commander-in-Chief under whom these achievements were recorded”. It read in part.