Tag Archives: YAR ADUA

Senate Begins Probe Of Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Others Over Power Funds Mismanagement

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Senate will today  begin an inquest into alleged mismanagement of funds appropriated to the power sector from the Olusegun Obasanjo civilian administration to date.

Jonathan, Yardadua and Obasanjo

In a statement, yesterday, by the Clerk of Senate ad hoc Committee on Power, Cletus Ojabo, the power sector probe will be in the form of investigative hearing/interactive session, just as there was an indication that former ministers of power will also be in attendance.

According to Ojabo,  the investigation would centre on funds appropriated for the power sector since 1999 and the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, adding: “ It is expected that all those who played key roles in the power sector since 1999, including ministers and heads of government departments and parastatals, will appear before the panel.”

It will be recalled that Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had last month announced a  13-man ad hoc committee to carry out a holistic investigation into the management of funds appropriated to the power sector from the Olusegun Obasanjo civilian administration to date.

Senator  Saraki had urged members of the committee to consider their reputation and integrity and come up with a report that would be acceptable to Nigerians. He lamented that a lot of money had been spent on the sector with no results, while Nigeria is still faced with the challenge of power supply.

The committee, which has Senator Abubakar Kyari, (APC Borno North) as chairman, was also saddled with the responsibility of looking into irregularities in the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN and to  also probe how the Obasanjo, Umaru Yar‘Adua and Jonathan administrations managed funds allocated to the sector.

The committee was charged with the task of looking into the entire power value chain including generation, transmission and distribution with a view to identifying what the problems in the sector are.

Saraki, who noted at the inauguration of the committee three weeks ago, that the task before the panel is huge, had however, frowned  at the continued absence of regular supply of electricity despite the country’s huge investments in the sector.

Kyari, in his remarks during the inauguration,  detailed the nature of the investigation his committee is saddled with,saying, “ To have a close look at the entire power value chain (generation, transmission and distribution) calls for a review of our policies in order to obtain optimum performances across the board.

According to him, “the abysmal performance of the generation segment is no longer news in view of the current deteriorating power supply which hovers around 4,600MW for a population of over 170 million people, despite the huge resources committed into it.”

President Buhari Names 13-Man Panel To Probe Yar’Adua, Jonathan

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President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, set up a 13-member panel to probe two of his predecessors, late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, on procurement of arms and ammunition for the Armed Forces.

The investigative committee’s mandate is to identify irregularities and make recommendations for streamlining the procurement process in the Armed Forces.

The committee, which was constituted by the the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (retd), on the directive of the President, is headed by AVM J.O.N. Ode (retd.)
while Brig-Gen. Y. I. Shalangwa is secretary.

Other members are Rear Admiral J. A. Aikhomu (retd.), Rear Admiral E. Ogbor (retd.), Brig-Gen. L. Adekagun (retd.), Brig-Gen. M. Aminu-Kano (retd.), Brig-Gen N. Rimtip (retd.), Commodore T. D. Ikoli, Air Commodore U. Mohammed (retd), Air Commodore I. Shafi’i, Col A. A. Ariyibi, GP Capt C.A. Oriaku (retd) and Mr. I. Magu (EFCC).
A statement from presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, said

 “the establishment of the investigative committee is in keeping with President Buhari’s determination to stamp out corruption and irregularities in Nigeria’s public service.
“It comes against the background of the myriad of challenges that the Nigerian Armed Forces have faced in the course of ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the northeast, including the apparent deficit in military platforms with its attendant negative effects on troops’ morale.
“The committee will specifically investigate allegations of non-adherence to correct equipment procurement procedures and the exclusion of relevant logistics branches from arms procurement under past administrations, which, very often resulted in the acquisition of sub-standard and unserviceable equipment.”

Meanwhile, the Presidency has declared that Buhari’s administration is not a government of probes but of due process, law and order.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, who spoke with Vanguard, yesterday, also stated the administration of President Buhari will not shy away from probing the government of former President Jonathan in the face of alleged fraud and corruption.

He spoke following an accusation of selective probe against Buhari by a prominent northern leader, Tanko Yakassai.
The presidential aide said there are sensitive matters arising from briefings and official engagements, which the President cannot overlook and described as laughable the allegation that Buhari has excluded other former presidents like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo because he was close to them.
He said:

 “Let me say that officially, nobody is under probe, even Dr. Jonathan. People should not make mistakes about the fact that what is going on are routine investigations. These are matters that the President has found on the table.

So, there is nothing like a probe. If Jonathan will be probed, you would have heard of, may be, an administrative panel of enquiry or judicial panel of enquiry. But it hasn’t come to that. These are matters of routine engagements of due process of law and order.

“President Buhari in his campaign said his government was not going to probe into the past. We are not probing but as a responsible government, you cannot bring to the table matters such as we are dealing with and then, the President will wave them off.
“The Office of the President may be powerful but it is controlled, regulated by due process and the constitution of the country. The President cannot wave away matters that are arising from either handing-over or the routine briefings.

How can anybody say he was part of the Obasanjo military regime and that’s why he’s not probing them?

Speaking further, the presidential spokesman queried why the allies of former President Jonathan would wait until now to champion the cause of probing past governments before Jonathan.

He stated that it was Jonathan’s responsibility to probe the governments of Obasanjo and Yar’Adua.

“Let me tell you, if Obasanjo and Yar’Adua and all of the past governments before Jonathan needed to have been probed, why did Jonathan shy away from his responsibility? Why didn’t he probe them while he was in office? Why didn’t Tanko Yakassai ask Jonathan to probe Yar’Adua, Babangida, Obasanjo? Why do they have to wait for Buhari to come and do what he should have done?
“It is common sense. So, if he didn’t probe them, why should his people ask some other person to probe them? If they felt it was desirable to probe the past administration, as a party, why didn’t they do it themselves? Why do they have to wait for President Buhari?
“This is not a government of probes. It is a government of due process and law and order. President Buhari is dealing with the matters he has found on the table and he has no power under the constitution to wave them. If somebody had stolen Nigeria’s one billion dollars of oil, President Buhari is not authorized to wave it off under the law. He should ask questions. There is no probe going on now. People who are creating the spectre of probes in the country just want to create unnecessary fear.”

Vanguard

Yar’Adua Cancelled Sale Of Refineries, Refunded Dangote’s $750M – Obasanjo

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has explained that the sale of two of the nation’s oil oil refineries had been concluded before he exited office in 2007, saying his successor, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, reversed the sale due to “pressure”.

Obasanjo said this in his serialised interview with ‘Book Club’, a programme on Channels Television, monitored in Lagos on Wednesday.

The ex-President said business mogul, Aliko Dangote, leading a consortium of investors, had paid $750m for two of the refineries, as the Federal Government was finding it difficult managing the facilities at the time.

He, however, regretted that instead of the Yar’Adua administration to consolidate on the sale so that the investors could turn around the fortunes of the refineries, his successor succumbed to pressure and reversed the sale of the oil facilities.

Obasanjo equally revealed that not only did his successor canceled the sale, he also refunded the $750m paid by the investors.

He added, “The refineries are old and Dangote and some investors paid $750m for two of the refineries. My successor came to office and reversed the sale; he even refunded the money they paid.

“So, I went to him and said ‘why did you do this’? He said it was because of pressure. So, I said ‘so the pressure of some people was more important than the interest of the whole nation’!

“Right now, you will hardly be able to sell the refineries for more than $250m because they are very old.”

Obasanjo explained that most people, especially leaders, failed to analyse the decisions of those before them before upturning those decisions, pointing out that most leaders yielded to sentiment than informed opinions

Source – punchng.com

Start The Corruption Probe From The 1999 Government Till Date, PDP Chieftain Challenges Buhari

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A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and an aspirant in the 2016 governorship election in Edo State, Mr. Matthew Iduoiriyekemwen has insisted that if President Muhammadu Buhari must embark on probing the activities of past regimes in the country, he must not probe former President Goodluck Jonathan alone but extend it to 1999.

President Muhammadu Buhari

Iduoiriyekemwen, who spoke with Vanguard on Tuesday, in an interview in Benin said that while he welcomed the decision of the Buhari administration to probe Jonathan, it should not be a way to discredit the former President’s government.

“There is nothing wrong in probing. What is wrong in probe is when it becomes witch-hunt. Yes, we are in a democratic regime, if President Muhammadu Buhari wants to probe the activities of past regimes, he should look at what has been happening in this country from 1999.

“There has been a lot of maladministration and corruption, there has been a lot of stealing and wasting of government resources and if he wants to probe, he must extend it to 1999 till date,” he said.

I Chose Yar’Adua Because Others Were Corrupt – Obasanjo

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Wednesday that he chose the late former President Umaru Yar’ Adua as his successor because the others who wanted the post were corrupt.

Obasanjo said one of the people who wanted to succeed him in 2007 was “stinkingly corrupt” and that the only way he (Obasanjo) could justify himself before man and God was to go for Yar’Adua, who, he said, was the only one among the contenders then who was not corrupt.

The former President, who spoke in an interview with a private television station, Channels
Television, in Abeokuta, did not mention the ‘corrupt’ Yar’Adua rivals.

Among the prominent presidential hopefuls in the Peoples Democratic Party in 2007 were Obasanjo’s deputy, Abubakar Atiku; and ex-Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili.

Atiku later abandoned the PDP to contest the presidential election on the platform of the defunct Action Congress while Odili’s ambition fizzled out with the nomination of Yar’Adua.

The AC later metamorphosed into the Action Congress of Nigeria, which later merged with the Congress for Progressive Change and the All Nigeria Peoples Party to form the now ruling All Progressives Congress.

Obasanjo’s choice of successor died on May 5, 2010 from heart-related ailments. Many condemned Obasanjo for choosing a man who was manifestly sick to lead the country.

But in the Channels interview, PUNCH reports that Obasanjo said he only acted based on the information made available to him. He said:

“Even if you take your son as your successor, you are not sure of what he will do when he gets there. Don’t ever kid yourself. What do I know about any successor? What he presents. When he gets there, he presents it differently.

We did our best, but if you say our best is not good enough, I will say, when it comes to your turn, do better. With all the people that are available for successor, what we came up with was about the best that we could think of at that time.

One of those who wanted to do the job came to me and said, ‘Sir, I like your job, but I cannot do it the way you are doing it.’ Now, if he had told me that, should I then come and say, ‘okay, come, let me give you the job?’ He had told me that, ‘I like your job, but look, the way you are doing it, I haven’t got the stamina to do it that way.’ Then, what do you expect me to do?

Or the one that I know that, oh!, this one, before he gets the job, he’s stinkingly corrupt. Now will I be able to defend myself before God and man if with what I know I give this job or I encourage the man to have this job?”