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Senate uncovers agency’s sale of N31m jeeps for N1.5m
The Senate Public Accounts Committee has uncovered an alleged sale of two Toyota Prado jeeps worth N31 million for N1.5 million by officials of the Lake Chad Research Institute, Maiduguri, Borno State.
The committee made the discovery while scrutinising the 2015-2018 Auditor General’s report currently being treated by both chambers of the National Assembly.
According to the AuGF report, the Prado jeeps were procured in 2013 and 2014 but sold three years after.
The AuGF had issued a query based on the inability of the management of the institute to provide reasons for the sale of the jeeps at such a low price.
The query read, “The management of the institute could not account for two Toyota Prado jeeps, which were purchased in 2013 and 2014 with registration No. 45KOIFG for one jeep while the other had not been registered. No reason was given for not registering the second Prado jeep. In addition, a Toyota Hiace bus with registration No. 45KO3FG could not be accounted for during an audit.
“This is a violation of Financial Regulation 2128 which states that ‘Every public officer is personally and pecuniary responsible for government property under his control or in his custody.
“The inability of the management of the institute to account for government property under their custody suggests abuse and mismanagement, as government property may have been diverted to private use. The executive director is required to account for the vehicles.
“The issue was communicated to the executive director through my Audit Inspection Report Ref. No. EIAD/WTR 16/CORP/4 dated 21st December 2017 but he failed to respond.”
In response, the institute said the vehicle was purchased on March 21, 2014, at the cost of N18.7 million, adding that the former Executive Director, Dr Oluwasina Olabanji, sought the approval to sell the vehicle to the former Chairman of the institute governing board, Mr Yakubu Tsala at the cost of N750,000 only.
The institute also explained that the second Prado jeep was purchased on September 18, 2013, at the cost of N12.4 million and a request for approval to board the vehicle and was written to the ARCN dated June 7th, 2017.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Mathew Urhoghide, expressed shock when the current Executive Director of the institute, Dr. Alhassan Bibinu, told the committee that he was using a refurbished Hilux as an official car.
The committee thereafter directed the institute’s boss to come along with the former ED who allegedly gave the order for the sale of the two Prado jeeps.
News
Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark
Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark
Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, says the former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, administration was nothing to write home about.
This is even as he asked the embattled former governor to surrender himself to the authorities.
Bello has been in the news for days on end over money laundering and financial impropriety.
He was declared wanted after he evaded the economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) who had stormed his Abuja residence to apprehend him.
Speaking on Bello’s time as the governor of the middle belt state, Clark, who is the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, stated that state sponsored violence, corruption, civilian repression and political killings were rife when Bello was in office.
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Clark also pointed out that Bello is still running the show in Kogi state as he is currently spending third term in power through the incumbent governor, Ododo, who he planted in office.
“Yahaya Bello is just being stubborn. He has been living very very rough…having a very rough government, corruption, killing of people in the place during elections and so on,” Clark said during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday.
“There’s time for everything and it has come for him to answer questions. He should go to court. He should go to court to answer the substance of the case, where did he get the money from?
“Is it true or not that the money he paid to the American school belongs to him or belongs to the government of Kogi State?
“The behaviour of the new Governor shows Yahaya Bello is in power for the third time. Ahmed Ododo is just running after him.
“I just want to plead with Ododo to do the needful so that the youth in this country will have something to fall upon.”
Yahaya Bello govt spending third term in office through Ododo – Clark
News
‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim
‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim
Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, says he is not in the business of whipping up ethnic sentiments or amplifying Nigeria’s fault lines to gain socio-political mileage.
Obi said this reaction to comment made by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, at an event on Wednesday on the Lagos-Calabar road project.
Obi has been vocal in his criticism of the road project, calling it a misplaced priority as it is not what Nigeria needs at a time of lean resources and plethora of challenges begging for drastic solution.
Umahi while speaking at the event said Obi’s position on the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project amounted to pitting Nigerians of Eastern extraction, who are majorly Igbos, against the government of President Bola Tinubu.
He also accused Obi of demolishing property without compensating those affected when he was Anambra governor, Obi was inciting South Easterners against the government
“When His Excellency Peter Obi was the governor. He made a statement saying, “Any infrastructure that stands in the way of the road must go. And there would be no compensation paid.” That’s what he said,” Umahi said.
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“And I think he’s inciting some of the South-East people that are not well informed. He is inciting them. And gets them into trouble,” he added
Reacting to Umahi’s allegation of divisiveness and sedition in a statement on Wednesday, Obi opined that he is a preacher of peace and advocate of unity who always wants what is best for the country.
Obi, who described criticisms that he is inciting Igbo against Tinubu’s government as baseless, stated that he won’t wallow in the murky water of divisive ethnic politics like many of his contemporaries and opponents do.
He stated, “My focus is on fostering constructive dialogue and inclusivity, rather than engaging in divisive politics, Claims of incitement are baseless distractions. I have always advocated unity and advancement, refusing to partake in reactionary divisive politics.
“I refuse to be reduced to the level of those who wallow in ethnic politics. Worse still, I have never and can never descend so low as to base my political aspirations on any sectional or ethnic interest.”
The former Anambra governor also said there were no comparisons between the demolition he did when he was governor and what the Tinubu-led government was currently doing.
‘Unfounded accusation’ – Obi slams Umahi over instigation of Igbo against Tinubu claim
News
NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m
NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has announced a significant increase in the maximum deposit insurance coverage levels for Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other financial institutions, effective immediately.
During a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, NDIC Managing Director Bello Hassan disclosed, “For Deposit Money Banks, the increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage from N500,000 to N5,000,000, would provide full coverage of 98.98% of the total depositors compared with the current cover of 89.20%. In terms of the value of deposit covered, the revised coverage would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 25.37% compared with the current cover of 6.31% of the total value of deposits.”
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Hassan further explained, “The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage for primary mortgage banks from N500,000 to N2,000,000 would provide full coverage of 99.99% of the total number of depositors and would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 43.10% of the total value deposits from the current cover of 40.60%.”
Additionally, Hassan noted, “The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage for subscribers of Mobile Money Operators from N500,000 to N5,000,000 per subscriber.”
NDIC jacks up deposit insurance cover from N500,000 to N5m
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