TheNewsGuru

Tag: PRIMORG

  • Vote Buying: Hold parties, security operatives accountable-Critical stakeholders urge Nigerians

    Vote Buying: Hold parties, security operatives accountable-Critical stakeholders urge Nigerians

    Following growing concerns on the menace of vote buying and other forms of voter inducement during elections, Nigerians have been asked not to condone vote trading and to shift focus on political parties, politicians, and security agencies who do not seem to be doing much against buying and selling of votes.

    Board Member at YIAGA Africa, Ezenwa Nwagwu, made the call during an anti-corruption radio programme, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, Wednesday in Abuja.

    Ezenwa, reflecting on the improvement recorded by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, during last week’s Osun governorship election, called on Nigerians to pay close attention to political parties and politicians as they are the main enablers of vote buying and other forms of malpractice; as well as chided Nigerians who justify the sale of votes due to poverty and economic hardship.

    He maintained that the introduction of technology into elections and the pressure mounted on INEC by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Nigerians over the years is paying off and pivotal to the credible poll delivered in Osun on July 16, 2022.

    Ezenwa stressed that attention should be on political parties and aspirants of political offices who have not shown commitment to ridding corruption and voter inducement off Nigeria’s electoral process, as well as security agencies whose actions and inactions ensure that perpetrators of electoral crimes are not prosecuted.

    Expressing discontent on citizens making excuses for selling their votes, Nwagwu said, “Vote buying is a crime. Let us not justify what dehumanizes us. An election is held on weekends, one Saturday, and that one Saturday, you collect N2000 and justify that it is because of hunger that has not killed you.

    “We emotionalize and deodorize crimes. We must come to that point where we face the real issues. When you collect money and gifts, you have already devalued your citizenship by saying I can’t even hold you accountable anymore. Is it the N2000, N5000, Maggi, or sugar that you will collect that one Saturday that will keep you alive for another four years,” He queried?

    He added that Nigerians had not paid even a little attention to the political parties and their processes like INEC, noting that “INEC brings election material, but who buys the vote? Who compromises the electoral officer? Who gets the people who snatch ballot boxes if there is a ballot box to be snatched?

    “If we are paying equal oversight attention to what people call internal party issues and electoral stakeholders, meaning the political party, the security agents, we will come back to this point where we have seen incremental progress in INEC, but these other people have remained where they are because we are not paying attention,” Nwagwu stressed.

    Nwagwu also called on religious and traditional institutions to take the lead in advocacy to discourage Nigerians under their influence from vote trading ahead of the 2023 general elections, while backing evaluation of the activities of security agents after elections to ensure they carry out their jobs to the later.

    On her part, the Executive Director of the Emma Ezeazu Centre for Good Governance and Accountability, Mma Odi, tasked citizens with ending vote buying in Nigeria, adding that adopting a complete electronic voting system will mean the end of vote buying in the country.

    “I think vote buying will end when we go full electronic voting, so there will be no vote and show anymore. People will have to stop selling and buying votes so that all the free, fair, peaceful, inclusive, and credible elections we have been working hard and praying for will become a reality,” Odi stated.

    Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program used by PRIMORG to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.
    The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.

  • PRIMORG to dig deep into constituency projects engagements In 2022

    PRIMORG to dig deep into constituency projects engagements In 2022

    The Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG) will in 2022 embark on a series of engagements with Nigerians, communities and members of the National and States Assembly in the monitoring and management of the Zonal Intervention Project (ZIP) popularly called Constituency Projects in north-central, Nigeria.

    PRIMORG, in a new year message, made this known through its Executive Director, Okhiria Agbonsuremi.

    Under the constituency project monitoring and evaluation activities, PRIMORG has selected key states in the north-central geo-political zone of the country and will be working with communities, legislators and anti-corruption agencies.

    The activities are under the broad anti-corruption and good governance projects supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

    The engagement becomes imperative having seen the ineffectual impact of the billions of naira allocated for constituency projects across Nigeria annually.

    While partnering with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) in amplifying reports of tracked constituency projects and recovered assets before now, PRIMORG believes that constituency projects need more monitoring, tracking and standardized verification, as well as increased citizens’ participation.

    The need to beam the searchlight on constituency projects also became imperative as Dataphyte findings recently revealed that the 2021 Zonal Intervention Projects had heavy provisions for projects that have little or no sustainable impact on the communities. Also, the document reflected that the sponsored projects clearly lack inclusion in the choice of their beneficiaries.

    PRIMORG praise the collaborative efforts of its partners and stakeholders of the organization, hence said the mobilization of citizens for their effective participation in governance and development remains its core objective in the new year.

    More so, PRIMORG in a goodwill message sent to its partners for the new year urged them to brace up for more works and more collaborative efforts to achieve more impactful results in their work in 2022.

    PRIMORG expressed gratitude to MacArthur Foundation for supporting this project.

  • NNPC denies procurement fraud in slop oil sale

    NNPC denies procurement fraud in slop oil sale

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has debunked an investigation by Premium Times indicting the Corporation of overseeing procurement fraud in slop oil sale, where two highest bidders are said to be the same people at the Port Harcourt Refining Company, PHRC.

    But the group did not give PRIMORG details of the transactions making it impossible for independent verification and confirmation.

    Following the corruption report, the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG had invited NNPC to its anti-corruption radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE on RADIO on September 14, 2021, to clarify the fraud cases raised in the investigation, which they failed to honor.

    NNPC described the investigation as inaccurate, misleading and taken on the wrong assumption in a letter addressed to the Executive Director, PRIMORG, Okhiria Agbonsuremi by the Corporation’s Group General Manager, Garba Deen Muhammad.

    NNPC added that it has made clarifications following the accusation, and emphasized it does not wish to further discuss the subject; which in essence means that NNPC has ruled out any more explanation to the general public in a radio discussion.

    There were however no available details anywhere including its website where the NNPC published the clarification it claimed to have made following the reports.

    It will be recalled that Nigerians had called on President Muhammadu Buhari to swiftly investigate and bring to book perpetrators of procurement fraud in slop oil sales at NNPC during PRIMORG’s radio program held on September 29, 2021.

    Another report by Premium Times said the presidency summoned the Corporation’s Group Managing Director (GMD), Mele Kyari, to the Presidential Villa over the procurement irregularities and corruption of due process about three weeks ago.

    However, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) are said to be most affected by the procurement fraud at PHRC, particularly those in labour-intensive industries like textiles, cement, fractional distillation industries, rubber processing, food and beverages.

    Excerpts of NNPC’s letter to PRIMORG

    RE: INVITATION TO RADIO DISCUSSION

    We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 14th September 2021 requesting for an interview on your radio program by NNPC to throw more light on the alleged report published by Premium Times titled: “NNPC in Procurement Fraud: Two highest bidders in Slop Oil sale are same people”.

    NNPC appreciates your interest in the Corporation and the need for clarity on the subject matter, but kindly note that the accusations are inaccurate, taken on wrong assumptions and unfounded with misleading information.

    However, NNPC has taken a position on this matter as the statement is false. The Corporation has already made its clarification on this false allegation and does not wish to discuss the matter beyond this point.

    However, we are happy to engage you on any other topic of interest or trending industry issues. Please accept our best wishes and we look forward to possible collaborations in the future.

    Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration and respect.

    PRIMORG continues to urge the government and the anti-corruption agencies to investigate the alleged procurement fraud in NNPC with a view to punishing offenders.

  • NIN: Nigerians lament persistent extortion by NIMC officials

    NIN: Nigerians lament persistent extortion by NIMC officials

    More Nigerians seeking to enroll in the National Identification Number (NIN) have decried the pervasive extortion by officials of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports NIMC officials continue to extort Nigerians at enrollment centres across the country as the federal government has been asked to synergize it’s agencies to build a one-stop data collection approach in the country.

    Recall that the same alarm was raised by Nigerians a fortnight ago following an investigative report published by TNG, which indicted NIMC staff and officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) of colluding to rip-off passport applicants who have challenge updating their information at NIN enrollment centre located in the premises of NIS Headquarters, Abuja.

    Some other Nigerians on Wednesday revealed that they were extorted by NIMC officials as well, corroborating the report published by TNG.

    They made their frustrations and lamentations known during an anti-corruption radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE on RADIO, produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG) on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Speaking during the Program, Programme Manager at Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Salaudeen Hashima said it was long overdue for Nigeria to have a unified identity database, noting that it will go a long way to reduce extortion of NIN applicants and tackle growing insecurity in Nigeria which he said is aided by corruption.

    According to Hashima, the consequence of running a country with a corruption-ridden identification system is the persistent influx of unidentified foreigners into Nigeria.

    He added that the outsourcing of the identity enrollment program by NIMC was fueling corruption in the process.

    He stressed that Nigeria has weak sanctions for those who are actually caught in the web of corruption.

    “Remember that NIN is just a classical example of other expose we have also witnessed in Nigeria in the past.

    “If you go to the Northeastern and some parts of the Northwestern Nigeria, where states share border towns, you will find out that Immigration’s officers have also made it an enterprise to open a business around those who come in and go out and if you are not able to flag a national identity, you will pay a minimum of N1,000; and that is another means of extortion and exploitation,” Hashima said.

    Citizens that called into the programme shared some of their experience at NIN enrollment centres and disclosed how much NIMC officials asked them to pay.

    A man who identified himself as Onoja said, “there is no registration centre you will go without paying. They (NIMC) are aware of it.

    “When we investigated with one of the private detectives, we report it to the NIN and then they told us that they gave it to the company and then the company has to get money from the public”.

    Alex from Abacha Barracks said, “In Niger State, I was asked to pay N300 to enroll and my friend who wanted to update NIN was charged N15,000.”

    Lawrence from Masaka, Nasarawa State: “In Masaka when I want to register, I was asked to pay N1000 which I paid and up till now I did not get my NIN since February.”

    Abraham from Mararaba, Nasarawa State: “The system of NIN is a big corruption in Nigeria, let me give you an example in Kabba, if you go to register NIN they will tell you to bring N2000, it was later changed to N3000.”

    Christy from Mpape, Abuja: “The last time I went for the NIN registration they were asking me for N3000 before I register, I know that the N3000 is nothing for me but I believe that Nigerians are not supposed to pay to get NIN.”

    Following the complaints, PRIMORG’s Program Manager, Adaobi Obiabunmuo revealed that NIMC management failed to honour PRIMORG’s invitation to come on the programme to inform the general public on how to avoid extortion by its staff.

    Obiabunmuo further reassured Nigerians that PRIMORG will continue to make efforts in seeing that citizens having challenges with NIN enrollment are assisted to make open their complaints and get them resolved, as well as tackle extortion of innocent Nigerians by corrupt NIMC officials.

    Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program used by PRIMORG to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.

    The program is supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

  • MacArthur Foundation identifies accountability as Nigeria’s major challenge

    MacArthur Foundation identifies accountability as Nigeria’s major challenge

    The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has identified accountability as the single most challenging problem in Nigeria, stressing that the absence of it is the roots of all the other challenges bedevilling the country.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports MacArthur Foundation’s Deputy Director for Africa Office in Nigeria, Dayo Olaide made the assertion on Tuesday in Abuja during a stakeholders meeting organized by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG).

    Olaide stated that the issue of accountability goes to the roots of all the other challenges bedevilling the country and sounded it clear that this is the reason it is working with the media and civil society organizations to build synergies to tackle corruption in the country.

    He emphasized the need for collaboration between Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the Media in the demand for good governance, accountability and the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

    Olaide who expressed delight over the success PRIMORG recorded through its anti-corruption project, said the Foundation identified accountability as the biggest challenge facing Nigeria as a country, hence the Foundation is focused on helping Nigerians reduce corruption.

    He said reducing corruption in the country can only be possible with Nigerians playing prominent roles.

    “Nigerians would have to be at the forefront of driving questions to reduce corruption in the country and so If you look at our strategy, we emphasize collaborations with the government, non-governmental institutions and CSOs because they represent the people and so we see them as the demand side of the work,” Olaide said.

    He underscored the importance of PRIMORG and other grantees in partnering with citizens in demanding accountability and fighting corruption.

    He added that: “In the last twenty to twenty-one years of Nigeria’s democracy, Nigeria has made some appreciable and commendable progress to modernize its laws, to improve transparency and accountability, but by far the biggest challenge or the gap is in terms of how we operationalize those laws, those rules, those improvements in-laws and processes and procedures is to be able to make them deliver democratic promises.”

    Olaide also revealed that the MacArthur Foundation which is a United States-based foundation has existed in the country for almost three decades.

    “You would find our footprint across the wind of diplomatic issues, in the last twenty-five-plus years. We have supported a lot of interventions, primary education, girl secondary education, human rights protection and advancement, criminal justice reform, national mortality and promotion of sexual right in Nigeria,” he stated.

    Earlier, PRIMORG’s Executive Director, Okhiria Agbonsuremi appreciated the MacArthur Foundation for their support through grant and the opportunity to work with the best of CSOs and Media cohorts.

    According to Agbonsuremi, the success of the project, which is in its second phase is titled: Strengthening Anti-Corruption and Accountability by Amplifying Corruption Related Investigative Reports on the Radio and Through Social Media, is reliant on effective collaborations.

    His words: “PRIMORG’s intention is on how to work better with stakeholders, CSOs, and even if we are already having a good working relationship how can we make it better.”

    At the end of the meeting, representatives of media organizations and CSOs pledged to cooperate with PRIMORG in achieving their set goals.

    TNG’s representative at the stakeholders meeting, Mr Ediri Oyibo, TNG’s Deputy Editor stressed that the role of PRIMORG cannot be overemphasized. He stated that there is more to be done to hold the government accountable.

    Other media organizations present at the meeting include Premium Times Center for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Vanguard Newspapers and The Cable.

    CSOs in attendance include Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), CODE, CISLAC and CDD. Others are Accountability Lab Nigeria, African Center for Entrepreneurship and Information Development, and Akin Fadeyi Foundation.

  • Special report: Nigerians continue to suffer at NIMC centres nationwide

    Special report: Nigerians continue to suffer at NIMC centres nationwide

    In the fallout from an investigative report published by TheNewsGuru.com (TNG), Nigerians across the country have narrated the unabated extortion they are made to suffer in the hands of officials of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

    TNG had earlier published the first part of its investigative report on how NIMC officials collude with officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to extort innocent passport applicants in their offices.

    In the report, TNG highlighted how officials of both agencies are taking advantage, and exploring the bottleneck and bureaucratic practices surrounding registration for National Identification Number (NIN), and updating of NIN data, to exploit Nigerians.

    Following the publication of the report, the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG) invited the Deputy Editor of TNG, Mr Ediri Oyibo and Mr Lukman Adefolahan, a public affairs analyst to a radio programme on 99.9 Kiss FM, Abuja to discuss details and implications of the investigative piece.

    The radio programme known as Public Conscience, supported by MacArthur Foundation, received live phone calls from Nigerians to share their experience in the process of registering for and updating their NIN data.

    “When I went to my home town in Benue State to do my NIN, it was with money. We were asked to pay one thousand Naira to be registered. After we paid the one thousand Naira, officials started attending to some other persons who paid N2,000 and above. So, what they did is that they sidelined those of us who paid one thousand Naira.

    “After paying the one thousand Naira, it will still take up to one week before you are registered. Every day you go to the centre, those who paid N2,000 and above are attended to before others. It is after they finish attending to the last person who paid N2,000 and above before they will start giving attention to those of us who paid one thousand Naira. The whole process is just so corrupt,” one caller said during the programme.

    TNG reports testimonies of other callers from different States during the programme were not different from the narrative presented by this particular caller. The different testimonies during the radio programme corroborated the investigative report by TNG.

    Meanwhile, Mr Adefolahan also narrated his own NIN experience, while calling on citizens to continue to resist any attempt by government officials to extort them.

    He urged the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to take up the report and conduct a corruption risk assessment to identify the vulnerabilities in these agencies and design a plan to mitigate such practices in other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the government.

    “With this report from NIMC, I expect the ICPC that has the mandate to conduct system review across over 900 MDAs, to pick this report and conduct a corruption risk assessment to identify the vulnerabilities in these agencies and design a plan to mitigate such in other MDAs.

    “Myself, I went to the centre and say this is my NIN, but they told me I have to go to their headquarters, that I will need to go and update it. Why do I have to go and update a NIN my bank sent to me through my BVN.

    “Many Nigerians have NIN without knowing. Assuming we have a centralised database, once you key that in, you should be able to get what you want. I have a NIMC centre very close to my office. They are collecting one thousand Naira from every Nigerian before they can register them for NIN.

    “If we have a NIMC centre in the NIS headquarters in Abuja, the federal capital territory (FCT), and this kind of rot is going on where we have the Comptroller-General of Immigration, you can imagine what is going on across the country,” Adefolahan said.

    TNG reports the public affairs analyst stressed that it was high time the government began to see media houses and civil societies as partners, and not foes. He stressed the need for NIMC to harmonize the data of Nigerians so that the loopholes created would not be there to exploit.

    When asked what prompted the need to beam searchlight on the NIS and the NIMC, Mr Oyibo said it was out of the deluge of complaints received that undercover reporters were mobilized to ascertain the true position of things at the NIS headquarters.

    Read an extract of PRIMORG interview with TNG’s Deputy Editor at 99.9 Kiss FM, Abuja below:

    Give us an overview of the investigation your media house carried out

    Thank you very much for another opportunity to further expose ongoing rot and corruption taking place in the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

    In summary, we investigated how NIS and NIMC officials collude to extort innocent persons who apply to get the Nigerian international passport; how the bottlenecks and bureaucratic practices in both agencies encourage corruption in the system.

    The investigation, published on TheNewsGuru.com (TNG), principally reveals the rot and corruption ongoing in both agencies – the NIS and the NIMC.

    The Service at the time our investigation was published was under the purview of Mohammad Babandede, whose tenure expired this September following his retirement after 36 years of service. The NIS is now being led by Idris Jere as Comptroller-General in an acting capacity.

    While the NIMC, previously under the purview of the Presidency, is now under the purview of Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.

    Why did you decide to beam your searchlight on NIS and NIMC

    The need to beam searchlight on the NIS and the NIMC came up as a result of so many complaints and reports of corruption in the Commission that we received.

    The complaints came from so many people who are having challenges in securing the Nigerian international passport as a result of issues with data mismatch between their BVN and NIN.

    Following the complaints we received, we carried out desk research and found out that the Facebook page of the NIMC is filled with similar complaints, all of them unattended to.

    So, we mobilized an undercover reporter to have a first-hand experience, and to report on the experience.

    Away from the complaints we received, on Friday, 1st of October 2021, that is next week Friday, Nigeria will mark independence. From 1960 till date, 61 years, Nigeria doesn’t have the means to legally identify her citizens and a unified database of her citizens.

    You see politicians go on national TV to say, people wreaking havoc in the country are not Nigerians, but aliens. Security in Nigeria is at ground zero. How do we identify Nigerians from non-Nigerians?

    In September 2015, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    The United Nations under the SDGs set certain targets for countries of the world to achieve, with the mantra: “leaving no one behind”. But it seems Nigeria is being left behind.

    One of the target areas where Nigeria is being left behind is the area of identity for every Nigerian, which falls under Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

    The target of the SDG states that: “By 2030, Nigeria should have provided legal identity for every Nigerian, including birth registration”.

    However, 2030 is around the corner; that is, 9 years from now, Nigeria has only been able to achieve about 31 per cent of legal identity for every Nigerian.

    This legal identity is what we have come to know as the National Identity Card, which National Identification Number or NIN represents.

    To put it in perspective, 31 per cent means Nigeria has only been able to capture 62 million unique NIN on the National Identity Database.

    The projection is that there are over 200 million people in Nigeria; meaning there is 69 per cent of people to cover before 2030. If you add new births, the number will be higher.

    So, we needed to investigate why there are lapses; and the bottlenecks and bureaucratic practices that impede the government from achieving set agenda.

    Let’s go deeper a bit; can you explain how these extortions take place at the headquarters of Nigeria Immigration Service?

    The federal government in December 2020 licensed 173 centres and 30 State government institutions to conduct the enrollment of NIN across Nigeria.

    These centres and institutions, when they capture NIN, the data sit idle on the local computer, when it is supposed to synchronise with the central database of NIMC.

    When you need such NINs for verification purposes, that is where the trouble starts.

    This is bearing in mind that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved N25 billion for NIMC to upgrade its database infrastructure.

    Away from that, when the federal government introduced BVN in 2014 to curb or reduce illegal banking transactions in Nigeria, BVN generated NIN for people who partook in the exercise.

    And according to data obtained from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), there are 44 million records of BVNs in Nigeria.

    However, according to the Director-General of the NIMC, Aliyu Aziz, only 15 million people with BVN have been linked with NIN.

    This means 29 million people with BVN are yet to be linked with NIN. Of these 29 million people, a big chunk of them has incomplete data or wrong data captured for them so that when they want to use NIN for verification purposes, they have issues.

    The language they use for the issue at both NIMC and NIS offices is “your NIN never drop”, meaning “your NIN is yet to drop”.

    So, we have some set of people who have correct data on their NIN but the NIN is yet to synchronise with the central database of NIMC, and others whose NINs are in the database of the NIMC but their data do not match with their BVN.

    What many don’t know is that BVN-generated NIN must be verified in order to access NIMC.

    So, you go to Immigration to process your international passport, and you are faced with either of these two challenges.

    For NIS to capture your biometrics, the biodata on your NIN must be verified against the data you filled while applying for the passport online. When there is a mismatch, the passport application returns NIN verification failed.

    The Immigration officer capturing your biometric will then advise you to go to the nearest NIMC centre to get your data corrected.

    In the case of NIS headquarters here in Abuja, there is a NIMC centre right on the premises.

    Now, to modify the data on your NIN, there are mandatory requirements.

    First, you have to present the original copy of the NIN slip issued at first registration.

    You have to make payments through Remita and have the printout of the Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) Number.

    The mandatory requirements are listed on the website of the NIMC.

    However, TNG findings reveal that NIMC officials do not comply with the mandatory requirements for modification of NIN data, as officials of the Commission cut corners and flagrantly flout the laid down procedures for the modification of NIN data.

    Findings by this medium when its reporter visited the NIS headquarters revealed that NIMC officials coerce applicants who want to modify their NIN data.

    They fraudulently collect money from them and jump the mandatory requirements to modify the NIN data for them.

    People pay as high as N50,000 to N70,000 to get their data corrected.

    On top of that, after making the correction, you will still have to wait for the updated NIN to drop on the central database of the NIMC.

    They will now tell you that if you want the NIN to drop quicker, you will have to make further payments.

    This is the agony some passport applicants are passing through across the country as a result of lapses in the NIMC under the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

    Mind you the Federal Executive Council (FEC) recently approved N25 billion for NIMC to upgrade it’s database infrastructure.

    Who and who is involved?

    As said, the NIMC under the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy is the enabler of this brazen corruption taking place.

    Passport Officers, Immigration Assistants and Biometric Capture Officers at NIMC centres are involved in this.

    Does the extortion apply in State offices?

    The answer is yes. We conducted desk research and parts of it involved scrutinizing the social media handles of the NIMC to aggregate complaints.

    Our finding was shocking. All of the complaints on the Facebook page of NIMC were left unattended to. We took the pains to reach out to every person that left complaints about NIN dropping on the NIMC Facebook page.

    Our interactions with them showed that the extortion is happening across the country.

    Did you get any response from Immigration or NIMC authorities on the fraud taking place in their respective agencies?

    No responses whatsoever. Even calls put through were not answered, and the calls were not returned.

    Several efforts to reach NIS Public Relations Officer, Mr Amos Okpu, an Assistant Comptroller, and Director of Corporate Communications of NIMC, Kayode Adegoke to address the matter proved abortive.

    If you go through the Facebook page of the NIMC, you will see that all complaints there concerning this matter are left unattended to, yet they make fresh posts almost on a daily basis.

    Are you aware of any action taken against the officers involved in the scam?

    None. No actions were taken.

    What are the ranks of the Immigration officers involved in extortion of passport applicants?

    In every organization, there are good, and as well bad elements. Officers involved in the brazen act of corruption, and are low ranking officers.

    However, this does not absolve top-ranking officers of wrongdoing as the enabling environment for the corrupt act thrives because top-ranking officers allowed it.

    However, Passport Officers, Immigration Assistants and Biometric Capture Officers at NIMC centres are involved in this.

    Besides the extortion of passport applicants at Immigration office, did you come across any other corrupt act?

    Extortion, cohesion for monetary gains, is the biggest setback we observed. If this is curbed, it will go a long way in repositioning the NIS for good. However, there is brazen disregard for due process, and disregard for the welfare of applicants.

    What will be your next line of action now that the report is out and the concerned authorities are yet to act on it?

    You know, there is this deep-rooted impunity prevailing with those in power in Nigeria. Those in power in Nigeria feel they are untouchable, and that they can do all what is not, and get away with it.

    For a person of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy whose character and integrity is badly dented already, he doesn’t need much prodding before he did the needful.

    The NIMC under the purview of Pantami is the agency among the two actually culpable in aiding the ongoing corruption. The Minister has to sit up and close the loophole.

    However, what we have out is the first instalment of the report. We have records of names of those involved in the extortion that we might be forced to release to the public if both the NIS and the NIMC should continue to maintain impunity.

    Meanwhile, according to PRIMORG, an invitation was extended to the management of NIMC to send a representative of the Commission for the radio programme.

    TNG reports, however, no representative of the NIMC was present all through the duration of the radio programme.

  • NDDC audit: Nigerians demand quick action against corrupt officials, contractors

    NDDC audit: Nigerians demand quick action against corrupt officials, contractors

    …ask FG to reconstitute NDDC board immediately

    …demand arrest of NASS members, civil servants and public servants involved in milking the commission dry

    Barely a week after receiving the forensic audit report of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nigerians have continued to demand prompt action by President Muhammadu Buhari against officials, contractors, and individuals indicted by the report which exposed brazen criminality and fraud in the execution of 13,777 projects.

    It will be recalled that President Buhari had in October 2019 ordered forensic auditing of the Commission due to reports of endemic corruption since its establishment, but received the audit report last Thursday.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports during an anti-corruption radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE on RADIO, produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, on Wednesday in Abuja, the Executive Director, Citizens Advocacy For Social & Economic Rights, Frank Tietie revealed that his expectation and that of the people from the Niger Delta region is to see President Buhari-led Federal Government speedily employ all legal means in arresting all and sundry implicated by the report; seize their ill-gotten properties, monies and return them to the people.

    Disclosing his expectations now that the NDDC audit report is on the president’s table, Tietie had these to say: “We don’t want time to be wasted, I am looking forward to properties that will be temporarily and finally forfeited to the Federal Government, sold and the money taken back to the NDDC.

    “We are looking at a situation where current members of the National Assembly, members of the Federal Executive Council, Federal Public Servants, and Civil Servants will be arrested immediately and imprisoned.

    “We want a speedy trial, we want to see people sent to prison, seize their properties, sell their properties, give the money back to the NDDC, “He stressed.

    Tietie expressed optimism that the government will act on the audit report that has set up the audit committee themselves, noting that even if President Buhari refuses to take action on the report the laws of Nigeria will.

    He commended PRIMORG for their boldness in bringing such discourse of national importance to public knowledge while disclosing that his rights group will continue to urge citizens to be alert on government spending and holding their leaders accountable.

    “You must shine your eyes as someone from Niger Delta with regards to budget, whether it is in the state, federal or in the NDDC; You must know the roads and bridges to be built and when they are not built you call me or call PRIMORG to talk about it,” Tietie advised.

    On his part, Darlington Nwauju who lives in Rivers State called on President Buhari to constitute the NDDC board urgently, as it will help reduce the corruption in the commission.

    “Mr. President should constitute the board for the NDDC, because there are a plethora of audit reports that have been done before now inside the NDDC, so, the constituted board should work with these reports to better the lives of the people of the region.

    Towing the same line, another of the Niger Delta, Umuakpo Ovie who spoke from Delta State said that a well-constituted board of the commission will reduce the malfeasance that has impoverished the people of the region. Adding that interim management boards of the NDDC oversaw the abandonment of many emergency road constructions in recent times.

    Ovie disclosed that going forward, people from the region will hold leaders accountable, “just as we are agitating for President Buhari to act on the forensic audit report, that is how we must come together to hold political leaders, traditional leaders, and opinion leaders accountable and ask them questions.

    “The criminality is too much, how can they spend N6 trillion, and today there is no development in the region,” he lamented.

    Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program used by PRIMORG to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.
    The program is supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

  • Corruption: Pressure mounts on Buhari to act on NDDC forensic audit report

    Corruption: Pressure mounts on Buhari to act on NDDC forensic audit report

    Pressure is currently mounting on President Muhammadu Buhari to take action on the forensic audit carried out on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    This is even as the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG) has called on the President to act on the matter.

    PRIMORG urged President Buhari to expeditiously take action against the staff of NDDC and contractors found culpable in the brazen criminality, contract scams, and embezzlement of the Commission since its establishment in 2000.

    The admonition is coming on the heels of the expose by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, which says that the recently submitted final forensic audit report of the NDDC had 12,128 abandoned projects that could not be traced to any contractor.

    President Buhari had in October 2019 ordered for forensic auditing of the Commission after pressures from governors from the Niger Delta region, civil society organizations, and Nigerians over the endemic corruption in the agency.

    Programme Coordinator at Social Development Integrated Center, Isaac Botti led the call during an anti-corruption radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE on RADIO, produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Botti who lamented the culture of overlooking audit and corruption reports in Nigeria said President Buhari must address the gaps in the forensic audit report of the NDDC objectively and without bias, noting that the “NDDC forensic audit will not achieve anything if there is no political will to implement it”.

    “With regards to the NDDC forensic audit report, President Buhari should show the public he meant business, he should make the report available to the public, he should ensure that proper and right actions are followed and that will instill confidence in the public and show that he is ready to fight corruption.

    “If the President says he is fighting corruption, then let him fight it without bias and objectively which include doing everything that will help control the incidences of corruption and supporting every process that curbs corruption,” Botti stressed.

    He added that the two decades of mismanagement and embezzlement of funds meant to develop the region have been made possible due to corruption and failure to institute governing board of the NDDC; which plays a significant role in overseeing the operation of the commission.

    On his part, the Regional Editor of The News Guru Newspapers, Emmanuel Ovuakporie expressed discontent with the audit report and the auditors, while calling on President Buhari to create special courts that will swiftly tackle corruption in Nigeria.

    Ovuakporie said since the audit report on the president’s table is from the inception of the Commission every person who headed the commission in the past should be questioned, insisting that a special court to try corruption cases will ensure faster results.

    His words: “We need special courts to try corrupt politicians, if we have such courts, these people (corrupt Nigerians) will change their mindset. If you have a special court dedicated especially to try corrupt officers within a short period there will be swift judgment and people will know that there are courts that can take care of their issues without wasting time.

    “The forensic report covers from 2000 to 2020 which is exactly 20 years, so it means virtually everybody that has managed the commission from the beginning to date should be investigated. If Buhari wants to let us know that he is fighting corruption he should set up special courts to try corrupt officers,” Ovuakporie stated.

    He assured that The News Guru Newspapers will go the extra mile to inform the public of what is actually happening in the NDDC despite the difficulties associated with accessing information in government agencies.

    A Nigerian, identified as Joseph who called into the radio programme also had these to say: “The youth of the Niger Delta region should mobilize themselves, every youth should insist that this report be made known; Let us know who are doing these things, the best way to tackle the corruption is to know who are the enemies of the Niger Delta.”

    Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program used by PRIMORG to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.

    The program is supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

  • Stakeholders to FG: Social media ban stifling whistle blowing policy, anti-corruption war

    Stakeholders to FG: Social media ban stifling whistle blowing policy, anti-corruption war

    Stakeholders at a Radio Town Hall Meeting on Whistle blowing and Whistle blower Protection have joined calls for the Federal Government to restore Twitter operations in Nigeria, saying the ban of the micro blogging site amounts to disservice to the government’s fight against corruption and whistle blowing policy.

     

    The Federal Government had announced an “indefinite suspension” of Twitter operations in Nigeria last Friday.

     

    Speaking at a town hall meeting organized by the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) in collaboration with the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG), Wednesday in Abuja, the Director of Programs at YIAGA Africa, Cynthia Mbamalu asserted that the ban on Twitter was misplaced.

     

    Mbamalu lamented that the clampdown on Twitter is causing distrust and will affect whistle blowing in Nigeria.

    She stressed that the government failed to look at the broader picture and benefits of the platform in the fight against corruption before slamming a ban on it.

     

    “Twitter was one platform where people were revealing and reporting incidences, it was one platform where people beyond the young entrepreneurs who conduct businesses earn a living. There were critical reports of violation, corruption, and demands for accountability, and they were all done on the Twitter platform.

     

    “The whole conversation around sex for grade and having a bill to criminalize sexual harassment in tertiary institutions all started with a social media campaign, on Twitter platform in particular.

     

    “The platform remains an important platform to demanding accountability,” Mbamalu stressed.

     

    She called on citizens not to relent in holding the government accountable against all odds.

    She called for more education for citizens in the fight against corruption, noting that women will play a better role in the fight against corruption if they get more education.

     

    Similarly, Community Engagement Officer at Connected Development, (CODE), Mukhtar Modibbo condemned the suspension of Twitter operation in the country, saying that trust was lacking between the people and government.

     

    “Look at the reality of the country, you will be wondering if the citizens will be able to trust the system.”

     

     

    “How many people were protected after blowing the whistle? One of the persons was someone that collected the money and had to leave the country because his life was under threat”.

     

    Modibbo called on the government to do more in mobilizing citizens against corruption by being more responsible, and open for citizens to hold them accountable.

     

    On his part, The Team Lead, Tap Initiative, Martin Obono while expressing discontent on the Twitter ban disclosed that there are a plethora of benefits in using technology and social media to expose corruption, adding that it is high time Nigeria developed an App to fight corruption.

     

    “Government must look at the negative sides of banning social media. Technology provides grounds for tweet meet, short messages to document abuses and human rights.

     

    “There are a plethora of areas to use social media to fight corruption but in the absence of whistle blowing law, the creation of an App to expose corruption and protection of whistle blower’s identity is needed.”

     

    According to Obono, the steam of whistle blowing is dying because some people who blew the whistle in the past never got the incentive government promised them. He urged the government to demonstrate political will that they are really interested in fighting corruption, which will inadvertently make citizens act accordingly.

     

    Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons With Disability, Musa Mu’azu Musa pleaded with the government to immediately reverse its ban on Twitter.

     

    Musa who stated that persons with disability (PWDs) can play a major role in the fight against corruption but decried the spate of corruption in the country.

    He claimed that 99 percent of problems faced today by PWDs are caused by corruption.

     

    His words: “I am advising the government please, apart from the economic benefits there are social rights around it, we owe it to our government to get feedback on their policies and the only way we can give them that feedback is through those platforms (Twitter). So we want them to lift the Twitter ban and also encourage people to speak using the platform,” Musa stated.

     

    The Radio Town Hall meeting Series will initially run for eight weeks and alternate weekly between Ray Power 100.5 FM, Abuja, and 99.9 Kiss FM Abuja.

     

    It is a collaborative effort between AFRICMILL and PRIMORG, aimed at increasing citizen’s active participation and involvement, and encouraging the government to institutionalize the whistle-blowing policy.

     

    The project is supported by MacArthur Foundation.

  • MacArthur Foundation applauded for exploits in anti-corruption fight in Nigeria

    MacArthur Foundation applauded for exploits in anti-corruption fight in Nigeria

    The Presentation of a two-year report of an anti-corruption and accountability project by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG) attracted throngs of praise and encomium for the MacArthur Foundation, civil society organizations, and the media in their fight against corruption.

    The project titled ‘Strengthening Anti-Corruption and Accountability by Amplifying Corruption Related Investigative Reports On the Radio and Through Social Media’ under which anti-corruption programs on radio, ‘Public Conscience on radio and Radio Town Hall Meetings’ were carved out.

    A Professor of Mass Communication at Baze University Abuja, Dr. Abiodun Adeniyi who was elated at PRIMORG’s effort in the fight against corruption said the success recorded came because of the massive support of the MacArthur Foundation in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. He said that the activities of PRIMORG have reinforced the efforts of journalists and media organizations to expose corruption, apart from helping to increase public awareness on reports hitherto swept under the carpet.

    Adeniyi, who delivered a special address and unveiled the report described PRIMORG’s anti-corruption project as a unique idea that is focused on calling attention to a deep-seated malaise in the country, as well as hailed the MacArthur Foundation for supporting the project

    On his part, Editor-in-Chief, Forefront News, Amos Dunia, who is a former chairman of the Abuja Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists extolled the MacArthur foundation in supporting the efforts of PRIMORG in the amplification of corruption stories on the radio.

    He identified anti-corruption as one of the most difficult tasks any individual or organization can take on in Nigeria.

    Dunia noted that the challenges of fighting corruption in this part of the world are enormous, hence, the need for continued support for the media to carry out investigative journalism.

    “For those that are fighting corruption they need to be encouraged to continue the fight, and I appeal to the MacArthur Foundation not to relent in supporting the continuation of the project,” Dunia pleaded.

    The convener of Say No Campaign Nigeria, an anti-corruption coalition, Mr. Ezenwa Nwagwu said the collaboration between the MacArthur Foundation, the media, and the CSOs is a major boost for the anti-corruption fight in Nigeria.

    Ezenwa who is the Executive Director of Peering Advocacy and Advancement Center in Africa (PAACA) added that within a space of two years PRIMORG and MacArthur Foundation have shown that radio is the strongest tool in the amplification of corruption stories and discussions in Nigeria.

    The Editor at the International Center for Investigative Reporting ICIR Amzat Ajibola pinned the success of the PRIMORG’s project to the huge collaboration by the stakeholders in the fight against corruption led by the MacArthur Foundation.

    Ajibola said without the amplification of corruption reports it would have been impossible to get some of the recent impacts in the war on corruption in the country.

    On his part, the Africa Director of MacArthur Foundation, Dr. Kole Shettima lauded the PRIMORG’s efforts and expressed joy over the impact of the project following the testimonies of citizens present at the event.

    “I’m happy that the participants are from those communities that have been directly impacted by this project as well it’s always good to hear all these testimonies and the impact of our work on these communities.

    “I think their testimonies are a clear indication that this is the kind of result that we (MacArthur Foundation) expect from this kind of work. The job is not about the funds but it is about how it affects the ordinary citizen in their day to day lives.”

    While urging better relationships and collaboration between the government and civil society organizations, Shettima revealed that the reason the Foundation supports the government is to make them work much more effectively and efficiently.

    “It is very important that they (government) seek the support of the civil society groups. The civil society organization will be able to hold the government accountable, ask government questions as to why certain things are happening and others are not.

    “The combination of government and civil society organizations, if they work effectively, collaborate and not to see each other as an enemy but as people who are committed to doing the right thing is the only way we would be able to achieve a better country for us all. So, that’s why we support both government institutions and also civil society organizations,” Shettima said.

    A representative of Pegi resettlement Community in the Kuje Area Council in Abuja Mr. Taiwo Aderibigbe had earlier told the audience how PRIMORG through advocacy in both radio and community town hall meetings helped the community to overcome graft and corruption from service providers and a contractor working on the community road.
    The road, according to him was abandoned for over 10 years but for the intervention of PRIMORG and ICIR, the contractor would not have come back to the site.
    Earlier, in his remark, Chairman of the Board of PRIMORG, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu commended MacArthur Foundation for the support.
    He noted that there are lots of reasons why amplification of corruption reports is important, but lamented that investigations undertaken continued to be poor and abysmally treated.

    According to Odinkalu, “since the creation of the anti-corruption entities in Nigeria, particularly the ICPC in 2001 and the EFCC in 2004, they have produced a massive body of investigations and report against several high level or medium-level public servants, many of these reports are not known, most of them have not proceeded beyond the shelve.”

    The former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, however, underscored the need for PRIMORG to continue the anti-corruption radio program. He stated that radio continues to remain the most formidable tool of public communication in Nigeria and called on citizens to take the fight against corruption as their personal venture.

    “The fight against corruption does not belong to President Buhari or Vice President Osinbajo, it does not belong to Minister or Permanent Secretary it belongs to us all because, at the end of the day, the fate that is changed by corruption is the fate of our people, our mothers, and father, uncles who cannot get to hospitals, our children who cannot get to school, our grandparents whose funeral we cannot attend because the roads that should take us there have actually being eaten up and pocketed by those who are supposed to deliver them,” Odinkalu said.

    On his part, the Executive Director of PRIMORG, Okhiria Agbonsuremi applauded the MacArthur Foundation for supporting the project and described the project as the biggest assault against corruption so far in the history of radio programming in Nigeria.

    His words: “It has never been done before that you have radio just devoted to corruption programming and a lot of activity on the social media to the issues of corruption. We found on the ground a formidable team of organizations made up of media houses and civil society groups working very hard to push the doors against corruption in Nigeria and most of the organizations are in the media and journalism cohorts of the MacArthur Foundation and that is why we remain grateful to the MacArthur Foundation because apart from the funding support that we got, they also provided the infrastructure to run the project.”

    Agbonsuremi, while sharing some of the success stories of the project, revealed that PRIMORG’s amplification of fake honey story led to the dismissal of an official of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC); Reduced corruption in electricity metering scheme in Pegi community in Abuja with a partnership with Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and also ensured that work resumed on the abandoned Pegi road after years of neglect by the contractor.

    He also mentioned the reduction in the corruption in the birth registration process and the number of people who have benefited from the integrity stories amplified from the Integrity Icon awards by Accountability Lab Nigeria.