FOR THE RECORDS ... FULL TEXT OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI'S INAUGURAL SPEECH ... MAY 29TH 2015

The Full Text of Muhammadu Buhari’s inaugural speech.

I am immensely grateful to God Who Has preserved us to witness this day and this occasion. Today marks a triumph for Nigeria and an occasion to celebrate her freedom and cherish her democracy. Nigerians have shown their commitment to democracy and are determined to entrench its culture. Our journey has not been easy but thanks to the determination of our people and strong support from friends abroad we have today a truly democratically elected government in place.

I would like to thank President Goodluck Jonathan for his display of statesmanship in setting a precedent for us that has now made our people proud to be Nigerians wherever they are. With the support and cooperation he has given to the transition process, he has made it possible for us to show the world that despite the perceived tension in the land we can be a united people capable of doing what is right for our nation. Together we co-operated to surprise the world that had come to expect only the worst from Nigeria. I hope this act of graciously accepting defeat by the outgoing President will become the standard of political conduct in the country.

I would like to thank the millions of our supporters who believed in us even when the cause seemed hopeless. I salute their resolve in waiting long hours in rain and hot sunshine to register and cast their votes and stay all night if necessary to protect and ensure their votes count and were counted.  I thank those who tirelessly carried the campaign on the social media. At the same time, I thank our other countrymen and women who did not vote for us but contributed to make our democratic culture truly competitive, strong and definitive.

I thank all of you.

Having just a few minutes ago sworn on the Holy Book, I intend to keep my oath and serve as President to all Nigerians.

I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.

A few people have privately voiced fears that on coming back to office I shall go after them. These fears are groundless. There will be no paying off old scores. The past is prologue.

Our neighbours in the Sub-region and our African brethren should rest assured that Nigeria under our administration will be ready to play any leadership role that Africa expects of it. Here I would like to thank the governments and people of Cameroon, Chad and Niger for committing their armed forces to fight Boko Haram in Nigeria.

I also wish to assure the wider international community of our readiness to cooperate and help to combat threats of cross-border terrorism, sea piracy, refugees and boat people, financial crime, cyber crime, climate change, the spread of communicable diseases and other challenges of the 21st century.

At home we face enormous challenges. Insecurity, pervasive corruption, the hitherto unending and seemingly impossible fuel and power shortages are the immediate concerns. We are going to tackle them head on. Nigerians will not regret that they have entrusted national responsibility to us. We must not succumb to hopelessness and defeatism. We can fix our problems.

In recent times Nigerian leaders appear to have misread our mission. Our founding fathers, Mr Herbert Macauley, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Malam Aminu Kano, Chief J.S. Tarka, Mr Eyo Ita, Chief Denis Osadeby, Chief Ladoke Akintola and their colleagues worked to establish certain standards of governance. They might have differed in their methods or tactics or details, but they were united in establishing a viable and progressive country. Some of their successors behaved like spoilt children breaking everything and bringing disorder to the house.

Furthermore, we as Nigerians must remind ourselves that we are heirs to great civilizations: Shehu Othman Dan fodio’s caliphate, the Kanem Borno Empire, the Oyo Empire, the Benin Empire and King Jaja’s formidable domain. The blood of those great ancestors flow in our veins. What is now required is to build on these legacies, to modernize and uplift Nigeria.

Daunting as the task may be it is by no means insurmountable. There is now a national consensus that our chosen route to national development is democracy. To achieve our objectives we must consciously work the democratic system. The Federal Executive under my watch will not seek to encroach on the duties and functions of the Legislative and Judicial arms of government. The law enforcing authorities will be charged to operate within the Constitution. We shall rebuild and reform the public service to become more effective and more serviceable. We shall charge them to apply themselves with integrity to stabilize the system.

For their part the legislative arm must keep to their brief of making laws, carrying out over-sight functions and doing so expeditiously. The judicial system needs reform to cleanse itself from its immediate past. The country now expects the judiciary to act with dispatch on all cases especially on corruption, serious financial crimes or abuse of office. It is only when the three arms act constitutionally that government will be enabled to serve the country optimally and avoid the confusion all too often bedeviling governance today.

Elsewhere relations between Abuja and the States have to be clarified if we are to serve the country better. Constitutionally there are limits to powers of each of the three tiers of government but that should not mean the Federal Government should fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on in the states and local governments. Not least the operations of the Local Government Joint Account. While the Federal Government can not interfere in the details of its operations it will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked. As far as the constitution allows me I will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country. For I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under my watch.

However, no matter how well organized the governments of the federation are they can not succeed without the support, understanding and cooperation of labour unions, organized private sector, the press and civil society organizations. I appeal to employers and workers alike to unite in raising productivity so that everybody will have the opportunity to share in increased prosperity. The Nigerian press is the most vibrant in Africa. My appeal to the media today – and this includes the social media – is to exercise its considerable powers with responsibility and patriotism.

My appeal for unity is predicated on the seriousness of the legacy we are getting into. With depleted foreign reserves, falling oil prices, leakages and debts the Nigerian economy is in deep trouble and will require careful management to bring it round and to tackle the immediate challenges confronting us, namely; Boko Haram, the Niger Delta situation, the power shortages and unemployment especially among young people. For the longer term we have to improve the standards of our education. We have to look at the whole field of medicare. We have to upgrade our dilapidated physical infrastructure.

The most immediate is Boko Haram’s insurgency. Progress has been made in recent weeks by our security forces but victory can not be achieved by basing the Command and Control Centre in Abuja. The command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is completely subdued. But we can not claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.

This government will do all it can to rescue them alive. Boko Haram is a typical example of small fires causing large fires. An eccentric and unorthodox preacher with a tiny following was given posthumous fame and following by his extra judicial murder at the hands of the police. Since then through official bungling, negligence, complacency or collusion Boko Haram became a terrifying force taking tens of thousands of lives and capturing several towns and villages covering swathes of Nigerian sovereign territory.

Boko Haram is a mindless, godless group who are as far away from Islam as one can think of. At the end of the hostilities when the group is subdued the Government intends to commission a sociological study to determine its origins, remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, the international connexions to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a reccurrence of this evil. For now the Armed Forces will be fully charged with prosecuting the fight against Boko haram. We shall overhaul the rules of engagement to avoid human rights violations in operations. We shall improve operational and legal mechanisms so that disciplinary steps are taken against proven human right violations by the Armed Forces.

Boko Haram is not only the security issue bedeviling our country. The spate of kidnappings, armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers clashes, cattle rustlings all help to add to the general air of insecurity in our land. We are going to erect and maintain an efficient, disciplined people – friendly and well – compensated security forces within an over – all security architecture.

The amnesty programme in the Niger Delta is due to end in December, but the Government intends to invest heavily in the projects, and programmes currently in place. I call on the leadership and people in these areas to cooperate with the State and Federal Government in the rehabilitation programmes which will be streamlined and made more effective. As ever, I am ready to listen to grievances of my fellow Nigerians. I extend my hand of fellowship to them so that we can bring peace and build prosperity for our people.

No single cause can be identified to explain Nigerian’s poor economic performance over the years than the power situation. It is a national shame that an economy of 180 million generates only 4,000MW, and distributes even less. Continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution and close on $20b expanded since 1999 have only brought darkness, frustration, misery, and resignation among Nigerians. We will not allow this to go on. Careful studies are under way during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians.

Unemployment, notably youth un-employment features strongly in our Party’s Manifesto. We intend to attack the problem frontally through revival of agriculture, solid minerals mining as well as credits to small and medium size businesses to kick – start these enterprises. We shall quickly examine the best way to revive major industries and accelerate the revival and development of our railways, roads and general infrastructure.

Your Excellencies, My fellow Nigerians I can not recall when Nigeria enjoyed so much goodwill abroad as now. The messages I received from East and West, from powerful and small countries are indicative of international expectations on us. At home the newly elected government is basking in a reservoir of goodwill and high expectations. Nigeria therefore has a window of opportunity to fulfill our long – standing potential of pulling ourselves together and realizing our mission as a great nation.

Our situation somehow reminds one of a passage in Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar
There is a tide in the affairs of men which,
taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life,
Is bound in shallows and miseries.

We have an opportunity. Let us take it.

Thank you

Muhammadu Buhari
President Federal Republic of NIGERIA and
Commander in-chief-of the Armed forces

INJURY TIME APPOINTMENTS : Extra Time: Jonathan appoints five new VCs ... PMNews

With less than 36 hours to leave office, President Goodluck Jonathan has continued to approve new appointments.

The latest was his appointment of vice-chancellors for the four federal universities of education and a Federal University of Health Sciences.

Notice of the appointments is contained in a statement issued by the Federal Ministry of Education on Wednesday in Abuja.

The statement was signed by Mr Sul Ya’u Sule, the Senior Special Assistant, Public Relations and Protocol to Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, the Minister of Education.

The statement listed the Vice-Chancellors as Prof. Martins Aghaji for Federal University of Sciences, Otukpo, Benue and Prof. Richard King for Adeyemi University of Education, Ondo.

Others are Prof. Sadiq Abubakar for Alvan Ikoku University of Education, Owerri, Prof. Victor Awonusi for Federal University of Education, Kano and Prof. Ibrahim Kolo for Federal University of Education, Zaria.

The statement noted that the appointment was with immediate effect.

It added that President Jonathan had also approved the appointment of Dr Nnamdi Olebara, the Special Adviser, Media to Shekarau, as member, Governing Council of Alvan Ikoku University of Education, Owerri.

The appointment was conveyed to Olebara in a letter signed by the Minister of Education, dated May 26.

SUICIDE PRONE KASHAMU WINS COURT REPRIEVE : Court bars NDLEA, others from arresting Kashamu ... PunchNews

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday restrained security agencies in Nigeria from arresting and transporting the Senator-elect for Ogun East Senatorial District, Mr. Buruji Kashamu, to the United States to stand trial on drug-trafficking offences.

Justice Okon Abang, in a judgement on Wednesday, declared as illegal, the arrest and extradition of Kashamu in relation to drug-trafficking allegations from which he had been exonerated by two British courts.

Abang granted Kashamu’s prayer that having earlier obtained a judgment in Nigeria in January 2014 barring his arrest and extradition and the judgment having not been set aside, he could not be arrested and extradited.

The judge awarded a cost in the sum of N20,000 against the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the Attorney General of the Federation, the National Security Adviser to the President, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

THE CHICKENS ARE FINALLY COMING HOME TO ROOST AND THE ORACLE HAS STARTED SPEAKING : Don’t single out my administration for probe – Jonathan .... PunchNews

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday advised the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, not to restrict any probe he will want to carry out to his administration alone.

He said Buhari must extend his probe beyond his regime or else the probe will be seen as witch-hunting.

Jonathan made his position known at the valedictory session of the Federal Executive Council which he presided over at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He also said those calling for his administration’s probe should also add that the probe should be extended to the way oil wells and fields were allocated in the past.

The President also made it clear that he has not dissolved his cabinet as all ministers are expected to attend inauguration dinner on Thursday in their official capacity.

LOOK WHO'S STILL TALKING AND HEAR WHAT HE'S STILL SAYING : Fani-Kayode insists NWC sabotaged Jonathan’s campaign, threatens to release proofs ... DailyPost

Director of Media and Publicity of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Committee, Femi Fani-Kayode, has insisted that some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party worked for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Fani-Kayode yesterday told a group of journalists in Abuja that calls for the resignation of the entire NWC by him and other stalwarts of the PDP including outgoing governors were in order.

The former ministers called the NWC members traitors, who went as far as collecting money from the APC to betray President Goodluck Jonathan.

Fani-Kayode added that he has in his possession proofs that the party leadership sold out, warning that he would made public their secrets if they failed to throw in the towel.

Excerpts:

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC), recently blamed the loss of the party at the March 28, Presidential election on hate speeches by some party officials particularly some members of its Presidential Campaign Organisation. How would you react to this?

I am sorry that you asked me this question because this is an assertion that I have refused to comment on since the allegation was made. Ever since the conclusion of the Presidential election, I have been asked the question you have just asked me more than any other and I believe that, for posterity’s sake, it is time to set the record straight.

Everywhere I go, this question of hate campaign is raised and frankly I am tired of it. Worse still, some people are beginning to believe the rubbish because we have refused to clear the air. We cannot be expected to remain silent forever when faced with such a grave allegation. This is important because it is my Directorate (the Directorate of Media and Publicity) and team that they sought to target, malign and discredit more than anyone else even though they did not mention my name or my Directorate. The truth is that I have no hate in me and neither did anyone in the PCO or in my Directorate.

We are serious-minded, patriotic, loyal, faithful, responsible and hard-working party leaders, many of whom have either been Federal Ministers, Senators or state Governors in the past, who chose to answer a call to duty by our President and who made massive sacrifices in terms of time, energy, commitment and risk and stood up for our President when asked them to do so. They stood up for the President and fought for him when he was faced with the most vicious, malicious and hateful gunfire that this country has ever known. They fought for him gallantly when he was faced with the most effective and ruthless campaign of calumny that this country has ever known from an opposition that was ruthlessly efficient in all it’s ways and that was not prepared to spare him or take any prisoners.

The truth is that the APC media machine was awesome yet we engaged them fire for fire and bullet for bullet and I do not regret that. If we had not done so we would have lost the election by at least 10 million more votes than we did. We spoke the truth, we engaged the enemy on all fronts and we not only fought them to a stand still but for the first time since the establishment of the APC they were put on the defensive. This was a great achievement for which we ought to be thanked and not one for which we should be maligned, misrepresented and insulted. If one or two members of the NWC are so ignorant that they cannot make a distinction between virile political banter and a hate campaign that is their problem.

After they take power om may 29th the APC will begin a formidable onslaught against the PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan, his entire cabinet and those of us that are his political associates. They will try to discredit us and to destroy every remaining vestige of our party and his legacy. They will persecute us and they will malignus in every way. Despite all their promises of peace and harmony they will try to destroy each and every one of us. That is their nature and that is their way and we must all be battle-ready to take them on and resist that.

We must remain free of acrimony, united and focused and we must throw out the bad eggs in the NWC and prepare for a long drawn out war of attrition with the new incoming Government. In order to survive over the next four years as a party we must make the necessary changes at the top otherwise we will be utterly decimated. The present leadership of the party, particularly it’s information organs, have no chance of standing against an APC Federal Government because they are weak and they lack understanding and courage. They will be savaged beyond belief and torn apart if they try it because they do not have the stomach, the grit, the appetite or the wherewithal for a long drawn fight.

They are simply incapable of defending the President and his legacies after he has left office and neither are the majority of them even ready to do so. Instead of focusing on their numerous inadequacies and trying to fix them these very same people are hurling bricks at others. Instead of preparing to defend the party faithful and enhance the fortunes of the party members over the next four years they are making childish and nonsensical allegations and alienating and upsetting many party leaders. They are indeed the enemy within.

The truth is that their allegation is not only baseless but it is also unadulterated rubbish and those who made them are nothing but ingrates, cowards and traitors who know nothing about politics, political campaigns, intellectual discourse or political engagement. They are simply trying to revise and re-write history in order to cover up their treachery, weaknesses and inadequacies. They are fueled by hate and envy and worse of all, right from the start, they had no interest in fighting for our leader and presidential candidate President Goodluck Jonathan or in ensuring that he won the election.

From day one all they did was sulk about the fact that a Presidential Campaign Organisation had been set up and that they would not be able to have control of the campaign themselves or have access to the resources that we were given. At every point they tried to undermine our efforts and sabotage us but we ignored them and remained focused on doing our job despite their provocations.

All they were interested in was in controlling others and telling them what to do. They were not in the fray, they refused to enter the heat of battle andall they did was moan and bicker from the side walk like little children. What we were doing and attempting to do was lost on them because they had never taken anything seriously and they found it hard to comprehend the logic and style of those of us that did.

Their arrogance was insufferable, they were an unmitigated disaster and their leadership style was abysmal. It still is. If any group of people were responsible for our loss, it was them. They were envious of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation and its high profile and they are nothing but a bunch of bitter and treacherous ingrates who have no business leading a political party. It is important to note that not all of them were bad. Some of them like Uche Secundus, Kema Chikwe, Barrister Jalo, Wale Oladipo, the National Youth Leader and a few others did their very best and supported the President as best as they could but the majority of them were terrible.

It was an honor to work for President Jonathan and he provided us with all the support, inspiration and encouragement that we needed. If he has not complained about the Presidential Campaign Organisation and all that we did, who are those that are now complaining? He appointed us and we are accountable to him and no-one else. He did not complain about any hate campaign and neither did he insult us after we finished our work so why on earth should we lose any sleep over the utterances of one or two frustrated NWC members who have no respect for themselves or their party members, who have no intellectual stamina and who lack credibility.

The President commended our efforts and thanked us for all we did after the conclusion of the election. That is the right and proper thing to do and we are more than happy with that. We are very grateful to him for that gesture. Nothing else matters to us. However what the NWC said about us is undoubtedly the unkindest cut of all. It is like Brutus’ betrayal of Julius Caesar. It is wicked, uncharitable and unacceptable and some of us will not take it.

What they need to understand and appreciate is that we will not sit by idly and allow them re-write history or make us the fall guys. The only reason we have not opened up on them is out of respect for President Jonathan and because we want to ensure that our party remains united. That does not however mean that we are fools or that we will allow ourselves to be turned into sitting ducks or someone’s punching bag.

That does not mean that we will allow them to treat us as soft targets or that we are incapable of hitting back. The lies, falsehood, innuendos and terrible stories thatthey are bandying around about us are just despicable and if they do not stop, they will divide the party and utterly destroy it. That is the sad and bitter truth. In playing this game blame and pointing fingers at others, they are biting off far more than they can chew.

The fact is that the Presidential Campaign Organisation not only did an excellent job but we also fought a damn good fight. We fought a better fight than any other organ of the party had fought over the last two or three years against a relentless, well-funded, well-motivated and well organised opposition. Before the Presidential Campaign Orgaisation came into being, the PDP had virtually lost its voice and those that do not recognise this have obviously lost touch withreality. Those that attackus and cast aspersion on our character and blame us for the failure of our party and our president to win the election are not seeing things clearly.

They are hopelessly confused and they have no idea how political campaigns are conducted in the civilised world. Their accusations are not only baseless, but they are also self serving.

The personal attack of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti on Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the President-elect, before the election was noted as one of the things that worked against the PDP at the March 28, presidential election. Do you believe that is true?

That is arrant nonsense and those in the NWC that have said so are liars, cowards and turncoats. They are traitors and they are working for the enemy. Did these so-called party leaders complain when Jonathan was attacked by the APC and Lai Mohammed every day? I find it strange that they are prepared to accept the personal attacks on their own candidate as being acceptable yet they complain when we attack the candidate of the other side. Who’s side are these people really on? Fayose was not the only one that focused his attention on Buhari. Many of us did because Buhari was the issue for us and everything about him became relevant. In the same vein, for the APC, Jonathan was the issue and they focused their guns on him.

We did not complain and cry about it like little children but instead we returned fire and responded forcefully. We have no apology for that and we believe that we spoke nothing but the truth and we backed up our assertions with facts and figures. We didn’t just talk but we did our research. We were effective and devastating and that is all that matters to me. We have nothing against Buhari but we had a job to do and we did it as best as we could.

Those that lacked the guts, the finesse and the capacity to do the job should stop whining and instead they should try and learn from those of us that are capable of doing it and that are prepared to do it for the sake of our President, our party and our country. I think it is unfortunate that some members of the NWC should be pointing fingers and making accusations and counter allegations against senior party leaders after we lost the elections.

They are more to blame for our defeat than anyone else. After losing the elections the right and proper thing to do is for us to do some serious soul-searching, look within, indulge in a period of sober reflection and serious introspection, maintain some sense of self-respect and dignity, refuse to defect to the other side and desist from giving the other side ammunition to fight us with in the future.

This is something that those voices in the NWC that are making noise and looking for trouble need to learn before it is too late. It is because they refuse to learn these lessons and because they seek to silence every voice of dissent so that they can remain in office for another two years that so many people despise them and want them out. I think it is all the more worrisome when those few voices in the NWC make very serious allegations against key senior party members in the PCO and against a few ofthe governors, the Ministers and the Presidents aides all of whom who had risked there lives and everything for the campaign and who worked so hard for the President. That is my view about that.

There is also this allegation that the first Lady in the course of her campaign across the country, did more harm than good to the party. Do you agree with this?

Do you by any means see the PDP coming back to its old self based on recent happenings within the party and the fact that it lost the presidency to the opposition.

The PDP will come back to it’s old self once the leadership of the party has changed. As I said earlier, the NWC needs to go. I am saying this and adding my voice tomany PDP Governors and many other elders and leaders who are saying this behind closed doors. I am saying it now and I have every right to do so because for the last few weeks we have getting all manner of insults from these people and those that share their views for the hard work that we did during the campaign. They are ungrateful and irresponsible and if they want peace they must stop attacking us and telling lies about us.

We will not take it lying low any longer and what these people don’t understand is that there is life outside of politics. We at the PCO risked our lives and despite our constraints and the sabotage that we were subjected to by a few members of the NWC we fought a good fight. We should be commended for our efforts. All of us. Every single one of us in our team. There were many people involved in the campaign. It was not a one man effort and they should be thanking us for the efforts that we made.

Look at the hard work that elders like Chief Tony Anenih (the PDP Board of Trustees Chairman and the the Presidential Advisor to the PCO), Senator Ahmadu Alli (theD-G of the PCO) and Professor Tunde Adeniran (Deputy D-G of the PCO) put in. At their age they were all over the country and they were risking their lives every day.They guided us and led us with grace and with boldness, supporting and encouraging us all the way.

Without them we would have achieved nothing. Yet after all that someone or some group of people who should know better will come and attempt to denigrate our collective efforts simply out of envy and frustration. The NWC created the mess that the party is in and they have widened the deep divisions. They have almost destroyed the party with their incompetence, greed and pettiness. There was no campaign until we came. There was no real resistance to the APC up until we got into the fray.

Before we came Lai Mohammed and the APC dominated the airwaves and they were all over the media. They were the lone voice and it was very intimidating. They dominated the media space before the Presidential Campaign Organisation was set up. Until the PCO was set up there was no voice or effective resistance to the APC and the PDP had nothing.

When we came in everything changed. We rose to the occassion, we stood up and for the first time we put them on the defensive. Can anybody deny that? And then you say it is a campaign of hate simply because you did not know what to do or how to do it. You attack and insult us simply because you are a coward and you do not have the courage of your convictions.

You malign us simply because you are insincere and you are full of envy. If the NWC are looking for a scapegoat, they should not look in our direction. Instead, they should look within themselves. That is the hard and bitter truth.

FOR THE RECORDS ... HOW INDISCRETION ON THE PART OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS SCUTTLE OUR NATIONAL GOALS ... SOMEBODY MUST MAKE THIS DG PAY FOR HIS IRRESPONSIBILITY IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG : Over N121 billion wasted, Nigeria’s troubled National ID Card project in fresh controversy ... PremiumTimes

The expensive media razzmatazz and the glitzy photo ops with top politicians and other prominent Nigerians, these may just be a facade to hide the fact that the national identity card project currently lie in a legal limbo that may eventually cost the government as much as N44 billion of tax payers money in damages for an alleged breach of contract.

The current legal logjam hovering over the project was occasioned by what the Managing Director of Chams Consortium Limited, Demola Aladekomo, described as an abuse of office and executive highhandedness by the Director General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Chris Onyemenam.

Chams, which was the initial concessionaires of the project, has therefore dragged NIMC to a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking an order to stop further implementation of the programme. It is also asking the court to order the Federal Government to pay N44 billion in damages.

In interviews with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr. Aladekomo said his company was awarded the concession in a transparent bid process that involved 65 international companies in 2007, following the recommendations of a 2006 Presidential Implementation Committee, headed by the then Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai, on how to deliver on a project that has gulped several billions but has remained largely in limbo for decades.

Other notable members of the committee were the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia and Chairman of Heir Holdings, Tony Elumelu, Mr. Aladekomo said.

He said trouble soon started after Mr. Onyemenam started dilly-dallying in getting the concession agreement ready. He said it took the NIMC chief executive three years to prepare the concession agreement.

“Unfortunately for us, the DG NIMC just got a law degree a year before he was appointed,” Mr. Aladekomo told PREMIUM TIMES in his office in Lagos.

“He then used us as guinea pigs to practice his law. From May 24th when the contract was signed it took him to July 26, 2010 that he signed the concession agreement. He became more Catholic than the pope. He became more civil servant than the civil servant. He asked us to draft the concession agreement we drafted one and gave it to him. He appointed a law firm, Banwo Ighodalo and Co. He said what they drafted was not good. He now started to write the concession agreement himself in 2008 and finished in 2010.”

He explained that in-between that time the company had invested upwards of N7.1 billion into setting up the facilities for the kick-off of the project.

“Meanwhile, because we have promised the president that we were going to deliver in 2009 and he said ‘don’t wait for the concession agreement, start work’. We invested. We did an IPO, raised N8.4 billion, spent N7.1 billion on the project. One of the things we got out of the project was the Guinness World Record for the Chams City that we built. We built a switch that could handle 100 million Nigerians. We built a card plant that could produce 1.7 million cards a day in Abuja for national ID. We spent 7.1 billion of shareholders money preparing for the take off so that we can do consumer finance and credit bureaus, this man was busy writing concession agreement,” he explained.

Mr. Aladekomo said by the time the concession agreement was ready for signing, Mr. Onyemenam had another surprise waiting for Chams.

“By the time the concession agreement was ready we said let’s start he said. ‘No no no, I want to see all your designs, I want to see all your partners’. We gave him all our designs and showed him all our partners and had a big meeting in Abuja. We gave him our final design and showed him all our partners in 2012.

“The day we showed him all our partners and gave him all our design that was the last day he spoke to us. The same night we introduced our partners to him in Abuja he went to all their rooms in the (Transcorp) Hilton that they should be dealing with him directly,” he said.

When contacted Mr Onyemenam said he was not interested in engaging in media debate of the issue with Chams as it is a subject of an ongoing litigation.

“As of today I am under advise to not speak on the concession which has been cancelled and over which Chams has gone to court and the next hearing has been fixed for sometime in June 2015,” he said in an email.

A black hole

The current controversy surrounding the project is not unprecedented. In fact, it is just another chapter in the troubled history of the Nigeria national identity card project. Since 1981 when the first contract was signed by the Shehu Shagari administration, the project has been a prime waster of taxpayers’ money.

It is a financial black hole that consumes everything thrown at it without a trace. Like a compromised slot machine, it consumes but never regurgitates. From then to date, more than N121 billion has been spent on the project, meant to authenticate the true identity of every Nigerian, with nothing to show for it.

An extensive review of government papers, contracts, court documents, newspaper articles and interviews with people who knowledgeable about the deals and agreements by PREMIUM TIMES shows that the project has been repeatedly torpedoed by executive high-handedness, mind-boggling corruption, sheer irresponsibility of government officials and asinine abuse of power.

But how come a project that would have been immensely beneficial to Nigerians as the national Identity card project ends up stymied every step of the way.

The answer could be traced to its corruption-laden beginning.

The Stillbirth

In 1976, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, then a military head of State, first conceptualised the national identity card project. However, the kick-off of the project didn’t happen until 1981 after Mr. Obasanjo had transferred power to a civilian elected government headed by Mr. Shagari.

The project was rigged to fail from the beginning. According to a 2001 TELL magazine report, six companies originally bided for the project but the contract was awarded to Avant Incorporated, a company disqualified by a technical committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for its inability to provide a performance bond and its annual reports for three previous years.

But the absurdity had only just begun. The project had a price tag of a $100 million, an amount too high for the government of the time to raise. So it ran to politically connected Arab-Jew, Nessim Goan, who brought in Optife of Switzerland, a company where he is major shareholder. While Avant handled the procurement and supply, another company owned by Mr. Goan, Afro-Continental, was to build the infrastructures across the country. By this calculation, Mr. Goan became the financier and the executor of the contract.

The Shagari government also naively signed a loan repayment agreement that was not tied to the completion of the project. Though the contractors had 18 months to deliver the project, it became clear that Afro-Continental didn’t have the requisite know-how about identity card technology. Also not a single computer was even supplied.

In a scramble for it to deliver on the project, which by this time was way past its deadline, Mr. Goan sublet the infrastructure phase of the contract to French technology heavyweight, Sagem. The arrival of Sagem marked another phase in the sordid history of the identity card project. Meanwhile Mr. Goan wasn’t done with Nigeria yet.

Before Sagem could unpack its bags after it arrived the shores of Nigeria, the Shagari government was overthrown in a military coup. The identity card project was abruptly discontinued by the Muhammadu Buhari-led military junta.

But after the Buhari regime was overthrown in 1985, the Ibrahim Babangida regime went back to doing business with Mr Goan. In fact, it ironically compensated Afro-Continental for not delivering on its earlier contract by awarding the company a new contract worth N70.7 million to refurbish containers for shipping goods to Nigeria, upgrade some of the computer supplied by Avant in 1982, install equipment as well as construct 20 computer centres across the country.

This contract also fell through following alleged sharp practices between civil servants and officials of Afro-Continental. As if the old cow hasn’t been over milked already, in 1992, Afro-Continental was awarded another $73.4 million contract for the procurement of Automatic Finger Print Identification System (AFIS) and the re-activation of the computer centres across the country.

Again, in 1998, the Abdulsalami Abubakar regime called for tender that would kick-start the national identity card project from scratch. This time, a consortium, led by a Nigerian company, Chams Limited, was awarded a $38.4 million contract to produce 52 million cards within four years. In April 1999, Chams delivered a pilot of 1 million cards.

The era of Sagem

In 2001, as Chams was waiting for the government to fulfil its obligations such as the purchase of four personalisation machines as stipulated in the contract for the second phase of contract to begin,  the Obasanjo administration called for the submission of tenders for the printing of a new 70 million identity card. The administration explained that it meant to harmonise the identity card project so it can be used for voters’ identification during the 2003 general elections and for the 2006 population census. But it soon became clear that the entire process was actually set up to hand the contract to one company – Sagem.

According to the Mr. Aladekomo, the company immediately informed the Obasanjo administration of the subsisting contract it signed with the Abdulsalami regime to produce 51 million cards and the legal implications of continuing with the fresh call for tenders. But Mr. Obasanjo and other top ministry officials ignored several letters explaining the subsisting deal sent to them by Chams and went ahead with the fresh tenders.

In fact, the counsel to the government, F.B.I Egolum, testified at a Justice Kayode Esho arbitration hearing on the matter that officials of the Internal Affairs Ministry recommended that Chams should either be allowed to completely execute the subsisting contract or handed an upgraded one.

“At the end of the day, even the though the claimant [Chams] was recommended by officials of the Ministry for the award of the contract, the government in its wisdom decided to award it to someone else,” he said while answering questions during the arbitration hearing on why the deal was not awarded to Chams but to Sagem.

In the statement of his ruling on the matter, Justice Esho said the Obasanjo administration acted with unprecedented irresponsibility.

“The respondent [government] showed obvious legally indefensible irresponsibility on the part of a government which could not complain of lack of warning not of the knowledge of the legal consequences.

“The respondent intended to and did commit a breach of the agreement. They went on a curious voyage of governmental legal recklessness, probably unprecedented in a government wishing to be guided by law. They deliberately jettisoned the contract, which they had with the claimant,” he explained.

While ruling against the government, Justice Esho awarded total damages of $410,390.60 to Chams. The government appealed the arbitration judgment and the case dragged up to the Appeal Court before it eventually settled for an undisclosed negotiated settlement with the company.

The Sagem contract turned out to be another fiasco. The company managed to print only 35 million cards. Along the line, three ministers – late Internal Affairs, Sunday Afolabi, his successor, Mohammed Shata, former Labour Minister Hussain Akwanga – were implicated in a $2 million bribery scandal and the company was eventually blacklisted by the government.

In awarding the contract, Mr Obasanjo also ignored warning from Nigerian intelligence agencies that Sagem was too close to the French intelligence network and that there was no telling what it could do with the data gathered from the project.

Sources familiar with the behind-the-scene deals leading to the award of the contract to Sagem told PREMIUM TIMES that the French technology company had no business winning the contract in the first place. They claimed Sagem didn’t even make the initial shortlist from the bidding process.

“Sixty-eight companies bided worldwide,” one of our sources said. “It was an international bidding in 2001 but it took about a year and two months before the bid could be analysed because some people tried to compromise the process. Eventually the first six companies were invited. The first company was Chams followed by MINT [Nigerian Minting and Printing Plc], then a Nigerian company and an American company. Sagem was the fifth company. The way tender was done in those days was that only the one to three is called, but they took it to six because Sagem was in number five.

“At the end of the presentation to the exco, the companies retained their ranks but when the recommendation got to the president, some civil servants from internal affairs got Sagem to meet Obasanjo and said that the committee decision was wrong and that Sagem had made a lot of promises.

“The French foreign minister flew in on a Thursday night, met the president Friday evening. The president called the 16 ministries involved, including INEC and the National Population Commission to a meeting on Saturday morning, Late Afolabi was there, Shata, his minster of State was there, late Guobadia of INEC was there, Akwanga was there.

“The meeting held on Saturday 11 am, the president asked if anybody has taken money from Chams? They all said no that the process was transparent. The president said if nobody is confessing that they took money from Chams, he is going to give it to Sagem. That was how it was awarded to Sagem,” he added.

WETIN THIS FUEL SCARCITY NO GO CAUSE? : Man beats wife to coma over fuel scarcity ... CityReporters

A middle aged man popularly known as oga Mike who hails from izamgbo in ebonyi state but resides at the Ugbo paul a suburb off abakpa nike area of Enugu on Sunday  battered his wife with a long stick until the lady slumped and went into coma.

According to an eye witness account, trouble started when Mike a popular generator mechanic in the neighbourhood came back Sunday afternoon from their town union meeting only to find his wife, two children and some neighbours watching home video in his one room apartment with his generator powered on.

He immediately went behind the house to switch off the generator and demanded to know why his wife should power the generator by that time of the day when he bought fuel at an expensive price of 200 naira a litre.

The woman tried effortlessly to explain to the man that the weather was too hot and at such was impossible to stay inside their one room apartment under such intense sun.

It was at that point that the man picked a long stick lying close to the passage way of the compound and started hitting the woman mercilessly all over her body.

  Efforts made by neighbours to stop him proved abortive until the woman collapsed.

AN IGNOMINIOUS EXIT FOR THE INEPT JONATHAN ADMINISTRATION : APC cries out – No Fuel, No Electricity, $60bln Debt: Jonathan deliberately destroying Nigeria before handing over ... NewsPunch

The All progressives Congress, APC has cried out the the incumbent administration led by Goodluck Jonathan is bent on destroying the nation before handing over in May 29th.

The APC said Jonathan is handing over a nation in deep crisis, even as his administration continues to contrive more crises without making any effort to solve any of them.

According to a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by APC National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party, , appealed to Nigerians not to lose hope, despite the daunting challenges they are currently facing in this atmosphere of contrived chaos.

It said help is on the way.

”In a few days’ time, President Jonathan will hand over to President-elect Muhammadu Buhari,” the APC said. Never in the history of our country has any government handed over to another a more distressed country: No electricity, no fuel, workers are on strike, billions are owed to state and federal workers, 60 billion dollars are owed in national debt and the economy is virtually grounded.

”Today, Nigerians are roaming the streets, jerry cans in hand, searching for everything from kerosene to fuel to diesel to power their homes, keep their vehicles on the road and keep their businesses going. They are paying as much as 300 Naira per litre for fuel, if at all they can get it. Yet their government is not saying a word about the situation.”

APC said while the Jonathan Administration has “arrogantly” told Nigerians that it remains in office and in power till May 29th, all it has been doing is sacking people and making new appointments as if it had been deprived of the opportunity to do so in the past six years.

”They are not interested in how to end the fuel scarcity that has paralysed the socio-economic lives of Nigerians,” the APC said. “They are not interested in how to raise electricity production from its unprecedentedly-low level of 1,327 megawatts. They are not doing anything to end the strike by blue and white collar oil workers, or to stop the impending one.

”They say they are in office till May 29th, but they do not care how workers in 18 states, who are owed a total of 300 billion Naira in salaries under their watch, or federal workers who are owed N400 billion, will be paid. Yet they are running a budget of N1trillion deficit.

”They have deliberately stopped meeting their obligations to oil marketers, which is now around 200 billion Naira, hence no one is lifting petroleum products anymore. If the current energy crisis is not solved soonest, the telecommunications sector could even be grounded in a matter of days as service providers will have neither electricity nor fuel to power their base stations. Of course the aviation sector has already been left comatose by the fuel crisis. The whole scenario reeks of sabotage.”

APC said before PDP and Jonathan Administration’s spin doctors distort its message, it is important to let Nigerians know that the party (APC) is not engaging in lamentations but simply keeping the citizenry informed of the situation on the ground, with just five days to handover date.

”If we thought the nation was being well managed and there was no problem, we would not have embarked on a campaign of change,” the party said. “While we are ready, willing and able to begin to address the mammoth challenges facing us as a nation as soon as we assume office at the centre in a few days’ time, we will not hesitate for a second to keep Nigerians informed of how we have been brought to this sorry pass, with a view to avoiding such a tragic turn in the future.”

It expressed sadness that the nation has been on auto pilot for the past several weeks, as the outgoing administration has shown neither the capacity nor the willingness to resolve any of the crises it has contrived and foisted on the nation.

”This is the most vivid manifestation of the old saying that literally translates to a departing office holder defecating on the chair he is vacating,” APC said.

AS BURUJI KASHAMU PREPARES HIMSELF FOR SUICIDE : Obasanjo, George Not Responsible For Your Troubles, NDLEA Tells Kashamu ... LeadershipNews

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has called on Senator-elect Buruji Kashamu to stop dragging former president, Olusegun Obasanjo and former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George into his personal problems.

According to the agency in a statement signed by its spokesperson Ofoyeju Mitchel, and made available to newsmen yesterday, “The fact is that a formal request for his extradition had been received from the Embassy of the United States of America.”

“According to official report, Kashamu has been on the wanted list of both the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).”

The agency further noted that “Kashamu was indicted in the Northern District of Illinois, United States on charges brought against him by ICE. According to the United States court documents, Kashamu in his days as the leader of a prolific heroin trafficking ring based in Chicago, Illinois was known as ‘God,’ ‘Daddy,’ and ‘Kasmal’. He is wanted to stand trial on charges of conspiracy and importation of controlled substances, namely heroin, into the United States dating back to 1994.”

Extradition In Line With The Law- Falana

Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday said that the on going effort by federal government through the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to extradite Ogun State Senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu to the United States is in line with the law.

Falana, who advised Kashamu to surrender himself for trial in the United States instead of embarking on a prolonged legal battle in Nigeria, noted that there is indeed an extradition treaty between Nigeria and the United States which was signed on June 24, 1935 and entered into force on June 24, 1935.

Though the treaty was signed with the United States by the British colonial regime which then exercised dominion over the territory of Nigeria, when Nigeria obtained political independence from the Britannic Majesty in 1960 the treaty was like several others, adopted by the federal government.

THIS MAN SEF? .. MAN IN CHARGE INDEED : Jonathan Makes 5 Appointments In Education Ministry ... LeadershipNews

President Goodluck Jonathan at the weekend continued his last minute wave of appointments with five changes effected at the Federal Ministry of Eduction in one fell swoop.

The president has appointed Prof. Abdulrashid Garba as the new Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO).

A statement from the ministry of education signed by Mallam Sule Ya’u Sule, Senior Special Assistant to the minster noted that the president has also appointed Prof. Monday Tommy Joshua as the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).

Also appointed is Prof. Ismail Junaidu as the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC).

Others who benefitted from the latest appointments by Jonathan are Prof. Bashir Mohammed Fagge who is now the new Provost of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Bichi and Dr. Abubakar Abdul Dzukogi who has been appointed Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida.

Sule further noted that the appointments are with immediate effected.

He added that, while Professors Garba, Joshua, and Junaidu “are to serve for five years as their first tenure”, Prof. Fagge and Dr. Dzukogi “are to serve for a period of four years respectively.”

BUHARI EXPOSES THE FRAUD CALLED FUEL SUBSIDY : SH-O-C-K-E-R: I don’t know what fuel subsidy means – BUHARI; you’ll be shocked by secrets revealed by GMB ... NewsPunch

The President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has express his dismay over the scam called FUEL SUBSIDY. The General in recent interview with Daily Trust express what he termed as confusion over the subsidy issue.

Read excerpts from the interview:

One burning issue is fuel subsidy. I believe you are aware of the queues in major cities like Lagos and Abuja. The fuel importers say they are unsure of the direction of the new government in this area. Have you considered maintaining or withdrawing this subsidy or are you questioning whether it didn’t exist at all?

One of the problems I have, other than the military, is the petroleum industry where I served for three and a half years under General Obasanjo. When people start talking about this subsidy I honestly get confused. I will tell you this, and I hope it will answer what you want to know. Back then we had a refinery in Port Harcourt, which was refining 30,000 barrels a day of Nigerian crude.

Later, it was upgraded to refine 100,000 barrels a day. Another refinery was built in Port Harcourt to refine 150,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude. So, Port Harcourt alone had the capacity to refine 250,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude.

But when I found myself as the Minister of Petroleum I set up another refinery in Warri for 100, 000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude and the Kaduna refinery a 100, 000 barrels per day. So Nigeria built capacity to refine 450,000 a day.

Four Hundred thousands of which is purely Nigerian crude, but 50,000 was imported. The type of crude could be Venezuelan, which could be a bit heavier. But the lighter ones – kerosene, aviation fuel, diesel, PMS of different grades could be produced from our crude because Nigerian crude is about the best in the world.

If you could recall, after finishing as Minister of Petroleum, I subsequently became Head of State. You remember, I appointed Professor Tam David West as the Minister of Petroleum. When we rounded up bunkers, collected their illegal jetties and allowed jetties for only big firms which were doing production and development in the country, we were shocked that we had too much fuel.
We had to begin to export 100,000 barrels per day. Don’t forget that we didn’t stop at building refineries, we built more than 20 depots during my time, from Port Harcourt to Ilorin, Makurdi, Suleija, Maiduguri and Kano. More than 3,000 pipelines were laid to connect them. A number of stations were also built to take the trailers off the road, save lives and the infrastructure on the road. It is more economical because each trailer uses fuel.

We did all that in this country and we didn’t borrow any money as far as I know. It’s Nigerian money. From each Nigerian crude, whether Akwa Ibom, Bonny Light or whatever it is, you can work out how much products it will give you; how much petrol it will give you; how much diesel it will give you if you want to produce diesel. We could tell how much Nigerian crude cost, the cost of transportation from there to the refinery, the cost of refining, the cost of transportation to the pump stations and maybe 5 per cent go for overhead.

I can understand if Nigerians pay for those costs. But somebody is saying he is subsidizing Nigerians. Who is subsidizing who?

But they argue that the price should not be the same in Lagos and Daura, for example?
It has to be the same because it is the Nigerian crude.

But they consider the cost of transportation?

Why didn’t it make any difference when we were around? Why did we build the network of pipelines? Why did we build the network of depots? What can Nigerians benefit from the God-given gift of petroleum? No refinery is built unless there is an in-depth research that there is enough reserve of up to six layers to be produced.

The argument I have heard is that refineries are aged. Mostly, they are performing at less than half of their capacity…?

You can’t defend these corrupt and incompetent people. You can’t defend them. There used to be what they call turn-around-maintenance. You close the refinery in order to overhaul and clean it. What we did: we asked our producers, we need various refined products of this type at this time when the refineries are being cleaned. Take this type of Nigerian crude and bring us the refined products.

What we don’t need, we will calculate and pay you as fees for refining and transportation. If it is more than what the crude can handle, then we take it from the treasury. But you are trying to justify all these frauds by saying the refineries are aged.

Of course, they are actually aged?

They said the refineries are aged. The pipelines are leaking. There is vandalisation. Who ordered the vandalisation?

Does it suggest that you don’t believe in the subsidy? So, you are not going to agree to its continuation in anyway?

I would like to be on ground and find out what really has been going wrong. Why is it that people are doing round-tripping with the Nigerian products and take money from the treasury?

Some people are still in court. You know about it. So, I’m not taking anything for granted. But I will try and find out what went wrong.