JUST IN

The National Commandant of Peace Corps of Nigeria Amb. Dr. Dickson Akoh on arrival at the National Headquarters Of the Corps from Jos, plateau State this morning, where he went to pay condolence visit on the plateau state Commandant who lost his mother, decided in his usual manner of seeking to having constant interface with men and officers of the Corps requested that, officers that thronged in to the FCT command in their large number to finalize their documentation process be assembled for a brief address by him.

In his usual lively and interactive manner, the National Commandant sensitized fellow officers on some salient issues, among which are:
* The unfortunate misconception making the wave about the alleged refusal by President Buhari to assent to the Peace Corps Bill. "Six Bills were sent to Mr. President on 28th December, 2017 alongside with the Peace Corps Bill, the president after due consideration of the viability and otherwise of the six Bills, sent an official signal to the National Assembly rejecting three bills from among the six bills earlier sent". Amb. Akoh stated. The reason behind the rejection of those bills were clearly stated in the letter sent to the National Assembly. It is therefore on record that Peace Corps Bill was never at any point rejected by Mr. President, adding that the publication on vanguard newspaper with the misleading caption was simply the personal opinion of the editor, he further reiterated.

* On whether Mr. President will do justice to the Bill by appending his signature or not, the National Commandant expressed optimism that the president will certainly sign the Bill, as he urged all committed officers of the Corps to be patient while intensifying prayers to God to ensure smooth landing for the Corps. "The president will surely sign the Bill, we are optimistic" Amb. Akoh said. However, analyst are of the opinion that with the present perceived rift between the presidency and the National Assembly and also considering the high premium the National Assembly accorded the Peace Corps Bill as an agency to complement the existing security agencies in curbing crime, the National Assembly may be on the way to veto Mr. President, by invoking relevant portions of the Constitution.

The National Commandant urged officers to see every of their now commitment to the Corps as an act that will definitely pay off at the end, as no good thing is delivered to one on a platter of gold. Certainly, no venture no gain.

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“He who must come to equity must do so with clean hands’’—Wise Saying

Apparently basking in the euphoria of the large turnout of personalities at the launch of his book: ‘’Security & Justice: The Pathway for Peace and Reconciliation in Nigeria’’, the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Kpotun Idris, who was full of smiles, used the occasion to sermonize on the need for justice as a prerequisite for peace and national integration.

While watching him on Channels Television pontificate on the concept of justice, I saw HYPOCRISY (emphasis mine) writ large. It is equivalent to a sinister case of a criminal reciting the Ten Commandants of God and emphasizing gratuitously on ‘’thou shall not steal’’ (no insult intended). With all due respect, the records of the GP’s service so far does not seem to be in conformity with the message he is trying to pass across to his readers in that book. It is more of, ‘do as I say, but not as I do’.

When he was appointed as acting Inspector-General of Police and later confirmed as a substantive one, he appeared fulfilled, but not jubilant. As a matter of fact, considering some alleged issues underpinning his emergence; Idris cuts a pitiable picture of a bride or groom in the church, who fears that the priest might call off the wedding because of a last minute objection from a former lover.

Since he assumed office, the IGP has allegedly been behaving like the lord of the manor, waving his supposed moral credentials like a talisman, even when it is patently clear that it is all a make-belief; probably hyped to bamboozle unwary members of the public.

Even a few Nigerians, who had initially invested their hopes on him that he has the wherewithal to positively turn things around in the Nigeria Police, are today biting their fingers in considerable regret because he has allegedly messed them up, so much so that his critics are already whispering in hushed tones that he has become a huge moral burden on the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, a renowned anti-corruption crusader whose integrity is well known and respected worldwide.

In that book that was launched with fanfare, the author, talked glowingly about reconciliation, stressing that justice is where there is the same application of standard or yardstick as stipulated by law to all, no matter their socio-cultural differences. He also went further in chapter 3 to review the contributions of justice to reconciliation. Wonders, it is often said, shall never cease. Is it this same IGP Ibrahim Idris, who has established a reputation for selective justice that is talking about justice, peace and reconciliation? Or has he forgotten that peace cannot thrive in the absence of justice? How can he be talking about justice when he chooses which Court judgment to obey and which not to obey?


Out of several Court Orders that the IGP has allegedly disobeyed, that of the Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN) stands out like a totem pole. It would be recalled that while the Nigerian Peace Corps (Establishment) Bill was receiving legislative attention, the IGP, allegedly in one off-the-cuff moment, disclosed that instead of the Federal Government to increase Police allocation, it was considering taking over Peace Corps of Nigeria. Thereafter, he allegedly vowed to clamp down on the Corps, a promise that was fulfilled on Tuesday, February 28th 2017, when the new Corporate Headquarters of the Corps was sealed-off after a successful commissioning ceremony that was attended by the crème de la crème of the society. And the Police have ensured that the office remained under lock and key to the police
And the IGP who is now talking glibly about justice, peace and reconciliation has paid deaf ears to Orders of Honorable Justices Gabriel Kolawole (of 9th November 2017) and John Tsoho (15th January 2018) that the office be immediately unsealed.

One of the huge question marks on the IGP’s integrity is the allegation of corruption leveled against him by Senator Isa Misau, who alleged that he collected about N120 billion as bill for special security services to corporate bodies, such as oil firms, and highly placed individuals through a process he called “series of fraudulent practices in the running of the Nigerian Police.”

And to the consternation of all lovers of due process and legality, the AGF, instead of properly investigating the matter with a view to determining the culpability or otherwise of the IGP, stood legal jurisprudence on its head by filing charges against the accuser, Sen. Misau. This is simply unheard of. In saner climes, the IGP would have thrown in the towel long before ago, because with his integrity been called to question he no longer has the moral right to still cling to that office.

Another issue that has made the IGP’s continued stay in office irksome is his alleged partisan role in the farmers and herdsmen clashes in Benue State, which he said was as a result of the implementation of the anti-open grazing law.

The unfortunate claim by the IGP indicates that some of those saddled with the responsibility of protecting lives and property and maintaining law and order have abdicated their duty and become accomplices with those undermining the very existence of the country.

Under Ibrahim Idris leadership, the Nigeria Police was rated as the worst Police in the World by the World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI) last year. Surprisingly, Nigeria Police was rated behind countries like Rwanda, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Congo DRC etc. It is also under Idris leadership that a Public Relations Officer will have the audacity of calling a sitting governor names without been reprimanded. Yet, in spite of all his glaring failures, the Police authorities have continued to offend the sensibilities of Nigerians through paid adverts, which is aired daily on Prime Time network of NTA, on how the Force has suddenly metamorphosed into an efficient institution under Ibrahim Idris leadership, which is falsehood elevated to power 4.

On the whole, the IGP Idris cannot be preaching the gospel of Justice, Peace and Reconciliation on one hand, while recklessly abridging the fundamental rights of others with impunity on the other hand. That is why I find it pretty difficult to believe that he is the author of that book that was launched recently in Lagos.

The National Commandant, Peace Corps Of Nigeria, Amb. (Dr) Dickson A.O. Akoh led a delegation of Senior Officers to the Peace Building & Conflict Resolution Workshop in Plateau State. The workshop is organized by the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Development under the leadership of the Honorable Minister, Barr. Solomon Selcap Dalung.

Before proceeding to the workshop venue, Amb. Akoh quickly paid courtesy visits to the Palace of the Gbong Gwom Jos, HRH Da Jacob Gyang and the Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Prof. Sonni G. Tyoden.

The three day workshop designed for Youth Leaders and other Stakeholders in the North-central Geopolitical zone, had in attendance the Honorable Minister, Permanent Secretary, the Chairman Traditional Chiefs of Plateau State, HRH Da Jacob Gyang Buba, Gbong Gwom Jos and several other highly placed dignitaries. Other agencies and organizations in attendance are the National Defense College, YoungStar Initiative, 360 Entertainment, Mind the Gap and several others.

from dail post news paper

A Media Consultant to the Nigeria Peace Corps, Mr Rogers Ochela, has said that the functions of the Corps were not overlapping that of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) nor the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).

In an open letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, Ochela said the insinuations that the Corps’ functions were similar to those of other security agencies were mere fallacies.





The consultant who tabulated the functions of the police, the NSCDC and that of the proposed Nigerian Peace Corps (NPC), urged President Buhari and other well-meaning Nigerians to read through and see the difference in functions.

He insisted that, apart from the differences in function, the current security situation in Nigeria required difference approaches to addressing insecurity.

“Your Excellency Sir, the dynamic nature of insecurity in Nigeria today requires roles differentiation as a panacea to expertise in addressing security challenges.

“It would interest you to know that similar organizations like the Nigerian Peace Corps exists in other parts of the world, such as the American Peace Corps, Canadian Peace Corps, Bangladesh National Cadet Corps, Peace Officers Commission in China, Chinese Labour Corps, Lera Uniform Corps of Malaysia, Malaysian People Volunteer Corps, Production and Construction Corps of China, and many more.





“All these are consciously and deliberately designed to empower and socially preoccupy the youths so that their state of idleness won’t be exploited adversely.

“We appeal to Your Excellency to discountenance such malicious misrepresentation of facts and be graciously disposed to assenting to the Nigerian Peace Corps Bill”, he said.

Itemising some of the differences in functions, Ochela said that, while the police is tasked with prevention of crime and protection of lives and properties, the NSCDC is expected to assist in maintaining peace while the peace corps is supposed to provide gainful employment for the youth in order to facilitate peace and volunteerism.

He insisted that there was no function of the corps that forms part of the functions of neither the police nor the NSCDC adding that the corps was not intended as an arms carrying body.

- The controversy surrounding the Peace Corps bill is still on

- The National Assembly seems hell-bent on making sure the bill sees the light of the day

- Nigerian federal legislators say they are ready to override the president to ensure the bill sees the light of the day

The National Assembly, on Friday, February 16, said it would not hesitate to invoke the relevant session of the Nigerian 1999 constitution, and override the executive powers of President Muhammadu Buhari, if he does not eventually assent to the bill establishing Nigerian Peace Corps.

The Senate had passed the Peace Corps Bill on November 25, 2016, shortly after the House of Representatives passed same.

A conference committee of both chambers was also inaugurated on December 8, 2016, to harmonise the bill passed at different levels.

We'll override President Buhari if he does not sign Peace Corps bill - National Assembly
President Buhari's delay in signing the Peace Corps bill seems to have infuriated federal legislators. Photo credit: State House.

The lower house therefore, laid and adopted its report on January 19, 2017, while the Senate adopted its report on July 25, 2017.

The clean copy of the bill marked 'Nigerian Peace Corps (Establishment) Bill 2017' was then transmitted to the presidency on December 27, 2017, by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr. Mohammed Ataba Sani-Omolori, after 3 months.

President Buhari has however kept mute on whether the bill would be assented to or not.

In a chat with a national newspaper this week, the spokesman for the House of Representatives, Honourable Abdulrazaq Namdas, said the members would wait patiently for President Muhammadu Buhari to write the National Assembly if he would not append his signature to the bill before deciding on the next step.

Namdas said the lawmakers were aware that the president was in the habit of giving reasons whenever he rejects a bill sent to him by the legislature.

“But if we wait up to a certain time and the usual excuses we expect of him does not come then the House may take a further action to override the president.

“If you remember just last week he returned three bills stating the reasons he refused to sign them into law,” Namdas said.

Speaking on behalf of the Senate, the chairman, Senate committee on media and public affairs, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, said the Senate will do what the constitution specifies in case Mr. President refuses to assent the Peace Corps Bill.

He said that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides for what should be done if a bill passed by the National Assembly, transmitted to the president for assent did not receive the assent of the president.

“For me personally I see it as a very good thing; it is not new to Nigeria but it is happening in many other countries so that was why in the first instance, the National Assembly supported it,” he said.

The Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, had also vowed that the National Assembly would exercise its function as enshrined in the constitution, if Mr. President fails to sign the bill.

The Nigerian Peace Corps (Establishment) Bill 2017, when signed into law, would give legal backing to the existing Peace Corps of Nigeria under the leadership of Dr. Dickson Akoh.

The head of the Peace Corps, as captured in the bill, shall be referred to as National Commandant, to be appointed by the president upon recommendations of the supervising minister, for the period of 5 years which is renewable once.

The core mandates of the Corps is to develop, empower and provide gainful employment to the youths, in order to facilitate peace, volunteerism, community services, neighbourhood watch, nation-building and other related matters.

Similarly, members of the Not Too Young To Run movement, recently urged President Buhari to assent to the age reduction bill which they are championing for young Nigerians to be qualified for political office.

They however advised members of the National Assembly to veto the president, should he delay or declines assent to the bill.

EXCLUSIVE: Be patient with President Buhari, Femi Adesina tells Nigerians.

The Nigerian Peace Corps has reacted to recent reports which implied that President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the Peace Corps Bill.

In a statement issued on Saturday by the Public Relations Office of the Corps, Millicent Umoru, the NPC described the report as misleading and a “voyage of interpretation of the Constitution”.

The report had insinuated that by not signing the Bill 30 working days after it was transmitted in December 2017, the President had denied accent to the bill.

However, Umoru insisted that some of the bills that were sent to the President along with the Peace Corps bill had been rejected as the president expressly wrote the National Assembly to convey the reasons why those bills were rejected.

The corps stressed that the Peace Corps Bill was not part of the rejected ones and as such it was wrong for the medium to have published such a report.

Read the full text of the statement below:

RE: BUHARI REJECTS NIGERIAN PEACE CORPS BILL.

When our attention was drawn to the aforementioned report in the Vanguard Newspaper of Saturday, February 17, 2018, which was written by Mr. Soni Daniel, the Northern Regional Editor of the Newspaper and Mr. Emman Ovuakkporie, our initial reaction was that of disbelief.

But after reading the entire report, it suddenly dawned on us that the authors deliberately elected to sensationalize the caption with a view to selling the Newspaper and on that note; we wish to assure the teeming members of the Peace Corps of Nigeria and millions of our well-wishers nationwide that the writers merely embarked on a voyage ofinterpretation of the Constitution.

The truth of the matter is that out of about nine Bills that were transmitted to the President together with that of the Nigerian Peace Corps, the President rejected three and returned same to the National Assembly (NASS), stating reasons why he rejected them. And of course, the Nigerian Peace Corps Bill was not part of the rejected ones.

We are not unaware of the grand conspiracy by some security agencies against the Peace Corps, especially the Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and Civil Defence in their adversarial memos to the Presidency to thwart assent to the Bill. This conspiracy, whichwas also manifested in form of opposition during the Public Hearings conducted by both chambers of the NASS on the Bill, was roundly defeated by superior arguments of over 500 Oral and written Memoranda submitted during the Public Hearings in the NASS.






The major plank of this conspiracy is that the functions of the Nigerian Peace Corps (NPC) Bill overlap that of the Nigerian Police and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), which is far from the truth. (Nigerians should watch out for our full page advertorial on this issue in The Nation, The Sun, Daily Trust and Tribune Newspapers on Monday, 19th February, 2018). The advertorial clearly articulates the statutory functions of the Police, Civil Defence and that of the Nigerian Peace Corps.

We wish to correct the erroneous impression created by this report, whose contents are just the authors’ interpretation of the provisions of the law, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has not assented to or rejected the NPC Bill. And if even the President rejects the Bill, he will communicate same to the NASS, stating reason(s) for doing so.

Moreover, the Spokespersons of both chambers of the NASS, Senator Sabi Abdullahi (Senate) and Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas (House of Representatives) have clarified the issues as far as the law on this matter is concerned.

The authors also questioned the legal status of the Peace Corps, a position that smacks of mischief. For purpose of clarity, Peace Corps of Nigeria was duly incorporated by the Corporate Affairs Commission under the Companies and Allied Matters Act Cap 1990, Part C as Nigerian Leadership and Marshal Corps, but changed to Peace Corps of Nigeria in 2002 in accordance with the Companies and Allied Matters Act. So, its legality has never been called to question and even if the Bill is not assented to, that will not stop it from functioning as an entity. The Bill is essentially to give statutory backing to the Corps.

That this report is coming out a few days after the House Committee on Public Petition gave the Corps directive to take-over its Headquarters that has been under lock and key by the Police since February 2017, a directive that was almost executed before the intervention of the FCT Commissioner of Police, is suspicious. How sad!

Sadder still is that in spite of several Court judgments pronouncing Peace Corps as a legal entity, including recent verdicts by two different Federal High Courts judges, the antagonists of the Corps have continued to disregard these valid Orders by refusing to unseal the Peace Corps office. So much for the Rule of Law!

In conclusion, we request all PCN Stakeholders and indeed the entire Nigerian youth to disregard any erroneous, malicious and none-evidence based information against the NPC Bill.

Patriot Millicent Umoru

Corps Public Relations Officer

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The Nigeria Police has assured that the corporate headquarters of the Peace Corps of Nigeria currently under siege would be unsealed next week.

Commissioner of Police in charge of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Sodiq Bello, gave the assurance on Thursday, when officers of the Corps, led by its National Commandant, Amb (Dr.) Dickson Akoh, advanced to take possession of the office, as ordered by the court and later directed by the House of Representatives.





The House Committee on Public Petitions had on Tuesday directed the Police authorities to unseal the office within 48 hours in compliance with the judgments of Justices’ Gabriel Kolawole and John Isoho on the office sealed up since February 28, 2017.

However, the policemen met at the gate of the two-storey building claimed ignorance of the directive to vacate the office and instead alerted their superior officers on the development through phone calls and radio messages.

Not less than 5 hilux vans of the Anti-Riot police arrived the scene with shields and other gadgets to prevent the peace corps officers from accessing their office.

While the drama lasted, a detachment of police led by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr. Okafor Mathew later arrived at the scene and was briefed by his men.





The ACP later spoke with the Peace Corps Boss privately and thereafter put phone calls to the FCT Commissioner of Police who requested to speak with the Peace Corps Commandant.

In the conversation that followed, the police pleaded with the Peace Corps to give them one week to comply with orders of the courts on the sealed house.

The Commandant was informed that the Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris was away to Lagos to attend a National Programme and that he will give final order in respect of the court judgments next week, when he is expected to appear before the House of Representatives on same issue.

While briefing newsmen, the Peace Corps boss, Akoh, said he would not object to the plea of the Nigerian Police, saying, since the authorities did not approach the matter in the usual way of high handedness and that he would give them the benefit of doubt until next week.





Akoh said they were at the office to resume work in line with the directive of the House of Representatives.

He reiterated the commitment of his organization to be peaceful in the resolution of the log jam arising from the unlawful sealing of the office since last year.

Akoh explained that the office was rented at a fee of N13.5M per year, adding that a year had gone without accessing the office.

Earlier, an Abuja based lawyer and one of the Conveners of Coalition of Civil Society Organizations for Justice and Equity, Mr. Edward Omega had condemned police for the consistent disregard to lawful orders of courts.

He said that executive lawlessness and recklessness were unknown to law under democracy and pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari and well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the police to always obey laws so as to avoid anarchy.



























































































































































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