Headlines
Senate Queries CBN, Accountant-General over Failure to Account for ₦596bn Ecological Fund
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant General of the Federation on Thursday when they appeared before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts could not explain how ₦596 billion ecological fund was spent from 1999 to 2015.
While the accountant-general said the fund was domiciled in the apex bank, and that the money has been invested, the CBN pleaded for more time to submit records of the funds.
By asking for the records, the committee had acted upon the report by the Auditor-General of Federation (AuGF), Anthony Ayine, that between 1999 and 2015, a total of ₦596 billion was transferred from the treasury into the ecological fund account without proper accounting.
Mr Ayine had said, contrary to the provision of Section 5(4) of the Revenue Allocation Act which requires that an agency be established to manage the ecological fund, no agency had been established to manage it.
Rather, he added, the National Committee on Ecological Problems (NCEP) is the body responsible for handling ecological problems in the country.
NCEP is domiciled under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and has its Chairman as the Minister for Environment, Housing and Urban Development.
Thereafter, the Senate committee chairman, Matthew Urhoghide, summoned the Secretary General of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, while also asking the CBN to submit the statement of ecological fund account to the committee.
“The Central Bank should come and furnish us with the statement of account of the Ecological Fund. The SGF should come and brief us on the statement of account of the Ecological Fund,” Mr Urhoghide said.
Other queries
Meanwhile, the Custom Service and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) were also indicted for contravening Pension Reform Act, 2014, which requires them to remit 5 per cent of their contributory pension to the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
The accountant-general, Ahmed Idris, in response, said: “The noncompliance of the remittance of 5 per cent of the contributory pension (by the custom service, for instance) was as a result of insufficient funds. Also, I wish to state, as funding improves, the service will comply accordingly.”
“We always engage the agencies themselves on the basis of issues raised by the auditor-general of the federation. This is the response from the Custom service as documented. We don’t want to start changing their responses.
“It’s like we are answering their own questions. Nigeria Customs, with due respect, stands to explain their responses. We are here on their behalf and we are reading their responses. Their response is a very dishonest one. If you are capable of paying salaries, why should it be difficult for you to pay 5 per cent.”
Displeased about the response of the Customs Service, Chairman Urhoghide said the committee would not take noncompliance to an act of parliament by agencies. However, due to the absence of representatives from the Custom Service, the matter was stood down.
“It’s unfortunate that the Nigerian Customs would tell us this. This is a contributory pension for their own retirees and they say they don’t have the money to contribute,” a dissatisfied Mr Urhoghide said.
“In fact the two of them — Custom Service and FIRS — get 7 per cent and 4 per cent for their own operations and they say they don’t have the money.
“Pay 5 per cent so that you can secure the future of your entire workers and you say you don’t have the money? It’s totally untrue. When other little organizations are making their contributions, you are the ones saying you don’t have the money.”
Premium Times
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
