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Take Bullion Van Petition Against Tinubu Seriously, Transparency International Tells EFCC
Anti-corruption group, Transparency International, has advised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to take the petition against All Progressives Congress leader, Bola Tinubu, seriously.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Monday, the Head, Transparency International Nigeria and Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa, popularly known as Rafsanjani, said the EFCC must prove to Nigerians that it is not a partial organisation.
Rafsanjani told The PUNCH that the EFCC had arrested several persons for vote buying during the last elections.
He said the anti-graft agency must therefore not betray the confidence Nigerians have in it.
The TI boss said, “We think that the fight against corruption must be seen to be real and whoever is involved in any act, no matter how powerful, the law must take its course. That is the only way that citizens can continue to have confidence in the anti-graft agency.
“For me, this petition should be taken seriously and the EFCC should not waste time before working on it because similar things happened during the elections where some politicians were arrested with money.
“In this case, nothing has happened to the man (Tinubu) and citizens are calling for action so that there will be no impunity in the system. I think it will be in the interest of the anti-corruption agencies to be proactive and take action that will make citizens have confidence in the anti-corruption war.”
The Convener, Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju; and others including Ariyo-Dare Atoye of the Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution and Adebayo Raphael of the Free Nigeria Movement, had submitted a petition to the EFCC last month.
The activists had asked the EFCC to investigate Tinubu who admitted to having two cash-laden bullion vans on his premises on the eve of the Presidential election in February.
There have been reports, however, that the EFCC had abandoned the petition because of the personality involved.
The EFCC is currently prosecuting the son-in-law and lawyer to the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, for allegedly attempting to distribute $2m ahead of the same election.”
The Punch
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.
