Alleged bribery: UK court grants Diezani £70k bail, imposes other conditions

Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former petroleum minister, has appeared in court in the United Kingdom for an alleged £100,000 bribe.

The district judge, Michael Snow, granted Alison-Madueke bail in the amount of £70,000.

Snow however imposed other conditions on Alison-Madueke after considering her “a flight risk”.

The conditions include an 11 pm to 6 am curfew, an electronic tag to be worn at all times and a £70,000 surety to be paid before she could leave the court building.

Her next court appearance will be at Southwark Crown Court, which deals with serious criminal cases, on October 30.

According to sources, the ex-minister was charged alongside her brother and Timbo Ayinde, an oil businessman.

During today’s proceedings, Alison-Madueke gave her name, date of birth and address.

She was not asked to formally enter a plea, although Mark Bowen, her lawyer, told the court that she would be pleading not guilty.

In August, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said they suspected Alison-Madueke had accepted bribes in return for awarding multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts.

In a statement published on its website, NCA said Alison-Madueke “is alleged to have benefitted from at least £100,000 in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family, and the use of multiple London properties”.

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“Her charges also detail financial rewards including furniture, renovation work and staff for the properties, payment of private school fees, and gifts from high-end designer shops such as Cartier jewellery and Louis Vuitton goods,” the statement reads.

‘COMPLEX INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION’

In March this year, the NCA also provided evidence to the US department of justice that enabled them to recover assets totalling USD $53.1 million linked to Alison-Madueke’s alleged corruption.

Andy Kelly, head of the NCA’s international corruption unit (ICU), said the “charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation”.

“Bribery is a pervasive form of corruption, which enables serious criminality and can have devastating consequences for developing countries. We will continue to work with partners here and overseas to tackle the threat,” Kelly added.

In October 2015, Alison-Madueke and four other persons were arrested in the UK over alleged bribery and money laundering offences.

A magistrate court in the UK granted Alison-Madueke bail but her passport was seized. She was asked to report at the Charing Cross police station afterwards.

Alison-Madueke was the minister of petroleum resources from 2010 to 2015 during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Shortly before Jonathan handed over to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, she left the country.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleged that the former minister stole $2.5 billion from Nigeria’s coffers as minister.

Alleged bribery: UK court grants Diezani £70k bail, imposes other conditions

(TheCable)

High price of cooking gas taking toll on us, several South-West residents lament

SEVERAL residents of some states in the South-West zone of the country are lamenting the astronomical increase in the price of cooking gas, saying it is severely affecting them.

The residents told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews that unless government intervened urgently, the situation may force them to discard using gas to cook.

They said they may have no other choice than a return to using charcoal, firewood and sawdust, among other archaic means of cooking.

NAN reports that 12.5 kilogramme (kg) of gas now sells for between N10,000 and N10,625 as against the N8,700 it was being sold before in some parts of the zone.

A 6 kg equivalent goes for between N4,800 and N5,100 instead of N4,176.

The residents, who expressed shock with the cooking gas situation, said that they never prepared for such an astronomical increase.

They lamented that this has come particularly with the increase in the price of petrol, with its attendant negative effects.

The residents appealed to government to, as a matter of urgency, step up measures to address the situation in order to reduce the sufferings of Nigerians.

A housewife, Mrs Eunice Alabi, a resident of Ayegun-Fasade in Egbeda Local Government Area (LGA) of Oyo State, said the situation is not economically wise for her.

“A low income-earner like me cannot afford to buy a kilogramme of cooking gas at a cost of N850. That is the situation we are in now,” she said.

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Alabi said she had already returned to the use of a sawdust stove at little or no cost to her, aside getting sawdust from a nearby sawmill.

Mr Michael Tubosun, a commercial motorcycle operator at Iwo-Road in Ibadan North-East LGA, contended that using gas to cook now had become the exclusive right of the rich.

He said he had bought a charcoal pot for his wife to cook.

Also speaking with NAN, a roadside beans and yam vendor at Oluwo junction in Egbeda LGA, Mrs Jelilat Yusuf, said she had embraced the use of firewood for cooking.

“I thought I was becoming modern by using gas, but now I can not afford gas again,” she said.

According to Yusuf, firewood is cheaper and makes her to make more profit than using gas.

Although she expressed concern about the smoke from firewood, which, she said might not be good for her health, Yusuf however said she had no choice.

“Since gas has gone out of my reach, I have no choice.”

She implored government to intensify efforts toward bringing down the price of cooking gas and foodstuffs.

An environmentalist, Mr Bola Ogunrinde, however, said using the alternatives to gas could be dangerous to health.

“Dioxin, one of the substances released when plastic is used and inhaled, can instantly cause coughing, shortness of breath and dizziness,” he stated.

A gas retailer, Mr Zacheaus Akinlabi, also said he had witnessed a marked reduction in the number of customers patronising him due to the sudden increase in gas price.

“Since the hike in price of gas, some of my customers have stopped patronising me, while the few that come around only buy the fewN kilogrames they can afford,” Akinlabi said.

A food vendor, Mrs Funmi Durodola, said that she had shifted from using gas to charcoal.

Although Durodola said that a bag of charcoal had also increased from N3,500 to between N4,700 and N5000, nevertheless she said it was still more economical than gas.

Mrs Tolu Adejo, a mother of three, said: “When gas was between

N700 and N750 per kg, my husband usually refilled for us, while we support our cooking with firewood, especially when we wanted to cook beans.

“To make matters worse, kerosene is also beyond our reach and so we now use firewood, alongside plastic and nylon to do our cooking, because we just have to survive,” Adejo said.

The situation is the same in Ilorin in Kwara, as most residents have resorted to use of charcoal and firewood due to the hike in the price of gas.

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Mrs Munirat Bello, a teacher at a private school in Ilorin, said she had embraced the use of charcoal to complement the little gas she could afford.

A housewife, who also plaits hair for a living, who simply identified herself as Mama Bashira, also said that the situation had gone bad for her.

She said she had to resort to the use of charcoal.

“A bag of charcoal sells for as low as N1,500 if a person can get it straight from the farm and if well-managed, it can last for a month or even more,” Mama Bashira said.

Similarly, Hajia Lateefah Yusuf, a business woman, expressed surprise with the sudden increase in gas price, in spite of what she called the rhetoric of abundance of gas in the country.

A civil servant with Kwara Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Abosede Buraimoh, described the situation as very worrisome and unbearable, calling for urgent intervention by government.

An artisan, Mrs Titilayo Oshagbemi, said she had stopped patronising gas stations due to the hike in the price of the product.

“I prefer to buy a bag of charcoal at the rate of between N3,000 to

N3,300, than to buy 5 kg gas at the rate of N4,750 or N5,400, while the charcoal will last longer than gas,” she said.

For Alhaja Tawal Aliyu, an artisan, the price of gas has become ‘scary’.

“How can I buy 1 kg of gas for N850 with the current economic hardship? No. I will rather get firewood to cook,” Aliyu lamented.

A resident of Ilorin, Mrs Afusat Jimoh, described the situation as frustrating, saying most people had dumped their gas cylinders and picked charcoal stoves.

“I’ve told my children to go and keep our cylinder somewhere in the

store. I am conveniently using my charcoal stove now. It saves me more money,” she said.

Mrs Toyin Aina, who said that many people had resorted to the use of kerosene stoves and charcoal stoves, called on the Federal Government to “act fast.

“This is because things are now very hard and tough in Nigeria.”

One of the attendants at a gas station, Mr Mubarak Bello, said patronage had dropped since the gas price had increased.

The Founder of Green Environment Movement, an environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mr James Akinyemi, however said that using nylons and plastic to aid burning of charcoal could result in cancer.

According to him, burning plastics releases toxic chemicals into the air which, when inhaled, can cause cancer.

”Poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and dioxins are among the most toxic chemicals commonly released into the air when burning plastics.

”Chronic exposure to these chemicals can interfere with hormone functions and cause cancer.

“So, it is better to avoid burning of plastics and nylons as much as possible,” he said.

Akinyemi noted that the economy was not friendly with the recent increase in price of gas.

He however cautioned people against using items that could have negative effect on their health.

NAN checks in Ogun also indicate that 12.5 kg of gas now sells for between N11,200 and N12,800 in some gas stations across the state.

NAN also reports that the situation has led to an increase in prices of foodstuffs as well as reduction in the quantity served for certain

prices at various restaurants and food joints.

Mrs Florence Akpan, a food vendor at Adeoyo area of Ijebu-Ode, said that sales had dropped significantly due to increase in gas price.

“Customers now complain about the reduction in the quantity of food being sold to them.

“I now cook small quantity of food because sales have really gone down and there is nothing I can do because I have to cover my cost and add small profit margin too.

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“Times are really hard for both buyers and sellers now. It is a serious matter,” she said.

Another food vendor at Oke-Ilewo area of Abeokuta, Mrs Dorcas Sobowale, told NAN that for her to continue in business, she had resorted to using charcoal.

“While a bag of charcoal costs N5,000, 12.5 kg of gas now sells for N12,800.

“Although cooking with gas is more convenient and faster, I have to make the necessary sacrifice and adjust to using charcoal and firewood to survive in business.”

A gas retailer, Kabiru Adegoke, said the price of cooking gas was not stable, “as it goes up and down in a matter of days.

“Patronage has really been affected due to the high cost of gas per kg, which is now N840 from the N700 we sold it two weeks before now.

“Hardly do we now see people filling up their 12.5 kg cylinder again.

Rather, they fill in small quantities like 2kg and 3kg,” Adegoke said.

Mrs Fauziyah Adebiyi, another resident of Abeokuta, lamented that life had been really difficult since the sudden increase in the price of gas.

She said what would have been the next and easy alternative was kerosene stove, “but sadly enough, kerosene itself is a no-go area now.

“The last time I needed half a bottle just to mix an insecticide, I

was told it was N400, meaning that a bottle is N800. How does one buy that easily with the hardship in the land?” Adebiyi queried.

For Mr John Akpan, a landlord in Mowe area of Obafemi-Owode LGA of Ogun, he has had to unfortunately ban the use of charcoal in his house.

Akpan said his tenants had resorted to the use of charcoal in

the wake of gas price increase.

He said the kitchen and other areas within his two-storey building had become messy, with the walls stained with coal.

“I know times are hard, but if the situation continues unchecked, I

will have to spend money on painting the house from time to time,” Akpan said.

In her reaction, another gas user, Mrs Taiwo Akande, said she had been switching between electric stove and gas cooker for her cooking.

“We are still using the old metering system in my compound. So, I use electric burner for most of my cooking whenever there is power.

“I may have to resort to charcoal when our prepaid meter is installed and the situation persists,” she said.

Mr Johnson Adigun, an urban and regional planner, listed alternative means of cooking to include: kerosene, charcoal, saw dust and firewood, all of which he, however, said had “far-reaching” consequences.

According to him, firewood often pollutes the environment and worsens the climate change crisis, aside the health implications like lung cancer which can lead to premature death.

To Mr Kayode Ahmed, an environmentalist, one of the possible consequences of using firewood and charcoal for cooking is deforestation.

Ahmed said such situation could arise when trees were not planted to replace those being cut for firewood.

Another environmentalist, Mr Ola Oresanya, maintained that the use of bio-gas and solar stove as alternative sources of cooking might not be detrimental to the environment.

“Bio-gas is the most environmental-friendly, and also a renewable source of energy.

“Using solar to cook is also reasonable and not having any adverse effect on the environment,” he said.

High price of cooking gas taking toll on us, several South-West residents lament

(NAN)

I would have depreciated Naira to N600 – Peter Obi

The Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, mentioned during his appearance on Arise TV on Monday morning that, if he were Nigeria’s president, he would have depreciated the nation’s currency to N600.

Obi expressed dissatisfaction with the prevalent use of the US dollar as an unofficial medium of exchange in the country, emphasizing his intention to impose substantial penalties on individuals who frequently transact in dollars rather than using the national currency, the naira.

“Nobody floats what you don’t have supply of,” he criticised the Tinubu administration’s purported floating of the naira.

He pointed out that the new management team must think through every policy including looking at the “exchange rate, inflation” and other key policies in the area.

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He said floating of the naira “is not something you do haphazardly.