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NDIC Act has 35 doctored clauses, chairman claims

Published

11 months ago

June 13, 2023

Godwin Emefiele and AbdulHakeem Abdullateef

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) alleged yesterday that former President Muhammadu Buhari signed a doctored NDIC bill hours before leaving office.

It said the new law contains 35 sections that were hitherto not in the bill passed by the National Assembly.

The corporation fingered the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) Godwin Emefiele and his cohorts in the NDIC of tampering with the passed bill en route to Buhari for his assent.

NDIC Chairman AbdulHakeem Abdullateef made the allegations while being featured on a television programme.

Abdullateef stated that the corporation has, under the new law, been stripped of its independence as it now has to seek the approval of the CBN before discharging some of its duties.

“A crime has been committed. Only President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will tell us who is to be investigated,” he said.

Under the new Act, NDIC can no longer monitor and supervise banks. It is left with only the duty of checking the books of banks after getting the CBN’s nod.

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Besides, the Act removes the powers of the President to appoint the Managing Director or Executive Directors of the NDIC.

Also, officials of the corporation cannot aspire or rise to the height of being managing directors or executive directors of the corporation.

According to Abdulllateef, only the CBN, in accordance with the Act, can recommend professionals for the positions of managing director and executive directors of the NDIC.

He said:” Former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Act without reading it. No reasonable person, who does not want fire to burn him inside the grave will sign this Act. They deliberately made it 48 hours before he left, because they knew that a President that is handing over has a lot to do. They knew that he had said that ‘I cannot wait to leave,’ so they took this bulky document to him to sign.

“The NDIC is meant to be an independent agency because the government wants to ensure that the deposits paid by Nigerians into banks are never endangered by the conspiracies of either the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), to ensure that whatever misbehaviour is being displayed, won’t affect Nigerians. The NDIC Act of 2006 guarantees the independence of the NDIC.

“Also, NDIC should always visit the banks and look into their books, and ensure that the way they are operating these banks does not endanger depositors.

“The moment they knew we were appointed, they introduced a new bill to the National Assembly.

“The Federal Ministry of Finance, being one of the shareholders of the NDIC shall select one director to represent the Federal Government in the board.

“Emefiele and his cohort in the NDIC decided to remove the power of Mr President to appoint competent Nigerians. The new Act was not part of what was discussed at the National Assembly. The new Act is different from what the National Assembly passed, and what was taken to the President. It is illegal.”

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”The current President wants to fight corruption, and corruption will want to fight back. Therefore, every one of us in every agency must stand with the President.

“When they know that what they are doing is fraudulent, they will not present it before the National Assembly to look through. There are many men of integrity in the National Assembly who will not sell their conscience. No National Assembly member will watch you remove their power to appoint competent people in the six geopolitical zones and remove them.

“In the new Act, they fraudulently made the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance as the chairman. I have never heard it in my life. I went to the permanent secretary and asked if he knew about it, and he said ’I swear by my God, I know nothing about it.’

”The permanent secretary said, ‘When it was suggested to me, I told them that I am too busy as a permanent secretary to be superintending over NDIC. They know that I will not have time to superintend over the NDIC so that they can be doing what they want.’

“The new composition says Mr President cannot appoint a managing director or executive director, except the people recommended by the CBN governor. They put the CBN governor there because they thought they could be there forever. You cannot restrain Mr President; he must be free to appoint competent Economists and Accountants.

“They have also killed the career progression of the 1,600 staff members of the NDIC. They are now saying that any staff member can never become the executive director or managing director; that it is an agency outside the NDIC that can recommend, which is the CBN. And we say the NDIC is an independent agency?

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“There is a lot of protest now in the NDIC, among the staff members. They have been demoralised and demotivated because stylishly, the current executive directors have been ‘removed’ according to them because those ones were freely appointed by the President before, but now, it has to be under the recommendation of the CBN.

“They have also, in the new Act, removed the representative of the Ministry of Finance.

“The mandate of the NDIC is to protect depositors. With this new Act, NDIC will no longer be able to protect depositors. NDIC was established as independent so that it would not be disturbed by the CBN. But now, they have introduced 35 new sections under which the NDIC will need to seek the approval of the CBN before it can discharge its duties.

“Now, even to go to banks to check their books, they said the CBN must approve. So, you have taken away the independence of the NDIC. Even to pay depositors, the new Act says the NDIC must get the CBN’s approval.

“The National Assembly is the apex law-making institution in Nigeria. I monitored the process when it was passed by the Senate, it does not contain all these I have mentioned here. The House of Representatives also concurred with the Senate. But along the line, on the way to Aso Rock Villa, new sections were introduced by people who are not members of the National Assembly.

“In law, if the President signs an Act that is different from what was passed, that Act is inchoate, which means there is a material omission of what ought to have been done, and that Act is null and void.

“Mr. President alone cannot make an Act, it must be the concurrence of the two Houses.”

“They did not introduce those sections to the National Assembly because they know the Senators are reasonable people. Why will you remove the representatives of the six geopolitical zones from monitoring you?”

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19 passengers burnt to death in Okene Bypass accident, FRSC blames traffic violation

Published

2 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Trends Admin

FRSC blames traffic violation as 19 passengers burnt to death in Okene Bypass accident

A total of 19 people were burnt to death in a tanker-bus collision on Sunday April 28 on Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State.

The collision that specifically occurred on Okene Bypass reportedly led to an explosion, trapping a total of 22 passengers in the inferno.

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in a statement which gave these details said the crash was largely caused by traffic rules violation.

It added that its emergency rescue team deployed in the area battled the situation for three hours.

Part of statement read, “The crash investigation report revealed that the crash involved two vehicles comprising a Dangote truck bearing the following registration details NSH680YJ, and a Toyota Hiace Bus with registration number KMC455ZE.

“The Toyota Hiace bus loaded from Kano was on its lane on the highway when the Dangote truck driver who drove all the way from Port Harcourt wrongfully overtook a vehicle and collided head-on with the bus.

“The impact of the collision resulted in a fire inferno that burnt the victims to death.

According to the report, the crash which was caused by route violation ‘One-way’ and wrongful overtaking, involved 22 people all male.

“Unfortunately, 19 people out of the 22 victims were killed and one injured.

“The remaining two victims who got rescued by the FRSC operatives without injuries survived the crash because they complied with traffic regulations on compulsory use of seatbelt.

“The corpses of the dead victims have been deposited at Okene General Hospital.

The statement signed by the FRSC spokesman, Jonas Agwu, an Assistant Corps Marshal, recalled that the Corps Marshal of the commission, Dauda Biu, at a press conference last week Thursday “warned against traffic violations citing instances where they resulted in avoidable crashes with fire outbreak, leading to wanton loss of precious lives and destruction to properties.

“As a result of that he had earlier emphasised on the need for maximum penalty for these drivers.

Dauda Biu reaffirmed the resolution of the Corps to continue its ongoing prosecution of drivers who by their actions cause road traffic crashes in Nigeria, noting that the driver of the truck involved in the Okene crash will not be an exception.

“As such, he called on the judiciary, leadership of transport unions and other relevant stakeholders in the road transportation sector to join hands with the Corps towards restoring sanity through speedy and effective prosecution.”

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NDLEA intercepts cakes laced with drugs

Published

4 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Trends Admin

NDLEA intercepts cakes laced with drugs

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 28-year-old lady, Jennifer Iliya, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State for producing and distributing cakes laced with illicit drugs, especially cannabis sativa.

The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy,, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

Babafemi said during her arrest on Wednesday, “a substantial number of drugged cakes weighing 1.5kg were recovered from her possession.”

He added that a 20-year-old hair stylist, Josephine Odunu, and a dispatch rider, Edesemi Ikporo, 30, were also arrested in Yenagoa on Sunday, March 10, for a similar offence.

Meanwhile, a suspect who allegedly hid drugs in women wears was also arrested at the Lagos airport.

The statement partly read, “NDLEA officers at the Gate C departure hall of the Lagos airport on Friday, April 26, arrested a passenger, Yahaya Danjuma Oturah, while attempting to export 4,000 pills of tramadol 225mg to Malpensa, Italy, on an Ethiopian Airline flight.

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“The psychoactive substance was found concealed in women wears and granulated melon packed in the suspect’s backpack and another bag containing food items.”

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Man accused of stealing cement drowns at Lagos Lagoon while ‘trying to escape’

Published

4 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Trends Admin

Man accused of stealing cement drowns at Lagos Lagoon while ‘trying to escape’

A man simply identified as Azeez, has allegedly jumped into the lagoon in Lagos and drowned, to avoid arrest for being accused of stealing some bags of cement.

The spokesperson of the Police command in Lagos , SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.

Hundeyin said that the Director in charge of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) operations in Lagos Central, (name not mentioned), reported the case to Ikoyi Police Division on Friday at about 12.20 p.m.

Hundeyin said that the director reported that at about 10.45 a.m. on Friday, he received a call that there was an incident at Lekki/Ikoyi Link Bridge.

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According to him, on getting to the scene, he met a large crowd gathered by the waterside, watching the lifeless body of a man who had drowned.

“The deceased was later identified as Azeez. He was later confirmed dead by paramedics of Pre Hospital Care, Lagos.

“It was discovered that the seller of the cement, was pursuing the deceased before he jumped into the Lagoon, because he was alleged to have stolen some bags of cement,” Hundeyin said.

The image maker said that the scene was visited by the police, while the corpse had been evacuated to Mainland General Hospital Mortuary, Yaba, for autopsy and preservation.

Hundeyin said that investigation into the case was in progress.