While the allowance of the legislators is a National challenge, the labour is also getting ready for a face off with FG next week.

Embattled former speaker of the house Hon. Dimeji Bankole will again engage in a legal face off with EFCC this week. Well, hoping that it will indeed be a legal face off and not political face off - at least that is what Nigerians expect.

bay77:

I hope Bankole has appeased the gods of Nigerian politics. Silly people silly games. The country is going under waters, I guess we need a bigger umbrella.

Very funny. The whole drama will start all over again. As if Nigerians dont have better movies on Crime Scene Investigation or Criminal Minds to watch instead of all these EFCC soaps.

One day, Nigerians will rise and fight corruption by themselves and take it away from people who only care about politics and not us.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/n38bn-loans-efcc-tackles-bankole/94663/

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Thursday filed a reply to the objection by a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole seeking to quash the charges filed against him before an Abuja High Court for illegally obtaining the loans of N38 billion.

In a reply filed by Mr. Festus Keyamo, EFCC argued that Bankole’s objection was premature.

Keyamo argued that the court ran the risk of dabbling into the merit of the case at the early stage.

He said: “This court runs the risk of making far reaching pronouncements at this stage in respect of the proof of evidence if the court allows itself to be carried away by the arguments of the Accused/Applicant.

“The court should bear in mind at all times that trial has not started and should refrain from going into the substantive issues.”

Bankole had asked the court to quash the charges against him based on the following: that Keyamo had no fait to prosecute him; that by virtue of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, no court of law can try him; that there is no evidence linking him personally with the alleged offences since he only gave effect to the decision of the whole House.

He had already pleaded not guilty to the charges and had been granted bail by Justice Suleiman Kolawole.

Immediately he was admitted to bail, he filed the application to quash the charges.

On the issue that he had legislative immunity, Keyamo argued that the section relied on by Bankole only protected free speech in the National Assembly.

He also stated that the law does not protect criminal acts.

He said: “We therefore submit that Sections 3 and 30 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, are inapplicable in this case. In addition, it is clear that from the Head Note of Section 3 of the said law, which is “Freedom of Speech”, the intention of the Legislature is only to protect free speech during debate in the House by the said Section.”

On the issue that the EFCC did not obtain the fiat of the Attorney-General of the Federation to file a charge because there was no Attorney-General of the Federation at the time of filing the charge, Keyamo argued that EFCC or any other law enforcement agencies could directly initiate criminal prosecution against anyone without the fiat or permission of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

On the ground of objection that there was no evidence linking him personally with the alleged offences since he only gave effect to the decision of the whole house, Keyamo submitted that there were enough evidence in the Proof of Evidence linking him with the offences of criminal breach of trust and stealing and that without his final approval, none of these acts would have been committed.

The case will come up on the 19th of July, 2011.

This report may be untrue. But the truth is, a visit to http://emeagwali.com reveals only 2 things:

1. A self obsessed person
2. A fame obsessed person

Even if he has achieved so much I am ashamed of the information on that website.

Does EFCC have any power to go after presidency? Anyway, there is a difference between power and gut.

http://www.saharareporters.com/article/president-yet-declare-his-assets

Asset declaration as the name implies is a statement or document that contains the total worth of an individual in terms of material resources: both liquid cash and properties. The 1999 Constitution, as amended made it compulsory for all Public office holders to declare their assets, before taking oath of office and at the end of their service or end of tenure for elected political office holders. Such records are administered and kept by the Code of Conduct Bureau; the whole essence is to ensure that individuals do not exploit state resources meant for the common good for personal enrichment.

Such documents are not necessarily Public documents, as the Law only mandates that such declaration should be made to the Bureau, for record purposes and could serve as the basis for pursuing a case of financial crimes against such individuals in the future when the need arises.

Not too long ago, the former Chairman of EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and erstwhile Presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the April 2011 polls was accused of not submitting his assets declaration, a charge he denied.

After his election, or rigging into office by one man who did not mince words and never denied saying it, “for me the 2007 election is a do or die affair”, Baba Iyabo. The late Umaru Musa Yar’adua upon assumption of office in May 29th, 2007 shortly made Public his total assets worth, which he had submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau. He detailed to the Nigerian Public his total worth. For a man, who has as at the time just completed two terms as Governor of State in our contemporary Nigerian society, he was an exception to the general, if that was his true worth. The last part of the last sentence becomes necessary, because in the recently concluded Presidential polls, one of the aspirants, who also as at the time was about concluding his second tenure, in the state that pull much allocation from the Federation account, occasion by its having the largest number of Local Government in the country will have us believe that, he has only one account, bank account I mean that he has been using since, he was a school teacher, a Principal of Secondary School, a Director in a state Ministry and a Governor for seven years plus, in Nigeria.


What a wonderful Nigerian, this man claimed that he has no personal house in all this period.

The current multi million naira grandeur palace he lives in, is one that the state under his leadership built and gave him as a “gift” for a job well done. In this Nigeria, I hope somebody is amused. We heard of what Fashola is doing for Lagosians, in just four years, we heard what Danjuma Goje did for the people in Gombe in eight years, we heard what Rotimi Amaechi is doing for Riverians. These are men whose mettle in governance has been acknowledged as noteworthy. Yet none of them will dear look us in the face and tell us the kind of scrap this gentleman will face millions of Nigerian and tell them, when nothing remarkable has been recorded in his tenure, nothing tangible, as a matter of fact as at the time he was going round campaigning that he has revolutionaries education in his State, some of his academic institutions were on strike, yet he had the audacity to face the camera and tell us rubbish. He never won, even in the State he was serving as Governor at the time anyway.

A friend once told me the story that sped up the death of a prominent Yoruba figure, who is been celebrated almost as a deity in the Odua land. He was said to have amassed ill-gotten wealth, but secretly transferred the money to another party to keep as surety, conscious of our human nature for betrayal, they entered into an oath, which binds them, and any betrayal will be visited by death of the betrayer. Several years after, the fellow wanted to claim back his resources, so as to transfer it, to his family members, before his journey, called the surety. The surety who is advance in age, and whose family has enjoyed the grandeur of the ill-gotten wealth, chose to rather die than restore the wealth, he died to ensure that the wealth remain in his family name, exasperated by this seeming betrayal, the sage himself died not too long after. “Seeming” because, both are crooks. I hope our man in question may not suffer such fate, we are watching, history will capture the truth for posterity at the end of the day.

Shortly after the former President, declared his assets publicly to Nigerians, we waited in vain to hear also how much the Vice President at the time, was worth in all his Public career at the time which include about 6-7 years as the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa, and about 1-2 years or thereabout as substantive Governor. Few days after, the opposition could wait no longer, led by the Action Congress spokesman as at the time Lai Muhammed, a serious media campaign was launched. The gentleman in response to the aid of the Vice President at the time said that the Constitution did not make it compulsory that asset declaration by Public office holders should be made Public, but should be kept in the vaults of the Code of Conduct Bureau, a requirement which they claimed the Vice President at the time had made. Our man said “The issue of Public Asset declaration demanded of the Vice President is not about legality and constitutionality, but morality”. Bereft of any more arguments to tender the Nigerian Public, the total asset worth of the Vice President at the time, was pegged at below three hundred millions, in cash and kind, it was made known publicly.

Nigerians criticised the administration of the Late Yar’adua from left, right and centre, as a human being he had his failures, just like all of us, but am sure posterity will speak well about the man.  He has it, on record, that he left behind in the coffers of the state he served for eight years as Governor no debt, and over six billion naira, when some of his contemporaries almost swept clean the coffers and a piling debt, a Governor in the South West recently mortgage the assets of the State before leaving office.

The need for the President to declare his assets has become necessary, because the Nigerian Public needs to know how much their leader has acquired in the last four years. During the few months that the late Yar’adua was comatose, occasion by ailment which eventually claimed his life. The state was run by only God knows who, as the Vice President who was supposed to be constitutionally transferred state control as Acting President was not mandated to do so officially.

The man equally lacks the aura of leadership to command his supposed lieutenants into order; there you had Turai running as de facto President. With Yar’adua running the administration through phones and blackberry, from the King’s Hospital in Saudi Arabia, signing valid national documents, even giving an interview to a foreign media, while in a state of coma, that was really ingenious. Someday, Segun Adeniyi, Kaase Aadookaa SAN and others of this World, will tell us the truth.  There were several rumours about mismanagement of Public fund within that period; nobody has been indicted for any financial wrong.

The House of Representatives wasted tax payers money on Public hearing about the phantom power project of the Obasanjo administration, with no result, no tangible result, only for that House leadership to be enmeshed in a scandal of their own. With one of the said principal beneficiary, defying party decision to emerge as the Speaker, nothing fruitful will come out, perhaps, at the end of the day, the House may apologize to the erstwhile Speaker, for been wrongly detained by the ‘demons’.

The need for the President to publicly declare his assets is imperative, though it hinges not on “Constitutionality and Legality” to borrow the words of Lai Mohammed earlier mentioned but morality, as exemplified by the late Yar’adua. Such willing public asset declaration, by the late President, spoke volume about what he has in mind to do while in office.

The sharing of excess crude fund during the beehive of activities leading to the elections, and the accusation by Atiku Abubakar an aspirant of the PDP along with the current President of monetary inducement of delegates at their party convention. The nationwide campaign of affirmative action of the first lady, which was later converted as the women wing of the Presidential campaign, when the Constitution and the extant provisions of our Laws, clearly does not recognise the so called office of the First Lady, need to be properly investigated.  There is the need also to investigate, the donation by the first lady to all female aspirants in the last election, Nigerians need to know how she came about such fortunes.

I voted for Goodluck at the last polls, not necessarily because am optimistic that he possesses the best skills to turn around the fortunes of the country overnight. The problem of corruption in this country is hydra headed; it is not something that can be fixed overnight. The nearest solution to the Nigerian corruption menace which transcends all sectors of the economy is revolution, for which am not an advocate. Revolution only provides temporary palliatives measure to stemming corruption and mismanagement.  Jerry Rawlings of Ghana carried out a revolution, he was able to control the country for some time, though I have never been to Ghana, I’m doubtful, if corruption is not growing there, it may not be as bad as it is here, due to the pangs of that revolution, but it’s there I’m sure all the same.

You may be interested to hear my opinion about the way forward on the war against corruption. It is important to start by understanding what corruption is. We need to situate that concept clearly. Some people think that stealing or looting of Public funds is corruption, some think that collection of twenty naira on the roads by police men from commercial drivers is corruption, some think that lecturers failing female students in an examination for sex is corruption, others think that dressing by female in a seductive manner is corruption, some feel that charges on many items by Proprietors of private schools is corruption, even cheating in an examination is corruption. The literature on the list of things that can be termed corruption is endless. Corruption is impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle: depravity b: decay decomposition c: inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery) d: a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct. You can see that Merram Websters Dictionary has four definitions for the word.
In the future we may attempts to treat the issue of Corruption and its hydra headed nature as it’s relates to Nigeria, and the possible solution. For now though, the issue is the need for Public Assets declaration by the President.

-    The declaration will tell us that the President has no intention of mismanaging the nation’s resources.

-    The declaration will remind the president that he has told Nigerians his assets worth, and Nigerians will be judging his final assets  against his declarations at the end of his tenure

-    The declaration will necessitate the Vice President to follow suit, thus restricting the Vice President, desire if there be any to mismanage or loot the treasury

-    The declaration will give room for Nigerians to press for a band wagon effects on Ministers, Senators, Honourable Members,  , Governors, Chairmen to Publicly declare their assets

-    The Public declaration will restrict the Presidents and all sundry political office holders. To secretly go back and doctor their assets declaration before the end of their tenure in the vaults of the Code of Conduct Bureau

-    The declaration will preclude any false declaration of assets, with the intention of acquiring same during the course of the tenure of the political office holders, as members of the public will investigate every seeming false asset declared

-    The Public declaration will also help in ensuring that the Code of Conduct Bureau carries out its mandate according to the provisions of the Law, as any manipulations in the assets records already declared in their vaults, may be a precursor for invitation of the duo of EFCC and ICPC or one of them to investigate and prosecute the Bureau.

-    Such public declaration which thrives on morality can only beget its kind, morality and more morality in the discharge of all statutory responsibility

-    Such declaration will be a wakeup call on Nigerians to watch out for assets acquired through mismanagement of Public funds, as they already know the assets worth of all Public office holders

-    Such public declaration and the scrutiny that will follow, will provide opportunity for only people who genuinely want to serve to aspire to be in any Public office, as the satellites will be beaming squarely more on such persons as opposed to business men and women
The time for such declaration is now, not tomorrow, we need to hear it now. We are optimistic, that the President will do what posterity will judge fairly. The President may not have a strong overbearing personality like Baba Iyabo. He may not have the credulity of the former Yar’adua, but no one can deny that he has the mantra of good luck.

Many voted him because of that Goodluck he has, which thrives on the bad luck of others though. I voted because having analysed all the other candidates on parade, and having a fair understanding of the hydra headed nature of corruption in Nigeria. As one under no illusion of a magical solution as some saw in the “Peoples General”, I voted GEJ as the bridge that may help us along the path from corruption to some level of sanity. The last polls attest to some modest achievements in that direction.

The Public assets declaration by the President and the band wagon effects, we are sure going to press for it, from all political office holders will continue our journey, on the bridge mentioned earlier.

Failure on the part of Mr President to publicly declare his assets and the recourse to any form of argument, reminiscent of his style of back-pedalling as earlier mentioned, will be a clear signal as to the kind of leadership, our choice for this Goodluck will bring. Already our opponents who thought we made a big mistake are taunting us and smiling, on our part we have not lost hope, and are not regretting, not yet.

Having risen to the highest pinnacle of Leadership in our land, through the undeniable mantra of good luck which undeniably thrives on the misfortunes or bad luck of other’s. With no more higher position for grabs in Nigeria, may the good luck that has brought him thus far bear good luck. May Nigerians not become another misfortune or bad luck that will herald Goodluck to God knows where.  We are waiting.

1. It should be completely independent of presidency.
2. Let Buhari or Jega head it

Just my 2 cents.

He sure doesn have a clue on fighting corruption. Because the first step to take is appoint incorruptible individuals that will always stand for the truth and not allow themselves to be used as tools. People who have what it takes to probe those who appointed them. EFCC is just a media brand, designed for humiliation and victimization and unfortunately, it was OBJ's invention.

Anti corruption war should be crusade-like where everyone is held accountable for every kobo stolen. Not just by hand picking people like bankole, el rufai etc which are seemingly polical battle feud.

Interesting! Did any of them do this? None I guess, else, the case would have been blown open since and it the execution could have been prevented. Hence, if anyone is guilty, there would actually be 39 of them. And they should be called on to start answering questions, right?

The 37 are basically, unknowingly, volunteering to take the heat for their colleagues. In my opinion, that is fantastic because we have 39 people (i.e. plus Bank-Ole and Nafag) to prosecute, which is much easier and manageable than charging over 350.

These people are are a representation of the others, meaning that the decisions made are in the interest of the others and it is not in anyway a form of liability. Or what if I were called on to represent my state on the committee and I am not for the idea and yet the decision was passed, how will I be judged?

Does it matter where the speaker comes from PDP and this zoning nonsense hurts the nation. And for Rep Aliyu Sani Madaki to come out publicly to proclaim that Bankole is being persecuted to uphold the zoning idea is means that is closest to the truth and and ultimately catastrophic! The Nigerian nation hasnt started. #sad

You are a cretin if you give your money to a pastor with a private jet!

- Sagamite

I think there is more work for EFCC to do in that direction, if they actually have any serious work that they want to do. How are they different from the legislators? Sorry for digressing, I just noted that on Sagamite's signature.

How saint is Sanusi? He recently planted someone in my company's board for us to get cbn lincense for a project, he should be shot, too.

All of them should answer Nigerians and tell us why their allowances should be so much, to start with. 360 people living on a revenue that can provide health services to millions of other Nigerians. And they are all keeping quiet, since one man is going to suffer the sins of all.

not many people can stand by this type of truth, it is courageous. Allowing people to call you names and all of that, attacking you left right and center. it doesnt matter what your rship is with the accused for as long as you are not misinforming the forum your opinion matters and we are all ears.

Since the members of house of rep are more than senators, they may incure more cost. But head to head, I am sure senators earn more. I guess in multiples.

X-factoria:

Are you this gullible? That source started with the original use and went further to tell you what is the generally accepted use now. Did you read it at all or you are also a hasty reader like Bioye

Hi X-Fatoria, you have seemed to speak intelligently since, though filled with erroneous information and now you are about to start irritating me. You are taking this too personal, fine, you are a good Nigerian and I am not, if you should think so. But let me tell you, if you were sure about the meaning of Executive Session, you wouldnt need to click on Bioye's link. I admire the fact that Bioye substantiated his claims, he took time out to research and then feed us with something that is closer to the truth.

Now let me tell you, I also checked the link, and I can tell you the in that passage the term was used in two scenarios. The first paragraph referred to house of assembly, as if they knew that is our subject,  and if you need to check again, they meant the house members special session, and not a part of it. The second paragraph talked more generally about corporate organization, those, probably with executive directors, and their meetings are referred to as executive session.

I wont want to go further to teach about comprehension. But next time you feel defeated, just accept it. and this revelation at least doesnt flaw your arguments in entirety.

And we need an "executive session" to discuss this further. And proceed to Abuja with one voice! Whose definition do we go with? Bioye's or X-factoria's? Nairalanders please decide.

@Bioye, Thanks for clarifying this and it is good to know that your arguments were researched. I just believe that people should know the facts of this matter and not be fed with one side of the story. If the allowance has always been that way, why is is being published and circulated, are they just getting to know that it is much?

bay77:

They said the president knew about it before it was signed, so his salary or allowance must be more than that. In fact, far more.

Yes o! That is the only reason he can sign such. Logically.

Do people earn that much in Nigeria? How much does the president earn? Maybe this figure is even small.

Where is the rest of the money that is not 38B naira. What of others? Is Bankole being tried for bad judgement or corruption?

Justice all the way!

What is all this zoning nonsense?

hehehe,  this is both educative and entertaining.

Everybody has got a cross. We should be sure we are carrying it for the right reason, but if someone put the cross on you or there are other peolpe that you are supposed to carry it together, then cry unto God for deliverance.

That is cruel, I have a friend that worked for 8th month without pay, but on the night month they pay each worker for every month at a double.

I have heard a similar story about him before, sha.